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Porsche Takes Commanding Win at Nürburgring

Porsche takes commanding 1-2 win in 6H Nürburgring…

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Porsche has taken a commanding 1-2 victory in Sunday’s Six Hours of Nürburgring, extending its lead in the FIA World Endurance Championship as a result of team orders.

Timo Bernhard drove the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid to a 1.606-second win over the sister entry of Andre Lotterer, who had the lead until the final fuel-only stops but spent 20 seconds longer in the pits.

The team decision sees Le Mans winners Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber extend their lead in the Drivers’ World Championship as a result.

It marked Bernhard and Porsche’s third consecutive win at the Nürburgring and the 15th win for the Porsche 919 Hybrid in WEC competition.

Additionally, it was Porsche’s first 1-2 finish since Shanghai 2015. 

The two Porsches swapped the lead throughout the rather uneventful six-hour race, and often times controlling the race over Toyota, which as expected, struggled for ultimate pace against Porsche’s new high downforce aero kit.

Despite having started from the pole, the No. 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez finishing 1 minute and 3 seconds behind in third.

Kobayashi led the opening hour but lost ground during Lopez’s stint, with the Argentinean losing the top spot to Hartley in the second hour after struggling on double-stinted tires.

Trouble struck the No. 8 Toyota before the start of the race, with Sebastien Buemi slowing on the formation lap with fuel pump issues.

The car lost five laps undergoing repairs but still managed to finish fourth overall, although not playing a factor.

Jackie Chan DC Racing scored its third class win in four races this season in LMP2, with an equally dominant run by Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung.

Tung took the Jota Sport-run No. 38 Oreca 07 Gibson to a one-lap victory over the No. 31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca of Bruno Senna in second.

The Brazilian led early but was overtaken by the pole-sitting DC Racing entry in the second hour, and never relinquished the lead again, despite having to change its rear-deck due to a non-functioning taillight. 

It marked back-to-back class wins for the trio, who claimed a historic second place overall finish at Le Mans last month.

Defending class champions Nico Lapierre and Gustavo Menezes, plus Matt Rao, completed the class podium in third in the No. 36 Signatech Alpine A470 Gibson.

The No. 4 ByKolles Racing ENSO CLM P1/01 NISMO soldiered home in 14th overall, 22 laps behind the overall race-winning Porsche, after weekend-long handling issues for the lone LMP1 Privateer entry.

RESULTS: 6H Nürburgring

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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