Who will be the 2019 champion?

In LMP2, the battle is still on with G-Drive Racing leading. The Russian team as well, along with drivers Job Van Uitert and Roman Rusinov, have secured 93 points since the beginning of the season thanks to two wins in Monza and Barcelona and three other podium finishes. Jean-Eric Vergne, the third driver in the n°26 Oreca 07, is fourth in the classification after missing the first two races of the season due to other commitments in the FIA Formula E championship where he secured his second title in a row.

Thirteen points behind G-Drive Racing is the n°28 Idec Sport Oreca 07 of Paul Lafargue, Paul Loup Chatin and Memo Rojas. The French team is looking for its first title in European Le Mans Series and will fight for it in Portimão.

The n°39 Graff Oreca 07 is third with 68 points and is still in contention for the title.  However, they can be champions only if G-Drive Racing finishes lower than in tenth position and Graff won the race as well as the extra point for the pole position.

The second place in the championship will be really coveted in Portimão as, for the first time, an invitation for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans will be offered to the Vice-Champions.

Based purely on mathematics, five teams can still be third in the ELMS classifications should Graff fail to score any points in the final race of the 2019 season: United Autosports, DragonSpeed, Duqueine Engineering and Cool Racing.

In LMP3, the classification is even closer than in LMP2. The first two teams are tied on 94 points. The leader is the n°11 Eurointernational Ligier JS P3 of the 2019 Michelin Le Mans Cup champion Jens Petersen and his Danish teammate Mikkel Jensen. The duo has won three races out of five (Monza, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps) and one pole position in Barcelona.

In second position, also with 94 points, is the n°13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P3 driven by Martin Hippe and Nigel Moore. The Polish team scored one victory in Barcelona, three second position and one third place in Paul Ricard.

Ultimate is third in the LMP3 championship standings with 61 points. Even if the French team is not in contention for the title anymore, they will fight hard in Portimão to secure their third position in this highly competitive class.

With 26 points up for grabs, Eurointernational and Inter Europol Competition will fight until the chequered flag to win the right to be called “2019 LMP3 European Champions”.

In LMGTE, thanks to its victory in Spa-Francorchamps last month, Luzich Racing was crowned 2019 LMGTE European Champion with the n°51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Fabien Lavergne, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessandro Pier Guidi.

In Portimão, all the eyes will be focussed on the LMGTE vice-champions as they can win an invitation for the 88^th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Four teams are in contention for the second place of the LMGTE classification: Dempsey Proton Racing with the n°77 Porsche 911 RSR, Kessel Racing with the n°83 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of the all-female crew, JMW Motorsport and the n°66 488 GTE EVO and finally the n°55 Spirit of Race 488 GTE EVO.

The 4 Hour race in Portimão promises to be action-packed with four out of six titles still to be claimed! Don’t miss the last race of the season on the 27^th of October.