Championship points round-up ahead of Shanghai
We've only completed two races in Season 8, but every point counts in the FIA WEC so we take a quick look at how things stand following the 6 Hours of Fuji.
Silverstone and Fuji saw different winners in all four classes, so things are tight at the top of drivers’ points classifications which bodes well for the 4 Hours of Shanghai on 10 November.
All six Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers are tied equally in the FIA World Endurance LMP Drivers’ Championship with 44 points, José Maria Lopez/Kamui Kobayashi/Mike Conway in the No.7 TS050 HYBRID having taken victory and pole position at Silverstone and Sébastien Buemi/Kazuki Nakajima/Brendon Hartley in the No.8 Toyota having achieved the same results in Fuji.
The FIA World Endurance LMP1 championship sees Toyota stretch its lead over the Rebellion Racing and Team LNT squads which have both claimed a third place apiece in the two races to date.
In the FIA World Endurance GTE Drivers’ Championship, current champions from Porsche, Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen, have a slim 1-point lead over Fuji winners Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen of Aston Martin thanks to two second place finishes. Just one further point behind is the second Porsche duo of Gimmi Bruni and Richard Lietz, winners at Silverstone. Ferrari hasn’t had a win yet but never count them out! Porsche holds a 5-point lead over Aston Martin in the GT Manufacturers FIA World Championship with Ferrari in third place.
It’s equally close in the LMP2 standings with Racing Team Nederland leading the way thanks to its debut WEC win in Fuji and a podium finish in Silverstone. Frits van Eerd and Giedo van der Garde are 6 points ahead of Cool Racing’s Antonin Borga and Nicolas Lapierre, who in turn have a 4-point advantage over the Jackie Chan DC Racing trio of Gabriel Aubry, Ho-Pin Tung and Will Stevens.
The FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams mirrors the drivers’ points with Racing Team Nederland heading the standings – a great start to the Dutch team’s second season in the WEC.
The LMGTE Am Drivers’ classification sees class-returnees François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard, together with new teammate Nicklas Nielsen from AF Corse, at the head of the standings by 10 points following a win at Silverstone and 2nd place at Fuji. TF Sport’s Fuji win elevates Salih Yoluc, Jonny Adam and Charlie Eastwood to second position, with MR Racing’s drivers in third on 27 points. The same margin applies between the three teams in standings for the FIA Endurance Trophy for GTE Am Teams.
