2016 6 Hours of Nürburgring

Romain Dumas (pictured in 2014) had his car damaged with a barrier collision because of a brake disc failure.

Three practice sessions—two on Friday and a third on Saturday—were held before the Sunday race. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions lasted 90 minutes; the third, one-hour session was held on Saturday morning.[16] Lap times were not comparable to the previous year's because of the usage of the slower Veedol Chicane.[17] Lieb's No. 2 Porsche led the 90-minute period with a fastest lap time at 1 minute and 41.703 seconds, nearly a twentieth of a second faster than teammate Brendon Hartley in the first Porsche. LMP2 was led by Brundle in the No. 26 Manor vehicle with a lap of 1 minute and 50.748 seconds which was recorded late in the session. James Calado in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari was quickest in LMGTE Pro while Pedro Lamy helped Aston Martin Racing to be fastest in LMGTE Am.[18] The session was disrupted when the rear-left suspension on Nicolas Lapierre's No. 36 Signatech Alpine failed and went off into the exit of the turn one gravel trap which prompted the deployment of the full course yellow flag. A red flag was later shown as the race control system continued to show the latter as in operation.[18][19]

In the second practice session, which took place in mild weather conditions and was later affected by rain on portions of the track, Mark Webber in the No. 1 Porsche set the fastest lap time of the day at 1 minute and 40.997 seconds twenty minutes in.[20] He finished 0.014 seconds faster than the second-placed Fässler, who, in turn, was 0.125 seconds quicker than his teammate Loïc Duval in third. Dumas' car suffered a front-left brake disc failure, causing him to drive into the turn one barriers and damage the front-end of his car. This rendered him unable to take any further part in practice and triggered a full course yellow.[21] Stéphane Richelmi's No. 36 Signatech Alpine led LMP2 early on but Rast ended it as the fastest driver in the class with a time of 1 minute and 48.965 seconds, more than a second faster than Brundle's Strakka car.[21] LMGTE Pro was led by Stanaway in the No. 97 Aston Martin while Rui Águas' No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari was fastest in LMGTE Am.[20] Lamy and David Cheng were summoned by the stewards to race control after the two made contact.[21]

The third (and final) practice session was delayed three times for 45 minutes from its original start time because foggy weather conditions prevented the medical helicopter from flying.[22][23] It was initially held on a damp track and some drizzle fell towards the session's end.[24] Cars were equipped with intermediate tyres to start the session before switching to dry slick tyres when the track dried up.[22] Webber set the fastest timed lap at 1 minute and 41.002 seconds with twenty minutes of practice left, and was almost three-tenths of a second faster than Anthony Davidson in Toyota's No. 5 car.[23] Duval spun the No. 8 Audi at the second turn late in the session.[22] Rast was the fastest LMP2 driver with a lap of 1 minute and 50.260 seconds in the session's final minute, and was nearly seven-tenths of a second quicker than Graves in Manor's No. 44 car.[24] Gianmaria Bruni recorded the quickest time in LMGTE Pro, driving the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, while David Heinemeier Hansson in the No. 88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche was the fastest driver in LMGTE Am,[22] despite spinning in the session's closing minutes.[23]

André Lotterer (pictured in 2012) secured Audi's second pole position of the season.

Friday's afternoon qualification session was divided into two groups that lasted 25 minutes each. Cars in LMGTE Pro and AM were sent out first. After a five-minute interval, LMP1 and LMP2 vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by two participants for one timed lap each and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest average times. The fastest qualifier was awarded one point which went towards the Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships.[16] Light rain fell before qualifying started causing teams to use intermediate tyres on their cars until a dry line emerged on the track and vehicles were equipped with dry-compound tyres. Rain later returned to the track which prevented anyone from improving on their fastest lap times.[25] The session was marked by a battle between Audi and Porsche.[26]

