Bahrain-H+1: Fear for Porsche n°2, Audi in the lead

While the Audis were in the lead after an hour of racing, the No. 2 Porsche of the Championship leaders fell in the standings following a puncture following contact.

Published on 19/11/2016 à 15:08

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Bahrain-H+1: Fear for Porsche n°2, Audi in the lead

The Audis were the fastest at the end of this first hour of racing in Bahrain where the brand with the Rings made its last start in WEC. Loïc duval a conservé l’avantage de sa pole sur la R18 n°8 en creusant rapidement plusieurs secondes d’avance sur les Porsche, la n°2 de Neel Jani ayant rapidement pris l’avantage sur la n°1 de Timo Bernhard en raison de la situation au Championnat.

The situation changed on the 29th lap just after Neel Jani's first refueling. The Swiss suffered a puncture following contact with the Porsche 911 RSR KCMG of Christian Ried. Despite a blocked left rear wheel and a damaged rear hood, the Swiss driver managed to return to the pits. The 919 Hybrid of the Championship leaders left in seventh position.

Marcel Fässler made an aggressive start to lift the No. 18 R7 to second place and give hope of a double for the German brand.

La Toyota n ° 5 of Sébastien Buemi completes the provisional podium a good distance from the Audis by preceding the Porsche n°1 of Mark Webber after taking the advantage during the stops. The Swiss complains of power loss problems. The No. 050 TS6 Hybrid of Stéphane Sarrazin, who is playing for the Drivers' title against the crew of the No. 2 Porsche, is in fifth place and must hope for better to win the coronation.

THEAlpine No. 36 of Gustavo Menezes leads the LMP2 category, ahead of the Oreca 05 No. 44 Manor of Alex Lynn and the two Ligier JS P2 ESMs of Luis Felipe Derani and Giedo van der Garde.

In GTE Pro, it’s theAston Martin n°97 of Jonathan Adam who is in the lead with five seconds ahead of the Ferrari n°51 AF Corse by James Calado. Marco Sorensen protects his title chances in the No. 95 Vantage in third position in the category.

Larbre Compétition leads the GTE Am with the Corvette of Romain Brandela leading ahead of the Gulf Racing 911 RSR of Michael Wainwright. François Perrodo, driver of the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari at the top of the Drivers' ranking in the category, completes the provisional podium.