LMGTE Pro
Lap one at Shanghai saw the shock elimination from the race of the runaway Championship leading #51 AF Corse Ferrari, their first non finish of the season and Bruni’s first ever non points scoring finish in the first 22 races of the current FIA WEC.
Worse news still for the AF Corse team was the late race retirement of the #97 Aston Martin, that allowed the #92 Porsche through for the win and the maximum possible damage done to Ferrari and AF Corse’s Championship lead.
The #97 posted its first dnf of the season.
That all leaves Fred Makowiecki 24.5 points behind now in the driver standings, still a mountain to climb but the #51 crew can no longer afford another dnf!
Realistically the only other possible winner now in the drivers standings is Richard Lietz who is 40 points behind the leading pair in the Ferrari.
Shanghai saw Makowiecki (and the #92 Porsche’s) second win of the year in LMGTE Pro and also Porche’s second 1,2 finish.
Courtesy of the post Le Mans driver reshuffle it saw Patrick Pilet’s first win of the year
The race saw Jorg Bergmeister’s third second place finish of the year, and Richard Lietz’s second.
Davide Rigon and James Calado’s third was their third podium finish this year.
The Porsche 1,2 cut Ferrari’s advantage in the Manufacturer’s standings to just 8 points
AF Corse’s lead in the Teams standings is now down to 11 points.
LMGTE Am
Shanghai saw the #98 crew take their second victory of the year.
The #95 crew now lead the teams standings by 31 points with only the #98 crew now able to beat them to the title.
The #95 crew have still finished no lower than second in class at any race this season. The sister #98 car has only finished off the podium once in 2014 (at Le Mans).
Kristian Poulsen and David Heinemeier Hansson still lead the GTE AM drivers standings, and are also still the best placed Aston Martin drivers in the overall GTE Drivers Championship having overhauled the #97 Pro crew. They lie sixth in the order!
Aston Martin Racing add to their record tally of WEC GTE Am wins, it now stands at 10.
Aston Martin’s GTE Am class win means that the Aston Martin are now the most successful marque in WEC history with 16 class wins.
Aston Martin Racing has still had a car on the GTE Am podium at every race since Brazil 2013. Across both classes that run goes back to Le Mans 2012!
The third place for the #90 8Star Ferrari was their first podium of the season so far, and only the fourth for the three Ferraris this season!
