After the drama of Le Mans, the FIA WEC is back for the final European race of the season at the Nürburgring. Last year – in its first appearance on the WEC calendar, the 6H Nürburgring was extremely popular with fans and teams alike, and there’s no reason why the consensus of opinion should be any different.
Here’s a look at what to expect in the GT classes when they reach the Eifel Forest:
GTE Pro:
51 | M | AF Corse | Gianmaria Bruni, James Calado | Ferrari 488 GTE
66 | M | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Olivier Pla, Stefan Mucke | Ford GT
67 | M | Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK | Marino Franchitti, Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell | Ford GT
71 | M | AF Corse | Davide Rigon, Sam Bird | Ferrari 488 GTE
77 | M | Dempsey Proton | Racing Richard Lietz, Michael Christensen | Porsche 911 RSR (2016)
95 | D | Aston Martin Racing | Nicki Thiim, Marco Sorensen | Aston Martin Vantage
97 | D | Aston Martin Racing | Richie Stanaway, Darren Turner | Aston Martin Vantage
While the racing in LMP1, LMP2 and GTE Am should be tight and unpredictable, GTE Pro is in danger of having another race dominated by Ford, after the organisers chose to keep the GTE Pro BoP levels at roughly the same for the round in Germany, with only minor tweaks to the Porsche and Aston applied.
GTE Pro is in danger of having another race utterly dominated by Ford
Ford’s lineups have seen a slight tweak, which will be in effect for the rest of the season. In the #66, Billy Johnson departs the scene after he was scheduled to race only up to Le Mans, leaving Olivier Pla and Stefan Mücke, while Harry Tincknell will stay aboard the #67, the team having extended his contract until the end of the 2016 FIA WEC season.
At Le Mans, the Fords finished 1-3 but the WEC cars ended up fourth and ninth in GTE Pro, Still taking a maximum score for the #66 as first WEC car home but not emerging from the French classic with the dominance in the points standings that you might imagine. Instead, Aston Martin emerged from Le Mans leading the Manufactuers Championship, while the #66 Ford duo of Pla and Mücke lead the Drivers standings by just eight points.
Speaking of Aston Martin, its driver roster has seen the biggest shakeup post Le Mans. Fernando Rees and Jonny Adam will take no further part in the WEC this year, leaving Richie Stanaway and Darren Turner, who moves over to from the #95, to share the driving duties in the #97.
Tactically speaking, it gives Aston a greater chance of taking the Drivers Title, as Turner – who was part of the #95 crew which had a better run through Silverstone, Spa and Le Mans will score points in the other car, which means if it has a better set of results in the fly-away races then DT may just have a shot at taking top honours. It remains to be seen though if anyone but Ferrari can challenge.
Unfortunately for the ‘Prancing Horse’ though, AF Corse head to the Nürburgring on the back foot after a disastrous Le Mans. Both its 488s retired from the 24 hours with an engine and wheel rim issue for the #51 and #71 respectively, leaving Gianmaria Bruni and James Calado all but out of the title race and Davide Rigon and Sam Bird down to second in the driver points tally.
AF Corse head to the Nürburgring on the back foot after a disastrous Le Mans
If the performances by the #71 at Silverstone and Spa were anything to go by though, Rigon and Bird have a very good shot at taking the world title if they can get back to their consistent ways, with two wins already to their name this season followed by trouble at La Sarthe.
Porsche may have had a pretty low key and disappointing run at Le Mans with both its factory GTE cars at Le Mans bowing out early, but the Dempsey Proton Porsche at least made the finish, all be it eighth overall, but a more healthy fourth in the WEC points.
Richard Lietz and Michael Christensen though haven’t been able to be competitive in the class all season long on pace though, and that’s unlikely to change dramatically though the Porsche 911 RSR has received a 15kg weight break and 0.2mm increase in its air restrictor.
It could be a long second half to the season for the sole Porsche in the top GTE class.
GTE Am: 6 cars
50 | M | Larbre Competition | Yutaka Yamagishi, Paulo Ruberti, Pierre Ragues | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
78 | M | KCMG | Christian Ried, Wolf Henzler, Joel Camathias | Porsche 911 RSR
83 | M | AF Corse | François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard, Rui Aguas | Ferrari 458 Italia
86 | M | Gulf Racing | Michael Wainwright, Adam Carroll, Ben Barker | Porsche 911 RSR
88 | M | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Khaled Al Qubaisi, David Heinemeier Hansson, Patrick Long | Porsche 911 RSR
98 | D | Aston Martin Racing | Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda | Aston Martin V8 Vantage
GTE Am has a different outlook to Pro. AF Corse’s #83 458 of François Perrodo, Rui Aguas and Manu Collard may have taken hold of the points standings after scoring maximum points the class at both Silverstone and crucially Le Mans, however the difference between the teams on pace is far smaller than it has in Pro.
AF Corse’s Am challenger finished third at the ‘Ring last season, with the #88 Abu Dhabi Proton Porsche finishing second, SMP’s Ferrari first. And there’s every chance that the Proton crew, or the #98 Aston (which unlike its sister Pro cars, has seen no driver changes) for that matter will challenge for the win this time round.
There’s every chance that the Proton crew, or the #98 Aston for that matter will challenge for the win
If AF Corse do come out and win though, they’ll certainly be in pole position in the title stakes with five rounds to go.
Incredibly, sitting third in the standings is the #50 Larbre Competition Corvette, which sees long-standing GT stalwart Paulo Ruberti welcomed back after he sat out Le Mans due to an injury. The French crew finished third of the WEC Am runners at Le Mans after a solid run, which masked the pair of quiet fourth place finishes at Silverstone and Spa.
The two remaining cars in the class are the KCMG and Gulf Racing Porsches, and its clear at this stage that both are in need of a good result in Germany to save their seasons.
Ben Barker, Adam Carroll and Mike Wainwright are all capable of delivering the goods, so now is the time
Gulf Racing scored 30 points at Le Mans, but still sit at the bottom of the standings due to its retirement at Silverstone. Ben Barker, Adam Carroll and Mike Wainwright are all capable of delivering the goods, so now is the time.
For KCMG’s trio of Christian Ried, Wolf Henzler and Joël Camathias the same applies.
