The FIA World Endurance Championship returns this weekend to the world-famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, where hordes of fans are expected to give the Le Mans-winning Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar effort a warm welcome home after its landmark result in France last month.
With just three races remaining and Le Mans in the rearview mirror, the focus shifts to the championship battles, which are reaching a critical point in all three classes.
Up front in Hypercar, “the Prancing Horse” has closed in on class leader Toyota in the Manufacturers’ title race, with the gap now just 18 points ahead in the standings.
Toyota Gazoo Racing will hope to get its season back on track after winning the opening three races of the season before missing out on a victory at Le Mans. It will need to put its disappointment to one side and focus on the title race now.
In the Driver’s Championship standings, the #8 GR010 Hybrid crew of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa hold a slender 15-point lead over the #51 Ferrari trio of James Calado, Antonio Giovanazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi that won at La Sarthe grabbing the additional points to good effect.
Behind Toyota and Ferrari, Cadillac Racing has solidified third in the standings after earning its first podium of the season last time out. The #2 V-Series.R driven by Alex Lynn, Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook is currently 12 points adrift of the #51 drivers.
Elsewhere in the class, Porsche and Peugeot will be hoping for a breakthrough weekend, after relatively quiet and disappointing campaigns so far.
Porsche sees its overall presence boosted in Monza by the addition of Proton Competition’s brand-new Weathertech-liveried 963, which will join HERTZ Team Jota’s example in the growing privateer ranks.
For the remainder of the season, Proton’s 963 will be steered by a head-turning trio of Harry Tincknell, Gimmi Bruni and Neel Jani. In terms of talent, this is a line-up that will surely be a match for anyone in this company.
At this stage, what is lacking is specific experience with the car. There has been limited time for the Proton outfit to prepare for its debut, so like Jota at Spa, it will have to temper its expectations a little as it gets up to speed with setting up, running and servicing its new bit of kit.
“We only received the car last Thursday and didn’t have a chance to do any testing before the Monza race weekend,” explains Christian Ried, the team owner of Proton Competition.
“We regard our first WEC race as a test. For us, it’s primarily about clocking up as many kilometres as possible with the Porsche 963 to collect as much data and insights as possible. In terms of our sporting goals, we’re of course limited under these circumstances.
“I’m positive that with our experienced team and strong driver trio we will make quick progress.”
Ried should take solace from Jota’s performance at La Sarthe though. Storming to the overall lead of the race was a real moment for the Hypercar class and the championship, a glimpse of just how competitive privateers can be in the category.
The next step for the British team is sustaining a strong run all the way to the finish. Monza will provide a real opportunity for this.
It’s a similar story for Peugeot. Le Mans was by far its most encouraging outing.
The 9X8 looked like a strong package in certain conditions, and for a brief period looked like a legitimate podium contender. The next test is taking all the learnings from La Sarthe and securing a milestone result, which would be quite the tonic for everyone involved in the effort.
At Le Mans, differences in straight-line speed between the Hypercars played a huge part in deciding the pecking order. It is likely it will be the same story here at Monza, with so much of the lap spent at V-Max.
The Balance of Performance has been tweaked for this weekend. We will have to wait until cars are on track get an indication of just how much of a difference it’s made.
Le Mans was the closest the category has been all season, the hope is that the latest changes close the gaps even further and allow the LMDh teams and Peugeot to challenge for podiums and the overall win.
The changes are far from sweeping though. The Ferrari has had a max power reduction of 16 horsepower, a five-kilogram weight increase and an eight-megajoule energy reduction per stint.
At Cadillac, its V-Series.R will race with a 14-kilogram weight reduction, as well as a 20-horsepower and 15-megajoule energy reduction.
The Toyota GR010 HYBRIDs will run to the same weight they did at Le Mans, the only change being a five-kilowatt power decrease.
The 9X8s benefit from an increase in power but more weight, and the 963s will race with 12 megajoules of additional stint energy.
What of the non-hybrid teams?
Glickenhaus returns with a single 007 after another impressive performance at Le Mans.
It remains to be seen whether or not Jim Glickenhaus will take his team to the flyaway races at the end of the season. If not, then he will be hoping his crew can produce one last ‘hurrah’ this year.
Vanwall meanwhile will hope for its first real ‘hurrah’. Tom Dillman has departed, and João Paulo de Oliveira has joined the team, which has had a torrid start to life with its LMH Vandervell 680, the team’s online presence no longer referring to Vandal in the name of the car.
In LMP2, just four points separate the two front-runners heading into the weekend, with Team WRT’s Rui Andrade, Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica leading the surprise Le Mans winners at Inter Europol Competition. United Autosports’ full-season duo of Phil Hanson and Frederick Lubin sit third, 20 points behind the class-leading outfit.
Home support will be strong for Italian-flagged Prema Racing and its resident driver Andrea Caldarelli, who has been drafted in to replace Mirko Bortolotti for this race. Caldarelli will be keen to impress as part of its preparations for the 2024 Lamborghini factory effort in Hypercar, which he will form a part of. Prema meanwhile will hope to convert its flashes of ultimate pace into its first race win of the season.
Other changes in LMP2 include Giedo Van der Garde and Ben Hanley subbing for United Autosport’s regular drivers Felipe Albuquerque and Tom Blomqvist. Both will race at the clashing IMSA race this weekend at CTMP.
Note should though be taken that the Le Mans results are subject to final clearance of the investigation into parts removed post-race from the winning #34 car.
GTE Am is the only category where the title race is all but over. The stunning comeback victory from Corvette Racing at Le Mans sees Ben Keating, Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg on 133 points, with three wins and a second place so far. Wrapping up the title this weekend is a strong possibility, as their lead is 74 points.
To be crowned champions, all the Corvette crew needs is to either win, finish second or finish third and take pole.
The battle for second and third place, however, is much closer with only three points separating second-placed ORT by TF and the all-female crewed Iron Dames Porsche in third position.
There are plenty of changes in the GTE Am driver ranks for this one, mainly due to the IMSA clash. At Project 1 Efrin Castro and Guilherme Moura de Oliveira will race in Gunnar Jeanette and PJ Hyett’s seats, and in the #57 Kessel Racing car, Daniel Serra is being replaced by Kei Cozzolino.
The IMSA clash has also resulted in the #98 Northwest AMR entry withdrawing from the race, due to Heart of Racing’s GTD commitments. The car is expected to return in September when the WEC teams head to Fuji.
Elsewhere, Julien Piguet will drive for a second time in the #21 AF Corse entry, after what’s been a pretty tough season so far for Simon Mann and Ulysse de Pauw.
Over the other side of the garage, the trio in the Richard Mille-bannered #83 AF Corse Ferrari – Luis Pérez Companc, Alessio Rovera and Lilou Wadoux – will also be hoping for a change in fortunes after following up their landmark Spa victory with a retirement of the season at Le Mans.
The flag for the 6-hour race will be waved at 12:30 on Sunday local time.
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