Lotterer in the No. 8 Audi was fastest on the car's first timed lap and remained quickest with an average time of 1 minute and 39.444 seconds to clinch the team's second pole position of the season. The car was joined on the grid's front row by the sister Audi of di Grassi, Jarvis and Duval. Jarvis had his fastest time revoked after spinning at the NGK chicane late in qualifying because he had violated track limits.[26][27] Porsche's No. 1 vehicle took third with Webber and Timo Bernhard behind the wheel;[28] Webber was unable to improve on his lap time as he misjudged his braking point and went across the NGK chicane,[26] while Bernard was delayed by LMP2 vehicles on both his laps.[29] They were ahead of the team's second entry, driven by Lieb and Jani, and both Toyota cars took fifth and sixth.[27] Lieb had no hybrid boost on his first lap, and braked early for the chicane on his following attempt.[29] Davidson attributed his car's position to having one timed lap and being delayed by traffic, while Sébastien Buemi stated this was due to Toyota focusing on the race, compromising their qualifying performance. Sarrazin was unable to push hard because of the damp track.[25] The two Rebellion cars rounded out the LMP1 qualifiers in seventh and ninth; they were separated by the No. 4 ByKolles Racing car of Simon Trummer, Oliver Webb and Pierre Kaffer.[26]

In LMP2 the No. 26 G-Drive Oreca of Rast and Rusinov took the fastest time at 1 minute and 48,985 seconds, securing the team's fourth consecutive class pole position of the season.[30] The car was 0.743 seconds in front of the second-placed qualifier, the No. 36 Signatech Alpine, driven by Gustavo Menezes and Richelmi.[26] Williamson, in his first World Endurance Championship qualifying session, recorded a time of 1 minute and 49.924 with Kane setting a one-minute and 49.600 seconds circuit for an average lap total of 1 minute and 49.762 seconds.[28] Thiim and Sørensen, competing in the No. 97 Aston Martin, were the fastest LMGTE Pro qualifiers with a late two-lap average of two minutes and 1.712 seconds which was recorded when the track was at its driest. The No. 66 Ford GT of Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla was 0.247 seconds off the place and had the class pole until the No. 97 Aston Martin's laps.[26] Stanaway and Turner in the second Aston Martin qualified third in class, ahead of the fourth-placed Bruni and Calado in the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari. Bruni had slick dry tyres fitted to his car and went off the track at the Mercedes Arena exit which caused his pit crew to install intermediate tyres.[28] Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing's No. 88 Porsche driven by Patrick Long and Khaled Al Qubaisi took the LMGTE Am pole position with an average time of two minutes and 6.011 seconds in the first qualifying session's closing minutes.[28][30] The duo were nearly two-tenths of a second ahead of Wolf Henzler's No. 88 KCMG Porsche with Paul Dalla Lana in the No. 97 Aston Martin third.[30]

Weather conditions at the start were sunny and dry. The air temperature was between 20–24 °C (68–75 °F) and the track temperature ranged from 24.5–32 °C (76.1–89.6 °F);[32] weather forecasts predicted conditions would remain consistent with a 20% chance of rain.[33] 58,000 people attended the race.[34] The race started at 13:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00) with the three-time Olympic gold medallist skier Maria Höfl-Riesch having the honour of waving the green flag.[35] The No. 7 Audi maintained its pole position advantage heading into the first turn, with Bernard in Porsche's first car overtaking Audi's No. 8 vehicle around the outside for second place at the second corner.[36] Mücke in the No. 66 Ford GT moved into the LMGTE Pro lead at turn one and Aston Martin's No. 95 car fell to third with the team's No. 97 car moving into second in class while Abu Dhabi-Proton's No. 88 Porsche maintained the LMGTE Am lead.[37] Mücke lost the LMGTE Pro lead at the beginning of lap two when he made an error, allowing both Aston Martin cars to overtake him.[36] The stewards investigated the start but elected to take no further action.[37]

Neel Jani (pictured in 2011) battled Oliver Jarvis early in the race and eventually finished fourth overall.

Fässler extended his lead to 1.5 seconds over Jarvis while both Toyota cars were lapping one second slower than the leader's place, and the No. 4 ByKolles car moved in front of Rebellion Racing's No. 13 vehicle. Bernard lost control of his car while lapping one of the Ford GT entrants, allowing Jarvis to close up to him.[37] Bernard attempted to pass Fässler around the outside at turn one for first position but the latter defended his line and narrowly avoided going wide off the track.[37][36] It allowed Jarvis and Jani to again close the gap and made it a four-car battle for first place while lapping slower traffic.[36] Bruni battled Mücke for third in LMGTE Pro and had Harry Tincknell in the second Ford close behind him. Bernard caught Fässler, who was held up by one of the Aston Martin cars in the final turn, and temporarily claimed the lead in the first corner before running wide. Bernhard avoided hitting the KCMG car, allowing the No. 7 Audi to retake the position at the turn's exit.[37] Jani attempted to move in front by going around the inside of Jarvis, but after driving back onto the racing line heading into the first turn, locked his tyres. This caused Jani to drive straight, and Mücke's front-end made contact with the Porsche's left-rear corner, causing him to spin onto the run-off area.[37][36]

