***The final race of the FIA World Endurance Championship season kicked off on Wednesday night with an outdoor barbecue in the paddock. This weekend will be the 12th WEC race to be held at the Bahrain International Circuit, and the fifth in the current eight-hour format.
***Peugeot technical director Olivier Jeansonny hopes the longer race in Bahrain will allow the French manufacturer to be more competitive than it was at Fuji. “Hopefully the races won’t be as easy, green and clean and there will be some options to play a different game in terms of strategy,” he said. “And for manufacturers, there is potential to overcome the relative performance levels of the cars a little bit.”
***Tire allocation for qualifying and race is 6 and a half sets for Hypercar and LMP2, and 8 and a half sets for GTE-Am. Compared to a 6-hour race like Fuji, there are two more sets of tires available for each class.
***Hypercar supplier Michelin brought medium and hard slick tires to Bahrain, replicating the allocation from the previous Japan round.
*** Janthony said Peugeot’s decision to drop Gustavo Menezes and bring in Stoffel Vandoorne next season was mainly a matter of “timing and contract length”. When asked if performance was a factor, he replied: Gustavo is a very high performance driver. There is no discussion on that topic. It’s purely a matter of contracts and team decisions.”
*** Peugeot driver Nico Muller has revealed that he will miss Fuji after breaking his left shoulder in a fall while doing TV work at the Nürburgring at the end of the summer.
***Mueller required surgery after the accident. “It was the first week of summer vacation and it was my last commitment for about a month, so I was pretty frustrated,” he said. “The problem wasn’t actually the bone, but the ligaments in the bone are becoming sensitive. We had to make sure we were safe so we didn’t get stressed too quickly.”
***The Swiss driver used a simulator and physiotherapy sessions as he returned to full fitness. He then got behind the wheel of a race car during Formula E pre-season testing last week. ” [seating] The location is a little different here,” he said. “But Formula E cars don’t have power steering, so this was the biggest stress test. It takes a lot of energy, so it was good to get back in shape.”
***Porsche LMDh Factory Director Urs Klatl has indicated that Porsche Penske Motorsports may use a reserve driver on its WEC roster for part of next year. This season, the German manufacturer did not have any specific drivers at the race site other than Matt Campbell for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
***Krattle told Sportscar365: “The conflict is making it difficult to get any of the IMSAs.” [drivers]. I don’t think we have a plan for the whole of next season, but we’ll plan for the first few IMSA and WEC races and then see what happens after that.
***The deadline for entry requests for the 2024 WEC season is November 20th at noon, and the full season entry list will be announced on November 27th.
***GR Racing has a special livery for the final race of the season, but given that it was not selected as one of Porsche’s LMGT3 teams, this race will be the last for the British team for some time. There is also a possibility that it will be a WEC race. The #86 Porsche 911 RSR-19 has a new black and gold design with the word “Farewell” written across the bodywork.
***Kessel Racing has adjusted its GTE-Am lineup for Bahrain to evaluate potential future options for next year’s Silver-rated drivers, according to team manager Tiziana Borghi. French single-seater racer Esteban Masson replaced Scott Huffaker, who will move up to gold next year, in the No. 57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. With AF Corse given two Ferrari LMGT3 entries, it is unlikely that Kessel will remain in WEC.
***A group of 28 Girl Guides from Bahrain spent the day at the Bahrain International Circuit on Wednesday learning about everything that happens during a WEC race weekend.
***JOTA recently submitted a request to see if it could run a two-driver lineup in two 6-hour races next season, which provides a hint at the team’s hypercar lineup there’s a possibility that. The IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship race will collide with his six-hour WEC round at Imola and Spa-Francorchamps.
***Ferrari AF Corse tested the 499P last month in preparation for its first race at the Bahrain International Circuit. The trip coincided with testing of Michelin’s next-generation wet-weather tires at Paul Ricard, so Ferrari brought in the hypercar’s reserve drivers Alessio Lobera and Davide Rigon for the session in France.
***ACO’s Mission H24 Hydrogen Project was featured at last week’s Ballon d’Or Soccer Awards. Stéphane Richelmi drove his H24 prototype through the streets of Paris and carried the trophy to the Théâtre du Châtelet, where the ceremony took place.
***Three drivers – Filipe Albuquerque, Robert Kubica and Alberto Costa – are vying to win the inaugural Goodyear Wingfoot Award. This initiative will reward the LMP2 driver who records the fastest stint average as measured by the average lap time of his two consecutive stints. Albuquerque and Kubica were tied on points, with Costa dropping to third with 16 points.
***Team WRT drivers Kubica, Luis Deletraz and Louis Andrade lead the LMP2 standings with 33 points over Alberto Costa, Jakub Smichowski and Fabio Scherer. United Autosport duo Frederick Rubin and Phil Hanson are a further point behind in third place.
*** Regarding his lineup’s strong title chances, Kubica told Sportscar365: “I don’t want to say it’s completely comfortable because it’s motorsport. [take] You can never be sure of the checkered flag. Of course, there is a kind of puzzle in which the main competitors have to win the race. So it’s true that they don’t make our lives easier, but I think we have to focus on our work without thinking about others. ”
***Toyota Gazoo Racing will announce its hypercar driver line-up immediately after the final race of the World Rally Championship season, which concludes on November 19 in Japan.
***It is unclear whether Toyota will also reveal the lineup of its two Lexus LMGT3 efforts planned with Akkodis ASP. Hypercar driver Jose María López recently tested the Lexus RC F GT3 in Portimao. “He likes touring cars and GT cars, and he was there with our IMSA champion Jack Hawksworth,” Toyota WEC technical director Pascal Vasselon said.
***Vasseron added that the opportunity for Hawksworth and Bernico Court to test drive the Toyota GR010 Hybrid during Sunday’s WEC Rookie Test was “just a great opportunity.” He told his Sportscar365: [it]. We would be happy to offer two of his IMSA champions a ride in our car. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it too. ”
***It is unlikely that Toyota will request a third hypercar entry for next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. “We ask ourselves this question every year, and almost every year the conclusion is the same,” Vasselon said. “It’s better to have a strong operation on 2 machines than to have more problems on 3 machines. I’ll probably revisit this situation again, but I’d rather have 2 machines. I think it will be maintained.”
***Thursday’s track action begins with Free Practice 1 at 12:15pm local time (5:15am ET).
John Dagys and Davey Euwema contributed to this report