It was a 1-2 finish for the Porsche cars at the 6 Hours of Mexico race yesterday.
It was a 1-2 finish for the Porsche cars at the 6 Hours of Mexico race yesterday.
Expat Whanganui driver Earl Bamber and his Porsche LMP team dominated the 6 Hours of Mexico race overnight yesterday to take their third straight victory in the World Endurance Championship series.
Teaming with Palmerston North mate Brendon Hartley and Germany's Timo Bernhard, Bamber covered the middle stint of the racein Mexico City, as the two Porsche teams were untouchable and led the LMP1 class from start to finish.
Bernhard drove the anchor stint after Hartley and Bamber respectively, with the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid winning by a 7.141s margin.
Second in the series, the No.8 Toyota crew of Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima finished third after swapping positions with their Toyota sister car multiple times.
"We had a fantastic car, I said as soon as the thing rolled off the plane this weekend it's been great," Bamber said.
"I know the guys did a lot of work to come here, especially with the high altitude, to make sure everything's good, so it's a true credit to the Porsche team.
"It's a shame the No1 crew got a drive through [penalty] and just in the middle of my stint, at the re-fuel, we had to change the fuel flow meter, so we lost about 10-12 seconds with that.
"But apart from that it was pretty smooth sailing. It's great to be in Mexico - I love the track, it's my first ever time here."
Lacking down force, Davidson said they could not take the fight to the Porsche cars, so the team was in "damage limitation" mode to finish third, as Porsche No2 extended their lead in the championship.
"We were only strong in Sector 1, which is mainly straights; we didn't have the grip of the Porsches in the tight, twisty bits."
Bamber said three in a row was really exciting for the team, who will be finishing up at the end of this season as Porsche has announced they will not enter a factory team in the series next year.
"I'm sure Toyota will be faster in America, but let's celebrate in Mexico."
The sixth round of nine will be held in a fortnight's time at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
