Lotterer, Vanthoor, Estre claim Drivers title
Toyota secured the FIA World Endurance Championship manufacturer’s title with a victory at the season-concluding 8 Hours of Bahrain, while André Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, and Kévin Estre clinched the drivers’ crown despite finishing outside the top ten
The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing trio of Sébastien Buemi, Ryō Hirakawa, and Brendon Hartley took a brilliant win in an action-packed 8 Hours of Bahrain, with the race disrupted by two Safety Car periods that set up dramatic shootouts in both WEC classes.
Buemi spun out of the lead in the first hour, delivered an outstanding drive to chase down the #5 Porsche Penske 963 and regained the lead in the final hour. This result earned Toyota its fourth consecutive FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship title and sixth FIA WEC top-class manufacturers title, considering the manufacturers’ two LMP1 era crowns.
The #6 Porsche Penske crew of Lotterer, Vanthoor, and Estre secured the drivers’ title despite finishing 11th after two penalties in the final hour. Their title was unaffected by these setbacks, as their closest rivals, the #50 Ferrari AF Corse, managed only 12th place, and the #7 Toyota driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nyck de Vries retired mid-race. Lotterer, Vanthoor, and Estre were the only team to achieve two wins this season, in Qatar and Fuji, and Bahrain marked their first finish outside the points. Lotterer celebrated his second WEC title in what was his final race as a Porsche factory driver.
The #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and James Calado claimed second place, while the #5 Porsche Penske 963 of Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, and Frédéric Makowiecki completed the podium after a thrilling last-lap battle in which Giovinazzi passed Campbell just before the chequered flag.
The #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 took fourth, equaling its best result of the season, while the #35 Alpine of Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Jules Gounon finished fifth after a late battle with the #15 BMW and #38 Hertz Team Jota, which placed sixth and eighth, respectively. The #2 Cadillac clinched seventh, while the #83 AF Corse Ferrari finished ninth ahead of the #36 Alpine.
In LMGT3, the #55 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari claimed its first win of the season. Alessio Rovera executed a thrilling move to take the lead after a tense fight with the #81 TF Sport Corvette and Iron Dames Lamborghini. Rovera held off a late charge from Eastwood in the #81 Corvette, securing the victory for himself and teammates François Hériau and Simon Mann.
TF Sport achieved its best result of the season with the #82 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella, Hiroshi Koizumi, and Sébastien Baud taking third after recovering from an early penalty for contact with the race-winning #8 Toyota. The remainder of the top six included the Iron Lynx Lamborghini in fourth, the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche in fifth, and the #59 United Autosports McLaren in sixth.
