The #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid secured victory over the two works Porsches at the 2017 6 Hours of Shanghai. The Stuttgart-based manufacturer still has reason to celebrate, however, as second and third position handed the German marque the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles with one round of the season to go.
The #8 crew of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima didn’t put a foot wrong all race, taking the win by just over one lap from the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley. The #1 Porsche 919 rounded out the top three at the 2017 6 Hours of Shanghai, after the sister #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid spent multiple laps in the pits for repairs after colliding with the #91 Porsche 911.
The GTE Pro win went to the #67 Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell for the British pair’s first win of the season, ahead of the #91 Porsche of Richard Lietz and Frédéric Makowiecki. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 finished the race in third position, securing enough points to claim the inaugural FIA GT World Endurance Championship for the Italian marque.
A fantastic performance by Vaillante Rebellion gave the Swiss team a commanding win in LMP2. The #31 secured the win by a margin of just over 30 seconds, in spite of some significant pressure from the second-placed Signatech Alpine. Third was the sister Vaillante Rebellion machine of Matthias Beche, David Heinemeier-Hansson and Nelson Piquet Jr.
It was eventful six hours for the #26 G-Drive Racing crew of Roman Rusinov, Leo Roussel and Nico Muller and the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca. The pair collided into turn one, causing both to spin but subsequently continue.
Porsche also only just missed out on class victory in the GTE Am category, with the #86 Gulf Racing machine and the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing car finishing second and third behind the #98 Aston Martin Vantage.