WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain Toyota still in the lead, Battle in GTE Pro

Incredible scenario in GTE Pro, the Ferrari #71 of the AF Corse team, second in its category standings, was penalized with a drive-through for speeding under yellow flag. In this battle with the Porsche #91 and the Aston Martin #95, only the latter remains without any major incidents.

Nevertheless, the Italian team contested this penalty and succeeded after a 30-minute wait while their car battled with the Aston Martin for the first place in the category. The overtaking will take place in the pits by putting less fuel in the #71 than in the #95, which promises a tricky stint for Davide Rigon, driver for AF Corse.

In LMP1, Rebellion continues its comeback and is currently in 3rd place ahead of the two Team LNT cars. However, with 3 hours and 20 minutes remaining in the race, there is only one LMP1 entered by this team. The #5 fell victim to a battery problem that forced it to retire. Uncertainties have arisen for the second car entered regarding the condition of its batteries. There is also concern at Toyota, which called the #8 into the pits to change the rear of the car, without affecting its position in the standings.

The Japanese team gave its first team orders by calling car #7 to let #8 pass so that both would be on the same lap. Due to heavy traffic, overtaking is delicate to find a sufficient time and distance interval.

With 2 hours to go, the race seems to be decided for the LMP2 class with a strong domination by the #22, which holds more than a lap’s lead over the second place. Similarly, in GTE Am, the #57 of Team Project 1 has a 1 minute 20 seconds lead over its rival.

The battle for first place is raging in GTE Pro. Just before the 6-hour mark, the Aston Martin caught up with the Ferrari #71, which has been conserving fuel throughout the stint. Only 0.3 seconds separate them. The driver change occurred with just over 2 hours of racing left, and the #95 moved ahead of the #71. Their two teammates are battling each other in the second car fielded by the Aston Martin Racing and AF Corse teams for the gain of the 3rd place, keeping everyone on the edge of their seats until the end.

Ranking H-2:

LMP1

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING #7

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING #8

REBELLION RACING #1

LMP2

UNITED AUTOSPORT #22

JOTA #38

G-DRIVE RACING #26

GTE Pro

ASTON MARTIN RACING #97

ASTON MARTIN RACING #95

AF CORSE #71

AF CORSE #51

GTE Am

ASTON MARTIN RACING #98

TEAM PROJECT 1 #57

GULF RACING #86