Round9

6 Hours of Bahrain

Course: Bahrain International Circuit

Bahrain International Circuit

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WINS IN BAHRAIN

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing won for the fifth time in the nine-race 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with an impressive victory in the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain.

The #8 TS050 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima won by more than a lap in a race which marked Porsche's final LMP1 appearance in WEC.

Victory tonight for the #8 drivers marked the first time since 1990 that a car crew has won five races during a season of WEC or its predecessor, the World Sportscar Championship.

An unfortunate contact with a GT car took the #7 TS050 HYBRID of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López out of the victory fight and they finished fourth.

The race began in daylight and Sébastien led the Toyota challenge after moving into third on the first lap in the #8, with Mike running fourth in the #7 and both cars putting pressure on the Porsches.

After 30 minutes, Sébastien took the lead from the #1 Porsche and Mike also got past to establish a Toyota one-two.

At the first pit stops, the two TS050 HYBRIDs chose different strategies; José took the wheel of the #7 on new tyres while Sébastien stayed in the cockpit of the #8 and only refuelled, retaining his lead.

After an hour darkness fell and the differing tyre strategies began to play out. Just before one-third distance, Kazuki took over the #8 with fresh tyres and dropped to second, although within a few laps he overtook José, on used rubber, for the lead.

The team was pushing for a one-two finish until the #7 car, with Kamui at the wheel, fell out of contention with three hours completed. Kamui and the #92 Porsche GT car made contact at turn one, causing a right rear puncture and bodywork damage to the #7.

During the resulting safety car, the mechanics worked quickly to repair the #7 and return it to the race, having lost six minutes. It dropped to fourth place, two laps off the lead held by Kazuki.

With the four-hour mark approaching, an alternative pit strategy gave Porsche #1 a temporary advantage but Anthony, now at the wheel of the #8, was in hot pursuit and his pressure paid off when the leader hit a GT car and pitted for repairs.

That left the #8 car with a lead of more than one minute going into the final two hours and Anthony recorded impressive lap times to extend the advantage, lapping both Porsches in the process.

At the final driver change, the #8 car was comfortably in the lead so Sébastien took over with a no-risk approach and safely took the chequered flag for Toyota's 16th win in its 48th WEC race. Mike brought the #7 home, after a stop-go penalty for the earlier collision, in fourth, three laps behind.

Akio Toyoda, President, Toyota Motor Corporation

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who supported TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in the World Endurance Championship this season. Going to Le Mans to be together with our team in our fight there this June resulted in a personally and truly frustrating experience. And I am aware that our performance in that race brought frustration to our fans, as well. Other gruelling races followed, and, amid it all, we learned of Porsche's planned withdrawal from the WEC. After last year's Le Mans, Porsche recognised us as a rival.
By battling it out with such rivals as Porsche, I think we were able to heighten our technical prowess, making us faster and stronger. As we went up against Porsche, all our team members, including me, had the same thought in our hearts: “we hate to lose.”
But, at the root of that, were feelings we harboured of respect and gratitude toward our rival. What I thought anew following our last three races with Porsche, starting with the Fuji round, was that I wanted to compete in a race that would make Porsche want to take on Toyota again. That is one of the reasons we approached Fuji, Shanghai, and, then, Bahrain determined to win, and, this time, we were able to do just that. It was determined at the previous race in Shanghai that Porsche would be this year's champion. To Porsche, please let me once again offer my congratulations. Although we experienced our share of regret this year, if this final race leaves Porsche feeling it would like another chance to take on Toyota, our team would be able to end the season with a bit of pride.
To all those at Porsche, by all means, someday, on some road, for our mutual making of ever-better cars, please let us compete with you again. Toward that day, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will continue its making of ever-better cars. To TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's drivers, engineers, mechanics, partners and all those involved in the WEC, let's keep on doing our best together! In closing, to all the fans who supported TOYOTA GAZOO Racing this season, I once again express my gratitude. The tremendous power you give us is indispensable in all that we do. For the future of automobiles, and for the smiles on our customers' faces, we will continue to repeatedly take up challenges and try our hardest. We look forward to your continued warm support.”

Hisatake Murata, Team President

“It is fantastic to finish the season with a victory. I am proud of the team for their work to prepare a competitive car for this race and then to finish the job in the race. At the end of a long season I want to say thank you to all the competitors, officials and fans who are part of our WEC family. I also would like to thank Porsche for being strong competitors. We have enjoyed fighting with them over the last four seasons and I hope the fans have enjoyed it too.”

TS050 HYBRID #7 (Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, José María López)

Race: 4th, 196 laps, 8 pit stops. Grid: 2nd. Fastest lap: 1min 43.299secs

Mike Conway (TS050 HYBRID #7)

“The race started off well; we fought our way up to second after some good battles with Porsche. We were very close to #8 and with the strategy it was going back and forth between us. Unfortunately we had the incident with the GT car that put us out of contention. The guys did a great job to get the car out again so quickly. It should have been a one-two but another win is good for the team.”

Kamui Kobayashi (TS050 HYBRID #7)

“It was a pity to have the contact with the Porsche GT. I thought I had already got past him but we got the drive through so it was probably my fault. I have been down to see the #92 guys to say sorry for finishing their race. We always try to avoid contact so it's disappointing for that to happen when we were in good shape. I wanted to finish the season in a better way.”

José María López (TS050 HYBRID #7)

“I am happy for the team for a fifth win of the year. On our car we fought hard all weekend and we did a good job in the race. I am happy with my stint. I tried to minimise the loss when double stinting the tyres, which wasn't easy. It's a pity what happened to Kamui; I know what it feels like but that can happen in endurance racing.”

