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Race report
Stuttgart. The reigning world champions Timo Bernhard (DE), Brendon Hartley (NZ) and Mark Webber (AU) repeated their last year’s win at the six-hour race at the Nürburgring (DE). By doing so,
This is the third victory this season for the
How the race went for car number 1:
Immediately after the start Timo Bernhard overtakes the number 8 Audi and improves from third to second. From the 15th lap onwards he attacks the leading number 7 Audi but cannot overtake. Only when the first pits stops are due, the number 1
How the race went for car number 2:
Neel Jani holds fourth at the start. On lap 22, in turn one, he attacks the third placed Audi number 8. He almost gets past him but then loses the rear under braking and slips off the track. However, he continues in P4. After 30 laps Marc Lieb jumps into the car. When the sister car has its slow puncture and the Audis have their next pit stops, on lap 57, Lieb takes the lead. After 62 laps he hands over to Romain Dumas. When 91 laps are completed, the number 2 trio benefit from the second “full course yellow” for another pit stop and driver change. Jani continues with the leading car. At the stop after 108 laps, during the third “full course yellow”, an unhappy stint for Lieb begins. On lap 138 he touches the GT
Michael Steiner, Board Member Research and Development,
Fritz Enzinger, Vice President LMP1: “It is incredible. We have won nine out of the last ten races, including the 24 hours of Le Mans twice. With this result we are going into the summer break and you cannot ask for more. I feel sorry for our number 2 car. It had the win within reach, too. But a fourth place is still a strong result. We saw a fantastic race and motorsport at it’s highest level, now we look forward to Mexico. Until then I wish all team members here and at home in Weissach a wonderful holiday.”
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: “A huge compliment to all team members at the track and in Weissach for this outstanding performance. Crew number 1 was able to exploit the full potential of our 919 Hybrid and they were nearly incident-free. Their slow puncture did not cause an extra pit stop. Unfortunately, car number 2 had some unlucky incidents on the track that cost them a top position. We improved our points advantage in the constructors’ championship and crew number 2 collected some valuable points for the drivers’ world championship as well. Getting the season’s third aero package ready for this race was done with huge effort since it was developed at the same time as we prepared for Le Mans. The new package worked well over the entire weekend. We clearly had the fastest car in the race and we want to keep the momentum for the races to come overseas.”
Drivers
Timo Bernhard (35, Germany): “At the start I managed to improve to P2 and kept putting pressure on the leader. During my first stint I was next to the Audi two or three times. I even overtook him once but missed my braking point because I was focussed on the GT traffic. That allowed him to pass me again. On my second stint I was the fastest car on track and we could make up some time. The final stint was a lot of work as well. To me this win today tastes especially sweet. It was hard fought, for me it is another one on home turf and it helps make up for the bad luck we had in the first three rounds of the championship.”
Brendon Hartley (26, New Zealand): “Thanks to
Mark Webber (39, Australia): “I’m very happy for
Drivers
Romain Dumas (38, France): “I went in the car just before a full course yellow period and lost some time because I had a car in front of me that was slower than 80 km/h. The second full course yellow came at the right moment giving us a huge advantage. Our 919 was good and we wished for a better result but in the end we scored some championship points.”
Neel Jani (32, Switzerland): “Today we could have won that race. In the beginning it was very hard with position fights everywhere. When a full course yellow brought us to the top, luck was on our side – later it worked against us. After the contact while overtaking I got into the Audi sandwich and things got difficult for us. It was nearly impossible to overtake them on the straight. I saved all my boost, but I couldn’t crack them. Then a true bumper-car festival started. But fourth place is better then nothing, and the points are highly welcome for the championship.”
Marc Lieb (36, Germany): “Traffic was really difficult today since you always need a little luck where on track and you’re going to meet the slower cars. Our car was good. I feel sorry for the team because of the drive through penalty. It was one of those situations in traffic in which you decide either right or wrong. I got it wrong when I tried to use a gap. I thought he would leave me some room. It is a shame because we had a fairly good chance to win that race and I also feel sorry for the
All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.