Autosport Plus

Porsche's Le Mans technical masterpiece

Promotional feature: Porsche returns to Le Mans in 2016 as world champion and defending winner of the sportscar racing's most prestigious event, with mind-blowing technology at the heart of its success

James Newbold Jun 13, 2016, 9:09 AM

Watching as the Porsche 919 Hybrid flies as though on rails through the sixth-gear left-right-left sequence of corners aptly named the Porsche Curves, your first thoughts are ones of awe.

The spectacle transports you back to the dream cars you once sketched as a nine-year-old in school lessons, except now, that futuristic vision has become a reality, capable of lapping the Circuit de la Sarthe at an average speed of more than 150mph.

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Author James Newbold

James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.