Toyota Gazoo Racing dominates Bahrain 8 Hour WEC season finale

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Toyota Gazoo Racing capped an outstanding 2023 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) last night with a sensational one-two in a hugely thrilling Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Toyota’s #8 crew of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa not only shone brightest under lights in their GR010 Hybrid to take the impressive victory at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.

They also secured this year’s FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers Championship title, adding to their FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship to complete a fantastic double.

Toyota teammates Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez in their #7 Hybrid finished as runners-up, overcoming an opening-lap incident that saw them spin off the track at the very first corner. They recovered magnificently to join Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa on the podium, but lost out on the Hypercar drivers’ title race.

Last night’s result marked the sixth win in seven WEC races in 2023 for Toyota Gazoo Racing. It was the second triumph for the Buemi, Hartley, Hirakawa triumvirate, having also taken first place in Portugal.

Ferrari AF Corse’s #50 crew of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen took the final podium step amongst the WEC’s Hypercars in third.

Winning the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category were Team WRT’s #41 trio of Rui Andrade, Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz.

It was the final race in the WEC for the LMP2s, which has been a mainstay in the series since its inception.

WRT’s triumph secured them this season’s FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams, as well as the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers for Andrade, Kubica and Deletraz.

The #85 all-female squad Iron Dames completed the roster of race winners in Bahrain, taking the triumph in the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Am (LMGTE Am) class.

Sarah Bovy started things off for their squad before handing over the driving duties to teammates Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting, who took them home to the finish for their maiden WEC victory.

The LMGTE Am was also holding its last race in the series.

The winners per category were awarded their respective trophies in the podium ceremonies at the end of all the action. Handing over the trophies were Bapco Energies Group Chief Executive Officer Mark J Thomas, BIC Chairman Arif Rahimi, and Bahrain Motor Federation Chief Marshal Hasan Ghuloom.

Yesterday’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain was the 12th time the WEC raced in Sakhir, and the fifth time the event took place in its current eight-hour format.

Right after lights-out, the first-corner incident that saw the #2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Hybrid clip the title-chasing #7 Hybrid of Toyota caused it to lose its position amongst the leaders.

Buemi was in the car for the pole-sitters in Toyota’s #8 GR010 Hybrid, and after getting away at the rip-roaring rolling start was able to build a good lead for his crew over the opening two hours.

They gradually added to their advantage throughout the course of the race, and eventually took the chequered flag, waved by Richard Mille, at the end of the eight hours with 249 laps completed. They were classified a lap ahead of their #7 teammates, while Ferrari’s #50 crew were more than a minuteand-a-half behind.

In the LMP2 class, Vector Sport’s #10 Oreca 07-Gibson enjoyed the early lead, and Iron Lynx in their #60 Porsche 911 RSR-19 were ahead in the LMGTE Am class. Towards the end, Team WRT made the most of the misfortunes of others and charged to the front amongst the LMP2 runners.

They won in class with 238 laps completed, while joining them on the LMP2 podium were their WRT teammates Robin Frijns, Sean Gelael and Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen in their #31 Oreca 07-Gibson. Third were the #28 JOTA of David Heinemeier-Hansson, Pietro Fittipaldi and Oliver Rasmussen.

In the LMGTE Am category, the Iron Dames took over as frontrunners in class heading into the last two hours following the retirement of stablemates Iron Lynx.

The Iron Dames went on to take an historic victory with 232 laps completed in their Porsche 911 RSR-19. Second in class were the #777 D’Station Racing of Casper Stevenson, Liam Talbot and Tomonobu Fujii in their Aston Martin Vantage AMR, while the #98 trio of Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas took third in their Vantage AMR.