24H BARCELONA : Race to the Top

Text: Janos Wimpffen
Pictures: http://www.boostracingimages.com

The International Endurance Series has captured considerable interest throughout 2015. It has featured important additions to the annual racing calendar but most importantly it represents a new FIA sanctioned championship. What were once good but disparate events in the old 24 Hour Series are now joined with points earned for teams and for drivers, with overall titles as well awards in the balance for each of the classes.

It may seem that with so many races, classes, teams, and drivers it is quite bewildering to follow. However, as we are now on the eve of the penultimate round some of the title chases are clear while others are likely to become cloudier, and thus more exciting. We can now provide a bit of a digest as to the current situation.

Let’s preface this with a summary of the points scoring regulations. The top ten finishers in each class are eligible to receive points. At the Barcelona 24 Hours this is the schedule of points, decreasing from first to tenth position: 30-27-24-21-18-15-12-9-6-4. Twelve hour races award reduced points as follows: 20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2. The finale at Brno will be a 12-hour event. Thus there are a total of 50 possible points still on offer this season.
 
The lowest score is dropped so that no competitor may score in each of the six rounds. Season-ending ties are broken in favor of the participant with better placings (most firsts, most seconds, etc.). There are some other caveats involving drivers who take the wheel of more than one car at a race and situations where classes are amalgamated, or sometimes split as with A6-Pro and A6-Am. But for the purpose of checking the current status it is best not to get too complicated with those variations.

There is a points classification for drivers and a second one for teams. The points are assigned according to the class finishing position and in addition those points are also tallied for the overall championship. Thus whichever driver and whichever team scores the most points, regardless of class, will be awarded the overall title. Therefore, the overall winning driver and team will also necessarily be the champion of of one of the classes.

In addition there is a Ladies Cup which is also scored according to class although only the overall title will be awarded. It is also possible (though not likely at this juncture) for the top female driver to also win her class.  
  
 
Team Standings

A6
Ram Racing has a commanding 29 point lead in the contest for A6 Team Champion. Three other teams have a mathematial chance of winning but of these only the runners-up, Scuderia Praha, have a realistic shot. Various combinations of results will close the gap. If Ram Racing does very poorly and scores no points, Scuderia Praha will still need to finish at least fourth to remain in the hunt at Brno. On the other hand, if Scuderia Praha wins and Ram Racing finishes lower than tenth, then the Czech Ferrari team will take the lead in the class. HB Racing Team Herberth needs to finish at least fourth with Ram lower than tenth for the Porsche team to still have a chance. Hofor Racing (#10) must finish third or better. Other combinations yield other spreads but the good money would be to bet on Ram Racing clinching the championship this weekend.


997
Ruffier Racing has a very strong grip on the all-Porsche class. B2F Competition and MRS GT Racing are the closest among the teams that are entered at Barclona. If Ruffier Racing finishes fourth or better they will win the championship regardless of what the others do. B2F Competition must finish at least seventh with Ruffier Racing behind them in order for the conest to extend to Brno.  No other teams can win the class.
 
SP2
Three teams are in close contention. MARC Cars Australia 2 (the #92 Ford) has a slim lead over their teammates in the #91 car. If the #92 finishes at least sixth and #91 scores no points and the GCAutomobile does not do better than third then MARC #92 will win. The #91 only needs to finish eighth if #92 scores no points in order for the lead to change. If GC Automobile wins and MARC #92 scores no points they can conceivably tie for the lead, as long as MARC #91 ends up ninth or poorer. If GC wins, MARC #91 finishes eighth and MARC #92 finishes lower than tenth there will be a three-way tie going into Brno.
The third of the Australian silhouettes, MARC Cars Australia 3 (car #93) retains a slim possibility. They must either or win or finish second and expect the teams ahead of them to collapse in order to take the fight to the Czech Republic. As this class contest revolves around a group of Australians it is reasonable to expect that a fair number of beverages will be happily consumed by all parties regardless of the outcome.
 
