Porsche triumph at WEC Nurburgring

Track action (photo by Melissa Warren)

Track action (photo by Melissa Warren)Porsche Team took a memorable 1-2 finish on home soil at the Nurburgring as 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.

A bumper 62,000 crowd enjoyed three days of excellent WEC action on the first ever visit to Germany. The fans could not have gone home happier as Porsche took not only a 1-2 overall, but also victory and second place in the LMGTE Pro class.

The win for Webber, Hartley and Bernhard 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.

Mark Webber, Porsche Team: “When I first made the decision to continue racing after I’d finished in F1, it was a no-brainer to come and drive for Porsche because it is such a famous brand on and off track and for me to race with these guys it’s a real pleasure, the spirit in the camp is incredible. We are still quite a new team and we are still learning a lot every day.”

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 capitalised 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.

After the first, five-second stop/go penalty, Marc Lieb engaged in a close side-by-side fight with Webber, which briefly saw the cars touch at turn two. However, the two longer penalties, 30-seconds and 60-seconds respectively, meant that any chance of victory was all but lost.

The No.18 Porsche recovery drive saw exceptional stints from Neel Jani and Marc Lieb in the final hours. Jani took part in a thrilling battle with both of the Audi R18 etron quattro’s in the final hour, as he attempted to climb up in to second position.

The fight ultimately got resolved at the final pit stop, and from there Marc Lieb was able to ward off any threat from Lucas Di Grassi in the No.8 Audi R18 etron quattro and Andre Lotterer in the No.7 car. Lotterer found a way by Di Grassi for third place in the final moments of the race, and so maintained the No.7 crew’s 100% podium record in 2015.

Toyota Racing finished its home race in fifth and sixth positions after a clean run to the chequered flag. The reigning champions; Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi in the No.1 Toyota TS 040 headed home the No.2 crew of Stephane Sarrazin, Alex Wurz and Mike Conway.

The ByKolles finished as the leading LMP1 privateer with Pierre Kaffer and Simon Trummer completing the CLM P1/01’s most competitive weekend to date.

The AER powered LMP1 car took over at the front of the privateer class early on after both Rebellion Racing cars hit trouble. The ByKolles car even recovered from losing its rear wing on the main straight to finish the race in 18th position overall.

The No.12 Rebellion R-One claimed second in the class but was delayed after stopping on track during the second hour.

The KCMG ORECA continues in excellent form with another LMP2 win. The Hong Kong entered team scored a second win in as many races to extend its title leads in the drivers’ and teams’ title fight.

Nick Tandy initially opened up a healthy gap over the chasing G-Drive Racing Ligier-Nissan entries, but the lead was temporarily lost after the second scheduled stops.

Matt Howson was able to chase down Roman Rusinov’s No.26 G-Drive Racing Ligier-Nissan and pulled off a conclusive move into the first corner, before working on regaining another gap.

Further excellent stints from Richard Bradley and another from Tandy at the end, wrapped up the maximum points again and extended their LMP2 title lead to 15 points.

G-Drive Racing didn’t have an answer to the KCMG ORECA05-Nissan’s pace but still claimed a fine double podium position. Rusinov, Canal and Bird were 71 seconds adrift in second place, while Derani, Yacaman and Gonzalez scored their third podium of the season after a spirited race, which saw Derani pull off one of the moves of the race when he overtook Nelson Panciatici’s Signatech Alpine at turn two.

Porsche concluded a perfect weekend at the Nurburgring as Porsche Team Manthey scored a superb 1-2 to pass Ferrari in the battle for the FIA World Endurance Cup for Manufacturers.

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.

Richard Lietz, Porsche Team Manthey: “It was hard – not just for us but for everybody. It’s not easy around here with the gravel traps waiting if you make a mistake. That was the key – we controlled our pace a little towards the end but of course we are very happy with the end result, it was a great team effort this weekend.”

For Christensen, it was his first WEC win, and the Dane was highly delighted as he exuberantly sprayed champagne on the podium. 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 resulting contact, which occurred just as a Full Course Yellow was notified, caused a puncture to the Ferrari and some light bodywork damage for the Porsche.

