Round9

6 Hours of Bahrain

Course: Bahrain International Circuit

Bahrain International Circuit
TS050 HYBRID #5

BAHRAIN PAIN FOR TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will start the final race of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season from the third row of the grid after a frustrating qualifying for the 6 Hours of Bahrain.

Both TS050 HYBRID cars had their fastest qualifying laps deleted for exceeding track limits at the Bahrain International Circuit as the drivers pushed to the limit and beyond in the battle for grid positions.

That left the #6 TS050 HYBRID of Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi in fifth place as they challenge to overturn a 17-point deficit on the drivers' World Championship-leading Porsche #2.

Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima will start from sixth place in their #5 car when they look to end the season positively at a venue where Toyota has won two of its previous four WEC races.

Having waited a few minutes to begin in order for track conditions to improve, Anthony started qualifying in the #5 and looked to have put his car in the fight for the leading positions until his lap time was deleted.

That left him needing to set another flying lap on the same tyres, giving him little chance to challenge. His subsequent lap was around one second slower than his earlier effort.

Kamui was first at the wheel of the #6 and recorded a clean lap before handing over to Mike, who immediately broke the 1min 40secs barrier and appeared to have moved up the order with a lap quicker than last year's pole time.

Unfortunately that time was also deleted due to a track limits violation and Mike's next lap was not enough to lift the #6 off the third row, with an average time 1.015secs away from the pole-winning Audi #8. Kazuki completed qualifying for the #5 and earned sixth place.

Despite the disappointment at today's result, Toyota will regroup and approach the race in a positive frame of mind with its sights firmly set on a strong end to the season to enhance its positions in both World Championship standings.

TS050 HYBRID #5 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima)

Free practice 3: 3rd (1min 40.852secs). 32 laps
Qualifying: 6th (1min 40.776secs average)

Anthony Davidson

“That was frustrating. I was really pleased with my lap until I realised that I went a bit wide on turn 13 so I got penalised. I had to do another lap when the tyres were past their best. It's a pity but I am still pleased with the job that I did. The car should have better pace in the race so I'm looking forward to it.”

Kazuki Nakajima

“It was a difficult qualifying for me. I didn't really feel like I drove at my best on my lap and I also had some traffic. So nothing really worked for me today but it's only qualifying. Our preparation has been mostly for the race so we hope it will come back to us tomorrow and we can fight at the front again.”

TS050 HYBRID #6 (Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi)

Free practice 3: 6th (1min 41.276secs). 28 laps
Qualifying: 5th (1min 40.222secs average)

Mike Conway

“I had a really good lap and I got the maximum out of the car. It's just a pity it got deleted; I thought it was okay but I respect the decision. I felt we had a chance to get on the front row but that's life. We have good race pace so we can still get a strong result; we will keep pushing flat-out.”

Kamui Kobayashi

“The track wasn't great at the start of qualifying so I'm quite pleased with my lap. When Mike's time was deleted we didn't have much chance to improve. It is a bit frustrating but qualifying doesn't mean much because the race is long. We still have a chance for the championship so we will see what we can do.”

  • TS050 HYBRID at BAhrain International Circuit
  • Farewell message to AUDI
  • Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway
  • TS050 HYBRID in Pit
  • Sébastien Buemi

