Porsche wins the drivers' world title

11/30/2015 12:52:03 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)

Stuttgart: Porsche has concluded the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Bahrain by taking the sixth consecutive race win and the second title this year.

For Timo Bernhard (DE) Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AUS) fifth place in the six-hour race was enough to win the drivers’ world championship. Romain Dumas (FR) Neel Jani (CH) and Marc Lieb (DE) took their long awaited first race win this season with the second Porsche 919 Hybrid.

The eighth and final WEC round was a thriller and this also applied to the drivers’ championship battle.

Bernhard/Hartley/Webber had started with a 13-point lead ahead of the best placed Audi trio.

Given the great season Porsche had so far with the Le Mans victory and the early win of the manufacturers’ title it looked possible to win the drivers’ title in Bahrain.

But half an hour into the race the number 17 car had to come into the pits for a long repair stop. After that the trio had to go flat out to catch up from the very back of the pack and eventually they finished fifth. It was the sister car that took the lead and the crucial points away from the Audi.

Start driver Timo defended the lead up to lap 16. On lap 17 nearly half an hour into the race he radios in that he has a loss of engine power and pits.

The mechanics fix an engine actuator problem in 8 minutes 43 seconds.

Timo rejoins the race four and a half laps behind the leader. The leader had completed 52 laps when Timo comes in for his first planned stop still four laps behind but back in the top ten in the 32 car field. Brendon took over the big job of catching up on fresh tyres.

After 83 race laps – 79 for his car – he came in for fuel and tyres and remains in the car.

At the end of lap 114 (110 for car number 17) Brendon hands over to Mark Webber who continues in fifth because the number 8 Audi has had a long stop for repairs. He pits for fuel and fresh tyres after 144 laps.

After race lap 158 (154 for the car) Mark was called in for another unscheduled pit stop with an actuator problem. He rejoined the race without losing a position. After 183 laps he had his final splash and dash before he crosses the line in fifth – and becomes world champion.

Bernhard said: “I had a super start and was able create a gap between myself and the rest of the field.”

He added: “But about half way through the first stint the engine wouldn’t go on throttle anymore. The mechanics did a great job in repairing this so quickly many thanks for that.

THE PENINSULA

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