Last weekend’s 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas was the fifth round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. With only three rounds remaining, the championship is heading into the home stretch – WEC Magazin took a look at how things stand.
Arguably the most prestigious title in the WEC is the FIA World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship, which is awarded to the best factory-entered LMP1 team in the series. Porsche currently hold a commanding 36-point lead over Audi thanks to three victories in a row at Le Mans, the Nürburgring and the Circuit of the Americas. But Audi showed strong performance earlier on in the season, so don’t count them out in the challenge for manufacturer honours.
| Manufacturer | Nationality | Points |
| Porsche | DEU | 220 |
| Audi | DEU | 184 |
| Toyota | JPN | 101 |
| Nissan | JPN | 0 |
Forget the manufacturers’ title, drivers will tell you that the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship is the be-all and end-all. And that’s also where the championship battle gets more interesting: The Audi trio of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Tréluyer hold a tight ten-point lead over the Porsche drivers Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley, largely thanks to two wins at the start of the season at Silverstone and Spa.
| # | Driver | Nationality | Points |
| 1 | M. Fässler | CHE | 113 |
| 1 | A. Lotterer | DEU | 113 |
| 1 | B. Tréluyer | FRA | 113 |
| 2 | T. Bernhard | DEU | 103 |
| 2 | B. Hartley | NZL | 103 |
| 2 | M. Webber | AUS | 103 |
| 3 | R. Dumas | FRA | 77.5 |
| 3 | N. Jani | CHE | 77.5 |
| 3 | M. Lieb | DEU | 77.5 |
Another tight drivers’ championship is the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Private Team Drivers. The recent renaissance of the ByKolles team has put Simon Trummer and Pierre Kaffer back in contention for the championship, and they trail the Rebellion #18 squad (Kraihamer, Abt, Imperatori) by 18 points. A DNF at COTA means that the #12 Rebellion drivers of Mathias Beche, Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost hold a lead of just a single point over their teammates.
| # | Driver | Nationality | Points |
| 1 | M. Beche | CHE | 69 |
| 1 | N. Heidfeld | DEU | 69 |
| 1 | N. Prost | FRA | 69 |
| 2 | D. Abt | DEU | 68 |
| 2 | D. Kraihamer | AUT | 68 |
| 2 | A. Imperatori | CHE | 68 |
| 3 | P. Kaffer | DEU | 50 |
| 3 | S. Trummer | CHE | 50 |
Elsewhere in the field, the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers is on a knife-edge, with Ferrari leading Porsche by just two points. Ferrari did hold a commanding lead in the championship, especially after the one-two at Le Mans (#72 and #71). But two consecutive one-twos by the works Porsche Team Manthey cars has put the German marque well back in contention for the GT manufacturer title.
| # | Manufacturer | Nationality | Points |
| 1 | Ferrari | ITA | 187 |
| 2 | Porsche | DEU | 185 |
| 3 | Aston Martin | GBR | 145 |
For a full overview of the championship standing, simply click on the Standings tab at the top of the page.