8 Hours of Bahrain – Qualifying: Toyota secures the front row
There was no real suspense: the two Toyotas will occupy the first row of the 8 Hours of Bahrain, while their direct rivals, Ferrari, were far from being competitive.
The qualifications for the 8 Hours of Bahrain confirm what we were saying: it would take a real cataclysm for Toyota to lose the driver’s title (with the No.7 and No.8) to Ferrari.
This single 15-minute session was quickly concluded (on the sports side) by Brendon Hartley’s No. 8, who quite comfortably surpassed Kamui Kobayashi’s No. 7. The New Zealander thus scored a point and made the task a little more difficult for Ferrari.
The N°51 is now the only 499P that can become world champion (with a 33-point deficit), as the N°50 is now 38 points behind the Toyota N°8. Even if they were to have the same number of points, it wouldn’t be of any help to them: it was the only one of the still eligible cars that hadn’t won this year.
In English, this sentence “It’s safe to say that with this double front row, the world’s leading manufacturer will be at the forefront (figuratively speaking this time) in the battle for the title.”
The two Japanese prototypes outperformed the expected cars: the Cadillac No. 2, which still lagged behind the Toyotas by seven tenths, and the Porsche Penske No. 6, driven by Kevin Estre.
The Ferraris will leave, in the order N°50 and N°51, from the 3rd row. There is a real gap separating them from the race leader, so the pace over eight hours will have to be drastically higher. As for the Peugeots, they are far from meeting expectations and the end of their troubles is certainly eagerly awaited, after a season marked by only one podium, the 3rd place of the 93 at Monza. The two 9X8s will start, this Sunday, from the 10th and 11th position, only ahead of the valiant Vanwall. Tough…
LMP2: Alpine very well positioned!
Since the beginning of the hostilities in Bahrain, United Autosport has never relinquished the timing references. The latest pole position in LMP2 in WEC was secured by the Anglo-American team, thanks to Tom Blomqvist’s superb lap in car No. 23.
The first row will be completed by Alpine N°36, which had never been so well placed this season on a starting grid! Charles Milesi waited until the end of the session, taking advantage of a rubbered-in track and preserved tires, to secure second place.
A striking contrast with the previous rounds, especially since Philippe Sinault, the boss of the Signatech team, openly admitted to MotorsInside that the pace on a single lap had never been sufficient. But the good race pace of the Alpine can offer some great promises…although they will need to go the full eight hours!
The title is still being contested between WRT No. 41, Inter Europol No. 34, and United Autosport No. 22…well, the top contenders are behind! Each of the contenders finished their qualifying in 11th (penultimate!), 7th, and 5th place. WRT will have to roll up their sleeves, risking a catastrophic scenario: an abandonment and a victory from one of their rivals. The last LMP2 race promises a grand spectacle!
LMGTE-Am: the last for the Iron Dames
LMP2s are not the only category saying goodbye in WEC: the Grand Touring Endurance class, after bidding farewell to the Pros, will definitively give way to GT3s next year.
The Iron Dames’ Porsche N°85 secured the last pole position of the GTE era in the WEC, their third of the season, with Belgian driver Sarah Bovy at the helm. This will be a great opportunity to make history in the World Championship: the very first victory for an all-female crew.
The first line will be completed by the Aston Martin No. 777 from D’Station Racing. But nothing is set in stone: the GTE cars, for their final appearance, should offer us a gripping race for victory.
