While the contest in LMP2 sees a host of outcomes, the title fights in the LMGTE and GTC classes look to be a little more certain, with AF Corse and SMP Racing expected to be celebrating come Sunday evening.
The LMGTE category has been tremendously competitive all season. That is the good news. The bad news is that it has become the private fiefdom of Ferrari and no one else has got a look-in. Still, the races have been fantastic and there have been some astounding individual and team performances throughout the class.
There has been none more so than the displays of Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron in the #55 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia. This pair has enjoyed three excellent victories in 2014 (Silverstone, Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard) and in terms of all-round race craft and wily strategy then they should wrap up a well-deserved title this weekend. Their 21-point lead over the #72 SMP Racing trio of Andrea Bertolini, Viktor Shaitar and Sergey Zlobin means they can afford to be ultra-conservative this weekend, should they wish to.
Third driver in the #55 AF Corse Ferrari is Michele Rugolo, who forsook a chance of sharing the title with Cameron and Griffin after missing the Imola 4 Hours in May to compete in the Mille Miglia with sometime FIA World Endurance Championship partner, Steve Wyatt. Rugolo has been terrific as the teams silver driver in 2014 and along with Griffin has underpinned all three victories with some very savvy racing.
If Griffin has been the star of the races so far this season, then Andrea Bertolini’s raw pace in qualifying has been very special indeed. The Italian has been in the form of his life in 2014, and but for only being allowed one stint in the race due to his classification, the #72 Ferrari 458 Italia would surely be in better contention this weekend.
Sitting a fine fourth in the points standings is JMW Motorsport who has enjoyed a fine season in their newly Michelin-shod Ferrari 458 Italia. The Jim McWhirter-led team has scored three consecutive podium positions at Imola, Red Bull Ring and Paul Ricard. Confirming much promise for talented future UK GT drivers, Daniel McKenzie and George Richardson can look back proudly on a very assured campaign in 2014. They will be looking for a race victory this weekend as they welcome back Daniel Zampieiri to the team after he missed the Red Bull Ring and Ricard events.
As ever there are a multitude of potential race winners in LMGTE. Hoping to break the Ferrari hegemony will be Gulf Racing UK with their new Porsche 911 RSR and Aston Martin Vantage V8. The team left Paul Ricard with renewed vigour after a very encouraging performance, bookended by Ben Barker and Adam Carroll’s mightily impressive stints. Team co-owner Mike Wainwright also appears to be much more confident with the new Porsche model and the team is expected to mount a very strong challenge at the circuit where they tested the car for the first time in July.
The Gulf Racing UK entered Aston Martin has endured a tough season but significant flashes of hope still burn bright for Stuart Hall, Roald Goethe and Daniel Brown. Estoril, like Red Bull Ring, may bring out the best of the car. A flourishing sign-off for 2014 will be just the ticket for the team as they get ready for a busy and interesting 2015.
Among the ranks of Ferraris the AT Racing (AF Corse) Ferrari will be there or thereabouts, as will the #54 AF Corse 458 Italia with Michael Lyons due a big result. The young Brit, who is keen to expand his international profile in 2015, will be telling DSC all about an interesting secret test he did back in August.
Another Porsche to look out for will be the #76 IMSA Performance Matmut entry of Raymond Narac, Nicolas Armindo and Christina Nielsen. Narac and Armindo took the LMGTE win at Estoril the last time ELMS visited in 2011 and they will be keen to end what has been a very tough season on a big high in Portugal.
In GTC, the #73 SMP racing Ferrari of Olivier Beretta, David Markozov and Anton Ladygin are within spitting distance of the title as they have a lead of 18.5 points. A break through win at Paul Ricard, allied to three consecutive second places has cemented an excellent season. Beretta has been the archetypal leader in this car and the SMP Racing organisation hopefully realise what a jewel they have in its squad with the veteran Monegasque.
Realistically, the only challenger to the #73 SMP Ferrari is the Formula Racing entered 458 Italia of the all-Danish Jan Magnusson, Mikkel Mac and Johnny Laursen squad. This team is run by AF Corse, ensuring another Italian versus Russian scrap, with a Danish twist (pastry pun ahoy!). The Danes second place at Ricard kept them in touch but they need miracles and misfortunes to be crowned champions on Sunday night.
The #71 SMP Racing Ferrari of Luca Persiani, Aleksy Basov and Kiril Ladygin can mathematically take the title but they would have to take pole, win the race and hope their team mates retire to win the GTC class.
GTC offers a host of non-championship stories this weekend. Primary of which is the appearance of the BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS team. A toe in the water exercise for a potential 2015 programme, the Bas Leinders headed squad will be aiming to break the Maranello stranglehold on the GTC class at Estoril. The driver line up is very tasty indeed. Leinders himself will be joined by Markus Palttala and Henry Hassid. The latter started the season off with the aborted Audi R8LMS Ultra run by Sebastien Loeb Racing.
Another BMW to watch out for will be the Team Russia by Barwell entry of Johnny Cocker, Leo Machitski and Timo Sardarov. Their newly shelled Z4 qualified superbly at Ricard last month and they deserve a good run and result after some tough luck so far in 2014. The track should suit the car and in Cocker they have a real star.
ART Grand Prix will be aiming to bounce back from an inconsistent Paul Ricard event with their pair of McLaren MP4-12Cs. Both cars have scored points in all of the races but with a best of a single third place at Paul Ricard for the #98 car, both squads will be aiming to sign off with much more this weekend.
He rarely gets noticed and his name is a nightmare to spell (!), but Cedric Sbirrazzuoli has shown himself to be a very rapid driver in the #95 AF Corse Ferrari. He and team mate Andre De Leener are very capable of emulating their Red Bull ring podium at the very least at Estoril.
As ever DSC will have all the news and reports from Estoril over the weekend. Join us live on www.twitter.com/dscracelive on Sunday for qualifying at 08.30 uk time and the race which kicks off at 12.30 uk time. You can also listen to Radio Le Mans which will be broadcasting the race live – www.radiolemans.com
Sam Smith
