TOYOTA GAZOO Racing clinched the driver’s title with a one-two win at the Bahrain 8 Hours, capping off a thrilling 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.
The No. 8 GR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa won, securing the Drivers’ World Championship for the second consecutive year. Sebastian and Brendon also set a new record with four driver titles each, while Ryo has won titles in both previous seasons of Hypercar competition.
The #7 GR010 HYBRID’s Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria López had an intense race that saw a spectacular recovery after the incident at the first corner. They needed a win to challenge for the title, but they settled for second place and took the championship runner-up spot.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing takes the Manufacturer to the World Championship for the fifth consecutive year as the perfect conclusion to an exciting season of hypercar competition featuring strong challenges from Cadillac, Ferrari, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, Porsche, Vanwall and more. He secured a double victory for the drivers title and driver’s title.
The challenge continued until the final race of the season, which began on a hot, sunny afternoon in Bahrain. Sebastian led from pole position, but a few meters later Mike was dropped from second place by the No. 2 Cadillac at the first corner and fell back, derailing the No. 7 crew’s title chances.
He immediately mounted a fierce counterattack, pulling off a series of decisive overtaking maneuvers to overtake Peugeot and Porsche within the first 35 minutes and return to the top five. Sebastian, on the other hand, showed steady speed at the front and built an advantage over the two Ferraris.
As the first pit stop approached with an hour to go, Mike made two more spectacular overtakes to get back into the top three, passing the No. 50 Ferrari and minutes later the No. 38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche. He overtook him and moved into 3rd place.
Sebastian further extended his lead until the second hour, and Mike closed in on the #51 Ferrari in second place, but was unable to break through due to tire deterioration. Just before the start of the third hour, Mike handed the #7 to Kamui, who quickly set the fastest lap and took second place with the #51 Ferrari.
Brendon took the wheel of #8 and led the race in the falling darkness, with Kamui about 30 minutes behind. Driving with good tempo and precision through the circling traffic stabilized the situation at the front, and at half the distance Jose and Ryo began their stint with the GR010 HYBRID running comfortably in 1st and 2nd place.
With two hours left in the race, the penultimate driver change saw Mike return to the No. 7 car and Sebastian resume the battle in the No. 8 car. Kamui and Brendon took charge of the final hour of the race. Leading with a 40 second advantage, Brendon safely guided the No. 8 car through the final laps, with Kamui under no threat from behind, but still recording the fastest lap of the race to take the No. It showed the pace of the car.
At the end of 249 laps, the checkered flag waved for Brendon, who finished 47.516 seconds ahead of #7 Kamui. This concludes seven events, 64 hours of racing, and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has six wins, including four one-twos, taking the team’s win tally to 45 since its WEC debut in 2012, and 2023. The season has ended.
Kamui Kobayashi (team representative and driver, car No. 7): “It was a great performance to end the season. In the last race we achieved everything we could with a one-two. Obviously car No. 7 didn’t have a great chance of winning the title, but everyone in car No. 8 did a great job. Congratulations. We always had a hard race between the two cars and every race was close. This is a real achievement for the team and drivers who made no mistakes. Thank you to our partners and Japanese colleagues for their support, and of course to Mr. Sato and Mr. Morizo for helping us become so strong. This year, we have We proved the strength of our car and team in the face of competition from several manufacturers. It’s definitely a proud moment for all of us to be able to finish the season in this way.”
Mike Conway (No. 7 car driver): “There are mixed feelings at the end of the season. We came into this race at the back trying to take points back from our sister cars, but an incident in Turn 1 set us back. A lot of cars. It was difficult because we had to push to pass, which put stress on the tires. We did our best, but second place was the most we could achieve today. Title for car No. 8. Congratulations on the win, it’s well deserved. Thank you to everyone in car No. 7 who worked hard this year, including my teammates Kamui and Jose, who always did a solid job. We are strong. We had a great season and it was great to win four times.”
Jose María López (driver, car No. 7): “It’s been a great year for the team, great performances from everyone. The crews of the two cars have been pushing each other every race, but we’ve always worked together as a team. is the most important. Congratulations to Seb, Brendon and Ryo for winning today’s race and of course winning the championship. It’s been a great year in our car with so much to celebrate so I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m really happy that we did it. We tried everything today to win and give ourselves a chance for the championship, but after the first corner it was almost impossible. But we fought back well, so In the end I am happy with the result.”
Sebastien Buemi (driver, car No. 8): “It feels great to win the World Championship again and I’m really grateful to the team. Everything went well and in the end we were able to win the race and the championship and it was a great night. I think we deserved it this year. Of course, it was difficult not to win at Le Mans, but we showed our strength in the face of such tough competition and won the championship. It’s always special to win. Admittedly, this title was won consistently. We weren’t always the fastest car, but we scored points everywhere, even in difficult races. We finished well. But this is the best way to win a championship.”
Brendon Hartley (driver, car 8): “It’s been a great year. I’m really proud to be a part of the #8 crew and this TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team. Thank you to everyone for a great season. We’ve had great success with the #7 car all year. We have had some tough battles with our competitors and other hypercar competitors, and today was no exception. We weren’t the fastest cars on the track at times, so we were really pushing. passed the first corner cleanly, which was the most stressful part of today’s race, but he and Ryo did a great job. It’s probably going to take a while to become a four-time world champion, but it’s really I think that’s wonderful.”
Ryo Hirakawa (No. 8 car driver): “It’s great to get the championship with a win. We worked hard to achieve this, so I’m really happy. This year has been tough at times, but we always kept pushing and We won the title again. We have always faced strong competitors and difficult situations. This time the race was perhaps even tougher than usual. Build and maintain a gap But it wasn’t easy due to tire degradation. This is my second consecutive victory, which I couldn’t have imagined two years ago. I would like to thank Toyota and the team for giving me this opportunity. I would like to thank everyone for their hard work. I would like to dedicate this result to them as a token of my gratitude for giving me this opportunity.”
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