Porsche‘s fantastic pace saw them secure a one-two in the fifth round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship with Neel Jani, André Lotterer and Nick Tandy behind the wheel of the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid which managed to secure the second step on the podium despite a penalty.
Tandy took control of the car for and opening double stint, unfortunately as he came in to the pits to let Lotterer take over driving duties, the Brit was deemed to have been too fast in the pitlane, resulting in a penalty, the only thing to blot a perfect weekend for the team.
“I did the double stint at the beginning and it was fine.” said Tandy. “We managed to get out in front together and work as a team. We were saving fuel a bit to offset our pit stops to avoid both cars pitting at the same time. Everything worked fine today except for the pit speed limit infringement.”
Credit: Porsche Media
With the sister #2 Porsche 919 hybrid in control of the race lead, the team had a pretty easy race. The only challengers in the LMP1 class, the two Toyota’s were too far off of the pace to put up a fight.
“This is obviously a super result for Porsche, you cannot ask for more.” said Jani. “It was unexpected that Toyota today didn’t have the hint of a chance. Apart from that, traffic was hard work today, you really had to be cautious.”
“This result is mega for Porsche.” added Lotterer. “I was the second driver in the car and had a good double stint. Unfortunately I had to come for a stop-and-go penalty because Nick apparently had been too fast in pit lane but these things happen. Other than that I was just driving my rhythm and the car was running very well.”
