FIA-WEC Texas Showdown

Audi R18. [Photo by Audi Motorsport]

By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine

Next weekend the FIA-WEC circus makes its annual stop in Texas at the Circuit of the Americas for their 6 Hour race.

With 5 races completed in the globe trotting series and just 3 more remaining, Porsche finds itself at the top of the manufacturer’s championship standings with a pretty healthy lead over rival and sister brand Audi.

In the P1 driver’s championship Porsche pilots Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb are on top, with a pretty substantial points lead over everyone else due to very consistent results this season, including their outstanding victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Porsche drew first blood at the start of the season at Silverstone, taking the victory in their Porsche 919 Hybrid over the new Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

At the next round at Spa, Audi took top honors with Lucas Di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis defeating the Silverstone winning Porsche squad.

At Le Mans, it was Toyota’s race to lose and they did so on the last lap of the race, in heartbreaking style, handing the victory to Porsche (their 18th Le Mans win). Once again, Dumas, Jani and Lieb piloted the Porsche. The Porsche trio added to their championship points lead with the Le Mans victory.

At the Nurburgring the second Porsche 919 Hybrid, driven by Timo Bernard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley scored their first win of the season, again defeating Audi’s R18.

In Mexico it was a repeat of the Nurburgring results, with the same Porsche 919 Hybrid and driver combo taking the win, once again over Audi.

So here is where we stand going into Austin. Porsche stands atop the manufacturer’s championship with 261 points, followed by Audi with 158 and Toyota bringing up the rear with 112. It looks to be Porsche’s championship to lose, but there are still three races left to run – Austin, Fuji and Shanghai.

In the P1 driver’s championship, Dumas, Jani and Lieb look to be in the catbird seat and if they continue to show the consistency they have displayed so far this season, they should win.

Audi needs for Porsche to stumble for them to have a real shot at the championship, while once again Toyota is out of the picture. Losing Le Mans like they did certainly deflated their championship hopes.

The racing world’s eyes will be on Austin next week as America’s only FIA-WEC race takes place at the beautiful Circuit of the Americas. We are looking forward to it.

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