Championship standings post Le Mans

It wasn’t just about race trophies, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2020. The race was also the 7th round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, and therefore the penultimate round in the 2019/20 season.

The point scale in the FIA WEC is graduated, so 4 and 6-hour races follow the Formula points scale. If the race is at least 8 hours, it’s 1,5 times points. And at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it’s double points.

To make it even more complicated, points are only scored by the regular FIA WEC teams. So potential ELMS, Asian LMS and IMSA cars are “invisible”.

The LMP1 category is straight forward. Toyota Gazoo Racing #8 with Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley has jumped into the lead, following their Le Mans win. Number two is their teammates in #7 with Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway. Rebellion Racing #1 is in third, and will have to hope for a victory in Bahrain, and that both Toyota cars will be in troubles, for Senna, Menezes and Nato to take the drivers title. The manufacturers’ title has already been won by Toyota Gazoo Racing.

It’s got a bit more complicated – and then not really anyway. United Autosports #22 with Paul Di Resta, Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque secured the World Championship title with their Le Mans win, while JOTA #38 with Roberto Gonzalez and Antonio Felix da Costa are very close at having secured the second position. Racing Team Nederland #29, Cool Racing #42, Jackie Chan DC Racing #37 and Signatech Alpine Elf #36 are still able to fight for the medals, but things really have to go their way, if they should have a shot of more than bronze.

Aston Martin Racing had an amazing Le Mans this year. AMR #95 with Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen is still leading, while their teammates Alexander Lynn and Maxime Martin in AMR #97 with their Le Mans victory, jumped into second. AF Corse Ferrari #51 drivers James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi are third in the standings, while the defending World Champions Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen are out of the title fight, after the dreadful race for Porsche. Not even the demise of AF Corse Ferrari #71 on the very final lap, and the non-points scoring Risi Competizione Ferrari #62 was able to help them. The GTE drivers title is combined of both GTE Pro and Am cars – and they only finished 15th, so no points for them.

Aston Martin secured the manufacturers’ title in GTE, while Porsche and Ferrari are in a close fight for second.

TF Sport Aston Martin #90 has taken the GTE Am lead with Salih Yoluc, Jonny Adam and Charlie Eastwood, after their Le Mans victory. That has sent AF Corse Ferrari #83 with Francois Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Nicklas Nielsen down to second, for the first time since the start of the season at Silverstone. The points gap is just 8 between them, so #83 are able to decide their own destiny. Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche #77 with Christian Ried, Matt Campbell and Riccardo Pera are third, but without a chance of winning the title. There will be a hard battle for them with AMR #98 with Paul Dalla Lana and Ross Gunn, plus Team Project 1 Porsche #57 with Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen within just a few points, so those three teams will fight for third in the Championship. The defending champions in Team Project 1 Porsche #56 with Egidio Perfetti and Matteo Cairoli have no title chances and will have to hope for #77, #98 and #57 getting into troubles, for them to be able to have a shot at third place.

The finale in the FIA World Endurance Championship Season 8 is planned to run on 14 November in Bahrain.