Four In A Row For Porsche #17 as Porsche Claim The Constructor’s Championship
- Nov 1, 2015
- 4 min read
In an amazing twist of events Porsche managed to secure another one-two this season, demoting championship rivals Audi #7 to the bottom step of the podium. It all came down to the wire as the Audi team tried to put the pressure on Porsche, but Porsche had the situation under control, even when Audi #7 unlapped themselves from #17 to get back onto the lead lap. #17 pitted first, taking on new tyres and fuel to secure the lead for the end of the race, but Porsche played a different tactic with #18 to try and jump Audi in the pits. By staying out longer (and staying ahead of #17 in clean air, holding the lead for a while) they managed to maintain a consistent gap and a steady pace. After their pit for only fuel the gap to Audi #7 had reduced massively, but they had managed to retain second place. Yellow flags and full course yellows played into their hands as the clock clicked down, preventing a charging Lotterer no opportunity to make the pass and climb any higher on the podium.
The end of the race was brought forwards slightly when Rebellion #13 pulled off to the side of the track and caught fire. The young driver got out of the car before it caught alight and was perfectly fine. However, this did mean yet another no points finish for the second Rebellion car in what has been a pretty torrid season. Disaster almost struck twice as a few laps before the other Rebellion #12 lost the car and crashed into the barriers. That incident and the incident of car #42 saw the full course yellows hit the track in the last ten minutes of the race (for debris on track). But #12 managed to get the car back to the pits swiftly, fixing it and rejoining the track still in the lead.
LMP2 had a similar battle towards the end of the race. With Signtech Alpine #36 having a minute lead on the chasing pack, and being the only LMP2 car on the lead lap, the victory was in the bag and they took their maiden win of the series. But behind them the battle for third was beginning to look interesting. #47 KCMG made an amazing comeback to get the car into fourth and be chasing down the #28 G-Drive car for the last step on the podium. However the yellow flags and full course yellows did all they could to halt the charge; KCMG’s Nick Tandy lifted off, having to settle for fourth in class. That was until two minutes from the end of the race when they track had gone back to green G-Drive’s #28 lost the car into turn one under his own steam, beaching it in the gravel and ending not classified with no points.
The LMGTE Pro class saw Porsche #91 extend their championship campaign with a victory, rivals in the AF Corse #51 finishing second with the Porsche sister car #92 rounding off the podium. From so far back at the beginning of the race the weather really helped Porsche to gain the advantage here today. As they other classes battled together it seemed that the Pro class was pretty much set after the final pit stops, with the Ferrari’s and second Porsche chasing the lead down hard to no avail. The Am class was a similar situation as AF Corse #83 managed to bring it home and secure the win. Towards the beginning of the final hour Aston Martin #96 brought out the yellow flags for a short spell, having pulled the car off the track as an issue hit the car. They got moving again, limping back to the pits for repairs and taking them completely out of the podium fight. But the car got back out on track, finishing sixth in class whilst the sister car (#98) took the second podium step for the team. Class championship leaders #72 did amazingly well to get a third position for the team, keeping the championship fight alive.
But the biggest point of the day was that Porsche secured the LMP Manufacturer’s title with a race in hand. Having dominated most of the season, this wasn’t too much of a surprise but for the team who only rejoined the LMP class last year this is a massive achievement. The car this year has been unstoppable from the likes of the Audi and Toyota just has not been able to hold the torch to the competition. With the LMP constructors all wrapped up this leaves the driver’s championship. A third-place finish or above for the #17 car will see them crowned 2015 World Champions. They go into the final round with a 12-point lead over only challengers #7 Audi. The private LMP1 championship (between Rebellion #12/#13 and Team Bykolles #4) has also been wrapped up this weekend with #12 now too far ahead to be caught with one race left and a maximum of 26 points available. It’s an impressive result considering the issues Rebellion have had with their cars.
The final round of the 2015 World Endurance Championship comes in three weeks time in Bahrain. Join us here on the 20th and 21st of November for all the action and hour-by-hour race reports as we see who will be crowned champion in each class. Also follow @InsideLineWEC for the most up-to-date news and gossip on all things WEC.
(image: www.fiawec.com)
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