Image Courtesy of FIA WEC

Porsche took a dominant 1-2 win at the 6 Hours of Nürburgring, extending their championship lead over the #8 Toyota. Bernhard crossed the line as the winner, just 1.6 seconds ahead of Andre Lotterer.

Toyota’s race got off on the wrong foot when the #8 slowed dramatically on the formation lap. Sebastien Buemi brought the car back to the pits where it was diagnosed as fuel pump failure. An impressive change by the Toyota crew saw the car rejoin losing just 5 laps, but any challenge for the podium was already lost.

Toyota lead the opening 90 minutes, with Kobayashi managing to keep both Porsches at bay. After the second round of pit stops the tide of the race turned, with Porsche passing the Toyota on track before stretching their lead. Jose Maria Lopez struggled to double-stint the Michelin tyres to the same affect as the Porsches, and slid to 50 seconds back. The time lost was never regained and Porsche strengthened its grip on the race.

Andre Lotterer rediscovered his mojo and pulled away at the front in the #1 Porsche, extending the gap to over 10 seconds. Ultimately a late call by the Porsche pit wall decided the race winner. Lotterer was held an additional 20 seconds in the pits, allowing Bernhard to cruise to the victory without the drama of swapping the cars on track.

Image Courtesy of FIA WEC

The Mighty 38 of Jackie Chan DC Racing took a third victory of the year in LMP2, in similarly dominant fashion. The Jota-Sport run Oreca 07 took the lead from the Rebellions and never looked under threat for the remainder of the race.

Senna, Canal and Albuquerque brought the #31 Rebellion home in second, whilst a Nico Lapierre late race charge gave Signatech Alpine its second podium of the year.

After having its pole position lapped removed for a technical violation, G-Drive racing started from the back of the grid and had to serve a further 3 minute stop and go penalty after Rusinov’s incident at Le Mans. The team managed an impressive come back as substitute driver Ben Hanley claimed 6th in LMP, after overtaking ex-F1 star Petrov in the final laps.

The #4 ByKolles Racing ENSO CLM P1/01 NISMO managed to finish the race 14th overall. The car suffered vibration problems all weekend and was unable to diagnose the root cause. The team is unlikely to continue the remainder of the WEC season, instead choosing to concentrate on the 2018 car.

Engineering student, lover of all things technical and lifelong motorsport fan. Employed in the Oil & Gas Industry, developing Major Emergency Management simulations. Owner of the best beard on the site.