The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa took victory and secured the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers Championship for Toyota in a hard-fought Bahrain season finale
Winner takes all
The formula ahead of the final round of the season was simple: whoever finished better out of Toyota or Porsche would win the coveted world title, with Ferrari also in with an outside chance if misfortune were to befall the two leading contenders.
The race began ominously for several of the championship hopefuls. Firstly, the pair of works Porsches suffered from their poor grid positions and were mixed up in the midfield bumping and barging on lap one. The #6 Porsche fell down as far as 15th position, with drivers André Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre only requiring a ninth-placed finish to be guaranteed the drivers’ championship.
The pole-sitting #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid made an excellent getaway with Sébastien Buemi behind the wheel, but a collision caused by a LMGT3 Corvette caused the Swiss driver to spin, resulting in him losing multiple positions. The #51 Ferrari inherited the lead and set a high tempo as the race stayed green for the entire first half.
#7 to the fore
After Buemi’s travails, it was the #7 Toyota of Kobayashi/Conway/de Vries who took up the mantle. The car was easily running at the sharp end of the field and looked well positioned to give the trio the win they needed to pip Porsche’s Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor to the drivers’ championship.
However, at around the midway point of the race, Kamui Kobayashi and then Nyck de Vries began suffering from an intermittent electrical issue affecting the powertrain. The team attempted to work through the issue, but it ultimately caused the #7’s retirement after around six hours.
#5 keeping Porsche’s hopes alive
With the #7 Toyota out of the running and the only other car capable of dashing the #6’s drivers’ championship hopes – #50 Ferrari – nowhere near the head of the field, Porsche looked to have at least one title wrapped up.
The second half of the race was a complete contrast to the all-green first half, with multiple safety cars bunching up the field and throwing strategies up in the air. As the hours ticked by, the race turned into a straight fight between the #8 Toyota – seemingly not afflicted by the same issue as the sister car – and the #5 Porsche, which had moved up through the field after starting from seventh on the grid.
Toyota versus Porsche for the title
With just an hour of the race remaining, the two championship contenders found themselves nose to tail on track – Buemi in the Toyota against Vanthoor in the Porsche. With fresher tyres on the car, it was Buemi who had the pace, overtaking the Porsche and taking the race win and the manufacturers’ championship. The #5 Porsche finished 2nd – its best result of the year.
For Toyota, the 2024 manufacturers’ title is the sixth WEC championship in succession and seventh overall. The drivers’ title went the way of Estre, Lotterer and Vanthoor after their 10th-place finish.
Ferrari second but penalised, Peugeot celebrate first podium of 2024
The #51 AF Corse Ferrari was in the running for the race win for much of the 8 hours, only to succumb to Buemi’s late charge. However, after crossing the line in second position, the car was subsequently heavily penalised by the stewards by using two tyres more than their regular allocation of 26.
The decision promoted the #93 Peugeot to third, marking the French team’s first podium of the season. Fourth was the #35 Alpine, just ahead of the #15 BMW in fifth.
Vista AF Corse take LMGT3 win
The class win in LMGT3 went the way of the #55 Vista AF Corse crew for the team’s second win in succession following the #54’s triumph in Fuji. Rounding out the podium were the two TF Sport Corvettes, with champions #92 Manthey Purerxcing down in 9th.
A full list of race results is available here.
Images © Endurance Archive (Walter Schruff / Ton Kerdijk)