The FIA WEC 6 Hours of Mexico 2016 results and photos. Porsche has won the inaugural FIA WEC 6 Hours of Mexico today, having held the lead for most part of the race. Timo Bernhard crossed the finish line first under yellow flags in the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid to extend Porsche’s lead in the championship, this was Webber’s (and team) second win of the season. Second place went to the #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Lotterer to the chequered flags while Toyota’s #6 TS050 Hybrid completed an even podium in third place, with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel.
FIA WEC 6 Hours of Mexico 2016 Results
LMP1
P1: #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid – Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley
P2: #7 Audi R18 e-tron – André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler
P3: #6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid – Mike Conway, Stéphane Sarrazin, Kamui Kobayashi
LMP2
P1: #43 RGR Sport Nissan – Filipe Albuquerque, Bruno Senna, Ricardo González
P2: #36 Signatech Alpine Nissan – Gustavo Menezes, Nicolas Lapierre, Stéphane Richelmi
P3: #31 Extreme Speed Motorsport Ligier-Nissan – Pipo Derani, Ryan Dalziel, Chris Cumming
LMGTE-Pro
P1: #97 Aston Martin Vantage –
P2: #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE
P3: #95 Aston Martin Vantage
LMGTE-Am
P1: #88 Abu Dhabi Racing Porsche 911 RSR
P2: #83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia
P3: #78 KCMG Porsche 911 RSR
Pole winners in the LMP2 class, the #43 RGR Sport won this category in front of their home fans, the Mexican team beat the competitive #36 Signatech Alpine Nissan to the chequered flags forcing them to take P2 instead. Third place in this class went to the #31 Extreme Speed Motorsport Ligier-Nissan car.
Darren Turner ensured that Aston Martin’s dominance in the LMGTE-Pro class remained constant by finishing first in class, in the #97 Aston Martin Vantage. He shared the podium with the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE and Nicki Thiim who sealed a 2-podium finish for Aston Martin by taking the #95 car home in third.
The #88 Abu Dhabi Racing Porsche 911 RSR topped the AM class, sharing the podium with the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia (P2) and the #78 KCMG Porsche 911 RSR (P3).
Like the first 90 minutes, Porsche managed to be on top on the final two prime hours, that is after 180 minutes and 270 minutes into the race. The #98 Aston plunged into the wall after being hit by the #66 Ford GT with Olivier Pla at the wheel, the Ford was handed a stop-and-go penalty.
The #5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid retired with powertrain issues, while the #7 Audi lost 35 seconds after running out of fuel. Towards the end, the #1 Porsche incurred a stop and go penalty for crossing the pit line during a FCY. Rain also hit the circuit forcing drivers to dive into the pits for wet tires.
There was quite a commotion after the tire changes due to the rain, and it was not long before Oliver Jarvis in the #8 Audi crashed at T1 while on intermediate tires.
WEC 6 Hours of Mexico: Porsche Completes First Half on Top
Porsche led the first half of the race with Mark Webber in the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, Audi started from the lead with Lucas di Grassi in the #8 R18, but later passed by the #7 sister car of Andre Lotterer.
Action in the GTE class was almost halted when the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE spun the #66 Ford GT. Meanwhile, Di Grassi would get back in the lead on lap 11. The No.98 Aston Martin Racing Pedro Lamy then made contact with the #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Manu Collard, and incurred a drive-through penalty.
The #1 Porsche took P2 on lap 17 after passing the #7 Audi of Lotterer who was complaining about loose grip at that time. Lotterer pitted a few laps later on lap 25. A FCY was put into effect after Victor Shaitar crashed his LMP2 car at turn 11. When the race went back to green, Webber in the #1 Porsche passed Di Grassi for P1, as the Audi driver was held up by LMP2 cars.
With 2 hours and 40 minutes left into the race, the #8 Audi is back into the lead with Loic Duval at the wheel, leading the #1 and #2 Porsche respectively. The #36 Signatech Alpine holds the LMP2 lead, Nicki Thiim holds the GTE-Pro class lead in the #95 Aston Martin while the #88 Abu Dhabi Porsche 911 RSR leads the AM class.