World Endurance Championship: Swiss in the points 🎥
PLEASE SEE MORE Sébastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley secure victory at the 6 Hours of Portimão. Ferrari and Porsche complete the podium in Portugal.
Two races in the 2023 World Endurance Championship season have been completed - and twice there was a dominant victory for Toyota. At the race in Portimão/Portugal, the GR010 Hybrid driven by Sébastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley was the undisputed leader at the end. With the Ferrari 499P of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen (center gallery and video) and the Porsche 963 of Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor (left gallery), vehicles from three brands made it onto the podium.
Car of the winners on the pole position
The winning car had already started the race from pole position. But Sébastien Buemi got off to a bad start and initially had to let not only teammate Mike Conway - but also one of the Ferraris - pass. The Italian car was quickly caught again. Conway, on the other hand, was able to hold on to the lead in the second Toyota for around 50 minutes - by then both Japanese factory cars had distanced the entire field.
Podium for Louis Deletraz and Rahel Frey
In the LMP2 class, Louis Deletraz was also a Swiss on the podium. At the wheel of the WRT Oreca #41, which he shares with Robert Kubica and Rui Andrade, he finishes third. Rahel Frey takes third place as part of the women's trio at the wheel of the number 85 Iron Dames Porsche (gallery right).
Nico Müller achieved fifth place
Peugeot also made progress. The 9X8 driven by Loic Duval, Gustavo Menezes and Nico Müller took fifth place. The sister car of Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne had problems even before the race started. As the power steering had to be replaced, they started from the pit lane. The trio finished seventh.
The third round of the World Championship will be held at Spa-Francorchamps on April 29.
