LMGTE Pro and Am Championship positions
While the speed and sleek lines of the LMP cars never fail to attract attention, it is likely that many fans and spectators around the world will struggle to tear themselves away from the battle that is due to take place in the LMGTE categories.
The three luxury car manufacturers contesting the LMGTE Manufacturers’ World Cup are Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin and the quality of the seven entries in the LMGTE Pro category is undeniable. Porsche’s comprehensive success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing first and second in class, catapulted the German company to the top of the table with 118 points. This is just two points ahead of Ferrari who took 44 points from Le Mans as opposed to Aston Martin’s 38, allowing them to pass the British marque. Aston Martin will be determined to put their very difficult 24 Hour event behind them and reclaim the championship lead it had before the French round.
As far as the teams are concerned, in the chase for the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Pro Teams Porsche AG Team Manthey currently holds 74 points, 3 points ahead of Aston Martin Racing and 14 points ahead of the AF Corse.
Porsche’s Lieb-Lietz-Dumas from the No.92 entry lead the chase for the World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers, but by a relatively slim margin of 4 points ahead of Aston Martin’s Turner-Mücke in the No.97. Now that Le Mans is a distant memory, Porsche will run just two drivers in each of their cars. Third in the drivers’ standings is AF Corse’s No.71 driver Vilander who, together with FIA WEC 2013 newcomer Kamui Kobayashi, has 57 points.
Porsche also holds the upper hand in the LMGTE Am class, with IMSA Performance Matmut on 64 points – one point ahead of Larbre Compétition! Brazilian Fernando Rees will be boosting the Corvette’s driver line up in this weekend’s 6 Hours of São Paulo. The Ferrari of 8Star Motorsports is in third place with 56 points and that line up too will receive a boost in the form of Ferrari Corse Clienti driver Davide Rigon.
The position of the drivers of these teams is reflected in the standings for the FIA Endurance Trophy for GTE Am drivers. Vernay and Narac (IMSA Performance Matmut) lead with 64 points, with Canal and Bornhauser (Larbre Compétition) second on 57 points. The leaders’ endurance team mate, Christophe Bourret, has 56 points as he didn’t take part in the Belgian round, and he is 8 points ahead of Aguas and Potolicchio from 8Star.
The action on track at Interlagos will fast, furious and fiercely competitive!
The full Championship points standings can be found HERE.
Fiona Miller
Photo: SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS CIRCUIT (SPA, BELGIUM), WEC 6 HOURS OF SPA FRANCORCHAMPS, SATURDAY 4TH MAY 2013. Porsche lead the close battle for the LMGTE Manufacturers World Cup.