Bernhard, Hartley and Webber win in Austin
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| No 17 Porsche wins |
Stuttgart. The Porsche 919 Hybrid keeps leaving its mark on the world’s race tracks. After one-two results at the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Nürburgring, the ground breaking hybrid race car also won in Austin (USA) on Saturday. The German brand also secured the class victory with the production-based GT sports car, the Porsche 911 RSR. The fifth round of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the Texan capital was held in temperatures as high as 35° Celsius. The WEC is considered one of the the most important World Championships besides Formula One.
On the 5.513 kilometer long demanding Formula One track Mark Webber (car number 17) had taken the lead from his team mate and pole setter Neel Jani (car number 18) right after the start. The number 17 car stayed in the lead for the first 116 of the 185 race laps until it lost it to the sister car due to a 60 second stop and go penalty.
The number 18 car was able to defend the lead until 35 minutes before the checkered flag. A problem with the 12 volt onboard circuit caused a long pit stop. Nevertheless a one-two in qualifying, the fastest race lap (1:47.436 minutes by Brendon Hartley on lap 118) and another win again proved the Porsche 919 Hybrid’s potential.
Mark Webber started from P2 and overtook Neel Jani in turn one. After 28 laps the Australian pitted for the first time and handed over the car to Brendon Hartley. After 57 laps Webber took over again. When he came in for his second pit stop after 88 laps, he overshot the spot in the pit lane and needs to be pushed back. Timo Bernhard jumped in for a double stint and continued leading.
After 116 laps he had to take a 60 second stop and go penalty and continued in second position behind the sister car. After 119 laps Timo came in for the regular pit stop and stayed in the car. After 148 laps Brendon took over again. After a final splash and dash on lap 171 he brought the winning car home.
Porsche hybrid technology is heading towards the world championship title
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| The winning No. 17 in the pits |
With its victory at the fifth of eight championship rounds, Porsche has now won its third race in succession with the innovative Porsche 919 Hybrid. The prototype race car generates up to 1,000 horsepower from fuel and electricity. The victorious car on Saturday was driven by Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AU). The race lasted six hours, and three drivers took turns at the wheel.
Porsche returned to the championship’s top category in 2014 when the WEC adopted innovative Technical Regulations that encourage competition between pioneering technologies. Prototypes such as the Porsche 919 Hybrid don’t have to be based on existing road cars, which is why the 919 acts as a running research laboratory for future technology. Porsche is currently leading the World Championship ahead of Audi and Toyota, and this year has also won the most important long distance race – the Le Mans 24 Hours.
From Racetrack into Series Production
In Austin the Porsche Team also celebrated victory in the category for the production-based GT race cars. The category sees fierce competition between well-known sports car brands such as Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche. Richard Lietz (AT) and team mate Michael Christensen (DK) took victory in the Porsche 911 RSR. The Porsche 911 RSR is the current competition version of the iconic 911 production sports car. Its chassis is built in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, just as every Porsche 911 is. The 911 is not only the world’s best-selling ever sports car, but also the most successful on race tracks around the world. Porsche has always been committed to technology transfer from the race track into series production, and vice versa. Therefore, all information that is gained in developing and racing the 911 RSR will also be used in the design of future generations of the 911. Examples that have already been successfully introduced are lightweight construction and aerodynamics, both of which contribute to the car’s energy efficiency. Last year the 911 RSR won the United States’ three most prestigious long distance races: the Daytona 24 Hours, the Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans.
The runner-up finish for Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler saw the Audi trio maintain their lead in the Drivers’ World Championship, while the No. 8 Audi, which gave way to title-leading entry, completed the podium in third.
Kazuki Nakajima drove the No. 1 Toyota TS040 Hybrid to fourth, after a drama-filled day that included an off for Anthony Davidson and penalty for dangerous driving at pit exit.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]It wasn’t nearly as bad for the No. 2 Toyota, however, which retired just after nightfall following a crash by Mike Conway.
Dumas, meanwhile, returned to the track with less than 10 minutes to take the checkered flag, and crucial championship points for he and co-drivers Neel Jani and Marc Lieb.
Troubles for both of the Rebellion R-One AERs meant that the ByKolles CLM P1/01 AER collected its second consecutive class victory in LMP1 Privateer.
