Porsche has confirmed that Alexander Hitzinger, the technical director of its LMP1 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship, will leave the company at the end of the month.
Porsche returned to the top line of endurance racing in 2014 before going on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA WEC title last year, vanquishing rivals Audi and Toyota with its 919 Hybrid car.
Hitzinger has been an integral part of the Porsche LMP1 project since 2011, but will step down from his role on March 31 to pursue other projects outside of motorsport.
“On behalf of Porsche I want to thank Alexander Hitzinger very much for his huge contribution to the outstanding successes of the Porsche 919 Hybrid,” Porsche LMP1 vice-president Fritz Enzinger commented.
“He was one of the first people to come on board at the end of 2011. I appreciate his desire for a new challenge.
“We are well prepared for the 2016 season. Within our team, which has a total of 260 employees, we also have a remarkably strong group of engineers working for the management team. The 2016 Porsche 919 Hybrid is ready to go.”
The 2016-spec 919 Hybrid will make its public on-track debut at the pre-season ‘Prologue’ test at Paul Ricard in two weeks’ time.