WEC: Toyota and Ferrari wrap up WEC title

Toyota Gazoo Racing took a conclusive 1-2 finish in the BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain, with the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez winning the race from the No. 8 car.

But it was Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa that took the FIA World Endurance Championship drivers’ title by finishing second and making it four consecutive titles for the Japanese manufacturer in the WEC.

While Hartley and Buemi won their 3rd titles, with the Kiwi  becoming first driver to win championships with two marques after his successes with Porsche, Hirakawa won the title in his debut WEC season

The No. 8 crew began the race from pole one point ahead in the standings over the No.36 Alpine A480 Gibson of Andre Negrao, Nico Lapierre, and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

Toyota switched the positions of their cars as the No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid then driven by Mike Conway seemed to have quicker overall pace.

Kamui Kobayashi extend the gap to the No.8 car during his stints at the wheel, and it was Conway who took the checkered flag 45-seconds ahead of their stablemates.

Alpine ELF Team entered the race just a point behind the No.8 Toyota crew but despite running third it didn’t have the pace to worry the Toyotas on the track and ended the race two laps adrift in third position.

The French manufacturer was undertaking its final race in the Hypercar class until the 2024 season.

The two Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8s entries showed strong pace throughout the Bahrain weekend but ultimately were unable to sustain a challenge at the front.

The No.94 entry of Loic Duval, Gustavo Menezes and Nico Mueller took fourth place, while the sister car of Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Paul di Resta was forced to retire after several track stoppages due to a suspected electronic issue in the gearbox.

LMP2 – WRT’s Win and Jota’s Title

Sean Gelael, Robin Frijns and Rene Rast raced to Team WRT’s  second consecutive WEC victory, while the No.38 JOTA trio of Antonio Felix da Costa, Roberto Gonzalez and Will Stevens took a memorable LMP2 title.

The No. 31 Oreca 07 Gibson claimed the lead midway through the third hour when Rast put a move on the then leading No. 22 United Autosports Oreca driven by Phil Hanson.

Hanson’s teammate Filipe Albuquerque had dominated the race from the start, passing the pole-sitting Realteam by WRT car of Ferdinand Habsburg on the opening lap. But it came at a slight cost as the Portuguese racer was adjudged to have taken the lead by abusing track limits.

WRT consolidated their lead when Rast and then Frijns extended it to control the ultra-competitive class.

While the No.22 United Autosports USA car faded, the sister No. 23 car of Alex Lynn, Oliver Jarvis and Josh Pierson took second position after a fine race.

Da Costa, Gonzalez and Stevens completed the podium in the No. 38 JOTA Oreca, which was enough for the trio to capture the points needed to clinch the LMP2 title. It meant they added the crown to their 24 Hours of Le Mans victory they earned in June.

The LMP2 Pro/Am winners and 2022 champions were confirmed as Francois Perrodo, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera in the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari. They had a late race scare with a splash-and-dash fuel stop but it wasn’t enough to derail their success.

Calado and Pier Guidi Take Heroic LMGTE Pro Title for Ferrari

Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado and Ferrari scooped the GT FIA World Endurance Drivers’ and Manufacturers titles in a nail-biting manner at Bahrain International Circuit today.

The pair were forced to nurse their Ferrari 488 GTE Evo car to the checkered flag after developing a gearbox problem in the seventh hour of the eight-hour race.

While they celebrated the championship, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina won the final ever GTE-Pro race, their first of 2022.

The No. 52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Molina and Fuoco finished ahead of the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R driven by Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner, with Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen rounding out the podium in the No. 92 Porsche Team GT Team run Porsche 911 RSR-19.

Estre initially took the No. 92 Porsche in to the LMGTE Pro class lead by overtaking his direct rivals at the start, before engaging in a ferocious battle with the No.52 Ferrari driven by Fuoco.

The first of three Full Course Yellows shook up the order in the second hour as Fuoco, Estre and the No. 91 Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni pitted before the FCY.

This was the opposite of the No. 51 Ferrari of Calado and Corvette’s Nick Tandy pitted under the caution period itself. This ensured that Calado and Tandy gained and the pair ran first and second.

At the midway phase of the race Ferrari took up a 1-2 formation with Molina allowed to pass Calado via a team order.

The race for the title then appeared to be turned on its head in the seventh hour when the gearbox problem struck for Calado.

But he and Pier Guidi adapted to the issue and made it to the checkered flag to savor their title success.

“The car was fine when I jumped in, and then I heard a funny noise in fourth gear,” said Calado after the race.

“I was like this was really bad, and then it seized, and then we didn’t have any gears, we were stuck in fifth.

“I thought it was over. That’s why you saw the emotion, but we never gave up, and so we’re three times world champions.”

Corvette racing were delighted with their second place, with Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy rounding out a fine debut season in the WEC for the U.S entered squad.

Rounding out the podium was the No.92 Porsche GT Team entered Porsche 911 RSR-19 driven by Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen.