QUALIFYING RESULTS - LMP

Pos Cat Driver Car T Driver 1 Driver 2 Laps Average Gap
1 8 LMP1 Lucas DI GRASSI, Loïc DUVAL, Oliver JARVIS Audi R18 M 1:39.587 1:38.828 2 1'39.207
2 1 LMP1 Timo BERNHARD, Mark WEBBER, Brendon HARTLEY Porsche 919 Hybrid M 1:39.339 1:39.604 2 1'39.471 +0.264
3 2 LMP1 Romain DUMAS, Neel JANI, Marc LIEB Porsche 919 Hybrid M 1:39.886 1:39.452 2 1'39.669 +0.462
4 7 LMP1 Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoît TRÉLUYER Audi R18 M 1:39.496 1:39.900 2 1'39.698 +0.491
5 6 LMP1 Stéphane SARRAZIN, Mike CONWAY, Kamui KOBAYASHI Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 1:40.094 1:40.351 2 1'40.222 +1.015
6 5 LMP1 Anthony DAVIDSON, Sébastien BUEMI, Kazuki NAKAJIMA Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 1:41.110 1:40.443 2 1'40.776 +1.569
7 13 LMP1 Mathéo TUSCHER, Dominik KRAIHAMER, Alexandre IMPERATORI Rebellion R-One - AER D 1:45.546 1:44.637 2 1'45.091 +5.884
8 26 LMP2 Roman RUSINOV, René RAST, Alex BRUNDLE Oreca 05 - Nissan D 1:48.644 1:50.700 2 1'49.672 +10.465
9 36 LMP2 Gustavo MENEZES, Nicolas LAPIERRE, Stéphane RICHELMI Alpine A460 - Nissan D 1:49.658 1:49.723 2 1'49.690 +10.483
10 44 LMP2 Matthew RAO, Richard BRADLEY, Alex LYNN Oreca 05 - Nissan D 1:49.497 1:50.571 2 1'50.034 +10.827
11 43 LMP2 Ricardo GONZALEZ, Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, Bruno SENNA LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 1:51.112 1:49.708 2 1'50.410 +11.203
12 30 LMP2 Tom DILLMANN, Giedo VAN DER GARDE, Sean GELAEL LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 1:50.270 1:51.101 2 1'50.685 +11.478
13 45 LMP2 Julien CANAL, Roberto GONZALEZ, Roberto MERHI Oreca 05 - Nissan D 1:50.279 1:51.322 2 1'50.800 +11.593
14 31 LMP2 Ryan DALZIEL, Luis Felipe DERANI, Christopher CUMMING LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 1:49.410 1:52.733 2 1'51.071 +11.864
15 35 LMP2 David CHENG, Ho-Pin TUNG, Paul Loup CHATIN Alpine A460 - Nissan D 1:52.264 1:50.107 2 1'51.185 +11.978
16 27 LMP2 Nicolas MINASSIAN, Maurizio MEDIANI, Mikhail ALESHIN BR01 - Nissan D 1:51.769 1:51.086 2 1'51.427 +12.220
17 37 LMP2 Vitaly PETROV, Kirill LADYGIN, Victor SHAITAR BR01 - Nissan D 1:51.489 1:51.461 2 1'51.475 +12.268

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QUALIFYING RESULTS - LMGTE

Pos Cat Driver Car T Driver 1 Driver 2 Laps Average Gap
1 97 LMGTE Pro Jonathan ADAM, Darren TURNER, Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 1:56.953 1:56.953 2 1'56.953
2 95 LMGTE Pro Nicki THIIM, Marco SØRENSEN, Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 1:57.123 1:57.039 2 1'57.081 +0.128
3 51 LMGTE Pro Gianmaria BRUNI, James CALADO, Ferrari 488 GTE M 1:57.466 1:57.294 2 1'57.380 +0.427
4 67 LMGTE Pro Andy PRIAULX, Harry TINCKNELL, Ford GT M 1:57.864 1:57.919 2 1'57.891 +0.938
5 71 LMGTE Pro Davide RIGON, Sam BIRD, Ferrari 488 GTE M 1:57.841 1:58.562 2 1'58.201 +1.248
6 66 LMGTE Pro Stefan MÜCKE, Olivier PLA, Ford GT M 1:57.908 1:59.101 2 1'58.504 +1.551
7 77 LMGTE Pro Richard LIETZ, Michael CHRISTENSEN, Porsche 911 RSR (2016) M 1:58.572 1:59.193 2 1'58.882 +1.929
8 98 LMGTE Am Paul DALLA LANA, Pedro LAMY, Mathias LAUDA Aston Martin Vantage V8 M 1:59.359 2:00.399 2 1'59.879 +2.926
9 83 LMGTE Am François PERRODO, Emmanuel COLLARD, Rui AGUAS Ferrari F458 Italia M 1:59.589 2:00.865 2 2'00.227 +3.274
10 50 LMGTE Am Pierre RAGUES, Ricky TAYLOR, Romain BRANDELA Chevrolet Corvette C7-Z06 M 1:59.361 2:02.515 2 2'00.938 +3.985
11 86 LMGTE Am Michael WAINWRIGHT, Adam CARROLL, Benjamin BARKER Porsche 911 RSR M 1:59.756 2:04.468 2 2'02.112 +5.159
12 78 LMGTE Am Christian RIED, Wolf HENZLER, Joël CAMATHIAS Porsche 911 RSR M 2:44.394 2:34.759 2 2'39.576 +42.623

