Hour 3:
Neel Jani took the lead in the Six Hours of Nürburgring right before the halfway mark, as Romain Dumas brought the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid in during the second Full Course Yellow while the top three had already pitted.
While the Mark Webber's No. 1 Porsche and both the Audis have been battling for the lead for most of the race, it was a well-timed pitstop that moved the No. 2 Porsche up from fourth to the lead of race, gaining almost half a minute.
Both Audis overtook the No. 1 Porsche on track at the beginning of the second hour, and while a slow puncture made the Porsche pit a couple of laps early, the resulting shorter refueling time meant it regained track position once the Audis visited the pits.
The gap between the Porsche and Audis remained at three to four seconds, even after Lucas Di Grassi and Andre Lotterer changed position in their pursuit.
Toyota runs 5th and 6th and is not able to keep up with the leaders, with both TS050 Hybrids are already one lap down.
Lewis Williamson led the LMP2 class in the No. 42 Strakka Racing Gibson 015S Nissan after three hours, ahead of the No. 36 Signatech Alpine A460 Nissan of Gustavo Menezes and Matt Rao's No. 45 Manor Racing Oreca 05 Nissan.
The No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca Nissan that started the race on class pole, pitted from the lead with gearboxes issues, with it currently still in the pits.
Stefan Muecke led the GTE-Pro field at the restart after the second FCY, but had yet to make its pit stop in the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT.
Aston Martin has been in control of the class for most of the first half, with Nicki Thiim keeping both AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTEs behind in the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8.
The sister No. 97 Aston Martin lost time fixing its mirror, while the No. 67 Ford GT is 15 laps down following a refueling fire.
Mathias Lauda leads GTE Am in the No. 98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8, ahead of the KCMG Porsche 911 RSR in the hands of Christian Ried.
Ford GT fire:
Andy Priualx has escaped injury after his No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT erupted in flames while refueling in the opening stages of Sunday’s Six Hours of Nürburgring.
A problem with the fuel valve resulted in a flash fire in the pits, which was quickly extinguished. The car lost 10 laps in the garage undergoing repairs but has since rejoined.
Hour 1:
Brendon Hartley leads the Six Hours of Nürburgring after the first hour, after a successful first pit stop for the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid. The Kiwi took over from Timo Bernhard after the opening stint.
Marcel Fassler held onto the lead at the start, but Bernhard moved his Porsche into second from third on the grid, demoting Oliver Jarvis to third.
Bernhard only had one serious attempt for the lead in the first hour, trying to make the move into Turn 1, but the German overran the corner and stayed in second.
A few minutes later, Neel Jani tried to take third from Jarvis in the first corner but the Porsche driver hit Stefan Muecke's Ford GT and so the No. 2 Porsche spun out.
As it stands, Hartley leads Jarvis and Andre Lotterer at the front with the first hour and opening round of pit stops completed.
Jonny Kane took the LMP2 class lead after the first round of pit stops, after holding third since the start of the race in his No. 42 Strakka Racing Gibson 015S Nissan.
Alex Brundle's G-Drive Racing Oreca 05 Nissan dropped down to second in the stops.
Nicki Thiim dropped down from pole to third on the first lap but he soon made his way back up to the front of the GTE-Pro field in his No. 95 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, with Richie Stanaway taking second for an Aston Martin Racing 1-2 after the first hour.
Muecke stayed in third despite his contact with the Porsche 919 Hybrid until Harry Tincknell overtook him in the sister Ford GT.
Patrick Long led the full hour in GTE-Am for Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing, while a similar Porsche 911 RSR was in second, with Wolf Henzler's KCMG entry.
