The eighth, and penultimate, round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship will be held at the impressive Shanghai International Circuit close to China’s largest city.
With all of the titles still yet to be decided, the 6 Hours of Shanghai on Sunday 5 November could be the race for some of the 2017 champions to be revealed.
Once again 26 cars will make the trip to the second stop in Asia. The 5.451km (3.387mile), 16 turn track is technically challenging and known to be hard on tyre wear so strategy will be more important than ever in the fight for success.
Porsche Still On Track for World Title
While Toyota’s 1-2 result in Japan earlier this month slowed Porsche’s bid for a third successive FIA World Endurance Manufacturer’s Championship, the German manufacturer still holds a 58.5 point advantage with just two races remaining.
Victory in Japan for the No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID crew has enabled Kazuki Nakajima and Sébastien Buemi to close the gap in the World Endurance Drivers’ Championship to 39 points to leaders Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard. As long as the Porsche crew leave China with more than 26 points ahead of their rivals they will be declared champions at the end of the 6 Hours of Shanghai.
Advantage Ferrari for 2017 World Crown
Ferrari now holds a 47-point lead over Porsche in the GT FIA World Endurance Manufacturer’s Championship following the success of the ‘Prancing Horse’ in Fuji. However the race in China has proven a tough nut to crack for the Italian manufacturer, never winning the LMGTE Pro class in Shanghai in the five previous attempts. Aston Martin and Porsche have taken two wins each, and last year victory went to Ford.
There are no changes to the strong driver line ups in the LMGTE Pro category, and leaders of the GT Drivers’ Championship Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado of AF Corse will be looking to extend their lead over the Porsche GT pairing of Frederic Makowiecki and Richard Lietz.
Home interest in LMP2
Vaillante Rebellion’s win in Fuji has closed the gap to long-time LMP2 class leaders to just 10 points, but all eyes in China will be on the two teams with a home interest – Jackie Chan DC Racing, which head the LMP2 FIA World Endurance Teams Trophy race, and CEFC Manor TRS Racing.
Team owner and global movie star Jackie Chan will be present in Shanghai to support local drivers David Cheng and Ho-Pin Tung and the whole team, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans winning no38 ORECA 07 Gibson crew will be keen to stretch the gap to the chasing Vaillante Rebellion and Signatech Alpine Matmut teams behind them in the points’ battle.
LMGTE Am closer than ever
In LMGTE Am it is now even closer between the teams at the top and each race is as unpredictable as the next!
Just three points now separate the championship-leading Clearwater Racing team from Singapore from Dempsey Proton Racing and Aston Martin Racing. Will these three lead the way in Shanghai, or will Spirit of Race repeat its Japanese success?