6 Hours of Bahrain: Toyota Wins, Vaillante Rebellion, Ferrari and Aston Martin Crowned

The Toyota #8 of Buemi-Davidson-Nakajima triumphed at the end of the 6 Hours of Bahrain, the final stage of the 2017 season. Despite its advantage in the free practice sessions, the Japanese firm failed to secure pole position, which went to the Porsche #1. During the race, the pace set by the Toyotas left little chance for the 919 Hybrid. However, a collision involving Kobayashi and the Porsche 911 RSR #92 reduced the possibility of a double victory, leaving the podium to Porsche’s Bernhard-Bamber-Hartley (crowned Champions at the previous race in Shanghai) and Jani-Lotterer-Tandy (without a win this season). As consolation, Andre Lotterer set the fastest lap at the end of the race with a time of 1:42.862.

Re-live our fifth win of the #FIAWEC season – a battle in Bahrain with a happy ending for our #8 crew of @Sebastien_buemi @antdavidson and @kazuki_info. #6hBahrain pic.twitter.com/iB6qCH96Zh

— TOYOTA WEC Team (@Toyota_Hybrid) November 19, 2017

Toyota has more victories, but Porsche takes the prize

Toyota ends the season with 5 victories compared to 4 for the Zuffenhausen firm. They paid for their heavy failure at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and during the next 3 races (Nürburgring, Austin, Mexico), before regaining the upper hand at the end of the season. A chapter closes on the WEC, after Audi’s withdrawal last year, Porsche is also bowing out. Before leaving, they fulfilled their contract by clinching a third consecutive constructors and drivers title, and a third consecutive victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (the 19th in their history).

LMP2: the suspense until the checkered flag

In the LMP2 category, the title was contested during this final race. With 3 victories before arriving at the last round (Mexico – Japan – Shanghai), the Vaillante Rebellion #31 of Canal-Prost-Senna had moved back to the top of the Championship. It should be noted that Nicolas Prost could not compete for the title because he had missed a round due to his commitment in Formula E last July.

The other title contender was the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing of Tung-Jarvis-Laurent, winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in their category and leader until Shanghai. At the beginning of the race, the title seemed within reach for Ho-Pin Tung, Oliver Jarvis, and the young Frenchman Thomas Laurent, but an endurance race, as the name suggests, is long and everything can change quickly. The Vaillante Rebellion #31 climbed back to the front, ultimately winning ahead of the #38, despite a power steering problem in the last half-hour of the race. A very lengthy fuel pit stop for Jarvis dashed any chance of catching Bruno Senna, who was then at the wheel. On the third step of the podium, the second Vaillante Rebellion #13 of Piquet-Beche-Heinemeier Hansen completed the day’s podium.

It is therefore a winning bet for Vaillante Rebellion, after leaving the non-hybrid LMP1 category to move down to LMP2 this season.

Double for Ferrari in GTE Pro

The AF Corse team, with the two Ferrari 488 GTEs, had already secured the Constructor’s title during the 6 Hours of Shanghai, for the fifth time in six seasons. However, uncertainty remained for the driver’s title. Ultimately, the duo James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi clinched the title with car #51 and climbed to the second step of the podium, leaving victory to the other crew, car #71 of Sam Bird and Davide Rigon.

In third position, we find the Ford GT #67 of Andy Priaulx and H. Tincknell, who gained the upper hand over the Porsche #91 of Frédéric Makowiecki and Richard Lietz in the final laps.

Thanks to the new title following the #6hbahrain, we gained 5 world championships in @FIAWEC GT categories pic.twitter.com/bpMLygsvRB

— AF Corse (@AFCorse) 18 novembre 2017

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage finishes beautifully

In the GTE Am category, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage #98 driven by Lauda-Dalla Lana-Lamy claims a fourth victory this season, following wins at Spa, Austin, and Shanghai, securing them the 2017 Championship title. They also deliver a fitting farewell to this Aston Martin V8 Vantage, which will be replaced by a new package, with the previous one dating back to 2008. Joining them on the podium are the Ferrari #61 from Clearwater Racing and the Ferrari #54 from Spirit of Race.

Well done all the crew of @AMR_Official #98 V8 Vantage GTE for winning the 2017 @FIAWEC GTE Am teams’ championship pic.twitter.com/6FuIXjBPe4

— Aston Martin Racing (@AMR_Official) 18 novembre 2017

And now

The 2017 season definitively closed on Saturday, giving way to the 2018-2019 super season. Porsche has moved on to other horizons (Formula E in 2019), leaving Toyota orphaned from any factory team opposition, although private teams will be present, like SMP Racing with the BR1, unveiled in Bahrain this weekend. The Japanese firm has not yet confirmed its presence for the next season, but we can imagine that recent victories will encourage them to stay and aim for the prestigious win that eludes them, the 24 Hours of Le Mans! In GTE Pro, BMW will spice up the category with its M8 GTE V8 bi-turbo, a 4-liter engine developing 500 hp.

Before that, the Rookie Tests take place this Sunday with a special guest behind the wheel of the Toyota TS050: Fernando Alonso, in pursuit of the triple crown. Toyota has also invited the best Rookie of this WEC season, Thomas Laurent, aged 19. The young Frenchman, winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category – who was close to winning the overall race with his team – and freshly crowned Vice-World Champion in his category, was given a test drive in the LMP1.