In the battle for first Fässler held off another challenge from Bernhard,[37] while Jani rejoined the track in fourth place narrowly ahead of Nakajima in the No. 5 Toyota. The contest for second in LMGTE Pro continued with the top four cars running closely together without any action until Tincknell overtook Bruni around the inside for fourth position at the first corner.[36] The stewards elected not to take any action over the collision between Jani and Mücke at turn one, and Filipe Albuquerque overtook Nicolas Minassian for fifth position in LMP2.[37] The first round of lead car pit stops for car adjustments and driver changes commenced after 50 minutes when both Audi cars made pit stops. After the pit stops, Hartley took over the No. 1 Porsche and gained the lead because both Audi entries were delayed by slower cars.[36] Fuel went onto the hot exhaust of the second-placed No. 66 Ford GT in LMGTE Pro which did not have its breather cap closed, causing a flash fire. Andy Priaulx, who had taken over from Tincknell, exited the car and course officials and the team's crew members were required to extinguish the flames.[38][39] The fire damaged the car's turbocharger, causing Priaulx to run at a reduced pace.[38]

Lieb reported his car had a vibration while Hartley was warned about track limits.[37] The No. 95 Aston Martin continued to lead LMGTE Pro but the team's No. 98 car required a door change after losing one of its wing mirrors, dropping it to sixth.[40] Joël Camathias in KCMG's Porsche was now running at the front of LMGTE Am ahead of the second-placed No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari. Jarvis closed to eight-tenths of a second behind Hartley until the latter responded by going half a second quicker but later reported his car was loose under braking when entering the track's corners. Hartley lost time through traffic and Jarvis overtook him for the lead at the NGK chicane. Hartley was caught by Lotterer who passed him for second at the first turn.[37] Porsche identified a loss in tyre pressure in Hartley's car and chose to pit him,[41] and Webber climbed aboard the No. 1 car. Lieb made a pit stop from the lead, handing first and second positions to both Toyota cars. Buemi held it for the next few laps until their stops and ceded it to Webber. Pierre Ragues became the LMGTE Am leader after moving in front of François Perrodo and the KCMG Porsche. The first full course yellow was necessitated when Perrodo spun his car into the NGK chicane gravel trap. Marshals cleaned the track at the ninth and twelfth turns.[37]

During the full course yellow, Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing's No. 88 car caught fire but the flames were extinguished and it was able to rejoin the event. The race resumed nine minutes later with Webber leading at the restart. Christian Ried overtook Yutaka Yamagishi for the LMGTE Am lead in the first corner before Mathias Lauda claimed the position on the following lap.[37] Brundle drove slowly with a gearbox problem and made a pit stop from the LMP2 lead before being pushed into his garage to retire.[37][40] The overall leaders made pit stops after two hours and 30 minutes which saw the deployment of the second full course yellow when one of the Toyota's dive planes was located in the sixth corner.[37][40] Racing resumed four minutes later with Jani leading the field, ahead of teammate Bernhard and di Grassi. Jani held a ten-second lead over Bernhard as the race entered its halfway mark and the chance of rain decreased significantly. Webb stopped his car at the outside of the eleventh turn with smoke billowing from his car and retired, prompting the third full course yellow. During the full course yellow, several cars elected to make pit stops for fuel and driver changes.[37]

Timo Bernhard (pictured in 2014) secured the No. 1 Porsche's first victory of the season.

Racing resumed seven minutes later with Lieb maintaining the No. 2 Porsche's advantage over teammate Hartley. Thiim was overtaken by Bruni for the LMGTE Pro lead, while Hartley reduced the time deficit to teammate Lieb to eleven seconds. The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari was issued with a 20-second time penalty after it was observed speeding in the pit lane during the full course yellow. Toyota's No. 6 car was pushed into the garage to repair a loose engine component. Sam Bird, driving the No. 71 AF Corse car, went into the turn five gravel trap but recovered to remain in third place in LMGTE Pro. Pizzonia in Manor's No. 44 vehicle passed Leventis's No. 42 Strakka Racing car for third place in LMP2; the latter fell to fifth after he was overtaken by Derani.[37] A fourth full course yellow was triggered when Lieb attempted to lap Kahled Al-Qubaisi in the No. 88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing car but hit him, sending the latter into the turn six gravel trap.[37][41] Most of the LMP1 and LMP2 runners made pit stops during the full course yellow. Lieb's front-left dive plane was damaged and required repairs, Audi's No. 7 car had its front bodywork changed and the track was cleaned by marshals.[37]

