Porsche 919 Hybrid
Porsche revealed an evolution of the 919 Hybrid on 11 April 2018, as it broke the lap record in Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps with a lap time of 1:41.77, with Neel Jani behind the wheel. The lap time was 0.783 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton's flying qualification lap in 2017, previously posting a 1:42.553 in his Mercedes AMG F1 W08, a Formula One car. Jani was also over 12 seconds faster than the standard 919 Hybrid's 2017 pole position lap time of 1:54.097. During the lap, Jani's speed trap was at the Kemmel Straight, with an average speed of .
John Woolfe
Woolfe was dissatisfied with the reliability of the Chevron-Repco, and opted to buy a significantly more powerful Porsche 917 for the 1969 event. The 917 was a new car, built by Porsche to exploit a loophole in the entry requirements for the race, and was the fastest vehicle to take part in the event up to this point in its history. It was capable of on the long Mulsanne Straight, but, with minimal downforce, suffered from an aerodynamic imbalance that made it challenging and unstable to drive at high speed. Woolfe paid DM140,000 (£16,000) for the car, which was delivered to him at the Circuit de la Sarthe ahead of practice.