For the first time both Porsche 919 Hybrid crews were part of the podium ceremony: The trio of Romain Dumas (France), Neel Jani (Switzerland) and Marc Lieb (Germany) finished second in round seven of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain. Immediately behind them the sister car crossed the line. Timo Bernhard (Germany), Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) and Mark Webber (Australia) came third in the six-hour race. These are the fourth and fifth podium finishes for the Porsche 919 Hybrid in its debut season.

“Second and third with both crews on the podium – this is a very nice conclusion to this exciting race”, said Wolfgang Hatz, Member of the Board, Research and Development, Porsche AG. “We tried everything, but a race win wasn’t quite possible yet. However, again we have made a significant step forward.”

For further quotes, please have a look at the press release (Downloads)

How the race went for car number 14:

Dumas started from pole position and stayed in front until he was passed by a Toyota on lap five. Being the only car in the leading group not to pit during a full course yellow on lap 17, he took the lead again and held it until his pit stop for fuel and tyres after 30 laps. Dumas handed over to Lieb after 61 laps with the car lying in second.

Lieb came in for his first pit stop for fuel and tyres after 92 laps. On lap 100 he overtook an Audi and moved up to P3 again. After 123 laps Jani took over car number 14 in second position. After 154 laps he came in for tyres and fuel and after 182 laps for fuel only. On fresher tyres, he was the faster of the two 919 Hybrids and passed the sister car for second position.

How the race went for car number 20:

Hartley started from third on the grid, improved to second, but then dropped behind the two Toyotas to P4. Soon he suffered from problems with the brake temperatures. He came in during the full course yellow after 17 laps for fuel and tyres, and continued in P5. When he handed over the car to Bernhard after 48 laps, he had improved to third. Bernhard was leading the race when pitting after lap 79 for fuel and tyres and was then leading again, thanks to other cars’ stops, when he handed over the car to Webber after 110 laps. Webber refuelled and received fresh tyres after 141 laps. For his next stop, after 169 laps, the team and he together decided to take the risk of saving time by not changing tyres and only refuelling the car to go to the finish of the race.

How the race went for the GTE-Pro class:

Despite an inspired charge through the field on the Bahrain International Circuit it was not enough for the Porsche 911 RSR to secure a podium spot for the first time in this year’s sports car World Endurance Championship, two weeks after a brilliant double victory in Shanghai.

In the number 91 Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSR, Porsche works drivers Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and Richard Lietz (Austria) scored fourth place in the highly competitive GTE-Pro class at the penultimate round of the season in the Kingdom of Bahrain at the Persian Gulf. Their factory pilot colleagues and Shanghai winners Frédéric Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet from France saw the flag in fifth at the wheel of the number 92 vehicle.

Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Porsche Head of Motorsport: “The teams and drivers again made the most out of a difficult starting position today. In the first stint we made the wrong tyre choice and for that reason we weren’t able to secure a better result in the race. The WEC rounds are so close that even the slightest mistake cannot be rectified with a massive effort out on the track. This result has significantly reduced our chances of taking the title at the season finale in Sao Paulo.”

For further quotes, please have a look at the press release (Downloads)