Under the floodlights of the Bahrain International Circuit, the LMP and GTE cars took to the track for the final qualifying session of the season ahead of tomorrow’s 8 Hours of Bahrain - round 8 of FIA WEC. After a thorough investigation by the stewards after qualifying, the majority of lap times which had previously been deleted were reinstated and ultimately only nine lap times remain deleted during qualifying. • Third pole of WEC Season 8 for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 7 TS050 HYBRID as Jose Maria Lopez and Mike Conway combine with an average lap time of 1:40.747. Conway set fastest lap of the entire session with a time of 1:40.114 before Lopez took over  • No. 7’s pole position sees the crew accrue one bonus point, reducing the gap over their team-mates in the No. 8 car to just six points going into tomorrow’s race  • Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima qualify in the sister TS050 HYBRID – the duo setting a combined time of 1:41.494 with the team electing not to change tyres for the No. 8 car’s second run in order to save rubber for tomorrow’s duel in the desert

Porsche on top in LMGTE Pro  Porsche GT Team’s No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen takes pole position with a combined time of 1:56.505 – the pairing’s third pole of WEC Season 8. Aston Martin Racing’s GT World Championship points-leading pair of Nicki Thiim and Marco were second, the pair setting a combined time of 1:56.521. Making it three different manufacturers in the first three positions is the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of James Calado and Daniel Serra.

Read the full LMGTE Pro report HERE

Fourth pole position of the season for United Autosports United Autosports continued its superb run of form with another pole position – the British team’s fourth of the season. Paul Di Resta and Phil Hanson took to the wheel of the No. 22 ORECA 07 Gibson to set an average time of 1:47.440. Jackie Chan DC Racing will start tomorrow’s race second out of the six LMP2 crews competing in Bahrain, with Gabriel Aubry and Will Stevens combining to take an average time of 1:48.238. Third in LMP2 was the No. 36 Signatech Alpine Alf as French duo Thomas Laurent and Pierre Ragues were just 0.232s adrift of the JCDCR entry

Aston Martin Racing No. 98 car on top in LMGTE Am  The No.98 Vantage AMR of Paul Dalla Lana and Ross Gunn combined to set a best time of 1:58.356. It is a first pole position of the season for the No.98 which welcomed back Pedro Lamy to the line-up after a last-minute shuffle of AMR drivers.

Read the full LMGTE Am report HERE

Toyota No. 7 car takes pole in Bahrain

• FIA Racing Toyota
• At 11/13/2020 10:40:00 p.m.
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Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No. 8 TS050 HYBRID belonging to Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley has won the 2020 edition of the rescheduled 24 Hours of Le Mans, round 7 of FIA WEC Season 8. It is the No. 8’s third victory of WEC Season 8 and Toyota’s third consecutive win at Le Mans. Toyota’s Le Mans triumph means the Japanese team have successfully won the FIA LMP1 World Endurance Championship with one round [Bahrain] still remaining. This year’s Le Mans was staged behind closed doors and saw a total of 11 retirements (out of 59 starters) and four separate safety car sessions. Despite the threat of rainfall as darkness fell, the race remained dry throughout. The No.1 Rebellion R13 Gibson shared by Gustavo Menezes, Bruno Senna and Norman Nato came home in second place, five laps down on the winning Toyota which completed a total of 387 laps.  Rounding out the podium was the No. 7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID belonging to Jose-Maria Lopez, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, which started today’s race in pole position. The trio led for the first 12 hours before the car spent 30 minutes in the pits getting the turbo replaced, dropping the team behind the sister No. 8 car.

