MOTORSPORT: First win for Webber with Porsche

Mark Webber has had his first win with Porsche in sports car racing – at Nurburging in Germany, where he so memorably scored his first Formula 1 victory six years ago.

Webber took the chequered flag last night in the latest high-downforce version of the 919 Hybrid a lap clear of an identical Porsche.

He was partnered in the six-hour race by New Zealander Brendon Hartley and German Timo Bernhard.

Webber, in his second season with Porsche after more than a decade – and nine Grand Prix victories – in F1, said the traffic on the 5.137km circuit now used, rather than the long and famous Nurburgring Nordschleife next door, had been "brutal".

"But we made it," Webber said.

"This is my first Porsche victory and, of course, it is a big day for Brendon and Timo too – it is always a team effort [in sports car racing].

"The two of them were awesome, we had no technical issues and have taken an important step by improving our performance on shorter tracks."

The trio completed 175 laps in a race run in temperatures of more than 35 degrees Celsius.

Not only was it another one-two finish for Porsche, after its success at the Le Mans 24-Hour in June, but a dominant day for German marques at home, with Audi R18 e-tron quattros third and fourth.

However, it was a horror day for Japanese manufacturer Toyota, with its two TS040 Hybrids three and four laps respectively behind the victorious Porsche.

After four rounds of the World Endurance Championship, and with four rounds remaining, Porsche has extended its lead on the manufacturers' points table to 33 over Audi and it is 95 ahead of Toyota.

The winning Porsche required a nose change at its first pitstop as Webber took over from Bernhard after 24 laps. It was half a minute behind its sister car at that point because of a broken front diveplane during Bernhard's stint.

However, the other Porsche – driven by Switzerland's Neel Jani, German Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas – lost more than a minute and a half stationary in the pits after a series of stop-go penalties for using too much fuel.