Securing LMGT3 Runner-Up Spot “The Target” for Farfus, WRT

Augusto Farfus has set the target of overhauling Manthey EMA in the battle for second in FIA World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 standings during the 8 Hours of Bahrain, a fight which sees three cars separated by just seven points.

While Manthey PureRxcing clinched the LMGT3 title a race early by finishing second in September’s 6 Hours of Fuji, the battle for the runner-up spot in the standings remains yet to be decided.

While five cars are still in mathematical contention for second place in the standings, a seven-point spread between the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R, No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 and No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo means the fight for ‘best of the rest’ is likely to be decided between these three entries.

Back-to-back class victories in the middle of the season, most notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, have given Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz a narrow, five-point advantage over Darren Leung, Sean Gelael and Augusto Farfus.

Farfus’ No. 31 squad secured its first-and-only victory of the year to date during April’s rain-impacted 6 Hours of Imola, but the Brazilian reckoned that the subsequent DNF after a crash involving Gelael and Cadillac’s Earl Bamber hurt the team’s championship chances significantly.

“Of course you always join a championship willing to win and I think we did a fairly strong campaign,” Farfus told Sportscar365.

“I think those points from Spa were those which hurt us the most, because those points would have taken us to probably still keeping the championship alive.

“But okay, it is what it is. Globally, I think we did a good job. We just didn’t have as much as Porsche to really go for the victory.

“But if we can take home a vice world championship, I think it will be very good. It will be the best result of BMW in the WEC so far, so this will be our target.

“I think the tire deg here is going to be enormous, so it might be a challenging one. At the moment we’re only focusing to see how we can optimize the race team to keep the game alive as much as we can.”

Should the No. 91 car manage to retain its advantage over the two chasing squads in the standings, Manthey will secure a 1-2 in the LMGT3 standings in its first season back in WEC since Porsche’s factory GTE-Pro program ended in 2022.

Schuring, who along with Bronze-rated driver Yasser Shahin made his championship debut this year, noted that such a result for the German squad would be ‘amazing and well-deserved’ looking at the strength of the team’s two cars across the campaign.

“We had an amazing year, both cars having two victories, which is incredible in my opinion and we clearly showed that what Manthey is, basically,” Schuring told Sportscar365.

“How great they are [with] car setup, strategy, driver preparation. I think also the driver pairings were impeccable this year.

“I can only speak for myself, but it’s quite unique how well the 91 crew got on with each other. Obviously there’s a big age gap between me and my teammates, but still we seem to really work together nicely.

“I could say we became friends over the years, so it would be a very nice end to the year.”

Heart of Racing’s Ian James, who along with Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas sit fourth in the standings on 83 points, believes the opening phase of the race could be crucial, with Bronze drivers taking the start and having to manage Bahrain’s famously tough tire degradation and high temperatures.

“Well, I think it’s going to be tough for everybody,” said James.

“The car is pretty heavy right now, so we’ve got to really look after our tires. I think the pace is going to drop off three or four seconds minimum in a stint.

“So it’s going to be survival out there and in the heat with the bronze drivers at the beginning, who can get their driving done [will be important]. 

“That could be a deciding factor, couldn’t it? The racing against those two guys [Shahin and Leung], they’ve been great all year like most of the other bronzes.

“It’s been you exciting and fun to run with them but all driving at a really good level so it’s a good competition.”