Porsche took another 1-2 finish at the end of the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas to extend their lead in the FIA World Endurance Manufacturers championship, with Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard securing their fourth straight win in the 2017 season ahead of their teammates Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer and Nick Tandy.
In the hot and humid conditions Porsche didn’t have it all their own way as a more competitive Toyota made the German manufacturer work hard for their win, with all four LMP1s finishing on the same lap. The no8 TS050 of Sebastien Buemi, Stephane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima securing another podium finish 21 seconds behind the lead Porsche.
Andre Lotterer, in the no1 Porsche, and Kamui Kobayashi, in the no7 Toyota, were having a great battle in the penultimate hour but a clash between the pair at Turn 15 saw Lotterer use his rallying skills to catch what looked to be a sideways spin towards the wall.
Porsche now hold an almost unassailable 73.5 point lead in the manufacturer’s championship and Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard are 51 points ahead of Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi in the driver’s title.
Ferrari Storm Ahead in GT World Title Race
In the LMGTE Pro class Ferrari dominated for most of the race, with both F488s leading the way from the other three manufacturers.
The no51 Ferrari of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi looked on course for an easy win when a puncture forced Pier Guidi to make an unscheduled stop near the end of the race.
This allowed Michael Christensen in the no92 Porsche 911 RSR to close the gap as the Italian emerged from the pits. Pier Guidi kept the Dane at bay through the sequence of fast corners while he got back up to speed and then he pulled out a five second gap to regain control of the race to the chequered flag.
The no71 AF Corse Ferrari of Davide Rigon and Sam Bird, which had led for a good portion of the race came home in third place after tyre strategy played out in the hot condition.
The no71 Ferrari finished 3 seconds ahead of the no95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Marco Sorenen to claim the final podium position and help extend the lead for Ferrari in the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship.
Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell are still in the lead of the GT FIA World Endurance Drivers Championship despite finishing 7th in the no67 Ford GT in Texas but the top 8 drivers are covered by just 7 points.
The British duo are on 102 points, just 6 ahead of Porsche’s Fred Makowiecki and Richard Lietz, with Davide Rigon on 95.5 in third and Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Sam Bird all on 95 points with three races remaining.
Signatech Alpine Claim Second LMP2 Win in the United States
Drama in the final ten minutes looked like it might upset and easy win as US driver Gustavo Menezes had to stop in the no36 Signatech Alpine Matmut Alpine A470 for the team to replace damaged bodywork.
However there was no issues and the rear end of the car was replaced quickly and efficiently by the mechanics and Menezes was soon on his way to secure victory in his home race and stand on the top step of the podium for the second time in a row alongside Andre Negrao and Nico Lapierre.
The French team held off a determined challenge from the Vaillante Rebellion Orecas with the no13 car of Matthias Beche, David Heinemeier-Hansson and Nelson Piquet Jr finishing ahead of the sister car of Bruno Senna, Nico Prost and Julien Canal by just 3.7 seconds at the end of the 6 hour race.
The championship leading no38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Thomas Laurent, Oliver Jarvis and Ho Pin Tung finished 4th, just 2 seconds behind the no31 Rebellion to maintain their points lead, which stands at 20 ahead of the race in Japan in four weeks.
Aston Martin win GTE Am Encounter
The no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda and Paul Dalla Lana took their second win of 2017 from pole position to move ahead of the no77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Christian Ried, Marvin Dienst and Matteo Cairoli which suffered technical issues and had to settle for 4th place as Cairoli crawled across the line at the end of the race.
The no86 Gulf Racing Porsche of Mike Wainwright went off into the Techpro barriers at Turn 11 to bring out the only safety car period of the race. The car returned to the pits but was retired from the race.
Second place went to the no61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari of Matt Griffin, Weng Sun Mok and Keita Sawa, with the no54 Spirit of Race Ferrari a distant third.
Round 7 of the FIA World Endurance Championship will be the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan on Sunday 15 October.