Hartley sent former team mate Roman Dumas’s number 36 Signatech Alpine into a spin near the bus stop. The contact necessitated a new nose and penalty for Hartley, but more importantly an open goal for Porsche.
The mistake was costly, however with both Toyotas requiring more fuel, Hartley inherited the lead with 20 minutes remaining. It was going to be THAT close with Buemi pushing Hartley to use his full fuel allocation with 1.3 seconds between them.
But Porsche blinked, with Hartley eventually putting and handing the Toyotas their 1-2 finish, with Sebastien Buemi leading home a fast-closing Kamui Kobayashi and the number 2 Porsche of Brendon Hartley. Kobayashi made a last-chance dive at Buemi on the final lap but a Rebellion backmarker scuppered his efforts. Andre Lotterer brought up fourth in the number 1 Porsche with Lapierre getting in some good miles in before Le Mans in the number third TS050.
"Number seven were the faster car today, so they are the real winners" said a magnanimous Buemi. "We got lucky with the safety car".
ByKolles savoured was their strongest performance in a long while, finishing sixth outright and one spot ahead of the winning LMP2 G-Drive entry of Alex Lynn, Romain Rusinov and Pierre Thiriet. It was a hotly contested battle in the second-tier LMP category, with Bruno Senna and Silverstone winner Ho Ping Tung taking the final podium positions.
Sam Bird and Davide Rigon capitalised on their imperious form to take GTE Pro honours ahead of the AF Corse sister car of Calado and Guidi while Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana led home the GTE Am field ahead of the number 77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche and number 28 Clearwater Racing Ferrari.
Images: FIA WEC/Adrenal Media