Chopard, official timing partner of Porsche Motorsport: very confident for LeMans 24 Hours

Porsche takes 2nd at Spa-Francorchamps and leads both World Championship standings (Constructor and Drivers')

Chopard ambassador - Romain Dumas - and his team finished 2nd in the Porsche 919 Hybrid to extend its lead in the drivers’ championship.

Romain Dumas and team mates 2nd place at 2016 Six Hours of Spa

Remember Invictus - Porsche-Chopard - Invictus!

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

- William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

Chopard Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Edition

WEC 2016 Six Hours of Spa: Porsche Motorsport Chopard

After clocking up a success at the opening race of the season in Silverstone, the Porsche teams competed at Spa-Francorchamps on 7th May 2016 with strong expectations of victory.

All teams used the Spa race as their last preparation round before Le Mans 2016.

Following the season’s opening race at Silverstone, the fastest lap of the race, achieved by Brendon Hartley, gave an idea of what could have been possible for the Porsche 919 at Spa.

Chopard ambassador Romain Dumas

Porsche 919 Hybrid at 2016 WEC Six Hours of Spa

The Porsche 919 Hybrid led by Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley achieved 5th position in the Spa LMP1 race.

Chopard ambassador Brendon Hartley

Chopard ambassador Mark Webber

Track temperatures of up to 50 degrees celsius were much warmer conditions than expected for the race in the Ardennes mountains.

Porsche 919 Hybrid at 2016 WEC Six Hours of Spa

Audi emerged from a frantic WEC 6 Hours of Spa with an unlikely victory, as their LMP1 rivals Porsche and Toyota both hit trouble.

Audi was running a Le Mans-style low-downforce package at Spa that lacked race pace but took the win when both cars in the Porsche and Toyota teams ran into trouble.

Porsche controlled the early stages as they did at Silverstone; the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley raced to an early lead ahead of the No. 2 car of Marc Lieb. The No. 2 car then developed hybrid failure to drop behind both Audis and Toyotas.

The No. 5 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi took the lead at the end of the first hour after double-stinting its tyres, allowing it to rejoin 20 seconds clear of Hartley when the No. 1 Porsche made its first stop. Timo Bernhard took over from Hartley, and was catching Buemi before sustaining a front-left puncture.

Mark Webber took over the No. 1 car when Bernhard brought it back to the pits, only for the car to suffer another puncture. The No. 1 Porsche dropped to the back of the field after a long garage stint to replace the front gearbox mechanism damaged as a result of multiple punctures.

Porsche 919 Hybrid Pit Stop

The No. 5 Toyota amassed a comfortable lead over the No. 8 Audi with such pace that it lapped the Audi by the end of the fourth hour.

Then, the No. 6 Toyota dropped out from 3rd place with electronics failure. Immediately into the fifth hour, the leading No. 5 Toyota also stopped with engine failure and smoke billowing. It reappeared to complete one final lap using electric power just to prove a point.

With both Toyotas retired, the No. 8 Audi took the lead over the No. 2 Porsche, although there was late drama when the Safety Car was deployed following a crash of No. 66 Ford GT with an hour to go.

Audi brought the No. 8 car into the pits for a precautionary change of rear bodywork before winning the race.

Porsche 919 Hybrid Pit Stop