Toyota Gazoo Racing dominates WEC qualifying as teams gear up for 8-hour season finale at BIC

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Email: hussainm@newsobahrain.com

The stage is set for an exciting 2024 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season-finale at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) today, with Toyota Gazoo Racing on pole for the WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain, powered by Bapco Energies. Toyota’s #8 crew of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi, and Ryo Hirakawa spearhead a front-row lock-out for the Japanese manufacturers.

They posted a fastest lap of one minute 46.714 seconds in the Hyperpole session of WEC Hypercar qualifying this evening, held in near-nighttime conditions under BIC’s state-of-the-art floodlights.

Their teammates Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, and Mike Conway in Toyota’s #7 Hypercar were just 0.323 seconds off the pace, while Ferrari AF Corse’s #51 crew of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado, and Alessandro Pier Guidi qualified third with a fastest lap 0.366s behind the leaders.

Proton Competition’s #99 trio of Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer, and Harry Tincknell will be joining them on row two. The WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain, powered by Bapco Energies is scheduled to flag off today at 2pm.

Gates open at 10.30am for fans and will close this evening at 10pm. Fans are set to be treated to a pre-race party in the Main Grandstand from 1.15pm, featuring roaming entertainment, interviews with megastar drivers, music, and all the pre-race build up.

Race-goers will be able to watch an endurance racing spectacle like no other as well as a supporting Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME) race.

They will also be able to enjoy an Open Paddock experience – an initiative that is unique to the WEC event, allowing fans to access the paddock where they will likely run into the WEC’s superstar drivers.

The WEC Pit Lane Walk and Autograph Session will also be held today, offering race-goers the chance to meet some of the greats of motorsport.

All fans with tickets to the endurance racing extravaganza will be able to attend both fan-engagement activities at no extra cost.

The Pit Lane Walk will be held from 11.45am to 12.35pm, while the Autograph Session, which will also be taking place along the pit lane, is scheduled for 11.50am to 12.20pm.

Fans will be able get an upclose-and-personal look at the WEC teams and their cars in their respective garages, while also getting a chance to meet the championship’s superstar drivers, take pictures with them, and have memorabilia signed.

Aside from the racing, there is a wide array of off-track entertainment for the whole family, headlined by the ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ Experience, which celebrates the Warner Bros Pictures live-action film of the same name.

Fans can check BIC’s social media accounts for all that is available and their timings for today’s last day. Set to start Saturday’s race in rows three through five, respectively, are Ferrari AF Corse’s #50 crew, the #6 and #5 teams of Porsche Penske Motorsport, the #12 of Hertz Team JOTA, and the #15 and #20 crews of BMW M Team WRT – all of whom compete in the WEC’s Hypercar category and were a part of this evening’s Hyperpole session.

Peugeot TotalEnergies, who set the pace twice in the weekend’s three Free Practices, did not make it into the Hyperpole session for the WEC’s Hypercars.

Hyperpole is for the leading 10 cars from the first WEC qualifying session, which featured 18 competitors out on track for each of the Hypercar and LMGT3 categories.

Meanwhile, United Autosports enjoyed a strong showing in the LMGT3 Hyperpole session of qualifying, securing the two leading positions in class.

Their #95 crew of Joshua Caygill, Nicolas Pino, and Marino Sato bagged pole with a best lap time of 2:02.201, while their #59 trio of James Cottingham, Nicolas Costa, and Gregoire Saucy followed with a best time of 2:02.203.

Vista AF Corse’s #55 crew Francois Heriau, Simon Mann, and Alessio Rovera qualified third, while the #85 Iron Dames of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, and Michelle Gatting – winners from last year’s discontinued LMGTE Am category in Bahrain – qualified fourth.

Also competing in the LMGT3’s Hyperpole runs were the #92 of Manthey PureRxcing, the #27 Heart of Racing Team, the #7 Vista AF Corse, the #81 and #82 TF Sport cars, and the #78 Akkodis ASP Team.

In the 2024/2025 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME), taking place in support of the WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain, powered by Bapco Energies, Janne Stiak claimed a pole-toflag victory this evening in the series’ season-opening race.

Stiak won the 12-lap sprint after a tight battle with Colin Boenighausen, beating his rival by 1.114 seconds to the chequered flag. They were well ahead of the rest of the field, with James Wallis taking third place overall 15.756s behind first place.

All three drivers were also the top three amongst the PCCME’s Pro contenders. Winning the ProAm category was Saud Al Saud, while joining him on the podium in class were Khaled Alahmadi and Thomas Kiefer.

Petr Brecka continued his fine run in the all-new Masters class, which is for gentleman racers aged 40 and above. Mike Mim and Krister Andero completed their podium placers.

The PCCME field returns to action on Saturday morning with the WEC weekend’s second 12-lap race, scheduled for an 11am start. Boenighausen will be starting on pole.