This battle for second place continued to rage after the driver changes, and both Patrick Pilet and Davide Rigon jostled for position with great spirit. Again the fight was heated but another puncture for the Ferrari gave the Porsche substantial breathing space.

There was a sting in the tail for the Pilet/Makowiecki Porsche though, as the earlier contact with the AF Corse Ferrari was penalised and Pilet had to serve a drive-through in the final half hour of the race. The gap however was sufficient for Porsche Team Manthey to celebrate a home track 1-2, and confirm that Calado and Rigon’s spirited race resulted in a third place finish.

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.

The SMP Ferrari 458 Italia of Victor Shaytar, Andrea Bertolini and Alexei Basov beat their opposition for the second race in succession to conclude a perfect points scoring weekend after Shaytar and Basov took the pole point in qualifying. The Russian/Italian alliance now enjoys a healthy 25-point advantage in the points’ standings.

Silverstone and Spa LMGTE Am winners, the No.98 Aston Martin Racing crew of Mathias Lauda/Paul Dalla Lana, and the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Rui Aguas/Francois Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard completed the podium. The Dempsey-Proton Racing trio of Patrick Dempsey/Patrick Long and Marco Seefried came home fourth after leading earlier in the race after an eye-catching double stint from Long.

The fifth round of the World Endurance Championship will take place on 19th September at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Race results
1 17 LMP1 Timo BERNHARD, Mark WEBBER, Brendon HARTLEY Porsche 919 Hybrid M 203 6:01’16.966 30 1’38.307 188.1
2 18 LMP1 Romain DUMAS, Neel JANI, Marc LIEB Porsche 919 Hybrid M 202 6:02’06.510 1 Laps 1 Laps 4 1’37.955 188.8
3 7 LMP1 Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoît TRÉLUYER Audi R18 e-tron quattro M 202 6:02’22.258 1 Laps 15.748 100 1’38.611 187.5
4 8 LMP1 Lucas DI GRASSI, Loïc DUVAL, Oliver JARVIS Audi R18 e-tron quattro M 202 6:02’24.429 1 Laps 2.171 149 1’38.608 187.5
5 1 LMP1 Anthony DAVIDSON, Sébastien BUEMI, Kazuki NAKAJIMA Toyota TS 040 – Hybrid M 200 6:02’26.489 3 Laps 2 Laps 5 1’40.207 184.5
6 2 LMP1 Alexander WURZ, Stéphane SARRAZIN, Mike CONWAY Toyota TS 040 – Hybrid M 199 6:02’39.301 4 Laps 1 Laps 4 1’40.738 183.6
7 47 LMP2 Matthew HOWSON, Richard BRADLEY, Nick TANDY Oreca 05 – Nissan D 185 6:01’23.477 18 Laps 14 Laps 3 1’47.290 172.4
8 26 LMP2 Roman RUSINOV, Julien CANAL, Sam BIRD Ligier JS P2 – Nissan D 185 6:02’34.922 18 Laps 1’11.445 4 1’47.579 171.9
9 28 LMP2 Gustavo YACAMAN, Luis Felipe DERANI, Ricardo GONZALEZ Ligier JS P2 – Nissan D 184 6:01’52.878 19 Laps 1 Laps 7 1’47.859 171.5
10 43 LMP2 Pierre RAGUES, Oliver WEBB, Archie HAMILTON Morgan Evo – SARD D 184 6:03’00.711 19 Laps 1’07.833 4 1’48.672 170.2
11 36 LMP2 Nelson PANCIATICI, Paul Loup CHATIN, Vincent CAPILLAIRE Alpine A450b – Nissan D 183 6:01’18.996 20 Laps 1 Laps 5 1’48.522 170.4
