#8 Toyota took the FIA WEC win in 8 Hours of Bahrain and along with that, the 2024 Hyperclass title, as #6 Porsche Penske has the drivers’ title.
Hypercar –
No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing trio of Sebastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley take brilliant win in action-packed BAPCO Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain.
- Race is shaken up by two Safety Car periods to ensure shoot-out races in both WEC categories.
- Buemi, who was spun out of the lead in the first hour, drove one of the races of his life to hunt down the No.5 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar and take the lead in the last hour.
- Result means that Toyota are crowned the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers Championship for fourth consecutive season.
- The No.6 Porsche Penske crew of Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre seal the Drivers title despite finishing in a lowly 11th position after two final hour penalties. But that was inconsequential as nearest title rivals No.50 Ferrari AF Corse could only finish 12th and the No.7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries retired at mid-distance.
- The title winning trio of Lotterer, Vanthoor and Estre took the crown after being the only entry to take two wins this season in Qatar and Fuji. Bahrain was the first time this season they have finished outside of the points.
- Lotterer celebrates his second WEC title in his final race as a Porsche factory driver.
- Following the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado in second is the Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki No.5 Porsche Penske 963 in third place to complete the podium after remarkable final lap battle which sees Giovinazzi overtake Campbell almost within sight of the chequered flag.
- Fourth in Bahrain is the No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 which equals its best result of the season.
- No.35 Alpine of Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Jules Gounon place fifth after an intense late battle with the No.15 BMW and No.38 Hertz Team Jota of Jenson Button, Oliver Rasmussen and Phil Hanson, which finish sixth and eighth respectively.
- The No.2 Cadillac snatches seventh in the final moments, while the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari places ninth ahead of the No.36 Alpine.
UPDATE: The #51 Ferrari – long-time leader of yesterday’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain (2 November) – has lost its runner-up finish in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season finale due to a tyre infringement.
Following a late charge by Antonio Giovinazzi, the Ferrari AF Corse 499P the Italian shares with James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi took the chequered flag second at Bahrain International Circuit – the crew’s best result of the campaign – but it has since been demoted to 14th place, and last of the Hypercar finishers, for having been found to have exceeded its maximum authorised tyre allocation.
After a stewards’ meeting, the car had 4min 55sec added to its total race time (equivalent to two stop-and-go penalties of two minutes each) for contravening Article 6.5.4 of the WEC Sporting Regulations by using two tyres more than the permitted total of 26. The penalty elevates the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport car to second in the final results, and the #93 Team Peugeot TotalEnergies entry to third.
LMGT3 –
Incredible action in the last hour sees multiple position changes as five cars go head-to-head amid spectacular multi-manufacturer action.
- Alessio Rovera takes the lead with a thrilling move after an intense fight with the No.81 TF Sport Corvette and Iron Dames Lamborghini.
- Rovera manages his pace and creates a gap before defending from a late charge via Eastwood in the No.81 TF Sport Corvette of Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy.
- It results in the first win of the season for the No.55 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGTE of Rovera, and teammates Francois Heriau and Simon Mann.
- TF Sport take its best combined result of the season as the No.82 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella, Hiroshi Koizumi and Sebastien Baud claim third, fighting back from early penalty for spinning around the race winning No.8 Toyota.
- The rest of the Top 6 read as: 4th Iron Lynx Lamborghini; 5th No.91 Manthey EMA Porsche; 6th No.59 United Autosports McLaren.
Result: http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/
Revised Result: http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/
[Note: The story is as per press release]
