Porsche successfully converted a front lockout into a one-two finish at the Six Hours of Shanghai to seal to manufacturers’ crown on Sunday.
Crucially for the drivers championship, the #17 crew of Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard took their fourth consecutive victory of the season, with its sister car finishing second despite a topsy turvy race.
During the first green flag lap - the race began under the safety car due to treacherous conditions - Marc Leib made contact with Andre Lottere’s #7 Audi, falling to the back of the pack. However, the #17 car staged a remarkable recovery, returning to second position behind the leading Porsche.
The second incident happened with one hour and 20 minutes to go when Romain Dumas spun while lapping a GTE car, falling behind the leading Audi in the process. However, a decision to gamble on a fuel-only final stop paid dividends, and Dumas duly brought the #17 Porsche in second place at the chequered flag.
The two Audi cars finished in second and third place respectively, with the #7 trio of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler leading the charge for the German outfit. Audi were tactical with their approach, often being the first to pit during changing weather conditions.
However, such was Porsche’s pace that it beat Audis by half a minute, extending the lead in the drivers’ championship to 12 points.
Toyota drivers finished in customary fifth and sixth positions, with the #2 car beating last year’s champions Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson (and Kazuki Nakajima) by over a lap.
In LMP2, Signatech Alpine squad took their first class win, ahead of the championship leading G-Drive entry of Sam Bird, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal. The second G-Drive car crashed on the final lap, promoting the #47 KCMG on the final podium position.
Porsche mirrored its LMP1 win in GTE Pro once again, with Richard Leitz closing in on the drivers’ title. Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni finished second for AF Corse, while the #92 Porsche completed the class podium with a third place finish.
In GTE Am, AF Corse took its first class victory of the season with the #83 car, with the #98 Aston Martin finishing second and the #72 SMP Racing rounding off the podium positions.
FIA WEC Six Hours of Shanghai - LMP1 Results
- Webber/Hartley/Bernhard (Porsche) 169 laps
- Dumas/Jani/Lieb (Porsche) +26.294s LMP1
- Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer (Audi) +30.311s
- Jarvis/Duval/di Grassi (Audi) +50.906s
- Wurz/Sarrazin/Conway (Toyota) +4 laps
- Davidson/Buemi/Nakajima (Toyota) +5 laps
- Prost/Beche (Rebellion) +11 laps
- Kaffer/Trummer (ByKolles) +13 laps
- Tuscher/Imperatori/Kraihamer (Rebellion) +16 laps
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