12 30 LMP2 Scott SHARP, Ryan DALZIEL, David HEINEMEIER HANSSON Ligier JS P2 – HPD D 183 6:01’56.235 20 Laps 37.239 147 1’48.879 169.9
13 42 LMP2 Nick LEVENTIS, Danny WATTS, Jonny KANE Gibson 015S – Nissan D 181 6:01’38.173 22 Laps 2 Laps 80 1’48.515 170.4
14 31 LMP2 Ed BROWN, Johannes VAN OVERBEEK, Jonathon FOGARTY Ligier JS P2 – HPD D 177 6:01’57.833 26 Laps 4 Laps 157 1’49.352 169.1
15 91 LMGTE Pro Richard LIETZ, Michael CHRISTENSEN, Porsche 911 RSR M 176 6:02’45.506 27 Laps 1 Laps 3 1’55.798 159.7
16 92 LMGTE Pro Patrick PILET, Frédéric MAKOWIECKI, Porsche 911 RSR M 175 6:01’19.310 28 Laps 1 Laps 3 1’55.777 159.7
17 71 LMGTE Pro Davide RIGON, James CALADO, Ferrari F458 Italia M 175 6:01’30.055 28 Laps 10.745 122 1’55.544 160.1
18 4 LMP1 Simon TRUMMER, Pierre KAFFER, CLM P1/01 – AER M 175 6:02’34.099 28 Laps 1’04.044 6 1’45.364 175.5
19 95 LMGTE Pro Christoffer NYGAARD, Marco SØRENSEN, Aston Martin Vantage V8 M 175 6:03’12.104 28 Laps 38.005 3 1’56.910 158.2
20 99 LMGTE Pro Alex MACDOWALL, Fernando REES, Richie STANAWAY Aston Martin Vantage V8 M 174 6:02’22.293 29 Laps 1 Laps 145 1’56.686 158.5
21 97 LMGTE Pro Darren TURNER, Stefan MÜCKE, Jonathan ADAM Aston Martin Vantage V8 M 173 6:01’53.962 30 Laps 1 Laps 132 1’57.218 157.8
22 12 LMP1 Nicolas PROST, Mathias BECHE, Nick HEIDFELD Rebellion R-One – AER M 173 6:02’11.827 30 Laps 17.865 5 1’43.760 178.2
23 72 LMGTE Am Victor SHAYTAR, Andrea BERTOLINI, Aleksey BASOV Ferrari F458 Italia M 173 6:03’09.566 30 Laps 57.739 115 1’56.986 158.1
24 98 LMGTE Am Paul DALLA LANA, Pedro LAMY, Mathias LAUDA Aston Martin Vantage V8 M 172 6:01’52.933 31 Laps 1 Laps 3 1’57.672 157.2
25 83 LMGTE Am François PERRODO, Emmanuel COLLARD, Rui AGUAS Ferrari F458 Italia M 172 6:02’10.165 31 Laps 17.232 148 1’57.319 157.6
26 77 LMGTE Am Patrick DEMPSEY, Patrick LONG, Marco SEEFRIED Porsche 911 RSR M 172 6:02’13.684 31 Laps 3.519 2 1’56.859 158.3
27 50 LMGTE Am Gianluca RODA, Paolo RUBERTI, Kristian POULSEN Chevrolet Corvette C7 M 171 6:01’48.653 32 Laps 1 Laps 142 1’56.440 158.8
28 88 LMGTE Am Christian RIED, Khaled AL QUBAISI, Earl BAMBER Porsche 911 RSR M 170 6:01’57.412 33 Laps 1 Laps 150 1’56.672 158.5
29 96 LMGTE Am Francesco CASTELLACCI, Roald GOETHE, Stuart HALL Aston Martin Vantage V8 M 169 6:03’08.571 34 Laps 1 Laps 103 1’57.839 156.9
30 51 LMGTE Pro Gianmaria BRUNI, Toni VILANDER, Ferrari F458 Italia M 168 6:02’19.150 35 Laps 1 Laps 2 1’55.191 160.5
31 13 LMP1 Alexandre IMPERATORI, Dominik KRAIHAMER, Daniel ABT Rebellion R-One – AER M 1 55’16.198 202 Laps 167 Laps  By Melissa Warren

Track action (photo by Melissa Warren) Track action (photo by Melissa Warren) Track action (photo by Melissa Warren) Track action (photo by Melissa Warren) Track action (photo by Melissa Warren) Track action (photo by Melissa Warren) Track action (photo by Melissa Warren) Track action (photo by Melissa Warren)

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