The eighth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this weekend in Shanghai will be the penultimate race for the Porsche LMP Team and the Porsche 919 Hybrids. The championship leading Porsche drivers Earl Bamber (NZ), Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ) have scored 172 championship points while the best placed Toyota drivers have 133 points.
If this Toyota takes maximum points in China – a race win from pole position is rewarded with 26 points – Bamber/Bernhard/Hartley need to finish the race in at least third position for them to clinch the drivers’ world championship title.
“It’s a busy time for me at the moment and I feel really good and excited,” commented Hartley. “The most important thing is to focus on the very next target. In Shanghai, together with Earl and Timo, we definitely want to secure the drivers’ world championship title with our Porsche 919 Hybrid. The most recent six-hour race in Fuji didn’t bring the results we were aiming for. Shanghai is a circuit that should suit our car and we have to have everything lined up there perfectly.”
The trio of the second Porsche 919 Hybrid, reigning world champion Neel Jani (CH), André Lotterer (DE) and Nick Tandy (GB), currently rank fourth with a score of 98 points. In the manufacturers’ standings, Porsche leads with 270 points ahead of Toyota on 211.5 points. To secure the manufacturers’ title, Porsche would need to have no less than a 44 points advantage after six hours of racing.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing travels to China in a positive mood following a well-earned one-two finish in its home race at Fuji Speedway earlier this month, its third win from seven races in 2017.
Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 TS050 HYBRID are aiming for back-to-back victories after their triumph in Japan while Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López in the #7 car will push for a first win of the season.
TOYOTA has won twice in its five previous visits to Shanghai, during its first WEC season in 2012 and then as part of its World Championship-winning 2014 campaign, while last season saw the TS050 HYBRIDs earn a strong double podium finish.
Both World Championships are mathematically still open but a 58.5-point deficit to Porsche in the manufacturers’ standings, and a 39-point gap from Sébastien and Kazuki to the drivers’ leaders, means a serious title battle is unlikely.
But with a strong history at the 5.451km Shanghai International Circuit, the team’s target is to build on the Fuji success and fight for victory not only in China, but also in Bahrain for the season finale on 18 November.
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