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Free practice 3 results

Pos Cat Driver Car T Laps Total Time Gap Gap Prev. Best lap Best time Best speed
1 1 LMP1 Timo BERNHARD, Mark WEBBER, Brendon HARTLEY Porsche 919 Hybrid M 31 - - 2 1:40.318 194.2
2 8 LMP1 Lucas DI GRASSI, Loïc DUVAL, Oliver JARVIS Audi R18 M 29 +0.488 +0.488 3 1:40.806 193.3
3 5 LMP1 Anthony DAVIDSON, Sébastien BUEMI, Kazuki NAKAJIMA Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 32 +0.534 +0.046 3 1:40.852 193.2
4 7 LMP1 Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoît TRÉLUYER Audi R18 M 30 +0.682 +0.148 3 1:41.000 192.9
5 2 LMP1 Romain DUMAS, Neel JANI, Marc LIEB Porsche 919 Hybrid M 32 +0.696 +0.014 2 1:41.014 192.9
6 6 LMP1 Stéphane SARRAZIN, Mike CONWAY, Kamui KOBAYASHI Toyota TS050 - Hybrid M 28 +0.958 +0.262 9 1:41.276 192.4
7 13 LMP1 Mathéo TUSCHER, Dominik KRAIHAMER, Alexandre IMPERATORI Rebellion R-One - AER D 20 +6.020 +5.062 15 1:46.338 183.2
8 4 LMP1 Simon TRUMMER, Oliver WEBB, Pierre KAFFER CLM P1/01 - AER D 22 +7.918 +1.898 3 1:48.236 180.0
9 26 LMP2 Roman RUSINOV, René RAST, Alex BRUNDLE Oreca 05 - Nissan D 29 +10.113 +2.195 2 1:50.431 176.4
10 36 LMP2 Gustavo MENEZES, Nicolas LAPIERRE, Stéphane RICHELMI Alpine A460 - Nissan D 29 +11.137 +1.024 8 1:51.455 174.8
11 35 LMP2 David CHENG, Ho-Pin TUNG, Paul Loup CHATIN Alpine A460 - Nissan D 27 +11.273 +0.136 6 1:51.591 174.6
12 31 LMP2 Ryan DALZIEL, Luis Felipe DERANI, Christopher CUMMING LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 28 +11.487 +0.214 12 1:51.805 174.3
13 30 LMP2 Tom DILLMANN, Giedo VAN DER GARDE, Sean GELAEL LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 26 +11.546 +0.059 7 1:51.864 174.2
14 43 LMP2 Ricardo GONZALEZ, Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, Bruno SENNA LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan D 25 +11.628 +0.082 11 1:51.946 174.0
15 37 LMP2 Vitaly PETROV, Kirill LADYGIN, Victor SHAITAR BR01 - Nissan D 26 +12.179 +0.551 6 1:52.497 173.2
16 27 LMP2 Nicolas MINASSIAN, Maurizio MEDIANI, Mikhail ALESHIN BR01 - Nissan D 28 +12.243 +0.064 8 1:52.561 173.1
17 45 LMP2 Julien CANAL, Roberto GONZALEZ, Roberto MERHI Oreca 05 - Nissan D 24 +12.778 +0.535 8 1:53.096 172.3
18 44 LMP2 Matthew RAO, Richard BRADLEY, Alex LYNN Oreca 05 - Nissan D 24 +13.047 +0.269 24 1:53.365 171.9
19 51 LMGTE Pro Gianmaria BRUNI, James CALADO, Ferrari 488 GTE M 25 +18.720 +5.673 11 1:59.038 163.7
20 97 LMGTE Pro Jonathan ADAM, Darren TURNER, Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 26 +18.983 +0.263 9 1:59.301 163.3
21 66 LMGTE Pro Stefan MÜCKE, Olivier PLA, Ford GT M 26 +19.262 +0.279 8 1:59.580 162.9
22 95 LMGTE Pro Nicki THIIM, Marco SØRENSEN, Aston Martin Vantage V8 D 25 +19.544 +0.282 2 1:59.862 162.5
23 67 LMGTE Pro Andy PRIAULX, Harry TINCKNELL, Ford GT M 25 +19.602 +0.058 6 1:59.920 162.5
24 77 LMGTE Pro Richard LIETZ, Michael CHRISTENSEN, Porsche 911 RSR (2016) M 24 +19.631 +0.029 7 1:59.949 162.4
25 71 LMGTE Pro Davide RIGON, Sam BIRD, Ferrari 488 GTE M 25 +19.637 +0.006 11 1:59.955 162.4
26 83 LMGTE Am François PERRODO, Emmanuel COLLARD, Rui AGUAS Ferrari F458 Italia M 26 +20.383 +0.746 6 2:00.701 161.4
27 86 LMGTE Am Michael WAINWRIGHT, Adam CARROLL, Benjamin BARKER Porsche 911 RSR M 25 +21.007 +0.624 5 2:01.325 160.6
28 98 LMGTE Am Paul DALLA LANA, Pedro LAMY, Mathias LAUDA Aston Martin Vantage V8 M 22 +21.148 +0.141 6 2:01.466 160.4
29 78 LMGTE Am Christian RIED, Wolf HENZLER, Joël CAMATHIAS Porsche 911 RSR M 25 +21.669 +0.521 8 2:01.987 159.7
30 88 LMGTE Am Khaled AL QUBAISI, David HEINEMEIER HANSSON, Patrick LONG Porsche 911 RSR M 26 +22.210 +0.541 11 2:02.528 159.0
31 50 LMGTE Am Pierre RAGUES, Ricky TAYLOR, Romain BRANDELA Chevrolet Corvette C7-Z06 M 23 +24.041 +1.831 15 2:04.359 156.7

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