What the LMP1 drivers said after the 6 Hours of Nürburgring
The thoughts of the Porsche and Toyota drivers after the WEC race in Germany on 16th July 2017...
Timo Bernhard - No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche LMP Team (1st)
“I had a good start and it was close fighting with Kamui and André. Advantages for one or another only came in traffic. Of course none of us wanted to risk too much in the first hour of the race. In the end it is a fantastic day for Porsche, recording a one-two race win on home soil. Either Porsche could have won today – it was very close from the start right through until the end.”
Earl Bamber - No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche LMP Team (1st)
“I had a good couple of stints – kept a steady pace and took no risks. The car’s balance was really nice throughout – the guys gave us a great race car today. I had to take avoiding action when an LMP2 spun in front of me but that was my only slight drama. It’s been a nice Sunday afternoon drive.”
Brendon Hartley - No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche LMP Team (1st)
“I was really happy with my first stint. I took over from Timo and came out right behind the sister car but got ahead within a few laps. The car was feeling really strong initially and I took the lead from the Toyota and pulled a good gap. But halfway through the stint we lost some performance, maybe caused by pick up [from the tyres].”
Neel Jani – No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche LMP Team (2nd)
“I got into second but, due to traffic, lost that position to Brendon and chose not to defend too much. I was unlucky with traffic but that improved enabling me to attack, allowing me to have a nice clean but intense fight with the Toyota and Brendon. I got into the lead which I maintained despite a little tyre degradation.”
André Lotterer - No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche LMP Team (2nd)
“Initially I had a very good start and was on the better racing line, but then Timo got ahead in Turn 1. During the first stint, Kobayashi, Timo and myself were all at the same speed and it was a lot of fun going through the traffic. It’s been a good day for Porsche with both cars really strong, exchanging the lead many times. Maybe our car could have taken the race win but we worked as a team with the championship in mind.”
Nick Tandy - No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche LMP Team (2nd)
“I had a couple of decent stints and I brought the car in for André in the lead which was good. It was tough out there as the Nürburgring track configuration makes for a busy time behind the wheel. A double stint is hot work and pretty physical. We found that rubber debris caused some problems today which caused a fluctuation in the car’s performance.”
Mike Conway – No.7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID, Toyota Gazoo Racing (3rd)
“It’s always good to be on the podium but we’re not really happy today. There are some positives to take from the weekend: qualifying was good for us and we showed strong speed early in the race, but we dropped off as the aero balance changed. Porsche was very strong today so congratulations to them. I am looking forward to the next races when I am sure it will be better for us.”
Kamui Kobayashi - No.7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID, Toyota Gazoo Racing (3rd)
“At the beginning of the race it looked okay. We had good pace during my first stint, we were leading and setting strong lap times. Then later in the race the balance wasn’t right and we couldn’t fight. To be honest, we expected a hard race here after Friday practice and that’s how it turned out, but we got a reasonable amount of points so we will try to improve for Mexico.”
José María López – No.7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID, Toyota Gazoo Racing (3rd)
“Even though it was a difficult race, we finished on the podium and that’s the first time for me in WEC. We were surprised on Saturday to get pole position after a great job from the team, but we expected a hard fight today. In my second stint it was really hard with the tyres. For sure we wanted more so we will keep working to come back stronger in the next races.”
