Porsche will be leaving the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship on a high note after securing both the drivers‘ and manufacturers’ titles once again.
The feat was accomplished in Shanghai today at the penultimate round of the championship, with one round still left to go in Bahrain later this month.
Second place was enough for Porsche’s trio of Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard, and Brendon Hartley to seal the trophies in the 919 Hybrid, edging out the Toyota team of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Anthony Davidson, who won this weekend’s race.
This marks the third year running that Porsche has won both titles. Hartley and Bamber won the title with Mark Webber in 2015, while Marc Leib, Romain Dumas, and Neel Jami took top honors last year. As if that weren’t enough, Porsche has also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans each of the past three years as well.
Unfortunately, they won’t be out to defend their titles next year as Porsche is withdrawing from the class, leaving Toyota to dice it with the privateers for victory next season.