Shanghai: Issues by Category

LMP1: Toyota tickled?

Can Toyota be beaten? This question has been asked repeatedly for two years since Porsche withdrew from the World Endurance Championship (WEC). For two years, the answer has been no. Except for Silverstone 2018 due to disqualification, no one has been able to dominate the Japanese team. One might be tempted to say this will continue in Shanghai. But this year, the situation is changing. The LMP1 class has introduced the success handicap, which slows down race winners and those positioned highest in the championship. As early as the second round in Fuji, this system made it difficult for Toyota to shake off the Rebellion team of Bruno Senna, Gustavo Menezes, and Norman Nato. It took the arrival of traffic for the Japanese cars to seize the lead.

Our #7 #TS050 HYBRID had a great battle with the #1 @RebellionRacing car at the start of the #6hFuji. 🥊

Ride onboard with @kamui_kobayashi and experience his view on the fight for position. 😲

We’re looking forward to some more of this during this weekend’s #4hShanghai. 👊 pic.twitter.com/ETHxop0voo

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC (@Toyota_Hybrid) November 5, 2019

In Shanghai, the handicap will be more significant. Leading the championship tied, the Toyota No. 7 (Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Jose Maria Lopez) and No. 8 (Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Brendon Hartley) lose 1.85 seconds per lap to the sole Rebellion, 2.09 seconds to the Ginetta team LNT No. 5 (Charlie Robertson, Michael Simpson, Guy Smith), and 2.74 seconds to the Ginetta No. 6 (Jordan King, Ben Hanley, Egor Orudzhev).

As a result, the start of the race should be exciting between Toyota and Rebellion, especially since Shanghai has a long straight favorable to the Swiss car. For once, the games are open. The Ginettas, on the other hand, should remain behind due to a heterogeneous crew.

LMP2: more open than ever

No more bets, the game is on. The season promised to be open and exciting, and it is. The rookies of Cool Racing won the first round at Silverstone, and Racing Team Nederland claimed their first victory in the WEC at Fuji.

But where are the favorites? As the LMP2 title-holder, Signatech Alpine (Thomas Laurent, Pierre Ragues, André Negrao) seems to be facing their old early-season demons. The French team remains at a disappointing fifth place. The touted prodigy Thomas Laurent is also less prominent than he was with Rebellion. The Blues will attempt to bounce back in Shanghai, where their last victory dates back to 2015.

The other early season favorite, the Chinese team Jackie Chan DC Racing (Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry, Will Stevens) is lurking in third place in the championship with a podium under its belt. The team arrives at its home ground with the goal of winning, on territory where it has performed well, having won last year.

Unless United Autosport (Philip Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque, Paul Di Resta), very prominent in the European Le Mans Series since switching to the Oreca 07, wakes up in the WEC. The English team has only managed a fourth place so far but can aim for victory.

GTE-Pro: Ferrari against the Indian sign?

Orphaned by Ford and BMW this season, the GTE-pro is nonetheless a fierce battleground between Porsche, Aston Martin, and Ferrari. The first two have each won a race, at Silverstone and Shanghai. Logic would suggest that the Prancing Horse should follow the pace. But the Italians seem to be cursed in Shanghai. Present since 2012 and five-time world champion, Ferrari has never won in China! Last in the driver and constructor championships, the Reds need to break the curse if they want to stay in contention.

Aston Martin would have hoped for a sign from above. The English team had won last year with the duo Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim by being untouchable in the rain. But the sun should shine this weekend. On a dry track, Aston Martin has still won the race twice.

Same total for Porsche, which hasn’t won in China since 2015. The Germans will surely be present, as they haven’t stepped down from the podium in the WEC for ages.

GTE – Am: A French Dream

The most populated category this season with twelve cars, the GTE-Am keeps raising its level. François Perrodo, back after spending two years in LMP2, mentioned it in his column on the Endurance-info website. Before the Silverstone race “our engineer is worried: guys, we’re no longer in 2016, there is a high level everywhere, Bronze drivers have improved, the Gold ones are factory drivers, and the Silver ones are all fake Silvers.” Indeed, the category serves as a breeding ground for the GTE-Pro factories. And yet, the French gentleman driver and his longtime companion Emmanuel Collard, reunited this year in the AF Corse Ferrari No. 83, are at the top of the championship after two races, including one victory. They are accompanied, it is true, by a young driver nurtured by the Ferrari factory, Nicklas Nielsen.

Will their dream continue? Not sure, because the others are hungry. The Aston Martin of TF Sport (Salih Yoluc, Charles Eastwood, Jonathan Adam) won at Fuji. The giant of the category, Aston Martin Racing (Paul Dalla Lana, Darren Turner, Ross Gunn), has so far been behind and wants to catch up. And the reigning champions Project One have still not won with their two Porsches. Shanghai could be the one for them, if last year’s podium is anything to go by.

Porsche became the first ever brand to score five GTE podium spots at a single @FIAWEC meeting, at Shanghai in 2018.@PorscheRaces GT Team finished 2nd and 3rd in GTE Pro, whilst @PatrickDempsey @ProtonRacing achieved 1st and 3rd in GTE Am, with @Project1_93 2nd. pic.twitter.com/1Tu7DNrvAP

— WEC DATA (@WECDATA) November 1, 2019