LM GTE-Pro: 7 Cars
51 AF Corse Gianmaria Bruni Toni Vilander Ferrari 458 Italia
71 AF Corse Davide Rigon James Calado Ferrari 458 Italia
91 Porsche AG Team Manthey Richard Lietz Michael Christensen Porsche 911 RSR
92 Porsche AG Team Manthey Patrick Pilet Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 911 RSR
95 Aston Martin Racing Christoffer Nygaard Marco Sorensen Nicki Thiim
97 Aston Martin Racing Darren Turner Jonny Adam Aston Martin Vantage V8
99 Aston Martin Racing V8 Alex MacDowall Fernando Rees Richie Stanaway Aston Martin Vantage V8
Probably the class where most drama is likely in Bahrain, all three titles: Teams, Drivers and Manufacturers are up for grabs with Porsche and Ferrari in the running for all three.
First things first the #95 ‘Dane Train’ Aston Martin is listed again for this one and after the team was handed back it’s pre-Nurburgring restrictor they likely will start.
Whether that will be enough with the tyre disadvantage the Astons no have remains to be seen but the potential for Aston Martins plural to get into the mix might well make things very interesting.
Richie Stanaway is currently listed for double duty this weekend, combining GP2 duties with his AMR ride in the #99 car.
Bahrain has usually been a weaker circuit for Porsche, but, almost bizarrely, showers are forecast for race day!
In the points standings there are multiple combinations.
Probably the simplest is the drivers championship where Richard Lietz has a 20 point gap over his nearest actual rivals (team-mate Michael Christensen is closer but cannot beat Lietz). The #71 Ferrari crew just 2.5 points ahead of their #51 team mates
Six points then sees Lietz lift the trophy, or, expressed differently, the #91 Porsche just needs to finish the race to secure the popular Austrian the title!
In the Teams standings it’s a three horse race. The #91 leads this one too but only by 14 points this time over the #51 Ferrari with the #71 a further point back. Fifth or further back puts the Porsche in the danger zone, Qualifying could be VERY important indeed!
And then there’s the Manufacturers title stakes where this time it’s Ferrari to the for, but only by four points! 259 plays 255 and this one really could go to the wire.
Ferrari want to retain this title very badly indeed, for Porsche’s seemingly vulnerable WEC GTE programme it could scarcely be more important. What’s the betting we can’t call this one until the closing minutes of the season?
