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Nürburgring

2016 WEC Nürburgring

Germany
Jul 22, 2016 to Jul 24, 2016
, DE
Live text
WEC Nürburgring

Nurburgring WEC - race

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And that's a wrap for our live commentary from a sometimes fraught and fiery race – hope you enjoyed it.

Next stop: Mexico City. Join us then!

Off Track

#1 Porsche crew now has 106 points to #8 Audi's 73 in the drivers' championship.

Winning margin was 53.787s between Porsche #1 and Audi #8.
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Winner Bernhard: "We had a tough first part of the season, and we really wanted that so bad. Very proud of the crew to come back and win for Porsche on home ground."
Breaking news
Here's our race report of an often-thrilling race.
Chequered Flag
In GTE Am, it was the #98 Aston, from the #78 KCMG Porsche and AF Corse Ferrari.
Chequered Flag
AF Corse scores a 1-2 in GTE Pro for Ferrari, the #51 winning from the #71, ahead of the #95 Aston and penalised #66 Ford.
Chequered Flag

Signatech Alpine wins LMP2, ahead of the RGR Sport Ligier.

Great battle for third, though – as Dalziel holds on at the finish in the ESM Ligier from the charging Kane in the Strakka Gibson.

Chequered Flag

Bernhard takes the chequered flag – it's the first victory of the year for Porsche #1 after such a painful start to the season.

Audis second and third, #8 ahead of #7, with the points-leading Porsche #2 in fourth. Toyota takes a lacklustre fifth and sixth.

The Toyotas are well off their pace, of course. #5 is two laps down, the #6 is 5 laps in arrears.
The two Toyotas have caught the two Audis, a quartet of LMP1s makes for a great sight.

After suffering some heartbreak this year, the Bruni/Calado AF Corse Ferrari is finally going to win GTE Pro, ahead of the sister Bird/Rigon car.

Aston will finish third, after the #66 Ford was stung by a late penalty for the driver releasing his belts too soon.

Signatech is on target for another LMP2 victory, as gearbox issues cause yet more woe for G-Drive.

For Audi, this has been a glass half-full/half-empty race.

It showed it can compete with Porsche, but will likely finish almost a minute in arrears of the #1. But it shows there's potential in that car.

For Toyota, however. It's back to the drawing board after failing to get its tyres working with the new high-downforce aero kit.

The points-leading #2 car has had a stressful race, in comparison. Jani's spin was later compounded by an impact from the BR01 while in combat with the Audis. That led to black and orange flag, and an extra pitstop to replace the rear bodywork.
It's not been a flawless race for the #1 Porsche, as a slow puncture caused an off-sequence pitstop for Hartley. Besides that, it's been in smooth water though.
Stopwatch
The #1 Porsche is 50s clear with less than 10 minutes remaining.

This will be the #1 Porsche's first victory since the Webber, Bernhard & Hartley crew won at Shanghai, which was their fourth win on the trot of 2015.

Might this spur them on to retaining their title? They're going to have to go on another run of success to do so.

He rejoins after a bouncy trip across the gravel and grass.
Crash
Senna off in the RGR Ligier, that's running second in LMP2.
Thiim moves back into third in GTE Pro in the Aston.
Penalty
Pla is in the pits in the #66 Ford – finally taking the drive-through penalty that's been hanging over it.
Video
If you'd like to catch up with the highlights of the race so far, fill your boots...

 

 

We're told Ford is "debating" with stewards the drive-through penalty that was announced for its #66 GT that lies third in GTE Pro.
Mechanical problem
The #12 Rebellion is in trouble again. The #13 car has taken the non-hybrid LMP lead, and the LMP2-leading Signatech is back into seventh overall.
Less than 30 minutes remaining of the Six Hours of Nurburgring.
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GTE Am leader Lauda: "So far every stint was perfect, no issues. We've got a good gap."
Seventh place on the road has just changed hands, with the #12 Rebellion passing the LMP2-leading Signatech.
Bernhard in the #1 Porsche is well clear of Duval, but the #7 Audi of Lotterer is right on #8's tail.
So that has consigned the #2 Porsche to fourth place, unless there is any more late drama.
Mechanical problem
Porsche opts to do this in the pitlane, not the garage, so we get a lovely view of all that technology under the engine cover.
Pit Stop

That car will have to pit to repair its left-rear corner. Not sure why they didn't replace it under FCY, but hey – maybe they thought they'd get away with it.

The #2 Porsche pits.

Penalty
And there it is, the #2 Porsche gets a black and orange flag.
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GTE Pro leader Calado: "We know what happened in the first races, we got unlucky, so fingers crossed. All the cars are quite fair, I think the ACO have done a good job on the BoP – it's been enjoyable and close."
The back of the #2 Porsche is very gnarled indeed. But no word of any penalties so far, legality panel-wise.
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LMP2 leader Richelmi: "It's looking good now. Everything has been under control until now. We have Nico in the car, the most experienced guy."
Mechanical problem
Confirmation that the #45 Manor has suffered a brake disc failure.
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Webber: "It's been a really bizarre race to be honest. We had a great battle with the Audis early on, bit so far we've outwrestled them. We're tight on fuel, and I think we need to work on the full-course yellows. I don't care who wins – just Porsche!"
Bernhard leads by 32s from Duval in #8 and Lotterer in #7.
Very messy pitstop for the #2 Porsche, will there be a penalty coming for that?
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