MOTORSPORT: Porsche WEC champion as Webber wins in China

Mark Webber's win in the Six Hours of Shanghai yesterday with his co-drivers, New Zealander Brendon Hartley and German Timo Bernhard, clinched back-to-back manufacturer titles for Porsche in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

The victory by almost a minute was the fourth of the season for the trio and the sixth in eight rounds for Porsche's 919 Hybrid, with its 2.0-litre V4 turbocharged petrol engine and two energy recovery systems producing a total of 662kW.

Porsche now has an unbeatable 301 points going into the final round on November 19 in Bahrain, which will be 40-year-old Webber's final race.

Once-dominant Audi, which is quitting the WEC at the end of this season, had another disastrous race with its R18 e-tron quattros in Shanghai but has 222 points and Toyota 207 after taking second and third places with its TS050s in China.

Webber and his co-drivers, world champions last year, are fourth this season, albeit only two points behind Audi's best trio (Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi, Frenchman Loic Duval and Briton Oliver Jarvis).

Porsche's other line-up (German Marc Lieb, Swiss Neel Jani and Frenchman Romain Dumas), the winners of the double-points 24 Hours of Le Mans and opening six-hour round at Silverstone in Britain, are poised to be this year's champion drivers. They have 152 points to the 135 of Toyota's frontline trio (Japan's Kamui Kobayashi, Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin and Briton Oliver Jarvis).

The only hiccup for the victorious Porsche in Shanghai was the need for a new nose cone in the second hour.

It completed 195 laps of the 5.45-kilometre circuit.

"Brendon was flying today and Timo's middle stint was really nice," Webber said.

"I did a single stint and got some used tyres out of the way before Brendon brought it home. It was an amazing day for Porsche and we are really happy to have contributed to it."

Porsche board member Michael Steiner said the 919 Hybrid had joined models such as the 718 RS, 904, 917 and 956 in making history and "significantly firing" the manufacturer's road car development.

The 919 has won 13 of 24 races in three years, including consecutive Le Mans victories.

The other Porsche finished fourth in Shanghai on Sunday, ahead of the two Audis.

Ford's GTs notched successive one-two triumphs in the GTE-Pro class.

Webber and his co-drivers previously won this season at the Nurburgring in Germany, Mexico and the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

Webber is to be a 'special representative' for Porsche after his retirement.