Porsche has crowned the 919 Hybrid’s career with a third consecutive Manufacturers’ World Championship title. A second and third place finish at the Shanghai 6-hour race on Sunday produced an early title decision at round eight of nine on the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC calendar. At the same time, Earl Bamber (NZ), Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ) clinched the drivers’ title.
“I was second in the car and stayed there for 76 laps,” commented Hartley. “We lost a lot of downforce in the beginning, so the first stint was hard work. At the stop, we changed the nose which improved this issue.
“But we had one set of tyres less than all the other cars after we lost one in qualifying. So this was a kind of game over for us. But we definitely have had an incredibly year. Taking the World Championship title after winning Le Mans – it might take a while until it all sinks in. I had a few busy weeks but sharing this moment with Earl and Timo I will not forget for the rest of my life.”
“World Champion! It just sounds amazing,” said Bamber. “The team was fighting hard for it all year and now we grab the manufacturers and drivers world championship.
“The task was to bring it home in third position which ultimately became second. This weekend is super special. I can hardly believe that I won my first championship with Porsche back in 2013, only four years ago.”
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing dominated the 6 Hours of Shanghai to win its fourth race of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season on a day tinged with frustration.
Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 TS050 HYBRID took victory by more than a lap from their nearest challengers for TOYOTA’s third win in Shanghai, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.
For a short time after the start, Earl Bamber managed to improve to third position but then had to let the faster #8 Toyota go, dropping back in fourth. When the #1 Porsche had a technical issue, Bamber then moved through to third. After 61 laps, Bamber handed the car over to Hartley who was eventually (on lap 126) lapped by the leading #8 Toyota. Still in third place overall, Bernhard took over and moved up to finish second when the #7 Toyota had its unscheduled repair stop.
The Porsche 919 Hybrid has netted six world championships, three outright Le Mans wins, a total of 17 race wins including seven double victories, 19 pole positions and twelve fastest race laps from 33 races.
6 Hours of Shanghai results:
1st #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 195 laps
2nd #2 Porsche (Bernhard/Bamber/Hartley) +1 laps
3rd #1 Porsche (Jani/Lotterer/Tandy) +1 lap
4th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +7 laps
5th #31 Rebellion (Canal/Prost/Senna) +12 laps
6th #36 Alpine (Lapierre/Menezes/Negrao) +12 laps
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