TS050 HYBRID #8 (Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima)

Race: 1st, 199 laps, 6 pit stops. Grid: 4th. Fastest lap: 1min 42.997secs

Sébastien Buemi (TS050 HYBRID #8)

“It's amazing to get five wins in a season; I am really happy. It's the first time we have achieved that and it shows what a good car the team produced. I'm trying to enjoy the moment but on the other side I am a bit sad because it's the end of an era with Porsche leaving LMP1. Still, we worked very hard for this so we will enjoy this win.”

Anthony Davidson (TS050 HYBRID #8)

“It was a great race. All three drivers, plus the engineers and pit crew, deserve credit for this. Everyone did a perfect job this weekend; we hit the ground running and got the tyre choice just right, so a big thanks to the team. Thanks also to Porsche who have helped us to raise our level to new heights; it was a pleasure to race against them.”

Kazuki Nakajima (TS050 HYBRID #8)

“That was a fantastic way to end the season. We had a very strong car and all of our crew did a great job; they deserve this victory. It is nice to finish the year with a strong and consistent race. To win five times in one season is amazing and to finish the year with three wins is great. Thanks to the team for giving us this opportunity; I am really happy.”

  • 6 Hours of Bahrain start scene
  • TS050 HYBRID's
  • TS050 HYBRID #7 and Porsche 919 Hybrid #1
  • TS050 HYBRID #8
  • Night session
  • End of race
  • The winners of the 6 Hours of Bahrain: Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima

RACE RESULTS

PosCatTeam/CarDriverTotal Time/GapLapsBest timeT
18LMP1-HTOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Toyota TS050 HYBRID
Sébastien BUEMI
Anthony DAVIDSON
Kazuki NAKAJIMA
6:01'26.2941991'42.997M
22LMP1-HPorsche LMP Team
Porsche 919 Hybrid
Timo BERNHARD
Earl BAMBER
Brendon HARTLEY
1 Lap1981'43.306M
31LMP1-HPorsche LMP Team
Porsche 919 Hybrid
Neel JANI
André LOTTERER
Nick TANDY
1 Lap1981'42.862M
47LMP1-HTOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Toyota TS050 HYBRID
Mike CONWAY
Kamui KOBAYASHI
Jose Maria LOPEZ
3 Laps1961'43.299M
531LMP2Vaillante Rebellion
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Julien CANAL
Nicolas PROST
Bruno SENNA
13 Laps1861'50.045D
638LMP2Jackie Chan DC Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Ho-Pin TUNG
Oliver JARVIS
Thomas LAURENT
13 Laps1861'49.858D
713LMP2Vaillante Rebellion
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Mathias BECHE
David HEINEMEIER HANSSON
Nelson PIQUET JR
14 Laps1851'50.508D
836LMP2Signatech Alpine Matmut
Alpine A470 - Gibson
Nicolas LAPIERRE
Gustavo MENEZES
André NEGRÃO
14 Laps1851'50.316D
925LMP2CEFC Manor TRS Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Roberto GONZALEZ
Simon TRUMMER
Vitaly PETROV
14 Laps1851'50.173D
1024LMP2CEFC Manor TRS Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Matthew RAO
Ben HANLEY
Jean-Eric VERGNE
14 Laps1851'50.597D
1126LMP2G-Drive Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
Roman RUSINOV
Léo ROUSSEL
Loïc DUVAL
15 Laps1841'49.708D
1237LMP2Jackie Chan DC Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
David CHENG
Alex BRUNDLE
Tristan GOMMENDY
16 Laps1831'49.425D
1328LMP2TDS Racing
Oreca 07 - Gibson
François PERRODO
Matthieu VAXIVIERE
Emmanuel COLLARD
17 Laps1821'50.268D
1471LMGTE ProAF Corse
Ferrari 488 GTE
Davide RIGON
Sam BIRD
24 Laps1751'58.519M
1551LMGTE ProAF Corse
Ferrari 488 GTE
James CALADO
Alessandro PIER GUIDI
24 Laps1751'58.456M
1667LMGTE ProFord Chip Ganassi Team UK
Ford GT
Andy PRIAULX
Harry TINCKNELL
25 Laps1741'58.781M
1791LMGTE ProPorsche GT Team
Porsche 911 RSR
Richard LIETZ
Frédéric MAKOWIECKI
25 Laps1741'58.460M
1866LMGTE ProFord Chip Ganassi Team UK
Ford GT
Stefan MÜCKE
Olivier PLA
25 Laps1741'58.719M
1997LMGTE ProAston Martin Racing
Aston Martin VANTAGE
Darren TURNER
Jonathan ADAM
25 Laps1741'59.002D
2095LMGTE ProAston Martin Racing
Aston Martin VANTAGE
Nicki THIIM
Marco SØRENSEN
26 Laps1731'59.591D
2198LMGTE AmAston Martin Racing
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Paul DALLA LANA
Pedro LAMY
Mathias LAUDA
29 Laps1702'00.560D
2261LMGTE AmClearwater Racing
Ferrari 488 GTE
Weng Sun MOK
Keita SAWA
Matt GRIFFIN
29 Laps1702'01.310M
2354LMGTE AmSpirit of Race
Ferrari 488 GTE
Thomas FLOHR
Francesco CASTELLACCI
Miguel MOLINA
30 Laps1691'59.900M
2477LMGTE AmDempsey - Proton Racing
Porsche 911 RSR (991)
Christian RIED
Matteo CAIROLI
Marvin DIENST
30 Laps1692'00.809D
2586LMGTE AmGulf Racing UK
Porsche 911 RSR (991)
Michael WAINWRIGHT
Benjamin BARKER
Nicholas FOSTER
36 Laps1632'01.605D
92LMGTE ProPorsche GT Team
Porsche 911 RSR
Michael CHRISTENSEN
Kevin ESTRE
115 Laps841'58.633M

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