24h Le Mans
The first Super Finale of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 2019 running of Le Mans, will host previous winners of the legendary race as well as newly-crowned world champions and FIA Trophy contenders. After the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, penultimate round of the season, two titles were earned by Toyota and Porsche. The Drivers titles, namely LMP and GT, will be in play at the 24 Hours on 15-16 June.
Thanks to the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid's victory and sixth place finish for the #7 Toyota last weekend at the Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has won the FIA LMP1 World Champion title, and Porsche, another winner in Belgium, has won the FIA GT Manufacturer title. Still up for grabs are the Driver trophies and titles in the LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE Pro and Am classes heading into the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In the FIA LMP Drivers Championship standings, Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima and Sébastien Buemi are in the lead with 160 points, a 31-point advantage on José María López, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway. The drivers of the #3 Rebellion, Gustavo Menezes and Thomas Laurent, are in third place with 99 points.
In the LMP2 class, four outfits are still contenders for the Teams trophy: Signatech Alpine Matmut (leading with 143 points), Jackie Chan DC Racing with its #37 and #38 ORECA 07-Gibsons, and DragonSpeed trail by 26 points. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, victory carries 38 points and one additional point is earned for each car in the overall top 10. Also, one point is awarded to the pole-sitter.
In the battle for the FIA LMP2 Drivers trophy, André Négrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Pierre Thiriet (#36 Alpine A470-Gibson) are in the lead with 143 points ahead of Gabriel Aubry, Ho-Pin Tung and Stéphane Richelmi, drivers of the #38 ORECA 07-Gibson. Pastor Maldonado and Roberto Gonzalez (DragonSpeed's #21 ORECA 07-Gibson) are third with 117 points.
Kévin Estre and Michael Christensen (Porsche GT Team's #92 Porsche) are leading the FIA GT Drivers Championship with 140 points, a 36-point advantage on Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz (Porsche GT Team's #91 Porsche). Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado (#51 Ferrari) are third with 98.5 points.
In the LMGTE Am class, as many as five teams are contenders for the Teams trophy: Team Project 1 (#56 Porsche), Spirit Of Race (#54 Spirit Of Race), TF Sport (#90 Aston Martin), Dempsey-Proton Racing (#77 Porsche) and Aston Martin Racing (#98 Aston Martin). Only 36 points separate these teams, with Team Project 1's #56 Porsche currently in the lead.
Egidio Perfetti and Jörg Bergmeister (Team Project 1's #56 Porsche) head up the FIA GTE Am Drivers Trophy standings with 113 points. In second place are Francesco Castellacci, Giancarlo Fisichella and Thomas Flohr (Spirit of Race's #54 Ferrari) with 90 points. Charles Eastwood and Salih Yoluc (TF Sport's #90 Aston Martin) trail with 87 points, then Christian Ried and Matt Campbell (Dempsey-Proton Racing's #97 Porsche) with 83 points, and Mathias Lauda, Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy with 77 points.
The start of the 87th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (15-16 June) will be given in just 40 days!
PHOTO (Copyright -Marius Hecker/AdrenalMedia.com/FIA WEC)
