With all four ELMS championships still to be decided, we need to look at the points situation to see who needs to do what to de crowned European Champions in Portugal on Sunday 16 October.
LMP2 – Prema Racing v Panis Racing
Prema Racing have a comfortable 24-point lead over Panis Racing, so Panis need to take pole position and win, with Prema finishing 10th. If neither team take pole, Panis still need to win and Prema Racing finish outside the top 10.
With three wins secured this season, if Prema Racing could score their first pole position on Saturday, that would be enough to secure the title ahead of the race on Sunday as a win for Panis and no points for Prema in the race would put the two teams on 101 but with three wins to one, the title would go to the Italian team.
While third placed United Autosports cannot win the title as they are 27 points behind Prema Racing, they are still able to secure an automatic invitation to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside the LMP2 champion by finishing second in the points table.The winners of the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps need to finish the race with three (or more) points more than Panis Racing to move ahead of the French team in the final standings.
LMP2 Pro-Am – Racing Team Turkey v AF Corse v Nielsen Racing
The no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca holds a 22-point lead in the LMP2 Pro-Am championship, with the no88 AF Corse on 83 points and the no24 Nielsen Racing Oreca on 82 points.With six LMP2 Pro-Am cars entered for the 4 Hours of Portimão, and 8 points for 6th place, the Racing Team Turkey Oreca just needs to be classified at the end of the race to secure the 2022 title.
If the Racing Team Turkey Oreca fails to finish, the no88 AF Corse or the no24 Nielsen Racing still need to win the Pro-Am class to move ahead of the Turkish team in the standings. Second place is not an option for either of these teams.
LMP3 – Inter Europol Competition v Cool Racing
The LMP3 title race is a straight fight between the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier and the no17 Cool Racing Ligier.Inter Europol Competition are on 79 points after three wins in a row, 19 points ahead of Cool Racing on 60 points.
Assuming Malthe Jakobsen takes his sixth LMP3 pole position of the season, the gap will be 18 points. However, should the two cars be tied on points, the no13 Ligier has three wins to one for the no17 Ligier, so Cool Racing must win the race to have a shot at the title.
If Cool Racing do win, Inter Europol Competition need to score 7 (or more) points to win the title, which means they would have to finish in 6th or higher to put the title beyond doubt.
LMGTE – Proton Competition v Kessel Racing v Iron Lynx
The LMGTE title race is, on paper, a three-way affair, but with just 9-points between the Proton Competition Porsche and the no57 Kessel Racing, that is where all eyes will be watching.
The no60 Iron Lynx Ferrari is 21-points behind the Porsche and the Italian team will have to take their second win of the season and hope the Proton Competition Porsche finishes 8th or lower and the Kessel Racing Ferrari finishes 4th or lower.
A win for the Kessel Racing Ferrari would put the Swiss team on 88-points, meaning the Proton Competition Porsche would need to finish 2nd to secure the title. Second for Kessel Racing would mean the Porsche would need to 5th or higher, assuming neither team take their second pole of the season.
Of course, there is the matter of the automatic invitations to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans to consider for the top 3 in the LMGTE Championship standings.
While Proton Competition cannot finish lower than third in the championship, there are several teams within striking distance of the third placed no60 Iron Lynx Ferrari.
There are just 7 points between the no60 and no83 Iron Lynx Ferraris on 51 points and 44 points respectively, with the no66 JMW Motorsport on 42 points and the no69 Oman Racing with TF Sport Aston Martin and the no18 Absolute Racing Porsche tied on 41 points, which means there are five cars split by just 10 points for third place in the championship.
CLICK HERE to see the championship positions after Round 5 in Belgium.
