Race – Austin: New victory for Mark Webber and Porsche
For the second consecutive time, the Porsche No. 17 of the trio Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley won at the conclusion of the 6 Hours of Austin. The two Audis complete the podium.
At the end of the 6-hour race, it was the Porsche n°17 that secured a second victory, three weeks after its win at the Nürburgring. However, two hours before the end, the fate of the race seemed to be sealed when this same Porsche n°17 received a 60-second penalty because a mechanic touched the car while refueling was still underway.
This allowed the Porsche No. 18 to have a comfortable lead, which seemed sufficient to go all the way to the checkered flag without being further threatened. But it was destined that this No. 18 would not savor its first victory of the season. Thus, thirty minutes from the end, it fell victim to a technical issue, which forced it to drop down the rankings. It still managed to finish the race, but 17 laps behind the winners and in 5th place in its category.
Behind, the two Audis attempted a different pit stop strategy to give themselves a chance to compete with their Porsche rivals. However, the performance gap was too significant to truly threaten them. The No. 7 Audi, driven by championship leaders Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer, ended up finishing just over a minute behind the day’s winners, while the No. 8 Audi was relegated to a lap down.
For Toyota, this race was once again complicated. Car No. 2 was involved in two accidents, the latter of which forced it to retire. Thus, after two hours of racing, Mike Conway was forced into a spin to avoid two GTs that were battling. Although he managed to continue without further issue, an hour later, he was caught off guard by an Aston Martin he was overtaking. With impacts on both the front and rear, retirement was inevitable.
As for the reigning world champion car No. 1, it lost time when it was unable to pit as planned. But Anthony Davidson crossed the white line without entering the pits. Car No. 1 then suffered a double penalty: it was forced to complete a full lap at low speed to avoid running out of fuel. Moreover, the stewards also penalized it for crossing the pit line. Nevertheless, it managed to recover to finish in 4th place when Porsche No. 18 encountered its technical problems.
With three races remaining in the championship, the gap at the top has narrowed as No. 17 is now only ten points behind the No. 7 Audi, promising an intense battle until the end.