Pierre Kaffer and Simon Trummer took the Austrian entry to an 8th place overall finish.
G-Drive Racing scored its second class victory of the season, following a race-long battle with KCMG in LMP2.
Sam Bird pedaled the No. 26 Ligier JS P2 Nissan to a 1 minute and 21-second win over the No. 47 Oreca 05 Nissan driven by Nicolas Lapierre, who was forced to serve a stop-and-go penalty in the closing minutes.
The pit infringement penalty didn’t matter, though, as Bird held the lead through the final hour, claiming he and co-drivers Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal’s first class victory since the Silverstone season-opener.
Lapierre, Richard Bradley and Matt Howson finished second, having charged to the lead in the opening hour after starting from the rear of the 31-car field.
The No. 28 G-Drive entry of Gustavo Yacaman, Pipo Derani and Ricardo Gonzalez completed the class podium in third.
A last-lap pass by Ryan Dalziel gave Tequila Patron ESM a fourth place class result on home soil, after battling brake issues with its No. 30 Ligier JS P2 Honda.
WINNING QUOTES
Timo Bernhard (34, Germany): "It was an exciting race. When we had the stop and go penalty in the beginning it looked pretty much as if we would have bad luck today. We had dropped back to second, but in the end we still won the race and earned points for the championship. For a long time it looked like another one-two result for Porsche."
Brendon Hartley (25, New Zealand): "I am over the moon that we have finally won a race. Our 919 was perfect right from the first free practice session here. Mark did a great job in his first stint, we were unlucky with the penalty but the crew was so quick that we were still able to win."
Mark Webber (39, Australia): "I had a super start, got the braking point for turn one perfectly right and passed Neel. Everything went really well except for my second pit stop. In this very wide pit lane I overshot our garage. When it comes to double stints – Timo is the man. Hats off."
Results
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Behind |
| 1 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 6h00m12.228s |
| 2 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1m06.840s |
| 3 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 1 Lap |
| 4 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 2 Laps |
| 5 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 15 Laps |
| 6 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Lapierre | KCMG | ORECA/Nissan | 15 Laps |
| 7 | LMP2 | G.Yacaman, L.Derani, R.Gonzalez | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 16 Laps |
| 8 | LMP1 | S.Trummer, P.Kaffer | Team ByKolles | CLM/AER | 16 Laps |
| 9 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.Hansson | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | 16 Laps |
| 10 | LMP2 | P.Ragues, O.Webb, A.Hamilton | Team SARD Morand | Morgan/SARD | 16 Laps |
| 11 | LMP2 | N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire | Signatech Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | 16 Laps |
| 12 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 17 Laps |
| 13 | LMP2 | N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane | Strakka Racing | Gibson/Nissan | 19 Laps |
| 14 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, M.Christensen | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 23 Laps |
| 15 | GTE Pro | P.Pilet, F.Makowiecki | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 23 Laps |
| 16 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado | AF Corse | Ferrari | 23 Laps |
| 17 | GTE Pro | F.Rees, A.MacDowall, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 24 Laps |
| 18 | GTE Pro | M.Sorensen, C.Nygaard | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 25 Laps |
| 19 | GTE Pro | D.Turner, J.Adam | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 25 Laps |
| 20 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander | AF Corse | Ferrari | 25 Laps |
| 21 | GTE Am | V.Shaitar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov | SMP Racing | Ferrari | 26 Laps |
| 22 | GTE Am | C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, E.Bamber | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Porsche | 26 Laps |
| 23 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas | AF Corse | Ferrari | 27 Laps |
| 24 | GTE Am | P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried | Dempsey Racing – Proton | Porsche | 27 Laps |
| 25 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 27 Laps |
| 26 | GTE Am | F.Castellacci, B.Simonsen, S.Hall | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 27 Laps |
| 27 | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, K.Poulsen | Larbre Competition | Chevrolet | 28 Laps |
| 28 | LMP1 | A.Imperatori, D.Kraihamer, D.Abt | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 38 Laps |
| 29 | LMP1 | N.Prost, M.Beche, N.Heidfeld | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 38 Laps |
| – | LMP1 | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway | Toyota Racing | Toyota | Retirement |
| – | LMP2 | E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | Retirement |
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