The fourth stage of the series on the WEC Nürburgring was a special event just for three reasons.
First, it marked the end of a long summer break, which lasted two and a half months — after the daily marathon «24 hours of Le Mans» World Endurance Championship participants have gone on long vacations.
Second, the series returned to the WEC Nürburgring 24 years after this circuit hosted the last stage in the history of World Sportscar Championsip — Series, the predecessor to the current World Cup. Then the race was over double victory for the team crews Silk Cut Jaguar — the first finished Derek Warwick and David Brabham.
Finally, thirdly, the German stage of the fourth of the eight races of the season-2015, which means that after the end of the championship reached its equator.
Just three teams race in Germany is home — based in Stuttgart, Porsche, who came from Ingolstadt Audi and... Toyota, whose base is in Cologne!
Qualifications ended without surprises — the winning team «Le Mans» once again showed excellent speed and did not allow the opponents to claim the first row. Pole positions won Porsche crew at number 18 — Dumas, Lieb and Jani. The second time, showed their comrades in arms Bernhard, Webber and Hartley. Two Audi settled on the second row, driving two Toyota's third.
At the finish, all six crews who started from the first three rows were in the top six, but the representatives of Porsche and Audi swapped places with his teammates.
Owners pole position took the lead from the start and went into the lead — for it is thanks to Neil Jani and a second crew of Porsche, hold the back of a pair of Audi. But then the crew numbered 18 had problems with the fuel consumption. As a result, the trio shlopotat several fines Stop & Go, in total amounting to more than one and a half minutes, and fell back to fourth place.
But thanks to the efforts of the crew of the damage caused by penalization, managed to neutralize. And let Romain Dumas, Neil Jani and Marc Lieb failed to convert the pole position in the final victory, but second place in the circumstances be regarded as a great success.
Moreover, the victory celebrated another crew of the same team's Porsche. Timo Bernhard started the second, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley picked up the banner that fell from the hands of his teammates and brought the race to a victorious finish.
He crossed the finish line, Mark Webber — he won the first victory of his career pilot World Endurance Championship. It is interesting that in the six years before the Australian won the German Grand Prix 2009 on that same Nurburgring and it was his first victory in the «Formula 1».
An hour before the end of the six-hour marathon, no one could predict who would come in second and third place — Porsche at number 18, and two full-time Audi were fighting wheel to wheel, repeatedly overtaking each other.
However, during the final wave of pit stops Porsche pilot Neil Jani outlasted both Audi at the track and at the expense of a later arrival in the pits was able to not only get ahead of both competitors, but also in the future to keep the second position.
The Audi vnutrikomandnoy the struggle for a place on the podium did not happen. Lucas di Grassi drove his R18 at No. 8 to the «bronze», but due to the fact that their colleagues of the crew at number 7 in the lead in the championship and the points they need, like air, the management team has asked Lucas to miss Andre Lotterer to third place. Which he did.
Following two Porsche and Audi race two finished two Toyota — in the same way as at the start of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima left behind Alexander Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway.
The seventh in the overall standings to finish rushed crew KCMG team composed Matt Howson, Nick Tandy and Richard Bradley. The winners of «Le Mans» in the LMP2 standings have not lost speed during the holidays, and won another victory. During the race, the British lost the lead, behind the crew of G-Drive Racing, but then Matt Howson managed to beat Roman Rusinov and then no one could doubt the victory of the British crew.
However, Roman Rusinov, Sam Bird and Julien Canal finished «6:00 Nürburgring» in the second position, and Luis Derani, Ricardo Gonzalez and Gustavo Yakaman were third.
As in the overall standings in LMGTE Pro victory celebrated the crew, speaking at Porsche — the Porsche 911 RSR piloted by Michael Christensen and Richard Lietz won the first place in this class.
But in the «amateur» Gran Turismo — the class LMGTE Am — the fate of the crew of the Russian team smiled SMP Racing! Victor Shaitar Alexey Basov and Andrea Bertolini won a landslide victory.
At the end of the four stages of leadership in the WEC series retains Audi's part of the crew of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoit Treluye. They lose 17 points winners «6:00 Nurburgring,» Webber, Bernhard and Hartley. But just two points behind them in third position are their teammates Porsche Lieb, Jani, Dumas.
The situation in the championship is very tight and the struggle to be very sharp — just behind half of the season and still ahead. The next stage of World Endurance Championship will be held September 19 in the US — where the race will be held «6:00 Circuit of the Americas.»
