Williams Hybrid Power flywheel proves powerful and reliable in Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid that completed the 1,000 km of Zhuhai in China this weekend, comfortably ahead of all other GT cars was able to make fewer stops for petrol, proof of the efficiency of the hybrid system.

At the core of this technology is Williams Hybrid Power’s (WHP) flywheel energy storage unit, a mechanical battery, which has proved both powerful and reliable. Zhuhai marked the last of three endurance races for the Porsche Hybrid in 2010. Throughout the season the MLC flywheel technology has operated without fault in a deep-cycling, high duty cycle and aggressive mobile environment.

At the conclusion of the third round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and on the GT3 R Hybrid’s Asian debut, Hartmut Kristen, Porsche Head of Motorsport said, “Today, we showed impressively just what potential the hybrid technology has. This result is a great motivation for continuing our work on the project. This was definitely not the last race for the 911 GT3 R Hybrid.”

The Zhuhai race brought the GT3 R Hybrid’s 2010 campaign to a successful close, after a strong showing in the USA at Road Atlanta in October and European events, including the Nürburgring 24hr race.

WHP’s Managing Director, Ian Foley said, “We are delighted that Porsche have concluded a very challenging and aggressive year of development in endurance racing. We would like to offer Porsche our congratulations on a programme that has combined great racing and use of challenging new technology; WHP is proud to be part of that success with its MLC flywheel technology.”

WHP’s patented Magnetically Loaded Composite (MLC) flywheel technology, originally developed for Formula One, captures and stores a vehicle’s kinetic energy in a high-momentum composite flywheel. This energy, otherwise lost as heat during braking, can be re-introduced into the driveline to save fuel, or bolster performance, both crucial parameters in endurance racing also having clear applicability to road car application.

As an example of WHP’s focus on wider applications for the MLC flywheel technology, it participates in a consortium with companies such as Jaguar Land Rover who are seeking to develop hybrid flywheel applications at sufficiently low cost to facilitate mass uptake in the road car market. The purpose of the project is to refine technologies that can bring considerable reduction in road car emissions.