The 88th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is also the penultimate round of the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship season. What do the title fight look like going into the biggest race of the year?
Le Mans is a big race in terms of the WEC championship, as there are double points on offer for each of the classes. That means that the winner receives 50 points as opposed to the usual 25, second place gets 36 and third place gets thirty.
LMP1
Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez lead the LMP1 drivers’ standings with 137 points. Their main rivals, Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley are twelve points down with 125.
Third place is currently held by the Rebellion trio of Gustavo Menezes, Bruno Senna and Norman Nato. They are 28 points behind the leaders with 109 points.
In the team’s standings, Toyota Gazoo Racing leads Rebellion Racing with 151 points from 109.
LMP2
Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson hold a strong lead in the LMP2 standings, thanks in no small part to their three consecutive victories at Bahrain, COTA and Spa-Francorchamps. The pair have collected 120 points throughout the course of the season.
Their team-mate, Paul di Resta, has fifteen points less as he sat out the Silverstone and Fuji rounds due to clasing DTM commitments.
Second place is held by the Jackie Chan DC Racing pairing of Ho-Pin Tung and Will Stevens with 98 points. Their full-season partner, Gabriel Aubry, sits in fifth behind the Racing Team Nederland duo of Giedo van der Garde and Frits van Eerd. Aubry missed the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps after testing positive for COVID-19.
United Autosports also leads the team standings with 120 points, ahead of Jackie Chan DC Racing, Racing Team Nederland, JOTA and Silverstone winners Cool Racing in fifth place.
GTE Pro
Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim have experienced a very successful 2019/20 season thus far with wins in Fuji, Bahrain and COTA. The #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR crew sits at 127 points, 19 points clear of Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen.
Sorensen and Thiim could possibly win the title, but a lot would have to fall their way for that to be the case this weekend.
Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado sit in third with 95 points thanks in no small parts to their Shanghai class win, just three points ahead of the second Aston Martin of Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin.
Despite winning the season opener, Richard Lietz and Gianmaria Bruni sits in fifth place ahead of the second Ferrari pairing of Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina.
Aston Martin leads the manufacturer standings with 219 points from Porsche’s 190. Ferrari sits bottom of the table with 166.
GTE Am
Emmanuel Collard, Nicklas Nielsen and Francois Perrodo lead the GTE Am standings for AF Corse. The pairing won at Silverstone and Spa and have racked up a collective 110 points. This puts them 12 points ahead of Jonny Adam, Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood in second place, with Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen in third after winning in Bahrain.
AF Corse also lead the team’s standings, ahead of TF Sport, Team Project 1 and Aston Martin Racing.