SP3
Speedworks Motorsports 2 (the #170 Aston Martin) has a comfortable though potentially tenuous lead in this GT4 based class. To secure the class title they must finish at least fourth, regardless of what the Cor Euser Racing #160 Lotus does. The Sorg Rennsport 1 is actually very close behind Speedworks, but this Sorg entry is not present at Barcelona. Speedworks needs only to finish with any points such that even if Sorg returned at Brno they would not be able to usurp Speedworks’ lead. In addition to Cor Euser Racing, the Optimum Motorsport Ginetta (#163) has a fighting chance but must finish better than Speedworks to stay competitive.
 
A5
This is the only active class that is 100% decided. The #75 BMW, Hofor-Küpper Racing had secured this award by winning the Paul Ricard 24 Hours.


A3T
Lebanon’s MemacOgilvy Duel Racing (#95 Seat Leon Cup Racer) is only 18 points ahead of the Team Altran 1 (#208 Peugeot). Only if they win will they capture the championship. Any other result will leave the French team with a chance at Brno. Conversely, third or better by Team Altran 1 could move them into the lead depending upon where the Seat finishes. Two other A3T teams are waiting close by in the wings. NKKP Racing (#98 Seat) and the other Team Altran Peugeot (#205) could close in on the leaders and possibly take the lead if the others falter. The Zest Racecar Engineering Seat (#103) has a slightly longer shot at moving up but still do entertain some realistic hope of remaining in the scramble after Barcelona. In summary, only victory by the #95 Seat will keep this contest from continiuing into the darkness at Brno.

CUP1
The situation in this class can be described as “awkward” for the leaders. The top team among the all BMW M235i Racing types is Bonk Motorsport (#79) and they are not here. The runners-up, Securtal Sorg Rennsport 2, (#77) are present and as long as they secure any points they will take over the class lead. Sorg could, in theory, clinch the class title, but that is extremely unlikely. There weren’t enough CUP1 entries to constitute a class at Barcelona and thus they will be running with the quicker A5 cars and most likely will not finish all that high within that category. The most likely outcome is that Sorg will take over the class lead. If Bonk returns at Brno it will be a straight fight. If Bonk does not return then Sorg will win by default. The #70 BMW, the inspirational Mission Possible Racing, is also not entered at Barcelona. They still have a theoretical shot at the title but would be eliminated if Sorg scores any points.

A2
A fifth or better by Presenza.eu Racing Team Clio 1 (the #112 Renault) will give them the title among the small touring cars. If they falter badly and runners-up Team Sally Racing (#126 Clio) finish first or second, then the positions will be reversed with the decider coming at Brno. Indeed, most other combinations of outcomes between these two will continue the A2 fight. One other team, Team K-Rejser (#118 Peugeot) is still in the hunt. They must end up fifth or better with the two leaders doing poorly in order to not be eliminated.
 
D1
The variables in this class are a little different. None of the top three cars in the point chase are entered while the fourth place team is here. That is Hungary’s RCM Motorsport (#139 Seat). However, none of the teams have scored many points thanks to not having their own class at the previous rounds and only scoring “down points” in other host classes. RCM Motorsport will necessarily take over the class lead going into Brno as long as they take the start at Barcelona. If the erstwhile leading teams do not return at Brno then RCM will win the title by default.

 
Teams Overall
Each team’s point totals from their class results are then placed into an overall table with no adjustments made other than the best 5 of 6 scoring rule still applying. The CUP1 leading Bonk Motorsport entry has the most points of any team but they will surely lose that lead as they are not present at Barcelona. A blanket of only five points separates the next five teams such that a myriad of different outcomes can occur this weekend and it is most certain that the contest will continue to Brno. These teams are;  Hofor-Küpper Racing (#75 A5 class BMW), Ram Racing (A6 class #30 Mercedes), Securtal Sorg Rennsport (#71 BMW M235i Racing), MARC Cars Australia 2 (SP2 #92)and MARC Cars Australia 1 (SP2 #91).

