Porsche is satisfied with its podium finish at Fuji
The German manufacturer achieved its second podium of the season, following the one in Portimao. Porsche held the lead for a long time before being surpassed by the two Toyotas.
It was the team that could bring down Toyota at home. Porsche had a very impressive edition of the 6 hours of Fuji. Bold at the start, Laurens Vanthoor took advantage of the commotion to take the lead of the race, at the expense of the two Toyotas, who monopolized the front row.
The Belgian driver then delivered two very strong stints to take a ten-second lead over the two Japanese cars. Kévin Estre then took the wheel and resisted as best he could against the Toyotas. Before handing over the wheel to André Lotterer, car number 6 was still leading the race, thanks to the various pit stops.
But in the end, the German driver had to give in to Kamui Kobayashi and Brendon Harley, who were determined to deliver a one-two finish for their manufacturer and secure the team title. The crew of the Porsche number 6 settled for a third position.
Troubles with the sister’s car
Although the Toyotas were slightly stronger than us today, I am totally satisfied with this third place. Our pace was excellent today and we deserved to lead the race for four hours. Our huge progress was evident here. It makes us very positive. We want to do just as well in Bahrain, or even a little better, Kevin Estre explains.
The second Porsche Penske did not experience the same success, especially at the first corner. Hypercar number 5 was victim to a puncture and lost a considerable amount of time compared to the rest of the field. It finished the race in twelfth place in its category, last overall.
Trouble on Route 99
The two other Porsches entered in the Hypercar category did not really have a better fate than car number 5. The one from Team Jota crossed the finish line in sixth place. The race went smoothly, with one exception. Unfortunately, we were penalized with a drive-through. If that hadn’t happened, we could have taken fourth place. We would have been ahead of the Ferraris, regrets Will Stevens.
Finally, the number 99 Proton Competition finished this endurance race in ninth position, eight laps behind the Toyota. « Harry [Tincknell] had a very good stint in the beginning. We were around fifth place. Unfortunately, there was a minor incident during a driver change, the seatbelt loop broke. We had to fix it, of course, but that meant the end of our race. We used the remaining laps as a test. Our pace was excellent. In the end, I managed to match the pace of the top three cars at times. Now, it’s time to be equally competitive throughout the entire race distance », announces Neel Jani.
