Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard claimed the FIA World Endurance Championship Drivers’ crown after the 6 Hours of Bahrain race on Saturday. The colleagues in the #18 Porsche topped the podium for the 6 Hours to seal a perfect 2015 for the German manufacturer.
.@AussieGrit, @BrendonHartley and @Timo_Bernhard are WORLD CHAMPIONS!!! #WEC #6hBahrain @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/RklzZhXcQh
The #17 Porsche 919 Hybrid led from the start, but Timo Bernhard ran into mechanical trouble with throttle linkage issues after half an hour. More than eight minutes in the pits later, the #17 Porsche returned to the action in last place.
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A spirited fightback saw Webber storm through the field into fifth, to give his Porsche team enough points to finish their season the endurance champions. This is a first world title for the 39-year-old Australian, who was third in the 2010 Formula 1 championship for Red Bull.It It’s also only his second season in endurance racing.
@AussieGrit #worldchamp…you bloody ripper! Well done Mark, @BrendonHartley @Timo_Bernhard & all @PorscheRaces @FIAWEC world champions!
— Greg Rust (@Thrusta1) November 21, 2015
Massive congrats to Webbo aka @AussieGrit for becoming world champ with Porsche. Long overdue in my book #star #topbloke
— Byron Young (@byronf1) November 21, 2015
Teammates Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb won the race. Adding this WEC title to their stable, Porsche achieved a clean sweep of the manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles in both the LMP1 and LM GTE Pro categories.