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The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain ended the year in spectacular fashion with Toyota Gazoo Racing completing its triumphant return to Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) with a thrilling one-two finish.
The No 7 TS050 Hybrid driven by Jose Maria Lopez, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, led teammates Kazuki Nakijima, Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley in the No 8 Hybrid to the chequered flag.
The result earned Toyota their fourth WEC victory at the Sakhir circuit, adding to their previous wins in 2013, 2014 and 2017. It was also the third win of the WEC season for Toyota Gazoo Racing and second for the No 7 trio.
Rebellion Racing completed the podium placers in third after recovering from a troubled start.
Khalid Al Sabbagh, Bapco general manager special projects, presented the overall top three their trophies during the podium ceremony whilst BIC chairman of the board Arif Rahimi, BIC chief executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa and Bahrain Motor Federation board member Abdulrahman Ghuloom also awarded the race’s other class winners.
The winning Toyota car posted a total number of 257 laps in the intense eight-hour event, which began in daylight and finished under BIC’s bright floodlights. They were just a single lap ahead of their sister squad.
Team Rebellion, featuring Bruno Senna, Gustavo Menezes and Norman Nato driving the No 1 Gibson-powered R13, finished three laps behind.
Meanwhile, United Autosports’ Philip Hanson, Felipe Albuquerque and Paul Di Resta won the LMP2 class. They drove their No 22 Gibson-powered Oreca 07 to a total of 249 laps. JOTA’s No 38 Oreca 07 of Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Anthony Davidson followed as second in their class, while Jackie Chan DC Racing were third in their no 37 Oreca 07 driven by Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Will Stevens.
In the LMGTE Pro category, Aston Martin Racing duo of Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim were victorious driving their Vantage AMR. They were just 13.798s ahead of chief rivals Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina of AF Corse, who were driving a Ferrari 488 GTE EVO. Aston Martin’s, sister squad in the No 97 Vantage AMR featuring Alexander Lynn and Maxime Martin took third.
In the LMGTE AM class, Team Project 1’s Ben Keating, Larry Ten Voorde and Jeroen Bleekemolen steered their No 57 Porsche 911 RSR to first place with 233 laps. The No 98 Aston Martin Vintage AMR of Paul Dalla Lana, Darren Turner and Ross Gunn followed in second place and Gulf Racing’s No 86 Porsche 911 RSR were third with Michael Wainwright, Andrew Watson and Benjamin Barker sharing the duties.
As for the off-track action, fans enjoyed meeting the racers and getting autographs during the Pit Walk and Autograph Session and were able to go behind the scenes in the team garages.
After the race there was plenty of show-stopping entertainment as well including a fantastic fireworks display and concert by Arab music superstar Mohammed Al Salem, as part of National Day celebrations.
The FIA WEC Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain was held as part of BIC’s National Day Festival.
