The Porsche Team celebrated its second podium finish of the season for the Porsche 919 Hybrid, while the sister car finished fourth in the six-hour race at Fuji, Japan. The fifth out of eight rounds of the FIA Endurance World Championship was a straightforward and dry race. Drivers Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber finished third with car number 20. They were followed by their teammates Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb in car number 14. Furthermore, Mark Webber set the fastest overall race lap on the 4.563 km long Fuji Speedway (1:27.759 minutes on lap 12).
How the race went for car number 14:
After the battles in the opening laps, Marc Lieb settled into fourth and was then lying third when he handed over the car to Neel Jani after 36 laps. Jani changed tyres after 73 laps and handed over the car to Romain Dumas at the end of lap 110. Dumas stopped for tyres and fuel after lap 147. Also, due to other competitors’ pit stops, the car was in third when Marc Lieb jumped in again for the final stint at the end of lap 184. He came in for another splash-and-dash after 220 laps and brought the car home in P4.
How the race went for car number 20:
Mark Webber was fighting for the lead when he had to come in for an early pit stop after ten laps because of a puncture. Afterwards he did a double stint on a single set of tyres before he handed the car over to Timo Bernhard at the end of lap 84. Bernhard did a double stint as well, but he also changed tyres when refuelling after 122 laps. After lap 160 Brendon Hartley took over driving duties. He had his last stop for fuel and tyres at the end of his 197th lap before bringing it home in third.
