Bahrain in 2016 will go down as the final act for something very special indeed as Audi Sport Team Joest enters its final race as a factory effort, bringing to an end a near 18-year relationship in sportscar racing that has yielded unparalleled sporting and commercial success for the parent company.
There’s little doubt that all involved will want to end this era in style, and little doubt also that many others in the paddock and beyond would welcome that too, particularly after an off-colour performance in China two weekends ago. In the wake of the announcement of the team’s withdrawal only added to the recent list of self inflicted wounds.
We’ll get back to Audi in due course.
A word too for the Privateers, the ByKolles squad scored its first win of the season over a poorly Rebellion last time out and here too there’s the end of an era, Rebellion will move to LMP2 for 2017 and all want to end its LMP1 story (for now) on a high.
Reliability is the key rather than outright pace, all concerned will be relishing the opportunity to get in amongst, and atop, a rather bigger pack in 2017!
It will though be, for now at least, the final race for the Rebellion R-One, the team sourcing new ORECA chassis for the 2017 effort.
China saw the Manufacturers Championship settled for Porsche, and in some style, in particular from the #1 Porsche team who will have its own reason for reflection this coming weekend as Mark Webber takes a bow after a three-year stint aboard an increasingly effective Porsche 919.
He has been a fine servant on and off track for the effort. That as we know brought him, together with Messrs Hartley and Bernhard a World Championship last year after a final stint of real drama saw the Aussie display true grit to bring home a car to seal the deal that many would have parked 20 minutes earlier. The title, the manner of securing it, and an increasingly committed and confident style in the 919 throughout his time will be the memories held of Webber’s time in the WEC.
So he too will want to finish on a high, though if things fall in the right, or wrong, way then the final result may be in the hands of those on the pit wall.
That’s because the Driver’s Championship is still up for grabs, and it isn’t the #1 crew in contention after their terrible start to the season saw them carry a mere 3.5 points in the standings after Le Mans.
Instead it’s the #2 crew that hold a significant 17 point lead over the #6 Toyota TS050 line up in the remaining battle for an LMP1 Championship.
Instead it’s the #2 crew that hold a significant 17 point lead over the #6 Toyota TS050 line up in the remaining battle for an LMP1 Championship.
All things being equal it SHOULD be a matter of the #2 Porsche of Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani bringing the car home to the title but there are other scenarios to consider.
First is the reality of the post Le Mans points race that has seen the #6 Toyota crew of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Stephane Sarrazin finish off the podium only once since Le mans, whilst the #2 crew haven’t finished on the podium AT ALL since their double points Le Mans win with four 4th place finishes and a 5th in the run to the Championship finale.
It is feasible that the point for Pole position could be important in all of this but the only time either of the title contenders has set a pole position this season was at Le Mans, the only race of the season where qualifying order is determined with a single driver run. On form, of either car or drivers, neither look to be in the mix for that point in Bahrain.
So then it comes down to the #2 finding speed, and staying out of trouble. The speed is there in the car, but not, it seems for every driver – there’s little doubt that there are changes (plural) afoot at Porsche post season.
It comes down to the #2 finding speed, and staying out of trouble. The speed is there in the car, but not, it seems for every driver
The Drivers Championship points are awarded across both LMP classes in pure finishing order so a delay for any crew would effectively see them fighting for Championship points as they make their way back up through the order.
The potential winning scenarios then are these:
– Without pole for the #6 then 6th or better will give the #2 crew the World Championship
– Whatever happens the #6 MUST either win or finish second to have a chance at the title
– If the #6 finishes second then the #2 must finish 13th or better in the combined LMP1/ LMP2 order.
The Drivers Championship, and a race win, are the targets for Toyota and they will clearly play the team game to seek out either or both results.
Similarly, with the Manufacturers Championship in the bag then the #1 COULD see themselves subject to team orders to allow a better points score for the #2 , though there is a very open question as to whether that scenario, or Mark Webber on the podium in his final race, would be seen as the more valuable result for Porsche.
For Audi there is nothing left to fight for apart from pride. The bad news for their competition is that this is a VERY proud team, and they will badly want to end this on a high.
The R18 is likely the fastest of all the LMP1 cars at present but has suffered from niggles galore – if those can be stowed for 6 hours, if the #1 crew drive for pride on Webber’s final race, if the #2 find their lost form and push hard for the Championship, and if Toyota continues its recent rich seam of form this could be a cracker!
Anyone care to bet against something extraordinary in the darkness of the desert?
