Porsche Still Lead After First Hour of WEC 6 Hours of Nurburgring
- Aug 30, 2015
- 3 min read
Race day showed the warmest weather of the weekend, leading the teams to have a few concerns about tyres. However, the first hour showed the fears were for nothing, as all incidents have had nothing to do with tyre degradation. Neel Jani managed to retain the lead over the entire field, with KCMG holding the lead of LMP2. Down in the LMGTE classes issues for the two AF Corse cars lost them their one-two in the Pro and promotes Porsche Team Manthey car #91 to lead the class. Dempsey- Proton Racing leads the Am in a close field, following closely as they continue around the track.
The start saw the grid remain pretty much the same, at they disappeared round the first corner. Porsche #17 had issues with a broken splitter, meaning it was constantly loosing time to the sister car. The cause for the damage is unknown but it forced the team to pit the car early for new tyres, more fuel and a nose change. The long stop saw Mark Webber take over from teammate Timo Bernhard and the car #17 was followed into the pits by the #7 Audi. The Audi managed to make the jump on the Porsche, with a stop only seven seconds slower. There was no driver change for the Audi which suggested they had a slow stop. However, just before the end of the first hour Webber took second position back from the Audi, currently lapping as the fastest car on track.
LMP2 saw Tandy carry on from where he left yesterday, keeping hold of the lead and extending the gap back to Sam Bird in car #26. KCMG looks to be untouchable at the moment as the first hour comes to a close. G-Drive Racing teammate car #28 had to fight back from forth in class to take the last podium spot from car #36. Signatech Apline and Strakka Racing kept switching position between one another, but eventually #42 managed to make the overtake stick.
LMPGTE Pro probably saw the most action-packed first hour as front-runners AF Corse saw the first electrical issues for car #51. The car stopped on turn eight, bringing out the first full course yellows and dropped the field down to running at 80mph. Reasons for the electrical failure on the Ferrari remains unknown but the car is back out on track, running at the back of the field and trying to do as much damage limitation as possible. The championship-leaders hope to scrap some points from the race to extend their lead over teammates #71. Earl Bamber span car #88 towards the beginning of the race. He was running high up the grid before the spin but dropped himself to the back of the pack as they all passed him whilst he was stationary on track.
LMGTE Am currently sees the Dempsey team in the lead. The battle between second through to seventh could not be closer as the cars lap at very similar times. A few bumps of contact have proven costly for some of the runners, but it was the Porsches in both of the GTE classes that had the best starts.
As the pit stops start at the end of the first stints, the grid begins to jumble up. But it is still a Porsche one-two, looking to have untouchable pace with their new high down force bodywork.
Race order after first hour: 18, 7, 17, 8, 1, 2, 47, 4, 26, 28, 43, 42, 30, 36, 31, 91, 95, 71, 92, 99, 12, 77, 98, 72, 83, 88, 50, 97, 96, 51, 13
(image: www.fiawec.com)
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