Some of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship title scripts were re-written after several key events during the 6 Hours of Shanghai today. However the big prize in the premier class looks unlikely to go to anyone other than Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi.
The WORLD ENDURANCE DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP sees Davidson and Buemi further extend their advantage after another maximum score in China. The British/Swiss partnership now enjoys a huge 42-point margin over their nearest pursuers meaning that they need just a further 10 points to confirm themselves as champions for the first time.
The WORLD ENDURANCE MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP sees Toyota lead Audi by 29 points, with Porsche on 133.
The FIA ENDURANCE TROPHY FOR LMP2 DRIVERS has really started to hot up with G-Drive Racing’s Olivier Pla, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal’s second win in succession meaning they have reduced a once healthy points gap for Sergey Zlobin to just 8pts heading to Bahrain in two weeks’ time. The same points gap applies to the FIA ENDURANCE TROPHY FOR LMP2 TEAMS.
In the WORLD ENDURANCE CUP FOR GT DRIVERS standings, the spectacular retirements of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari and the #97 Aston Martin Racing ensures that the gap has now reduced to 24.5 points between Gianmaria Bruni/Toni Vilander and Shanghai victor – Frédéric Makowiecki.
AF Corse still leads the chase for FIA ENDURANCE TROPHY FOR LMGTE PRO TEAMSbut now by just 11 points from the #92 Porsche Team Manthey squad.
In the WORLD ENDURANCE CUP FOR GT MANUFACTURERS, Ferrari has a slender seven point lead over Porsche.
Registering another podium position in third place at Shanghai was David Heinemeier-Hansson and Kristian Poulsen. Their incredible consistency this season has edged them closer to the FIA ENDURANCE TROPHY FOR LMGTE AM DRIVERS title and they have a 31 point gap to their stablemates Paul Dalla Lana, Christoffer Nygaard and Pedro Lamy.
What can be said with definite certainty now is that the FIA ENDURANCE TROPHY FOR LMGTE AM TEAMS will be heading to one of the #95 or #98 Aston Martin Racing entries. Again, 31pts separate the crews but with third placed Proton Competition 57pts in arrears, it means that with 52pts available they cannot be beaten by another team.
With 12 hours of racing remaining at Bahrain and Interlagos there is all to play for throughout the vast majority of the championships.
Let battle commence!
(FIA WEC PR)
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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