They took advantage of a late pit stop by Gimmi Bruni to vault their stablemates and finish third which was good enough for second in the standings.

TF Sport’s Title; Team Project 1’s Race

Ben Keating and Marco Sorensen completed an excellent season by winning the LMGTE am championship by finishing in fourth place, alongside teammate Henrique Chaves.

The Aston Martin trio finished fourth in the LMGTE Am class today, which was enough for the silverware, as their closest rivals, Paul Dalla Lana, David Pittard and Nicki Thiim in the NorthWest Aston Martin, finished just behind them in fifth position.

The No.46 Team Project 1 Porsche driven Matteo Cairoli, Niki Leutwiler and Mikkel Pedersen claimed their first win of the 2022 season, with Cairoli making a move on the No. 85 Iron Dames Ferrari driven by Rahel Frey with 70-minutes of the race remaining.

Frey, with Iron Dames teammates Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy, led for the majority of the race from their second pole position of the season.

But their chances of matching their runners-up positions in Monza and Fuji were lost when Ben Barnicoat in the No.56 Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19 overtook Michelle Gatting for second in the final minutes of the race.

That move ensured that Barnicoat’s new teammates for the weekend, PJ Hyett and Gunnar Jeanette, helped complete a richly merited 1-2 finish for the German squad.

Race Results

Pos	No.	Drivers	Car	Class	Laps
1	7	Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Jose Maria Lopez	Toyota GR010 – Hybrid	HYPERCAR	245
2	8	Sébastien Buemi Brendon Hartley Ryo Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 – Hybrid	HYPERCAR	245
3	36	Andre Negrao Nicolas Lapierre Matthieu Vaxiviere	Alpine A480	HYPERCAR	243
4	94	Loic Duval Gustavo Menezes Nico Müller	Peugeot 9X8	HYPERCAR	239
5	31	Sean Gelael Robin Frijns René Rast	Oreca 07	LMP2	237
6	23	Alex Lynn Oliver Jarvis Josh Pierson	Oreca 07	LMP2	237
7	38	Roberto Gonzale zAntonio Felix da Costa Will Stevens	Oreca 07	LMP2	236
8	9	Robert Kubica Louis Deletra zLorenzo Colombo	Oreca 07	LMP2	236
9	41	Rui Andrade Ferdinand Habsburg Norman Nato	Oreca 07	LMP2	236
10	22	Philip Hanson Filipe Albuquerque Will Owen	Oreca 07	LMP2	236
11	28	Oliver Rasmussen Ed Jones Jonathan Aberdein	Oreca 07	LMP2	236
12	1	Lilou Wadoux Paul-Loup Chatin Charles Milesi	Oreca 07	LMP2	235
13	10	Renger van der Zande Ryan Cullen Sébastien Bourdais	Oreca 07	LMP2	235
14	83	François Perrodo Nicklas Nielsen Alessio Rovera	Oreca 07	LMP2	235
15	35	Jean Baptiste Lahaye Matthieu Lahaye François Heriau	Oreca 07	LMP2	235
16	45	Thomas Steven James Allen Rene Binder	Oreca 07	LMP2	235
17	52	Miguel Molina Antonio Fuoco	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE PRO	231
18	64	Tommy Milner Nick Tandy	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R	LMGTE PRO	230
19	92	Michael Christensen Kevin Estre	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE PRO	230
20	91	Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE PRO	230
21	51	Alessandro Pier Guidi James Calado	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE PRO	227
22	44	Miro Konopka Mathias Beche Richard Bradley	Oreca 07	LMP2	227
23	46	Matteo Cairoli Mikkel Pedersen Nicolas Leutwiler	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	226
24	56	PJ Hyett Gunnar Jeannette Ben Barnicoat	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	226
25	85	Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting Sarah Bovy	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	226
26	33	Ben Keating Henrique Chaves Jr. Marco Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	226
27	98	Paul Dalla Lana David Pittard Nicki Thiim	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	226
28	86	Michael Wainwright Riccardo Pera Benjamin Barker	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	226
29	54	Thomas Flohr Francesco Castellacci Nick Cassidy	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	226
30	77	Christian Ried Sebastian Priaulx Harry Tincknell	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	226
31	60	Claudio Schiavoni Matteo Cressoni Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	225
32	777	Satoshi Hoshino Tomonobu Fujii Charlie Fagg	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE AM	225
33	21	Simon Mann Christoph Ulrich Toni Vilander	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	225
34	88	Fred Poordad Patrick Lindsey Jan Heylen	Porsche 911 RSR – 19	LMGTE AM	224
35	71	Franck Dezoteux Pierre Ragues Gabriel Aubry	Ferrari 488 GTE EVO	LMGTE AM	224
36	34	Jakub Smiechowski Alex Brundle Esteban Gutierrez	Oreca 07	LMP2	231
37	93	Paul di Resta Mikkel Jensen Jean-Eric Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	HYPERCAR	171