The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship came to a thrilling conclusion this evening with action and drama from the start until the chequered flag. Porsche triumphed in the LMGTE Pro category to lift the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers for the first time, beating three time champions Ferrari into second place.
The no92 Porsche Team Manthey 911 of Frederic Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet scored their first victory in 2015 ahead of the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 of outgoing champions Toni Vilander and Gimmi Bruni. A difficult weekend for the no92 Porsche Team Manthey Porsche of Ricard Lietz and Michael Christensen saw the Austrian-Danish duo finish in 5th place but theis was good enough to secure the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers’ for Lietz, giving the German manufacturer a clean sweep in both the LMP1 and LMGTE Pro categories.
The LMGTE Am title was secured by the no72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Andrea Bertolini, Alexsey Basov and Victor Shaytar, the Russian team and Russo-Italian trio adding the 2015 World Endurance title to the 24 Hours of Le Mans victory back in June and the 2014 European Le Mans Series crown. They finished in 5th after a difficult weekend but their only rivals in the no83 AF Corse Ferrari could only manage to finish 4th when nothing less than a victory would do for François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Matteo Cressoni.
The LMGTE Am class was won by the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy, the winners of Silverstone and Spa returning to winning ways in the final race of the year after starting the 6 Hours of Bahrain on pole position.
The early race pace was set by Toni Vilander in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari from pole position but the Finn soon came under pressure from the no92 Porsche of Patrick Pilet, the French driver moving ahead of the no97 Aston Martin of Jonny Adam and then moved up to second place when the no99 had to serve a 3-minute stop and go penalty for using an extra set of tyres above the permitted amount in the regulations. Pilet passed Vilander on the inside of the last corner to take the lead 20 minutes into the race.
The no71 Ferrari and no44 AF Racing LMP2 entry collided at T8, dropping James Calado down to 5th place. This was not the only issue for the no71 Ferrari as later in the race the front left wheel became detached following a pitstop and the F458 had to limp back to the pits for a replacement, putting the Anglo-Italian duo out of contention for the drivers’ title.
The All Danish no95 Aston Martin Vantage was also up at the front at the end of the first hour with Nicki Thiim passing Vilander’s Ferrari for second place before heading to the pits for the first stop.
As the race progressed the no92 Porsche of Pilet and Makowiecki tightened their grip on the winners trophy, with the no51 Ferrari dropping back but still fighting for 2nd place ahead of the two Aston Martins, the no97 Vantage eventually getting the better of the no95 car.
In LMGTE AM the no50 Larbre Competition Corvette of Paolo Ruberti got a great start to move to the head of the field and for most of the first half of the race the team was challenging at the front of the GTE Am field before fading away in the second 3-hours, finishing the race in 6th in class.
The two Porsche 911s also got involved with the challenge for the lead with the no88 Abu-Dhabi Proton Racing Porsche of Klaus Bachler hitting the front of the field at the 3 hour mark after starting the race from the back of the grid. The no77 Dempsey Proton Racing 911 of Patrick Long was also involved with the battle for the lead and took their turn at the front of the LMGTE Am field.
In the final hour the no98 Aston Martin of Pedro Lamy made its move and Mathias Lauda followed it up with a superb drive to the flag to take the class win ahead of the no88 Porsche, with Klaus Bachler, Khaled Al Qubaisi and Marco Mapelli equalling the teams best finish of 2015 in second place.
As the race drew to a close the no92 Porsche took the chequered flag to take the first win of the season and with Richard Lietz in the no91 car coming home in 5th to secure enough points to move Porsche ahead of Ferrari in the Manufacturers’ championship and secure the Drivers’ title for himself, there was jubilation in the Team Manthey pit.
The SMP Racing Ferrari stayed out of trouble for the entire race finishing in 5th to secure enough points to secure the 2015 crown.
The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship has now finished and all that remains is to present the champions trophies at the awards ceremony in Bahrain on Sunday evening.
CLICK HERE for the result of the 6 Hours of Bahrain
CLICK HERE for the championship positions after the 6 Hours of Bahrain
CLICK HERE to watch the post race press conference videos
CLICK HERE to view the race facts