The race resumed thirteen minutes later with the No. 1 Porsche driven by Webber leading teammate Jani and Duval. Jani closed the gap to teammate Webber over the next ten minutes. Webber was then instructed by Porsche to allow Jani to move ahead of him because of Jani's faster pace. Jani overtook Webber for the lead at the first corner shortly afterwards. Shortly after, Jani was issued a drive-through penalty for his collision with the No. 88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing car and served it four minutes later. He was able to catch Duval and attempted to pass him around the outside but the French driver defended his position at the first turn. The two drivers continued to battle, allowing Lotterer to reduce the time distance. Lotterer attempted to overtake Jani around the outside but Jani defended his position, causing Lotterer to run wide and the two made minor contact. Lotterer reduced his speed but caught back up to Jani while moving through slower cars. Jani was overtaken by Lotterer at the NGK chicane but the duo drove alongside each other in the final turn and Jani reclaimed second position at turn one. Jani's car was hit at its rear-end by a BR01 car at the chicane. Lotterer moved into second by passing Jani in the Mercedes Arena section.[37]

The fifth (and final) full course yellow was shown to allow marshals to remove the debris from Jani's car. All cars elected to make pit stops during the full course yellow. Bernhard relieved Webber of his driving duties in the No. 1 Porsche and remained the leader at the restart six minutes later. The No. 2 Porsche was shown a black and orange flag, requiring it to make a pit stop for repairs to its left-rear corner, and reemerged in fourth position. Second-placed LMP2 driver Bruno Senna went into gravel and grass but rejoined without any significant damage. Throughout the remainder of the event, Bernhard kept the overall lead and took the first victory of the season for the No. 1 Porsche, and its first since the 2015 6 Hours of Shanghai. The No. 8 Audi finished in second, ahead of the team's No. 7 car in third.[37] The No. 36 Signatech Alpine car of Menzes, Lapierre, and Richelmi secured the victory in LMP2, and their third consecutive victory of the year, 16 seconds ahead of second-placed No. 43 RGR Sport car. AF Corse's No. 51 Ferrari in LMGTE Pro clinched its first victory of the season, the first of Calado's career and the 13th for Bruni, followed 47 seconds later by teammates Bird and Rigon in second place by teammates.[42] Upon taking the lead from KCMG and holding it for the last 48 laps,[43] Lamy, Lauda and Dalla Lana clinched Aston Martin's second victory in LMGTE Am, ahead of Perrodo, Collard and Agias in the No. 83 AF Corse car. KCMG's No. 78 Porsche initially finished second but was disqualified when it was discovered that the car's minimum ride height was not compliant with the regulations.[42]

Race results

The minimum number of laps for classification (70 per cent of the overall winning car's race distance) was 136 laps. Class winners are denoted in bold.[45]

