16 November 2017
Sakhir – The 2017 FIA WEC world championship closes this weekend at Sakhir in Bahrain. Ferrari has already secured the Manufacturers’ title with a race in advance, which was the main goal for the season. However, it is also competing in the 6 Hours, which sets off on Saturday at 4 pm local time (2 pm CET) with the Drivers' title still up for grabs. James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi currently top the standings in the 488 GTE no. 51 of AF Corse.
Four-way fight. This season the British and Italian Ferrari drivers won at the Nurburgring, Austin, and Fuji. They lead the championship two points ahead of France’s Frederic Makowiecki and Austria’s Richard Lietz in the Porsche, who have made continuity their strongpoint in 2017 with no wins but points collected in every race. The crew of the Ford GT no. 67 are also in the fight for the title. Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell, winners of the last race in China, are 7.5 points off the top. The other Ferrari driver, Italy’s Davide Rigon, isn’t out of the running either, but needs to make up 17.5 points on his teammates and will pair up with Britain’s Sam Bird in the 488 GTE no. 71.
GTE-Am. The GTE-Am class is still to be decided, with the Aston Martin crew of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda, currently leading the standings. The trio, who won in China, are 10 points ahead of the Porsche of Matteo Cairoli, Marvin Dienst and Christian Ried. The Ferrari of Clearwater Racing crewed by Weng Sun Mok, Keita Sawa and Matt Griffin, is still in the running, 19 points off the lead. The 488 GTE of Spirit of Race will also be on track. Although no longer in with a shout for the title, Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Miguel Molina will try to round off the car’s first season in the WEC with a second victory to go with the one at Fuji. Qualifying is on Friday at 5 pm local time (3 pm CET), and the race, as mentioned above, will start at 4 pm on Saturday (2 pm CET).