Eleven other teams retain varying degrees of possibility of still winning the title. They can be placed into three groups. If any or all of these four teams do reasonably well at Barcelona then they will remain with a hope at Brno; Presenza.eu Racing Team Clio (#112 A2 Renault), Speedworks Motorsport 2 (#170 SP3 Aston Martin), Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing (#95 A3T Seat), and Ruffier Racing (#17 997 class).

The next group will have to do well with those ahead doing poorly. They include Scuderia Praha (#4 A6 Ferrari), Team Sally Racing (#126 A2 Renault), and GC Automobile (#150 SP3 GC). Finally these four teams are just barely hanging on and any would need a near perfect finish plus a meltdown by all the others; HB Racing Team Herberth (#7 A6 Porsche), Hofor Racing 2 (#10 A6 Mercedes), Cor Euser Racing (#160 SP2 Lotus), and Optimum Motorsport (#163 Ginetta).
 
Driver Standings

A6
Tom Onslow-Cole holds a three point lead over Paul White. However, these two are effectively joined at the hips since they both drive for Ram Racing. Thus, they will rise or lower in the points standings together.While there are a total of 13 drivers still in the A6 points chase several more are similarly linked with their teammates but have less points coming in since they did not co-drive at all rounds.
In reality, the closest competitors to Onslow-Cole are the two Czech drivers from Scuderia Praha, Jaromir Jirik and Jiri Pisarik. If Ram Racing finishes sixth or better then Onslow-Cole will become the A6 champion regardless of where the Ferrari finishes. If Jirik and Pisarik win and the Ram Mercedes does not score any points then the lead will swap.
The #7 Porsche must finish at least fourth with both the Ram Mercedes and the Ferrari doing poorly in order for Alfred Renauer and Daniel Allemann to hold out hope at Brno. It is the same situation for the #10 Hofor Racing Mercedes. If they are fourth or better then it is still possible for four of their drivers to remain in contention. They are Michael Kroll, Roland Eggimann, Kenneth Heyer, and Christiaan Frankenhout.

 
997
Three Ruffier Racing drivers hold a thirty point lead over their nearest active rivals. The likely class champions are Paul Lafargue, Patrice Lafargue, and Gabriel Abergel. A fourth place or better by the #17 Porsche will give them the award. By contrast Michel Mitieus, Bruno Fretin and Benoit Fretin must hope that their #47 B2F Competition entry wins and Ruffier finishes last in order to move into a tie for the lead. Other permutations do continue the contest to Brno but with the Ruffier trio still leading. All other 997 class drivers have been eliminated.
 
SP2
A win by #93 MARC Cars Australia team will hand the SP2 championship to Peter Leemhuis. On the other hand, if the #92 MARC Cars entry merely finishes ninth and #93 does not score then James Kaye will take over the class lead. If the #91 MARC entry is fourth or better and its teammates do poorly then Keith Kassulke becomes the leader. The only non-MARC driver still with a shot is Lionel Amrouche who is assigned to both of the GC entries but will only score with the better finisher. He cannot take over the class lead and must finish sixth or better to have any hope of remaining in the hunt. In all likelihood the three MARC Cars drivers will carry the fight to Brno. The relative positions between them may alter after Barcelona according to many different permutations. It would be interesting to know what friendly intra-team bets are being wagered about this contest.
 
SP3
Speedworks Aston Martin drivers Devon Modell and John Gilbert lead this class. If they win and the #178 CWS Ginetta is lower than second place then they will win the title. Other outcomes will keep runner-up Tony Hughes with at least a mathematical hope at Brno. A fifth or better by the #178 Ginetta and a non-finish by the Aston Martin will propel Hughes into the lead.
The Cor Euser Racing Lotus must finish at least fifth with both the leaders doing very poorly in order for Cor Euser and Hal Prewitt to retain some hope of the title. Bradley Ellis and Adrian Barwick have to rely on a similar outcome for their 163 Optimum Motorsport Ginetta in order to have a theoretical shot.

 
A5
As is the case on the teams’ side, the drivers’ contest in this class has been decided. Co-drivers Bernd Küpper and Martin Kroll secured the championship at Paul Ricard.