Final race classification

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired
					Engine
1	LMP1	1	Porsche Team	Timo Bernhard Mark Webber Brendon Hartley	Porsche 919 Hybrid	M	194	06:01:16.183
					Porsche 2.0 L Turbo V4
2	LMP1	8	Audi Sport Team Joest	Lucas di Grassi Loïc Duval Oliver Jarvis	Audi R18	M	194	+53.787
					Audi TDI 4.0 L Turbo Diesel V6
3	LMP1	7	Audi Sport Team Joest	Marcel Fässler André Lotterer	Audi R18	M	194	+54.483
					Audi TDI 4.0 L Turbo Diesel V6
4	LMP1	2	Porsche Team	Romain Dumas Neel Jani Marc Lieb	Porsche 919 Hybrid	M	194	+1:37.324
					Porsche 2.0 L Turbo V4
5	LMP1	5	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Anthony Davidson Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	M	193	+1 Lap
					Toyota 2.4 L Turbo V6
6	LMP1	6	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Stéphane Sarrazin Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	M	190	+4 Laps
					Toyota 2.4 L Turbo V6
7	LMP1	13	Rebellion Racing	Mathéo Tuscher Dominik Kraihamer Alexandre Imperatori	Rebellion R-One	D	178	+16 Laps
					AER 2.4 L Turbo V6
8	LMP2	36	Signatech Alpine	Gustavo Menezes Nicolas Lapierre Stéphane Richelmi	Alpine A460	D	178	+16 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
9	LMP2	43	RGR Sport by Morand	Ricardo Gonzalez Filipe Albuquerque Bruno Senna	Ligier JS P2	D	178	+16 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
10	LMP2	31	Extreme Speed Motorsports	Ryan Dalziel Pipo Derani Chris Cumming	Ligier JS P2	M	176	+18 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
11	LMP2	42	Strakka Racing	Nick Leventis Jonny Kane Lewis Williamson	Gibson 015S	D	176	+18 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
12	LMP2	44	Manor	Tor Graves Antônio Pizzonia Matthew Howson	Oreca 05	D	176	+18 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
13	LMP2	37	SMP Racing	Vitaly Petrov Kirill Ladygin Viktor Shaitar	BR Engineering BR01	D	175	+19 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
14	LMP2	35	Baxi DC Racing Alpine	David Cheng Ho-Pin Tung Nelson Panciatici	Alpine A460	D	175	+19 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
15	LMP2	27	SMP Racing	Nicolas Minassian Maurizio Mediani	BR Engineering BR01	D	175	+19 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
16	LMP2	30	Extreme Speed Motorsports	Scott Sharp Ed Brown Johannes van Overbeek	Ligier JS P2	M	172	+22 Laps
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
17	LMP1	12	Rebellion Racing	Nico Prost Nick Heidfeld Mathias Beche	Rebellion R-One	D	171	+23 Laps
					AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6
18	LMGTE Pro	51	AF Corse	Gianmaria Bruni James Calado	Ferrari 488 GTE	M	170	+24 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
19	LMGTE Pro	71	AF Corse	Davide Rigon Sam Bird	Ferrari 488 GTE	M	170	+24 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
20	LMGTE Pro	95	Aston Martin Racing	Nicki Thiim Marco Sørensen	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	D	170	+24 Laps
					Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
21	LMGTE Pro	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla	Ford GT	M	169	+25 Laps
					Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
22	LMGTE Pro	97	Aston Martin Racing	Richie Stanaway Darren Turner	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	D	169	+25 Laps
					Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
23	LMGTE Pro	77	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Richard Lietz Michael Christensen	Porsche 911 RSR	M	169	+25 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
24	LMGTE Am	98	Aston Martin Racing	Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	D	166	+28 Laps
					Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
25	LMGTE Am	83	AF Corse	François Perrodo Emmanuel Collard Rui Águas	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	M	166	+28 Laps
					Ferrari 4.5 L V8
26	LMGTE Am	50	Larbre Compétition	Yutaka Yamagishi Pierre Ragues Paolo Ruberti	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	M	165	+29 Laps
					Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
27	LMGTE Am	88	Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing	Khaled Al Qubaisi David Heinemeier Hansson Patrick Long	Porsche 911 RSR	M	164	+30 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
28	LMGTE Am	86	Gulf Racing	Michael Wainwright Adam Carroll Ben Barker	Porsche 911 RSR	M	164	+30 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
29	LMGTE Pro	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Marino Franchitti Andy Priaulx Harry Tincknell	Ford GT	M	155	+39 Laps
					Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
DNF	LMP2	45	Manor	Matt Rao Richard Bradley Roberto Merhi	Oreca 05	D	149	Brakes
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
DNF	LMP1	4	ByKolles Racing Team	Simon Trummer Oliver Webb Pierre Kaffer	CLM P1/01	D	98	Engine
					AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6
DNF	LMP2	26	G-Drive Racing	Roman Rusinov René Rast Alex Brundle	Oreca 05	D	74	Gearbox
					Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
EX	LMGTE Am	78	KCMG	Christian Ried Wolf Henzler Joël Camathias	Porsche 911 RSR	M	166	Disqualified[N 1]
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6

World Endurance Drivers' Championship standings[12] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Marc Lieb Romain Dumas Neel Jani 106 2 Loïc Duval Lucas di Grassi Oliver Jarvis 73 3 Stéphane Sarrazin Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi 62 4 André Lotterer Marcel Fässler 51 5 Dominik Kraihamer Alexandre Imperatori Mathéo Tuscher 36

World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship standings[12] Pos. +/– Constructor Points 1 Porsche 164 2 Toyota 129 3 Audi 97

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for the Drivers' Championship standings.