Porsche became the World Champions again. The sports car brand from Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen with the innovative Le Mans Prototype Porsche 919 Hybrid secured the manufacturers’ title in the FIA World Endurance Championship one race before the season’s finale. At the six-hour race in Shanghai this Sunday the driver trios of Timo Bernhard (DE)/Brendon Hartley (NZ)/Mark Webber (AU) and Romain Dumas (FR)/Neel Jani (CH)/Marc Lieb (DE) finished first and fourth to earn Porsche 38 points.
Having now scored 301 points in total, Audi (222) and Toyota (207) cannot now catch Porsche at the last round in Bahrain on November 19.
Michael Steiner, board member for research and development of Porsche AG, wit-nessed the title win on site and said: “The second manufacturers’ world champion-ship title for Porsche is another confirmation of the 919 Hybrid’s brave concept. The Weissach developed prototype joins other important Porsche race cars that were al-so ahead of their times, such as the 718 RS, 904, 917 or 956. They all wrote motor-sport history and significantly fired the road car development. This also goes for the 919 Hybrid. I’m proud on the entire team.