Bahrain all set for Spirit of Le Mans

TDT | Manama                                    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) and Bapco Energies held last night the official launch for this year’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, taking place 3 and 4 November as the Spirit of Le Mans returns to Bahrain for a weekend of spectacular racing and entertainment.

The endurance racing spectacle will mark the grand finale of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), and it will boast a packed grid of more than 35 sportscars featuring seven global manufacturers, world-renowned racing teams and a star-studded driver roster.

Tickets to the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain are available now and fans are urged to purchase theirs as soon as possible so as not to miss out on the special occasion at BIC. Tickets cost just BD5.5 for adults and BD2.75 for kids for the two-day weekend programme.

They can be bought online at bahraingp.com or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17450000. Tickets are priced as one of the most affordable ways to witness a world championship motorsport event.

Hospitality packages are also available at the Spirit of Le Mans Club, where guests can experience exclusive cuisine and incredible views in our Paddock hospitality. Packages are also available to purchase online or via the BIC Hotline.

Following the tremendous success of the ground-breaking Green Ticket initiative introduced for last year’s WEC race, BIC and Bapco Energies, in cooperation with the Government of Bahrain, will be bringing it back for the 2023 event.

For every WEC ticket sold, a proportion of the revenue, matched by Bapco Energies, is donated to a fund which will directly support the planting of new Mangroves in Bahrain. This programme supports the national target of quadrupling mangrove coverage across the Kingdom by 2035.

Earlier this year, BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa and Bapco Energies Group CEO Mark Thomas presented the funds raised from last year’s WEC event to Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Minister Eng Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak.

This has enabled the planting of 5,000 mangrove trees. BIC is also pleased to welcome its long-term partners Beyon, which has become a support partner for WEC for the first time. Commenting on the launch, Thomas said: “We take immense pride in our partnership with BIC to bring the 11th edition of WEC to Bahrain.

It is a great showcase of technology driving performance excellence with a strong emphasis on raising sustainability awareness, and the Green Ticket Initiative continues to grow in impact year on year.

“We look forward to building on the success of last year where we funded that plantation of around 5,000 mangrove trees. This year, our ambition is to overtake this number and make an even greater impact, all in the spirit of celebrating the exhilaration that motorsports bring. Speaking at the launch, Shaikh Salman commented: “The World Endurance Championship offers fans an incredible mix of World Championship racing, exciting entertainment and family fun.

With an open paddock, an amazing line of cars including the largest ever number of entries in the Hypercar category, the Spirit of Le Mans is well and truly back in Bahrain. “To be hosting the WEC season-finale yet again is a tremendous honour, and we thank the WEC and its partners for trusting us to stage this wonderful occasion, where we can celebrate the series’ 2023 champions.

“We also thank our partners at Bapco Energies, who have been with us since the beginning of our WEC journey in 2012 and we are particularly delighted to be working with them again on the Green Ticket initiative.”

Frédéric Lequien, FIA WEC CEO, added: “It is always a pleasure to visit Bahrain and host our final race of the season at BIC. Shaikh Salman and the entire team at BIC always make us feel very welcome and it is an honour to crown our World Champions here year after year.

This year’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain will be the 12th time the WEC will be racing in Sakhir, and the fifth time the event is taking place in its current eight-hour format. The WEC’s competing outfits, featuring sportscars from the biggest brands in all of global motoring, will be going bumper-to-bumper in three categories (Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGTE Am).

Many of motor racing’s most popular star drivers will get behind the wheel of their contenders and share duties tackling BIC’s 5.412-kilometre track from day to night, making for a brilliant spectacle that flags off under the after-noon sun and wraps up beneath the stars while being brilliantly lit by BIC’s state-of-the-art floodlights.

WEC Hypercars to be top draw

The WEC’s Hypercar class, its top-tier level of competition, will once again be the biggest draw of the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain weekend. The 2023 campaign has thus seen an increase of up to 12 Hypercars representing eight teams and six manufacturers hitting the tarmac.

Four of this year’s teams have fielded two Hybrid cars apiece, including Toyota Gazoo Racing, Peugeot TotalEnergies, Porsche Penske Motorsport and Ferrari AF Corse. The other outfits with one car each include Cadillac Racing, Floyd Vanwall Racing Team, Hertz Team JOTA and Proton Competition.

It will be the first time that Porsche, Ferrari, Cadillac, Floyd Vanwall, Hertz Team JOTA and Proton will be racing in Bahrain in the Hypercar category, making for a fantastic show of some of the world’s most advanced race cars.

WEC titles still up for grabs in Bahrain

Both the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers’ Championship and the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers are set for a final championship showdown in Bahrain.

Up to four different crews still have a chance to come away with the Hypercar drivers’ crown. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi, who share the duties in the team’s #8 GR010 Hybrid contender, are the current leaders as they aim to capture the drivers’ championship for a second successive season.

They are each on 133 points, but are closely followed by their teammates Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Koabayashi and Mike Conway in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #7 car on 118 points apiece. Trailing in third and fourth place, respectively, are two Ferrari AF Corse crews.

Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado, driving the team’s #51 Ferrari 499P Hybrid, are on 102 points, while the #50 crew of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen are fourth with 97 points each.

In the battle for the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers, three crews are still with a chance to emerge victorious in Bahrain. Team WRT’s Louis Deletraz, Robert Kubica and Rui Andrade are presently in first place with 135 points.

Inter Europol Competition’s Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer and Jakub Smiechowski are second with 102 points apiece, while United Autosports’ Frederick Lubin and Philip Hanson, driving their #22 challenger, are third with 101 points.

Also up for grabs is the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams.

Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East to support WEC on track

Aside from the WEC action, there will also be top-class racing from the region’s leading one-make series, the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East.

This championship, run by Lechner Racing, was born at BIC and is still based here. It will be staging the opening round of its 2023/2024 season in Bahrain, with succeeding meetings being held. Many of the region’s leading drivers of various nationalities will be battling it out with professional teams over two races during the WEC weekend.

They will be behind the wheel of identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 992) cars, with action taking place in Pro, ProAm and Am classes. Off the track, BIC has lined up a number of colourful attractions for all the family to enjoy on both days. These are available at the BIC vending area, and they include stunt shows, a classic car show, car simulators, roaming performers, kids’ stage shows, and so much more incredible entertainment.