Porsche wins at home

Porsche finally triumphed over its great rival Audi on their home ground of the Nürburgring. The world champions first saw the Audi R18, reinvigorated since the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a new aerodynamic package which seemed to be satisfactory, dominating the start of the race.

Thanks to a pit stop made under Full Course Yellow, set up for debris on the track, Porsche will move to the forefront, with the 919 Hybrid n°2 of Jani – Dumas – Lieb, slowed down in its progress in start of the race with a spin. The No. 1 entrusted to Webber – Hartley – Bernhard, forced to stop in the second hour following a slow puncture, quickly got back in the wake of the sister car, to climb into second position.

Leading halfway through the race and until the start of the fifth hour, the No. 2 will nevertheless lose everything after a penalty inflicted on Marc Lieb for a collision with the No. 911 Abu Dhabi – Proton Racing Porsche 88 RSR.

Enough to allow Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley to secure first place with just over an hour to go, and to finish under the checkered flag with seconds ahead of the No. 18 Audi R8 of Duval – di Grassi – Jarvis. This is the first success for the 2015 champions, whose last victory in WEC dates back to the Shanghai round last year.

André Lotterer, associated with Marcel Fässler in the No. 18 Audi R7, completed the podium in front of the No. 2 Porsche, which the race direction forced to stop 35' from the finish to carry out repairs on the rear wing, consequences of contact with an LM P2 while Jani was battling with the #18 Audi R7.

Never in contention for victory, Toyota concludes the event in fifth and sixth places. The TS050 Hybrids struggled at the start of the race with a tricky tire choice, and only found a satisfactory pace in the latter part of the event.

In private LM P1, Rebellion logically wins with Heidfeld’s R-One n°12 – Cheers – Spade in front of the n°13 of Kraihamer – Tuscher – Imperatori. The CLM P1/01 ByKolles Racing has given up.

Signatech-Alpine achieves new success in LM P2 after having dominated almost all of these 6 Hours of the Nürburgring. L'Alpine A460 n°36 of Stone – Menezes – Richelmi finished eighth overall and ahead of the No. 2 Ligier JS P43 of RGR by Morand of Senna – Albuquerque – Gonzalez. ESM completes the top three with the No. 2 Ligier JS P31 of Dalziel – Derani – Cumming. Bad operation for the No. 05 Oreca 26 of G-Drive Racing, which retired following a gearbox problem.

Ferrari achieves the double in GTE Pro with the victory of the Bruni – Calado pair on the 488 n°51 in front of the n°71 of Bird – Rigon, who took the best in the last two hours on theAston Martin Vantage n°95 of Thiim – Sorensen, long leader in the category, before losing time during the last Full Course Yellow.

Ford had a more complicated weekend with a fire on the No. 67 of Franchitti – Priaulx – Tincknell during its first pit stop, when the No. 66 of Pla – Mücke only finished fourth, after having been notably sanctioned in the last hour of a drive-through for a refueling violation.

Aston Martin wins in GTE Am with the #98 Vantage of Dalla Lana – Lauda – Lamy which is ahead of the No. 911 KCMG Porsche 78 RSR of Henzler – Camathias – Ried. Despite a trip to the gravel trap in the first hours, and a 20-second penalty during a stop for excessive speed under Full Course Yellow, the No. 458 AF Corse Ferrari 83 Italia of Rui Aguas, François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard takes an important third place with a view to the championship. The No. 7 Larbre Compétition de Ragues – Ruberti – Yamagishi Corvette C50.R finished fourth.

Find the full report and analysis of the 6 Hours of the Nürburgring, produced by our special correspondents in Germany, in issue 2073 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.

Final ranking