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Speedy Sébastien Buemi had returned to the kingdom that is near and dear to his heart with the aim of sealing a victory for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the fourth round of the 2019-2020 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Within the first lap, the No 5 Ginetta of Team LNT crashed into the No 1 Rebellion Racing machine spinning out, catching Buemi’s No 8 TS050 Hybrid and damaging the car’s front left bodywork.
Due to that, Buemi, who started third, dropped to 10th place and began to follow the safety car. By the 10th lap, he brought the No 8 back up to third, and brought the No 8 out in fourth after a lengthy pit stop for front bodywork change.
Over the next half an hour, Buemi pushed to catch the top three and took third on lap 43. Soon after the 90-minute mark, the lead was handed over to his sister team No 7 TS050 Hybrid driven by Kamui Kobayashi. It’s also driven by Jose Maria Lopez and Mike Conway. Meanwhile, Brendon Hartley took over the No 8 with new tires. The Toyotas then went on to a comfortable 1-2 finish which delighted Buemi.
The 31-year-old, who is a 2014 and 2018-2019 WEC champion, 2015-2016 Formula E champion, 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans and Red Bull Racing reserve driver, said: “It was a difficult race for us in car No 8, as right at the start I was touched by another car during the first lap. I also had to go wide, out of the track, to avoid the accident between the two leaders.
“But overall, it was an excellent result for the whole team, a 1-2 finish for us!”
Toyota Gazoo Racing has positive memories of the 5.412km, 15-turn Circuit, having won three times there in WEC. The team’s last visit came at the end of the 2017 season, with Buemi, Nakijima and Anthony Davidson in the No 8 TS050 Hybrid winning their fifth race of the year.
According to Buemi, Toyota has always been in his family genes. “Back home in Switzerland, my grandfather Georges has been a Toyota agent for 47 years, so I was raised running around Toyota cars,” explained Buemi. “For me, being a member of the Toyota Gazoo Racing team is an honour and pure privilege. We have already achieved some incredible results together – winning the 24Hours of Le Mans twice and the WEC World Championship twice. I look forward to getting more victories and trophies.”
Buemi is also thrilled with this 1-2 finish because it happened in Bahrain, the island he once lived in.
He said: “Bahrain is like home racing for me. I enjoy the track and the atmosphere, plus some of my family is living here too. My first race was in 2005 for the Formula BMW World Finale and since then, I have been coming back every single year, either for racing or for spending some holiday time with my family.
“I also have very good memories because I won my first WEC race in Bahrain in 2013 and became World Champion a year later. It’s also a cool race to participate in because we start in the day and finish in the night. This year again, my parents flew in from Switzerland to attend the WEC Endurance race alongside my uncle Humbert and his family.”
Buemi raced in Bahrain in Formula BMW, GP2 and Formula 1. During his stay on the island, he lived with his uncle Humbert, a business owner and the Swiss honorary consul general, his aunt Silvia and cousins Frederic, Steve and the late Laura, in Saar. He dedicated his 2013 World Endurance Championship – Six Hours of Bahrain victory to his much-loved cousin, Laura, who lost her battle against leukemia in July 2012 at the age of 11.
Humbert is proud of ‘Seb’ and told GulfWeekly that with the lighting of the BIC track, Bahrain has found an incredible place into the world of motorsport arena. He added: “It is now magical to watch these racing cars in Sakhir. Seb is really looking forward to coming back to Bahrain next year to race in the hypercars category.”
Buemi is married to Jennifer. In 2016, he had his son Jules and in 2018, he welcomed the birth of his second son Theo. He is looking forward to flying back to Switzerland to spend Christmas and New Year with his family. He will then be flying out in January to attend the Formula E race in Santiago de Chile.
Meanwhile, the World Championship battle will resume in the New Year, returning to Austin, Texas following a two-year absence for the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas on February 22, the first of a two-race stint in the US with the 1,000 Miles of Sebring following on March 20.
Full race report – Page 22
