Getting to know the 1,000hp hybrids of the World Endurance Championship

Enlarge / The start of the WEC 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas. (credit: Photo©AdrenalMedia.com)

AUSTIN, TEXAS—The World Endurance Championship's annual visit to the US is one of the hottest events in racing—figuratively and literally, given the sweltering heat and humidity that afflicts Austin in mid-September. We at Ars have made it to every Lone Star Le Mans weekend, and 2016 was no exception.

You can check out stunning images of the IMSA WeatherTech race elsewhere on the site (the first of the two double-bill headliners), but now it's time to talk prototypes. Specifically, the 1,000hp (745kW) hybrids that compete in the Le Mans Prototype 1 class. Audi, Porsche, and Toyota each enter two-car teams which compete around the world, most often over the course of six hours, although at Le Mans in June the race is obviously four times that.

For our money, nothing else in the world of racing pushes so many buttons. The LMP1 hybrids are breathtakingly fast. Sure, a Formula 1 car is faster on the same FIA Grade 1 circuits; comparing fastest qualifying and racing laps at Spa for both series' visits in 2016 shows the former to be between eight and nine seconds faster over the same 4.3 miles (7km). But the LMP1s weigh an extra 381 lbs (172 kg), and adding 2.2 lbs (1 kg) to an F1 car is commonly held to add 0.1 seconds to a lap.