LMP1 (9 cars – 6 x LMP1-H, 3 x LMP1-L)
1 LMP1-H Audi Sport Team Joest Lucas Di Grassi, Loïc Duval, Tom Kristensen Audi R18 e-tron quattro
2 LMP1-H Audi Sport Team Joest Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, Benoit Tréluyer Audi R18 e-tron quattro
7 LMP1-H Toyota Racing Alexander Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway Toyota TS 040 Hybrid
8 LMP1-H Toyota Racing Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre, Sébastien Buemi Toyota TS 040 Hybrid
9 LMP1-L Lotus Christophe Bouchut, James Rossiter, Lucas Auer Lotus T129 AER
12 LMP1-L Rebellion Racing Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld, Mathias Beche Rebellion R-One – Toyota
13 LMP1-L Rebellion Racing Dominik Kraihamer, Andrea Belicchi, Fabio Leimer Rebellion R-One – Toyota
14 LMP1-H Porsche AG Romain Dumas, Neel Jani, Marc Lieb Porsche 919 Hybrid
20 LMP1-H Porsche AG Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley Porsche 919 Hybrid
Audi’s 1,2 at Le Mans made a massive change to the points situation in the World Championship, the gap between the Driver Championship’s leading #8 Toyota crew and the chasing #2 Audi is still 20 points but in the Manufacturers stakes Audi trail now by just a single point.
All three of the factory teams have been out testing since Le Mans, new aero will be on display in Texas and both Audi and Porsche will be hoping that they have reeled the Toyota back in in terms of race pace.
Toyota have a debutant factory driver aboard the #7 car as Mike Conway replaces cup tied Kaz Nakajima. It’s near certain that this won’t be his last appearance in a factory seat, the Englishman hotly tipped for a full time ride in 2015.
There’s no change for either the Championship leading #8 Toyota nor the #2 Audi.
The #1 car though sees the return to the cockpit of Loic Duval, the fast Frenchman sidelined after his horror shunt in practice at Le Mans.
Porsche meanwhile will be fielding the high downforce aero for the 919 Hybrid for the first time. The team will be buoyed by an impressive debut display at Le Mans that saw one car lead the race late on, both cars going far further than most predicted (including many in the team) before trouble finally hit.
There’s good news too for the LMP1-L sub class – Rebellion Racing finally get some opposition.
The Lotus T129 with its AER Twin turbo V6 has been a long time coming but has reportedly been reliable and quick in testing – Christophe Bouchut, James Rossiter and young Austrian Lucas Auer. AER are confident that their new engine is a match for the Toyota V8 in the Rebellions. We’re about to see!
The Lotus and the Rebellions will have further improvements in the balance of performance measures in terms of fuel load, fuel flow and minimum weight. The R-One had another great result at Le Mans with a near faultless run to fourth overall, they’re up for the challenge from the Lotus, but the reality is that they want more than that, they want to get in amongst the factory boys.
At present the #12 driver crew lead the Championship defending #1 Audi boys and both Porsche crews but with the rapid pace of development for performance and reliability that is going to be increasing a real stretch. It’s going to be fun watching them try though!
Points Totals post Le Mans 24 Hours
World Endurance Cup for LMP Drivers (LMP1 and LMP2 drivers score points based on overall finishing order across both classes).
1 DAVIDSON A./ LAPIERRE N./BUEMI S. 80
2 LOTTERER A./ TRÉLUYER B./FÄSSLER M. 60
3 DI GRASSI L./ KRISTENSEN T. 54
4 BECHE M./ HEIDFELD N./PROST N. 42
5 GENÉ M. 36
6 WURZ A./ NAKAJIMA K./SARRAZIN S. 35
7 LIEB M./ JANI N./ DUMAS R. 33
8 ZLOBIN S. 22,5
9 DUVAL L. 18
10 LADYGIN A. 17
11 SALO M. 16
12 HARTLEY B./ WEBBER M./ BERNHARD T. 15,5
LMP1 Manufacturers World Championship
1 Toyota 115
2 Audi 114
3 Porsche 60
GG
