Formula One has a new Mercedes-AMG GT R Safety Car
and now the World Endurance Championship has revealed its own new safety car, a
modified Porsche 911 Turbo.
The Porsche will act as the official Safety Car
until 2020 and wears a matte black livery with red accents and the WEC logo.
The sports car has also been fitted with a light bar on the roof, flashing
lights at the front and rear, and all the radio equipment required for a Safety
Car. Racing seats with six-point harnesses have also been fitted, as has a
monitor to display track signals.
Porsche says that the two 911 Turbo Safety Cars it
will fly around the world throughout the World Endurance Championship also
benefit from brakes and suspension optimized for long periods on the racetrack.
The automaker’s work with the World Endurance Championship doesn’t stop there.
Porsche has also created 11 other intervention vehicles for safety personnel
and medics to use.
At the rear, the 911 Turbo Safety Car retains the
road-going model’s 3.8-liter twin-turbo flat-six engine with the Sport Chrono
package. All up, it muscles out 540 hp and 524 lb-ft of torque, allowing the
car to sprint to 100 km/h in three seconds and on to a 320
km/h top speed.
This year’s World Endurance Championship commences
at Spa-Francorchamps on May 5.
