24h Le Mans
While a number of titles were clinched at the 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend, several others will go down to the wire at the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
In securing its third successive Le Mans triumph at the 88th running of the 24 Hours, Toyota Gazoo Racing made sure of the FIA World Endurance LMP1 Championship crown after seven of the eight rounds of the 2019-20 season. In LMP2, United Autosports secured the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams, while Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque claimed the Drivers’ award.
In LMGTE Pro, Aston Martin can no longer be caught in the race to the GT Manufacturers’ FIA World Endurance Championship title.
The 8 Hours of Bahrain on 14 November, the season’s finale, will therefore decide the FIA World Endurance LMP and GT Drivers’ Championship titles. In LMP, Brendon Hartley, Kazuki Nakajima and Sébastien Buemi lead by just seven points from José María López, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway. As a win in an eight-hour race is worth 38 points, with a bonus point awarded for pole position, everything is still to play for. In GT, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim hold a 15-point advantage over Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin. Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado are a further 11 points behind.
The FIA Endurance Trophies for GTE Am Teams and Drivers are also still up for grabs. TF Sport (#90 Aston Martin Vantage AMR) and AF Corse (#83 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo) will go head-to-head with just eight points separating them. Charlie Eastwood, Jonny Adam and Salih Yoluc now lead the race for the Drivers’ trophy on the strength of their Le Mans win. They face competition from Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo et Nicklas Nielsen.
Further reading: 24 Hours of Le Mans – 2020 Highlights (video).
