Porsche has revealed its updated 919 Hybrid FIA WEC on the eve of the pre-season prologue of Paul Ricard in France, showing off three distinct color schemes – red, black and white – that will be used at the Le Mans 24 Hour.

The German manufacturer confirmed it will switch to the highest of the four energy categories in the LMP1 class. The performance of the energy recovery system was able to be increased by around one-third as compared to 2014. This means the 919 Hybrid is competitive to race in the 8-megajoule category.

Porsche will compete in the FIA WEC in a similar “Porsche Intelligent Performance” white livery throughout 2015 but will showcase the company white, black and red colors at Le Mans in June.

“The LMP1 programme at Porsche focuses on extensively networked cooperation between the engineers who work on our innovative drive system concept.” said Wolfgang Hatz, board member for research and development at Porsche AG (pictured right).

“The WEC regulations are designed to ensure that the most efficient car wins. The automotive industry in general must adopt exactly this approach to remain viable. Porsche already offers three plug-in hybrid production sports cars today. This sets us apart from the competition and we plan to grow even stronger in this segment.

The number 17 red machine will be driven by Timo Bernhard, 34 (Germany), Brendon Hartley, 25 (New Zealand) and Mark Webber, 38 (Australia). Marc Lieb will drive the number 18 black machine together with Romain Dumas, 37, (France) and Neel Jani, 31 (Switzerland). The third white machine – number 19 – will be driven by new Porsche LM P1 factory drivers Earl Bamber, 24 (New Zealand), F1 driver Nico Hülkenberg, 27 (Germany) and Nick Tandy, 30 (UK).

The updated 919 is equipped with a 2-liter V4 turbocharged petrol engine with an output of more than 500 hp, which powers the rear axle, and an electric motor with over 400 hp that drives the front wheels and gets its electricity from two energy-recovery systems.

A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery temporarily stores converted braking energy from the front axle as well as converted exhaust-gas energy. The reworked drive system is more powerful and more efficient than before. The Porsche 919 Hybrid was homologated for the top energy-recovery category (8 megajoules for one lap in Le Mans) for the first time in 2015.