Porsche take 1-2 Nurburgring finish
Porsche take 1-2 Nurburgring finish
Porsche had a day to remember on home soil at the Nurburgring, taking a 1-2 finish in both the Prototype and GTE-Pro classes in the latest round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The No.17 Porsche 919 Hybrid car claimed a maiden win for Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley. It was the second consecutive WEC win for Porsche after its Le Mans triumph in June.
The win for Webber, Hartley and Bernhard today means they are now just 17 points behind Silverstone and Spa victors Lotterer, Fassler and Treluyer in the fight for the 2015 FIA World Endurance Driver’s Championship standings.
“Achieving the second one-two after Le Mans is great for our team,” Webber said.
“This is my first Porsche victory and, of course, it is a big day for Brendon, Timo and myself, and it is always a team effort. The two of them were awesome, we had no technical issues and took an important step by improving our performance on shorter tracks. Traffic was sometimes brutal today, but we made it.”
The No.17 Porsche 919 Hybrid fought back from a long early pit stop, after having to replace its front bodywork. After this unscheduled stop, the Australian-German-New Zealand trio of drivers stamped their authority on the race and capitalized after the sister No.18 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Marc Lieb, Neel Jani and Romain Dumas lost time when three penalties had to be served for exceeding the fuel allowance on the car. An engine sensor that controls the fuel flow had failed on the No.18 Porsche 919 Hybrid.
“I’m incredibly happy that we got our first win,” Hartley said.
“After Timo was a bit unlucky in his first stint, everything went smoothly. With the new front nose the car’s performance was back where it should be, and I took the lead when our sister car was penalised. Later we kept our heads down and stayed focussed.“
Lotterer, Fassler and Treluyer took took third for Audi – Lotterer passing teammate Lucas di Grassi late in the race.
In GTE Pro the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR duo of Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen led the majority of the six hours, after the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari hit rare technical difficulties with a suspected electrical problem after just 15 minutes of racing.
For Lietz, the maximum points score meant that he now sits atop the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers points table, just a single point ahead of James Calado and Davide Rigon.
The No.91 Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSR controlled the gap to its sister No.92 car which had a much more eventful race. Frederic Makowiecki was penalised for having jumped the start and took a drive-through penalty in the early stages. The Frenchman then fought back fantastically but was involved in a collision with the No.71 AF Corse Ferrari 458 driven by James Calado.
The LMGTE Am class was won by the SMP Racing Ferrari after a race long battle with both the No.98 Aston Martin and the No.77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche. Patrick Dempsey scored his second consecutive FIA WEC podium – backing up his third place from Le Mans.
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