Porsche leaned on Japanese rivals Toyota to take a commanding victory on home soil at the Nurburgring, with Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard narrowly leading home the sister car of Andre Lotterer, Neel Jani and Nick Tandy.
Disaster struck the number 8 TS050 even before the formation lap had gotten underway, with Sebastien Buemi slowing to a crawl with a fuel pump issue and relying on regen energy to make its way back to the pits - Race Director Eduardo Freitas making the right call in requesting another formation lap.
At the turn of the green, Kamui Kobayashi lead the way ahead of the trailing Porsche’s of Timo Bernhard and Andre Lotter while the number 35 Signatech Alpine was tipped into a spin while Mathias Beche lead Bruno Senna and Oliver Jarvis in LMP2. Amid the ensuing drama, Michael Christensen was caught napping by Marco Sorensen, who put the number 95 Aston into the lead of GTE Pro to match the sister car’s progress in GTE Am.
While the top five in LMP2 were covered by less than a second, the number 8 Toyota crew were doing their best not to lose any more and had the errant fuel pump repaired within five laps. In races as long as these a never say die approach is the modus operandi. As this was occurring the number 24 Manor Oreca was called in for a 3-minute penalty after making contact with the number 67 Ford.
In GTE Pro Fred Makoweicki and Marco Sorensen were separated by little more than rice paper as the pair allowed the rest of the GT field to back up. Meanwhile Davide Rigon pitted the number 71 AF Corse Ferrari for repairs after an electrical issue as the battle for the top three in GTE Am was well and truly heating up between Lamy, Ried and Castallacci.
An GTE Am backmarker eventually gave Fred Mako the opportunity he needed whilst Sorensen was checking his mirrors and going three metres off line, allowing the Frenchman to scythe down the inside of the Aston at turn 4.
One hour in and the number 1 Porsche was first to pit, with the sister car and number 7 Toyota following suit a lap later. All three would emerge in the same order, but not before a tussle between the pair from Weissach - Bernhard confirming traffic thwarted any attempt at an overtake.
In LMP2, the number 31 Rebellion entry of Bruno Senna was holding a slender lead over the number 38 entry of Oliver Jarvis until the Rebellion once again (based on Le Mans form) began to lose pace and allowed an opening for Jarvis.
Just at the 90-minute mark, Lopez began to lose time to Brendon Hartley in the number 2 Porsche, giving the New Zealander an opportunity to position himself alongside the Toyota and seize the leader. Another man on the move was Nicki Thiim, vaulting the number 95 Aston past both Fords to take third in GTE Pro.
Up front, Neel Jani was beginning to close on Hartley and despite a brief surge in pace from Lopez, the Argentine soon began to struggle with oversteer problems in the Toyota. Buemi meanwhile was edging closer to the top ten in the number 8 Toyota. Porsche’s strategy of allowing the quicker car to lead during respective stints looked to be paying dividends at the half-way mark, however would still have to use the harder compound tyre during their final stints.
Images: FIA WEC/Adrenal Media