Free Practice 1 | 6th – 1:29.829 |
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Free Practice 2 | 6th – 1:29.672 |
Free Practice 3 | 2nd – 1:27.300 |
Qualifying | 2nd – 1:26.929 |
Race Start | 3rd – 15 points (Fastest Lap – 1:27.759) |
The Porsche Team celebrated its second podium finish of the season for the Porsche 919 Hybrid, when Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber finished third with car number 20. Furthermore, Mark set the fastest overall race lap on the 4.563 km long Fuji Speedway (1:27.759 minutes on lap 12).
An early pit stop after ten laps due to a puncture meant that Mark had to do double stint on a single set of tyres before he handed the car over to Timo Bernhard, who did a double stint as well, but he also changed tyres when refuelling after 122 laps. Brendon Hartley took over driving duties for the last stint and brought it home in third.
“I had a good start and was able to put pressure on the Toyota, but then a punctured rear left tyre hurt our race,” said Mark after the race. “We then tried to do a double stint with the next set of tyres, but lost some time by doing this. The puncture was cruel, but Timo and Brendon did a great job to get the car back into third.”