The Audi R18 e-tron quattro. [Photo by Audi Motorsport]
By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine
This coming Saturday the FIA-WEC makes its only US appearance in Austin at the beautiful Circuit of the Americas, where once again Porsche, Audi and Toyota will be battling for overall honors in the LMP1 category.
The Porsche 919 Hybrid. [Photo by Porsche Motorsport]
The championship for both manufacturers and drivers is tight, as it has been all season long. Porsche leads the manufacturers battle over Audi thanks in large part to their outstanding victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The season started at Silverstone, where Audi drew first blood, taking 1st while Porsche was 2nd followed by Toyota. At Spa, Audi won once again, this time taking 1st and 2nd while Porsche had to settle for 3rd.
Then it was on to Le Mans, where Porsche put in a stunning performance and Audi stumbled, with Porsche taking both 1st and 2nd, while Audi had to settle for 3rd.
At the Nurburgring, Porsche once again showed their Le Mans form, taking both 1st and 2nd while Audi had to once again settle for a 3rd place finish.
Toyota has been pretty much out of the picture all season, with their cars being somewhat off the pace all year. So the championship is going to come down to cousins battling it out – both Porsche and Audi are under the Volkswagen Group umbrella.
With four rounds of the 2015 FIA-WEC yet to run, it is still anybody’s championship to win, or lose.
In addition to the manufacturers championship, there is the driver’s championship as well, which is tight. Audi pilots Lotterer, Treluyer and Fassler sit atop the points standings at the moment, closely followed by the Porsche squad of Hartley, Webber and Bernhard. Lurking just behind their teammates are Porsche drivers Lieb, Jani and Dumas.
The race in Austin promises to be the turning point in the season with four races down and four to go. After Austin, the FIA-WEC heads to Fuji in Japan and then on to China before finishing the season in November in Bahrain.
Come Saturday night at 11pm in Texas, the championship for LMP1 should come into clear focus.
Jack Webster has been shooting motorsports since the early 1970’s, covering Formula One, CanAm, F5000, TransAm, GrandAm and American Le Mans races, among others. In addition to his photography, he has also worked on racing teams, both in IMSA and IndyCar, so has a complete knowledge of the inner workings of motorsport. Both his photography and writing can be seen here on racingnation.com. Eddie LePine has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up). You can usually find Eddie in the paddock area, deep in conversation with a driver.
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