There were a quite a few movements in the FIA World Championship 2018/19 points standings following the race today in Shanghai.
Toyota Gazoo Racing #8 with Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima keep their lead in the LMP1 Championship, but they are slowly getting reeled in by Toyota Gazoo Racing #7 drivers Jose Maria Lopez, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, who have won two races in a row. Rebellion Racing #3 with Gustavo Menezes, Mathias Beche and Thomas Laurent continue to stay second, despite the blooper from the Laurent today, since they managed to get the car home in 6th in LMP1.
Jackie Chan DC Racing #38 built a gap in the LMP2 category with the winning team today consisting of Ho-Pin Tung, Stephane Richelmi and Gabriel Aubry. Signatech Alpine Matmut #36 with Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre and Pierre Thiriet are second, ahead of Jackie Chan DC Racing #37 with Jazeman Jaafar, Nabil Jeffri and Weiron Tan.
Porsche #92 with Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre had the perfect day, and pulled even further away from the chasers in the Championship, so they have a 43 point lead to second place, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK #66 with Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla, who are equal on points with Porsche #91 drivers Gianmaria Bruno and Richard Lietz. Aston Martin Racing #95 drivers Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen made a huge leap with the victory today, jumping into 5th in the Championship, just 12,5 points from second position. AMR probably hadn’t seen that coming following the Opening Round at Spa Francorchamps…
Photo: JJ Media
Porsche has a solid lead in the GTE Pro Manufacturers Championship ahead of Ford, Ferrari and Aston Martin, while BMW is a distant fifth. Even AMR has nearly double the points of BMW.
It’s always a Porsche leading the GTE Am Championship, this time in the shape of Team Project 1 Porsche #56 with Jörg Bergmeister, Egidio Perfetti and Patrick Lindsey. Aston Martin Racing #98 with Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda and Paul Dalla Lana sit second, ahead of TF Sport Aston Martin #90 with Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc.
The teams can go on a well deserved winter break now, before the FIA World Endurance Championship 2018/19 starts again on 15 March at Sebring in the USA.
