TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Toyota Gazoo Racing took pole position at this year’s Bapco Energies Bahrain 8 Hours race held at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir last night.
Sitting in the cockpit of Toyota’s #8 GR010 Hybrid, Brendon Hartley led his crew to the top of the grid in a sensational qualifying run under bright lights at the ‘Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’.
Hartley will share driving duties with Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa in today’s eight-hour main event, the final round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
“I was determined to get pole position and I’m very happy to have achieved that,” Hartley said.
“The car felt great. The team did a great job getting all the settings right for me.
It’s a tricky track for qualifying because you only actually get one lap, so you have to get everything in line.
I felt like my wrap wasn’t perfect, but it was very pretty. ”
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 car not only took overall pole position, but also led the WEC hypercar division.
In the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, Tom Blomkvist led the #23 United Autosport crew to pole position, while in the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Am (LMGTE Am) class, Sarah -Bobby secured the top grid spot for the #85 Iron Dames team.
Today’s much-anticipated WEC curtain-raiser is scheduled to end at 2 p.m.
This is the 12th time that the WEC has held a race in Sakhir and the fifth time that the event has been held in Sakhir.
Current 8-hour format.
We invite you to join us and enjoy the best in motorsport action and family entertainment.
Gates will be open to fans from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
In last night’s qualifying, held in cool, dry conditions, Hartley set a best lap time of 1 minute 46.564 seconds, topping the timesheets.
He was the only one of the session to record a time under 1:47.000.
The trio of Hartley, Buemi and Hirakawa will be joined on the front row by Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose María López.
Yesterday, Kobayashi qualified 2nd, 0.489 seconds behind Hartley in the No. 7 GR010 Hybrid.
Cadillac Racing’s Alex Lynn set the best lap, 0.701 seconds off the top pace of the No. 2 Cadillac V Series.R, which he shares with Earl Bamber and Richard Westbrook, securing him third place on the grid.
stacked
All 12 hypercars will start at the front of a field of 36 cars at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain.
Joining the second row of Cadillacs will be the #6 crew from Porsche Penske Motorsports in a Porsche 963 Hybrid.
The pair of Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499Ps started the race in fifth and sixth place, with the #5 Porsche Penske crew in seventh and Proton Competition’s #99 Porsche 963 in eighth.
The hypercar grid was dominated by #38 Hertz Team JOTA in 9th place, two Peugeot TotalEnergies in 10th and 11th, and #4 challenger Floyd Vanwall Racing Team.
In the LMP2 class, Blomqvist took pole position for United Autosports with a best lap of 1 minute 52.290 seconds.
He qualified for the team’s Oreca 07-Gibson, sharing the team with Joshua Pearson and Oliver Jarvis.
Charles Mileci in the No. 36 car of the Alpine Elf team qualified in second place, 0.271 seconds behind Blomqvist’s pace, while Robin Frijns led Team WRT to class 3 with a best lap of 0.608 seconds in the No. 31 Oreca 07-Gibson. I was ranked.
In the LMGTE Am category, Bobby led the Iron Dames crew in the #85 Porsche 911 RSR-19, setting a best lap of 1:58.69.
Also set to compete alongside her are teammates Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frei.
They are the only all-female team on the grid.
They begin today’s main event ahead of D’Station Racing’s #777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR and ORT by TF’s #25 Vantage AMR in their class. Liam Talbot qualified 0.290 seconds behind Bobby in D’ Station, while Ahmed Al Herthy qualified 0.469 seconds behind Bobby in ORT by TF.
Early yesterday morning, Cadillac Racing set the top time in the third and final practice of the WEC weekend.
As part of today’s program, BIC will be holding an autograph session for race participants to meet their WEC heroes in the hours before they compete in the 8-hour race.
This fan participation activity is extremely popular among enthusiasts, and the event features many of the world’s superstar race car drivers.
Attendees can take photos with their favorite WEC heroes and have memorabilia signed.
The autograph session will be held along BIC’s main pit lane from 11:50 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Those looking to make the most of this opportunity to interact with this icon of the sport are advised to get to the circuit early to avoid missing out.
Sarah Bobby celebrates with her car after winning pole position in the LMGTE Am class