Special feature
WEC Austin
Timo Bernhard: A fantastic win in brutal conditions
Motorsport.com columnist Timo Bernhard reveals how Porsche beat Audi to FIA World Endurance Championship glory in Austin, Texas.
Timo Bernhard
Edited: Sep 20, 2016, 11:12 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
It was literally a hot race in Texas – not only as far as the temperatures were concerned but also in terms of the battle with Audi during the 6 Hours of COTA. Our third win in a row was a great reward but also hard work.
I always look forward to racing in the U.S. I spent quite a lot of my career there with Porsche, and had a lot of success in the American Le Mans Series.
The Americans are huge sportscar racing fans, and they love big endurance events such as the 24 Hours of Daytona or the 12 Hours of Sebring, which I both won several times. I think the sportscar culture in the States is great, and I always enjoy my time there.
COTA is a nice modern circuit and has got a little bit of everything. The first sector is quite challenging as the first corner after the steep start-finish straight is a blind entry, then you go into some flowing esses. In the middle sector you’ve got some good opportunities for overtaking under braking, and in the last sector you have to position your car carefully.
As we’ve seen in the last two years it’s very challenging to race in Texas with extremely hot conditions during the day and a significant change in temperature once the sun sets.
Our 919 Hybrid ran well in the practice sessions and we managed to get through our program as planned. With the changing temperatures, the focus was mainly on testing various cooling options and to find out how the tyres cope with the circumstances as we had to get the balance right for the car’s setup right for the race.
From third practice to qualifying the track conditions had changed quite a lot as other racing series had been on the track and you could feel the different grip level.
P3 on the grid was the maximum Brendon [Hartley] and I could do. The result wasn’t what we had hoped for, but even though Audi had a very quick one lap speed we weren’t far behind.
Scorchingly-hot race
When the race got underway at 5pm it was scorching hot with tropical temperatures. Mark [Webber] was first in the car and managed to improve from P3 to P2, but then had to let the two leading Audis go, who were quicker than us at that point.
After Brendon’s stint it was my turn – but only for 20 laps as the team got me in early for a pit stop during a full-course yellow. At that point the sun was very low and blinding, which threw another challenge into the mix.
Mark also only did a short stint and handed over to Brendon after another full-course yellow. The #8 Audi had to do a longer pitstop which helped us improve our position from third to second.
I took over from Brendon after another full-course yellow, and came out in front after the stop. Mark defended our lead and then handed the car over to me for the final stint, and we brought home another victory.
At the beginning of the race Audi was quicker than us, but the cooler it became after the sunset the stronger our car became. Our whole team did a fantastic job in these brutal conditions.
We worked together seamlessly, timed our pitstops to perfection, the car ran without any issues – and that’s what got us the win in the end.
After the tricky start to the season we’ve had, it’s brilliant to have scored a hat-trick.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Audi ace Duval admits Austin defeat was “massive loss”
Next article Sam Bird column: Damage limitation for Ferrari's WEC campaign
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Timo Bernhard
Bernhard column: Porsche bows out in style in Bahrain
WEC
WEC
Bahrain
Bernhard column: Porsche bows out in style in Bahrain
Bernhard column: Sealing a Porsche hat-trick in Shanghai
WEC
WEC
Shanghai
Bernhard column: Sealing a Porsche hat-trick in Shanghai
Bernhard column: Title celebrations on hold after Fuji washout
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Bernhard column: Title celebrations on hold after Fuji washout
More from
Timo Bernhard
Why Porsche reunited Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister for its final 718 Cayman
NLS
NLS
Why Porsche reunited Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister for its final 718 Cayman
The Porsche "twins" who usurped Audi's best
WEC
WEC
The Porsche "twins" who usurped Audi's best
How Bernhard's Porsche “underdogs” made DTM history
DTM
DTM
Norisring
How Bernhard's Porsche “underdogs” made DTM history
More from
Porsche Team
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Pascal Wehrlein: Jaguar wanted to "destroy my race” in controversial London finale
Pascal Wehrlein responds to Porsche’s team tactics after dominant London win
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix I
Pascal Wehrlein responds to Porsche’s team tactics after dominant London win
Latest news
Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
13 min
Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'
"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?
DTM
DTM DTM
Hockenheim
1 h
"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
2 h
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe