Factory Porsche GT driver Marc Lieb believes that Mark Webber will take no time in adjusting back to sportscar racing in 2014.
Lieb and Kiwi Brendon Hartley are highly fancied to fill the remaining two seats for Porsche’s re-entry into the LMP1 class.
Webber along with Neel Jani, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas are already locked into the six-man, two-car LMP1 Porsche operation, which will compete in the entire World Endurance Championship.
Lieb, who drove for Tekno Autosporst in V8 Supercars’ recent Pirtek Enduro Cup, will test Porsche’s LMP1 car in the coming weeks at the Paul Ricard circuit alongside Mercedes-Benz F1 simulator driver Hartley.
Next year will see Webber return to sportscar racing for the first time since his widely publicised accidents at Le Mans in 1999 while driving for Mercedes.
Although Porsche has already completed extensive testing with its new machine, Webber is not expected to get behind the wheel until January due to commitments with Red Bull.
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Lieb acknowledges that for Australia’s retiring F1 driver, it will not take much time to become comfortable behind the wheel of the Porsche.
“I think for Webber it will be like a slower F1 car. He is used to the downforce,” Lieb told Speedcafe.com
“He should be able to hop in the car and he will be okay.
“I’m sure it will take time to get used to the traffic again. I mean he’s done it before, (albeit) a long time ago.
“Its great to have him at Porsche and its great to see him in an LMP1 and I’m sure he will do a stellar job next year.
“He was probably a little bit bored also with all the stuff going on at the Red Bull team.”
Lieb is not as versed on Hartley but says the Kiwi must have impressed to be on Porsche’s shopping list.
‘If he’s (Hartley) on the radar with the Porsche guys then he has talent,” he said.
“He has some experience in F1 and some experience in simulators which is getting bigger and bigger now.
“We’ve set up our simulator now but none of us has a lot of experience in it so its also probably good to have him for the simulator (due to his experience with the Mercedes F1 team’s version).”
Crucially, the up-coming tests will gauge whether or not Lieb is able to smoothly and quickly make the large adjustment from production-based GT machines to high-downforce prototype cars.
“I’ve been involved in the program since last year fitting the seat box because I’m quite a tall driver.
“Together with (Timo) Bernhard and (Romain) Romain Dumas we were fixing the seat and the cockpit.
“The car is shaping up nicely. It’s getting there. It’s a great piece of engineering.”
Porsche stands as the most successful car maker to tackle Le Mans, winning the race 16 times outright, four more than Audi which took its first La Sarthe triumph in 2000.
The company is remaining guarded on the technical details of its new car, confirming only that it will be petrol-powered and feature energy recovery systems.
It is thought likely that the motor is a four-cylinder turbo, while a system that turns recovered energy into electrical power for use at the front-wheels is also being tipped to feature.
Webber is in action at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend, after which just two F1 races will remain.
See below for an official video from Porsche that includes track footage of its LMP1
