The 2019 TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is the penultimate round of the 2018/2019 FIA World Endurance Championship Super Season. Last year, the six hour-affair on the legendary circuit in the Ardennes kicked off the unprecedented two-year season. Now, one year later, that same Super Season is rapidly approaching its conclusion, with the seventh of eight rounds set to go down on May 4th.
Last year, Fernando Alonso managed with Toyota what he never could in Formula One. In his debut race in the Toyota TS050 Hybrid, the Oviedo native took the chequered flag, starting his WEC career with a bang. One year later, Alonso and his partners in crime Buemi and Nakajima lead the LMP1 standings, a mere fifteen points clear of the sister car of Conway, Lopez and Kobayashi. While Alonso and company have primarily been hugging the spotlight over the past year, the fight at the very top of LMP1 is anything but decided.
In the LMP1 constructors standings, it’s a different story.
The pair of Toyotas have picked up a colossal lead over the non-hybrid LMP1 privateers. The gap between the two has been the subject of much discussion, with Rebellion and SMP Racing forced to fight out the battle for Best of the Rest. Rebellion is currently winning that fight, 53 points behind Toyota but 27 points ahead of their Russian rivals. ByKolles and Dragonspeed are far behind with 22 and 8,5 points respectively. The only thing that prevents Dragonspeed from falling to the very bottom of the table is Ginetta, which is no longer competing, scoring one point at Le Mans, which leaves the CEFC TRSM Racing squad dead last.
With both battles still very much ongoing, the media buzz these last few weeks has once again been at Toyota, with the rumours of Fernando Alonso’s departure after Le Mans still circling. Yet it was SMP Racing who brought out the real news after a creative round of musical chairs in the cockpit of their #11 BR Engineering BR1-AER. Jenson Button, who was supposed to compete with the team at Le Mans, has pulled out for family reasons. Brendon Hartley, who has been penned to replace the Brit at Sebring and Spa, has now also stepped aside, all to give more driving time to another Formula One refugee. Stoffel Vandoorne, who was dropped by McLaren after the 2018 F1 season, has been signed by SMP for both the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, thus making his sportscar debut alongside Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin.
“I am very pleased to join SMP Racing and drive the BR1 â„–11 prototype in my home race in Spa-Francorchamps and in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans," said Vandoorne. "The LMP1 cars are really demanding and their performances are very close to Formula 1. I will have the opportunity to re-join ART Grand Prix and a lot of people that I’ve been working with during my successful campaign in GP2. Also, it´s great to work alongside such experienced drivers as Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin. My objective is to contribute to the Team’s performance and work in collaboration with all drivers to develop the BR1 prototype and to make a good impression.”
Vandoorne is a newcomer to sportscar racing, unlike the man he’s replacing, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Belgian does behind the wheel of his new ride. Luckily for him, the sample size of drivers succesfully transitioning from Formula One to endurance racing is quite significant. The 27-year-old can draw inspiration from his team-mate Petrov, who spent three seasons in F1 before ending up in SMP’s LMP2 program in 2016.
Speaking of LMP2, the most eye-catching name on the entry list once again comes from the Russian Federation. G-Drive Racing, normally found in the European Le Mans Series, has been granted entry in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June and will surely be a force to be reckoned with, considering both their history and line-up. Team regular Roman Rusinov will be partnering with Jean-Eric Vergne and Job van Uitert. The Dutchman, one of sportscar racing’s hottest prospects, won the LMP3 title in ELMS last year, is now behind of the wheel of the rebranded Aurus 01-Gibson and must surely be seen as one of the top contenders for the win in LMP2.
Outside of G-Drive’s WEC excursion, the fight in LMP2 is still way too close to call. Leading the championship is the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07 of David Heinemeier Hansson, Jordan King and Will Stevens. The trio has gathered 130 points, putting them at the top of the Teams table. The pressure will be on them, however, as the #36 Signatech Alpine of Nicholas Lapierre, André Negrao and Pierre Thiriet is just five points behind. In third sits the other Jackie Chan DC Racing of Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Stephane Richelmi. The trio will want revenge for a horrid race at Sebring, which saw their #38 ORECA 07 suffer a string if mechanical issues. They sit just two points behind the Signatech Alpine, making the gap from first to third a mere seven points.
While the other competitors are quite a while back, LMP2 still features quite a few teams one would be foolish not to keep an eye on. TDS Racing, for example. The team might sit last in the standings, but the trio of Francois Perrodo, IMSA newcomer Matthieu Vaxiviere and Norman Nato, who fills in for Loic Duval, will be poised to put in a good show. The same goes for Dragonspeed and Racing Team Nederland.
In GTE Pro, things seem all but finished. As a result of a banner 2018, Porsche sits high and dry at the top of the standings, with the pairings of Lietz/Bruni and Estre/Christensen scoring a total of 227 points. Ford, in second place, scored precisely 100 points less and now sits at 127, just two points clear of Ferrari. Aston Martin is in fourth, while BMW brings up the rear. Porsche will undoubtedly look to be adding even more points to an already impressive tally, which includes wins at Le Mans, Fuji, and Sebring. The other sixteen drivers on the GTE Pro grid will be trying their damndest to stop that from happening.
Despite Porsche's lead, GTE Pro continues to be one of the most unpredictable classes around. This is only boosted by a look at the results from this season: all but one manufacturer has claimed victory at some point during the season. While Porsche won in France, Japan and the United States, Ford has taken victory in Belgium, Ferrari came first at Silverstone and Aston Martin took their first win with the new Vantage in Shanghai. Only BMW haven't broken their duck yet, although they have scored podiums at Spa and Fuji and were on course for victory at Sebring before the Porsche of Lietz and Bruni snatched it away in the closing stages. With two rounds left, BMW will surely not want to be the only manufacturer out of the five not to have been on the top step.
Finally, GTE Am. Currently leading the standings is Team Project 1. The trio of Egidio Perfetti, Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister came third last time out in Sebring. An impressive feat, considering their car burned to a crisp during a practice session earlier in the week. The German outfit will be looking to avoid that, while at the same time adding a second win to their tally following victory at the fourth round at Fuji.
An important car to keep an eye on in GTE Am is the #98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda. The trio, currently third in the standings, is enjoying a monster run at Spa-Franchorchamps. Besides taking victory at the opening round last year, Dalla Lana and Lamy have not missed the podium once since 2014. In their current form, Aston Martin Racing’s GTE Am outfit is undefeated at Spa-Francorchamps since 2015, winning their class four consecutive times. The question on everyone’s mind: can they make it five in a row?
This and all other questions will be answered on May 4th, when the total of 35 cars take the start at Belgium’s most infamous circuit for the second-to-last round of the 2018/2019 FIA World Endurance Championship Super Season.
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