Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
By achieving a time of 02:18:96 with the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, Porsche has established the fastest completion of a lap for a luxury four-door hybrid saloon at the Bahrain International Circuit.
The record in Bahrain is part of a wider programme, achieving six best times for this model category on six racetracks within the wider region of the Middle East, India and South Africa.
The Stuttgart-based manufacturer put its performance credentials to the test and once again reinforced the benefits of transferring technology developed on the track, to road-legal models.
As a descendent of the successful 919 Hybrid race car, the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is the fastest and most fuel-efficient Panamera to date and forms an important part of the brand’s E-Performance strategy.
Piloted by Porsche testing and development driver Lars Kern, a standard production version of the four-door sports car took on the challenge of setting a record lap time at the Sakhir circuit.
The FIA certified track, which hosts the annual Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix alongside other international and regional championships, including the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, is highly regarded by global and regional drivers alike. The lap record was set on the GP configuration of the circuit with its 14 turns, using standard road tyres.
Markus Peter, marketing director at Porsche Middle East and Africa, said: “Setting the benchmark lap time for hybrid saloon models offered Porsche a unique opportunity to bring to life our ‘performance electrified’ campaign – a communication platform that demonstrates how the combination of an electric motor and combustion engine results in the delivery of impressive power.
“The Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid was also chosen for this activity because it bridges our 70-year history of sports car innovation, to our future of sporty mobility. To further demonstrate the model’s outstanding credentials, we took it to a total of six high-profile racetracks across the region, with expectations surpassed at every turn.”
Colin Sattar, brand manager, Porsche Centre Bahrain, Behbehani Bros, said: “Porsche has an unrivalled heritage of setting lap records on some of the world’s most famous race tracks, so to now add the Bahrain International Circuit to that list is an impressive accolade.”
It delivered a top speed of 310 km/h. It starts in the purely electric ‘E-Power’ mode as standard, and the four-door sports car drives locally over a distance of up to 50 kilometres with zero emissions.
When a specific pressure point is passed on the accelerator pedal, or when the battery charge level drops below a minimum value, the Panamera switches to ‘Hybrid Auto’ mode, at which time the power of both the combustion engine and electric motor, are made available. As part of the overall ‘Performance Electrified’ campaign, the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid also set benchmark lap times at Yas Marina Circuit, UAE (2:31:79), Kyalami, South Africa (1:59:08), Buddh, India (2:12:56), Dubai Autodrome, UAE (2:19:15) and Losail, Qatar (2:24:12).