 
A3T
The four drivers of the #95 Seat have a strong hold on the class. If the team wins this weekend then brothers Ramzi, Nabil, and Sami Moutran along with Phil Quaife will be crowned A3T champions. Their closest pursuer is Guillaume Roman and if the #208 Peugeot ends up fourth or better and the Seat does not score, then Roman will take over the class lead. A first or second by the #98 NKKP Seat and poor showings by the others would put Harry Hilders atop the board. Finally, a win by the #205 Team Atran Peugeot and failures by the others would allow Francois Riaux to rise to the top. The most likely outcome will leave the contest still open at Brno but with the margin either expanded or contracted by a small margin.

 
CUP1
Gustav Engljähringer is normally the lead driver for the Mission Possible squad. However, that team is not here and the disabled Austrian driver has moved over to the #79 Duwo Racing entry. Engljähringer does lead the points contest and thus can enhance his lead or potentially clinch the title. That would happen if he finished at least eighth with Maciej Dreszer ending behind him in the #71 Sorg Rensport entry. Other permutations will carry the contest forward. Dreszer can move ahead if his car finishes third but this is extremely unlikely since the CUP1 cars are running inside of the A5 class in this instance.
 
A2
If the #114 Clio ends up third or better then Luigi Stanco and Stefan Tanner take the class title regardless of what the others do. As long as Team Sally Racing finishes ahead of the #114 Renault then drivers Martin Sally Pedersen, Mads Christensen, and Peter Obel will retain a reasonable shot at Brno. A first or second by Team Sally with Presenza #114 doing poorly will put the Danish drivers into the class lead. Two drivers from the #115 Peugeot, Jan Engelbrecht and Jacob Kristensen, still have a chance. They must finish fourth or higher with the other two teams at the back of the order.
 
D1
If the RCM Motorsport Seat takes the start at Barcelona then Hungarian drivers Lászlo Csuti, Norbert Nagy and Witold Elekfy will take over the lead of the class. They will move past ten idle drivers ahead of them in the standings. TTC Racing drivers Klaus Kresnik and Andreas Kempf will either move into a tie for second with the idle Tom Wilson and Luca Orrock or take over sole possession of the spot. In any case the drivers’ title for the diesel class will not be decided until Brno. If Orrock and Wilson return there will be a total of seven drivers still in contention.
 
Drivers Overall
The contest for the overall driving champion is almost completely unsettled. Peter Leemhuis leads by only two points over the pair from the #75 BMW of Bernd Küpper and Martin Kroll. The only way in which Leemhuis can clinch the title at Barelona is for him to win his class plus have Küpper, Kroll, as well as Chantal Kroll finish last in A5.
A grand total of 47 drivers still have a hypothetical shot at the title although only about the top 25 could be considered remotely realistic. Since the points permutations accrue by class, the gain of any given driver is not necessarily contingent upon the descent of any other. Therefore the number of post-Barcelona scenarios are astronomical in number among the 47 drivers. Suffice to say that these additional drivers will likely still be in mathematical contention come Brno; James Kaye, Tom Onslow-Cole, Paul White, Hal Prweitt, Jake Camilleri, Luigi Stanco, Stefan Tanner, Devon Modell, John Gilbert, Keith Kassulke, Siarhei Paulavets, Thomas Jäger, Harry Hilders, Ramzi Moutra, Sami Moutran, Nabil Moutran, Phil Quaife, Gustav Engljähringer, Paul Lafargue, Patrice Lafargue, Gabriel Abergel, and Ivo Breukers.

 
Ladies Cup
Last but not least is this subset of the overall championship chase.Two Swiss women remain in contention with Chantal Kroll leading by 34 points over Sarah Toniutti. Kroll will win the Cup if she finishes fifth or better, regardless of where Toniutti’s #114 Clio ends up. Meanwhile, Toniutti must end up fourth or better with Kroll finishing last in order to remain in contention at Brno. Sprare a moment for Liesette Braams who led the category after Mugello before illness slowed her down. Although out of the running for 2015 she hopes to return to again contest the Ladies Cup.