Toyota’s Victory and World Title in Bahrain
In a thrilling race at the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the Toyota No. 8 car, driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa, emerged victorious and secured the World Endurance Championship title in the Hypercar category. While Ferrari claimed victory at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, Toyota dominated the rest of the World Endurance Championship races. The battle for the championship came down to a showdown between the two Toyota GR010 Hybrid cars.
However, a collision on the first lap between Earl Bamber in the Cadillac No. 2 and the Toyota No. 7 completely changed the course of the race. The incident caused the Toyota No. 7 to lose its position and any hope of winning the race and the championship. Taking advantage of the situation, Sébastien Buemi in the Toyota No. 8 quickly took the lead, leaving the Ferrari cars struggling to keep up. With only two brief caution periods, the race was relatively uneventful, and the Toyota No. 7 managed to make its way back up the field.
Buemi, Hartley, and Hirakawa faced no major challenges throughout the race. They caught up to the second-place Ferrari No. 51 in just over an hour and eventually secured the victory, with the Ferrari settling for third place. The JOTA team’s Porsche came close to overtaking the Ferrari but finished just nine tenths of a second behind. With their second win of the season, Buemi, Hartley, and Hirakawa claimed the World Championship title ahead of their fellow Toyota teammates and the Ferrari No. 50.
In the LMP2 category, the WRT No. 41 car, driven by Rui Andrade, Robert Kubica, and Louis Delétraz, took both the category victory and the final Drivers’ Championship title. The LMP2 cars will no longer participate in the World Endurance Championship starting in 2024. In the LMGTE Am category, which will be replaced by GT3 cars, the all-female Iron Dames team, consisting of Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, and Rahel Frey, emerged victorious, although the championship had already been secured by Corvette before the final race.
The final standings of the 8 Hours of Bahrain on Saturday, November 4, 2023, were as follows:
1- Toyota Gazoo Racing No. 8 (Buemi-Hartley-Hirakawa/SUI-NZL-JAP/Toyota GR010 Hybrid) – 249 laps
2- Toyota Gazoo Racing No. 7 (Conway-Kobayashi-Lopez/GBR-JAP-ARG/Toyota GR010 Hybrid) – 47.516 seconds behind
3- Ferrari AF Corse No. 50 (Fuoco-Molina-Nielsen/ITA-ESP-DAN/Ferrari 499P) – 1 minute 36.286 seconds behind
4- Hertz Team JOTA No. 38 (da Costa-Stevens-Ye/POR-GBR-CHN/Porsche 963) – 1 minute 37.248 seconds behind
5- Porsche Penske Motorsport No. 6 (Estre-Lotterer-Vanthoor/FRA-ALL-BEL/Porsche 963) – 1 lap behind
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12- Team WRT No. 41 (Andrade-Kubica-Delétraz/AGO-POL-SUI/Oreca 07-Gibson) – 11 laps behind (1st in LMP2)
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22- Iron Dames No. 85 (Bovy-Gatting-Frey/BEL-DAN-SUI/Porsche 911 RSR-19) – 17 laps behind (1st in LMGTE Am)
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