Toyota win the 6 Hours of Shanghai with Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima taking the chequered flag for the fourth time in 2017
Second place in Shanghai for Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber secures the 2017 FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship with one race remaining.
With the no2 Porsche in second and the no1 919 in third, Porsche have won their third FIA World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship in a row.
Ferrari secured the inaugural GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship in China ahead of Ford, Porsche and Aston Martin.
The no67 Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell won a thrilling GTE Pro battle in the 6 Hours of Shanghai to take their second win of the season
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Porsche’s Frederic Makowieki and Richard Lietz finished second to take the lead in the GT FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship. Just 7.5 points separate the top three driver pairings with one race, the 6 Hours of Bahrain, remaining.
The no31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07-Gibson of Bruno Senna, Nicolas Prost and Julien Canal won their third race of the 2017 season to take the lead by just four points in the LMP2 title race.
The no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda and Paul Dalla Lana won the LMGTE Am class, their third win of 2017 and the third time Lamy and Dalla Lana have won together in Shanghai.
Toyota Victory – Porsche are World Champions
At the start of the 6 Hours of Shanghai the no7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 of Jose-Maria Lopez led from pole position but lost the lead in the opening 30 minutes after contact with the no26 G Drive Racing Oreca. The no8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi took the lead after passing the no1 Porsche of Nick Tandy. Tandy then slows with a technical issue, which he clears with a reset of the car but the British driver loses over a minute in the process. Earl Bamber moved up to second in the no2 Porsche 919 behind Buemi, who was holding a comfortable lead.
The recovering no7 Toyota then moved back up to second and by the half way point of the race the Toyotas were running 1-2 with a 15 second advantage for the no8 TS050 with the no2 Porsche of Brendon Hartley a distant third, with even more time lost when the front bodywork had to be changed during a routine pitstop.
In the final hour it looked like Toyota would score a 1-2 and take the battle for the manufacturers championship to the final race in Bahrain, but then the no7 Toyota with Lopez back at the wheel, collided with the no91 Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz, who was battling for the lead of the LMGTE Pro class. The Toyota limped back to the garage and spent several laps repairing the broken suspension, dropping the no7 TS050 behind the two Porsches.
At the chequered flag the no8 Toyota secured the win, one lap ahead of the no2 Porsche 919 Hybrid which was good enough to give Earl Bamber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard the 2017 FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship, the second world crown for Hartley and Bernhard. With the no1 Porsche finishing 28 seconds further back in third place, Porsche secured their third manufacturers world title.
Ferrari Secure Inaugural FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship for GT
The no95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage led from the start from pole position but Nicky Thiim came under immediate pressure from the no92 Porsche of Kevin Estre and the no66 Ford GT of Olivier Pla. Estre soon got ahead of the Danish driver and took the lead of the class, with Pla following the Porsche to take second.
Estre’s race came to an abrupt end with engine failure, pulling off into the gravel at Turn One and bringing out the only Full Course Yellow of the race. Sister No.91 Porsche 911 RSR of Frederic Makowiecki takes over in lead as it gets jump on the no66 Ford GT at pitstop but Olivier Pla applies huge pressure on the Porsche and the pair run nose to tail for much of the third hour.
In the second half of the race the two Ford GTs begin the fight back with Andy Priaulx in the no67 Ford GT overtaking the no91 Porsche with the no66 also getting ahead of the Porsche to make it a Ford 1-2 in the fourth hour. The no51 Ferrari of James Calado had moved up to 4th place behind the Porsche and was looking to take a podium position to give Ferrari as many points as possible to secure the manufacturers title and protect his, and teammate Alessandro Pier Guidi’s, slim lead in the drivers’ world championship.
The no91 Porsche, now with Ricahrd Lietz behind the wheel, started to close the gap on the Fords, first getting ahead of the no66 car and then closing the gap to the no67 Ford of Harry Tincknell to begin a long battle for the lead that had everyone on the edge of their seats. The Porsche looked like it had the advantage but contact with the no7 Toyota in the final hour dropped Lietz back 30 seconds and denied the Austrian the opportunity of taking the lead.
At the chequered flag it was the no67 Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell which took the 25 points for the victory in China, 11 seconds ahead of the no92 Porsche with the no51 Ferrari 8.8 seconds further back in third. With the no71 Ferrari finishing sixth and the no92 Porsche not classified, Ferrari secured enough points to claim the 2017 GT Manufacturers World Endurance Championship.
LMP2: Vaillante Rebellion Continue Winning Ways
The no31 Vaillante Rebellion started the race from pole position with Bruno Senna making a flying start to open up a healthy lead over the no36 Signatech Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre and the No.24 CEFC Manor TRS car driven by Matt Rao. Rao survives contact by Tristan Gommendy’s No.37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car which spins. It wasn’t the dream debut for Nico Muller in the no26 G-Drive Racing Oreca after he had contact with Nelson Piquet Jr in the no13 Vaillante Rebellion on opening lap and then again with the no7 Toyota.
The Signatech Alpine, now with Andre Negrao in cockpit comes under pressure from Ben Hanley, now at the wheel of the no24 CEFC Manor TRS. Hanley looks to take initiative but is caught by Ho-Pin Tung in no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca, who makes his way briefly through and up in to third place before running wide at the final corner. Hanley saw is chance and sneaked back through in a titanic battle between the two Chinese teams. The battle ended in contact after Hanley nudges Tung in to a spin but both cars continued.
Oliver Jarvis took over the driving duties in the no38 Oreca and snatched the lead from No.31 Vaillante Rebellion and opens up a gap to Nico Prost. A major fight for fourth place raged for several laps as David Heinemeier-Hansson in the no13 Vaillante Rebellion holds off Nico Muller’s G-Drive Racing Oreca for lap after lap in the middle portion of the 6 Hours of Shanghai.
Ho Pin Tung returns to the driving seat in the no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca but there is contact with Nico Muller’s G-Drive Racing Oreca at Turn One. Tung continues but Muller pits with a puncture and drops back. Tung led after the penultimate pitstops but is caught by Bruno Senna’s No.31 Vaillante Rebellion in thrilling fight, with Senna taking the lead once again, which the Brazilian held until the chequered flag.
LMGTE Am: Aston Martin Racing Secure Another Victory and Championship Lead
Mathias Lauda lost and regained the lead in the LMGTE Am category in the opening hour of the race. The Austrian in the no98 Aston Martin faced a determined challenge from the no54 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Francesco Castellacci, with the Italian running a close second.
The Ferrari came under pressure from the no61 Clearwater Racing F488 and an incident involving both cars and the no37Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Tristan Gommendy saw the Spirit of Race Ferrari lose one of its doors, forcing the car into retirement.
The no98 Aston extended its lead after a solid stint from Paul Dalla Lana before Pedro Lamy brought the car home for the third win of the season. The no86 Gulf Racing UK Porsche took its best finish of the 2017 season in second place, one lap behind the flying Aston Martin Vantage and was one lap ahead of the no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche at the chequered flag.
The final round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship is the 6 Hours of Bahrain which will take place on Saturday 18 November.
