Next week the teams and drivers competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship will be heading to Germany for the fourth and final race of the European part of the world championship.
Twenty nine cars are due to take part in the 6 Hours of Nürburgring on Sunday 16 July. After the thrills and spills of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month, the competitors will return to 6-hour format for the remaining six races of the 2017 season.
Added to the WEC schedule in 2015, the 6 Hours of Nürburgring has attracted thousands of fans from all over Europe who flock to the track in the scenic Eifel mountains to be entertained by the best sportscar drivers in the world. As well as the non-stop entertainment from the WEC, there are races from the World Series Formula V8 3.5, Eurocup Formula Renault and Porsche Motorsport Race Weekend.
LMP1: Porsche Aim to Make It Three Home Wins in a Row
Porsche arrive in the Nürburgring in the lead of the FIA World Endurance Manufacturers Championship after Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley’s win at Le Mans. The Stuttgart manufacturer is unbeaten at their home race with Hartley and Bernhard taking the chequered flag in 2015 and 2016 alongside Mark Webber.
However with two victories under their belts at Silverstone and Spa, Toyota will be looking to re-balance the points in its favour once again. While the line up in the no8 TS050 is unchanged, Argentinian José Mariá López re-joins Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi in the no7 Toyota, while the No.4 ByKolles Racing entry will feature Marco Bonanomi once again alongside Oliver Webb and Dominik Kraihamer.
LMGTE Pro: Ad-Vantage Aston Martin?
Darren Turner, Jonny Adam and Daniel Serra travel to the Nürburgring looking to profit from their incredible last-lap victory at Le Mans in the no97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage. The British team will be looking to decrease the gap to GT Championship leaders Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell in the no67 Ford GT who finished just 93-seconds behind them after the gruelling 24 hour race at La Sarthe.
Sam Bird is missing from the no71 AF Corse Ferrari and Davide Rigon will be partnered with 2014 FIA WEC GT Driver’s Champion Toni Vilander who brings plenty of experience of both the F488 GTE and the Nürburgring with him.
LMP2: Driver changes up and down the field
While the FIA’s F1, WEC and FE organisers met recently to discuss harmonisation of sporting calendars in the future, unfortunately this year there is a clash which affects several drivers and teams.
Nelson Piquet Jr will be absent from the No.13 Vaillante Rebellion ORECA 07 Gibson and will be replaced by fellow Brazilian Pipo Derani – who finished 2nd in LMGTE Pro at Le Mans. Nico Prost in the sister No.31 car will be replaced by WEC returnee Filipe Albuquerque, while CEFC Manor TRS Racing welcomes back 2016 WEC competitor Roberto Merhi in the No.24 to replace Jean-Eric Vergne.
Alex Lynn was not scheduled to take part in this fourth round with the No.26 G-Drive Racing, his seat being taken by Ben Hanley who, together with Roman Rusinov and Pierre Thiriet, will face a challenge for success in Germany as they have to serve a 3-minute stop and go penalty during the race following an incident at Le Mans.
Joining the WEC once again, as it did at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, will be the No.34 Tockwith Motorsport Ligier JS P217 Gibson of Nigel Moore and Philip Hanson; this additional entry takes the always competitive and entertaining category to 11.
LMGTE AM: Clearwater Racing Out in Front
Singapore based team Clearwater Racing scored maximum points at Le Mans after Matt Griffin, Keita Sawa and Weng Sun Mok brought the strikingly coloured Ferrari 488 to the chequered flag ahead of their WEC rivals. The team arrive in Germany with a 14 point advantage in the teams title race and 6 points in the drivers category over Spa-Francorchamps winners in the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage.
Of the five German drivers in the race, two are racing in the No.77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR; both Christian Ried and Marvin Dienst – together with young Italian Porsche junior driver Matteo Cairoli – will be hoping for another strong performance to delight their home crowd and close the gap in the points.
The final change see Spain’s Miguel Molina returning to the No.54 Spirit of Race Ferrari alongside Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci.
