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Webber: "I was talking to the car. I prayed"

Mark Webber is celebrating winning the World Endurance Championship. (Picture: Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool)
Roar Guru
22nd November, 2015
2

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley limped home with an ailing 919 Hybrid to finish fifth and win the World Endurance Championship alongside German Timo Bernhard and New Zealander Brendon Hartley.

Porsche’s win at Le Mans and subsequent championship has come almost ahead of schedule and according to Webber is all the more sweeter given the level of opposition they’ve had to beat.

“Porsche is an incredible brand that’s basically come in just 18 months ago and lifted the bar against some really, really tough and organised teams,” Webber said post-race at Bahrain.

“Audi have been up there for so long and had to deal with Peugeot. After that they were on their own for a little while, but I think we brought a whole new mentality with a little bit of Formula One and a whole new style.”

“Constantly they’ve [Audi] have been on the back foot in all areas and that’s what we had to do to beat them. The number 17 car has had the most wins this year, obviously today wasn’t the cleanest day, but we did what we had to do.

“Number 18 thoroughly deserved the win. They were quick and kept number seven [Webber’s title rival] out so that helped!”

A throttle actuator issue plagued the championship-winning 919 Hybrid just 30 minutes into the race, but good old-fashioned cable-ties and a few gambles from quick-thinking crew members brought the number 17 car home in one piece.

“Communication is very important,” Webber stressed.

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“We were very concerned about the last pit stop because of the way the throttle was working, so executing the pit stop was a bit of a concern for me. About five or six laps out we were talking about getting the stop done.

“I don’t know which guy came up with the idea, but it was genius. We basically turned the engine off, did everything with the eMotor and cruised into the pit in stealth mode and got everything up and away again. In the end the guys said we were doing enough. I honestly didn’t even know we were fifth!”

Just how close Webber came to losing the championship doesn’t bare thinking about, but it was akin to an endurance runner hitting the wall at the final 100 metres.

“I was talking to the car. I prayed,” Webber admitted. “It didn’t sound good. It was not a happy girl, but she wanted to hang in there for us at the end and on the in-lap the car gave up completely. No battery at all.”

While sports car racing has been without a world championship to hang its hat on for over a decade, the historical significance of Porsche’s victory isn’t lost on Webber. He was quick to praise the efforts of his teammates in sealing the momentous achievement for him personally and the entire Porsche team.

“As a Porsche driver with Timo and Brendon I think it’s been 29 years since Mr [Derek] Bell and Mr [Hans-Joachim] Stuck won it [World Sports Car Championship] at Fuji in 1986, so to be World Champion in sports cars at this level is fantastic” Webber said.

“Okay there’s not 26 guys on the same pace, but there’s still five or six guys who are very, very strong. I’ve learnt a lot off Timo and Brendan’s very fast. Timo’s unbelievably good, just awesome and if you want lap times, Brendan’s the guy you put in the car.”

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Webber admits he’d had to make some adjustments to his approach since joining the sports car ranks, but it’s been a meeting in the middle regarding the crew’s personality and his own.

“It’s been a big learning curve to get the most out of myself in this championship. Last year I wasn’t completely happy with the car. This year we put more down-force on the car, which I’m used to and works in my favour a bit in terms of driving the car a bit nicer.”

If Mark’s world title with Porsche has succeeded in exorcising the demons of his 2010 Formula One World Championship defeat, he certainly wasn’t showing it, preferring instead to look forward rather than back.

“I don’t think about 2010 at the moment,” Webber admitted.

“For sure it’s a fantastic world title, but for me it’s just a fantastic moment to win a world title with Porsche. Certainly my Formula One experience has helped me work on the development of the car, work hard with the team to find speed and never accept that the result in the last race was enough.”

“After Le Mans I saw the team so happy and excited that they were already looking to Le Mans next year. I said ‘Hey c’mon! The technical regulations aren’t changing, so we have to learn as much as possible in the races we have left’. We’ve improved the car a lot since then and that will continue through to Silverstone next year.”

And where would Webber be celebrating during the early hours?

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“At the bar!”

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