Click HERE to read the full LMP1 report

The provisional results can be found HERE

United Autosports claims LMP2 FIA World Endurance Teams’ Trophy United Autosports’ Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Paul Di Resta claimed its fourth successive LMP2 victory and first ever Le Mans trophy after winning the LMP2 category at Le Mans today.  It marks the first ever WEC title for a British privateer team and saw the Anglo squad secure enough points to ensure it has won the prestigious title with one round still remaining. United Autosports eventually finished the race 32.831s ahead of runners-up JOTA (No. 38) who were hot on the tails of the No. 22 car but were knocked out of winning contention when Anthony Davidson was forced to bring the car back to the pits for a last minute splash-and-dash.  Last year’s Le Mans winners and overall category victors Signatech Alpine Elf finished third out of the WEC entrants (and fourth overall behind the No. 31 Panis Racing entry). Signatech’s trio of drivers André Negrão, Pierre Ragues and Thomas Laurent did a superb job of fighting back after the No. 36 car spent significant time in the pits early in the race with water pressure problems.  Fourth out of the full-time WEC entrants (and seventh overall) was the Cool Racing entry shared by Nicolas Lapierre, Antonin Borga and Alexandre Coigny. The Swiss-based squad had a relatively trouble-free race with the only real issue for the No. 42 car being a left rear puncture.

Click HERE to read the full LMP2 report

Aston Martin Racing celebrate victory in LMGTE Pro and Am at Le Mans The British Union flags will be proudly flying high outside Aston Martin Racing’s factory as the team today recorded its best ever 24 Hours of Le Mans results. Victory in both the LMGTE Pro and GTE Am class could only have been improved upon if fans had been able to be present – sadly not possible this year due to the COVID health situation.  The 1st and 3rd places secured in LMGTE Pro secures Aston Martin its first FIA World Endurance GTE Manufacturers Championship. At the chequered flag it was the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Alex Lynn, Maxime Martin and Harry Tincknell which took the winners’ laurels. It was the second win for Martin/Lynn together after Spa 2019 last season and the 10th victory in the WEC for the No.97. Tincknell celebrated victory on his debut for the manufacturer.

Click HERE to read the full LMGTE Pro report

TF Sport triumphs in LMGTE Am Aston Martin’s stellar day was crowned by the victory of customer team TF Sport in the Am category, the first podium for the marque in the category since 2014. The No.90 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Jonny Adam finished 49s ahead of the No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche after a flawless run throughout the race. Factory driver Adam becomes the first Le Mans winner in both GTE classes in the WEC era, and Salih Yoluc becomes the first Turkish winner at Le Mans.  For a large part of the race, the TF Sport Aston Martin had had a close battle with the No.98 Aston Martin Racing car of Augusto Farfus, Ross Gunn and Paul Dalla Lana until that car encountered rear suspension trouble with eight hours to go. Although out of contention, it recovered in the remaining hours to finish 8th in class.

Toyota wins Le Mans and seals LMP1 championship title

• Championship Racing Toyota
• At 9/20/2020 05:09:00 p.m.
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Today’s qualifying session at 24 Hours of Le Mans – round 7 of FIA WEC Season 8 - saw the top six fastest cars from each category [LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am] progress through to tomorrow’s Hyperpole. 

Hyperpole, which will run from 11h30 – 12h00 local time tomorrow [Friday], is a new-for-2020 shootout session which will determine the top grid positions for each category ahead of Saturday’s 24 hour race which will be held behind closed doors. 

Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest time out of the LMP1 crews early on with a lap time of 3:17.089 in the No. 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, 0.247s ahead of the No. 8 sister car with fellow Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel.

Third quickest was the No. 1 Rebellion R13 Gibson car, the car benefitting from a brand new engine after sitting out of the majority of FP2.

Le Mans returnees, ByKolles Racing Team were fourth fastest with Frenchman Tom Dillmann setting a time of 3:24.468 in the No.4 Enso CLM/P1/01. Rounding out the top five is the No. 3 Rebellion car.  All five cars will progress to tomorrow’s Hyperpole to determine grid positions for Saturday’s race

Racing Team Nederland tops LMP2 times  No. 29 Racing Team Nederland was fastest out of the 24 LMP2 entries, with Nyck De Vries setting a time of 3:26.648. Jackie Chan DC Racing proved second quickest in another ORECA 07 Gibson car as Will Stevens clocked a time of 3:27.097 early in the session. WEC LMP2 category leaders United Autosports finished third fastest after Paul Di Resta set a time of 3:27.148. Regular ELMS entry G-Drive Racing fourth quickest with a second United Autosports entry fifth overall.  Sixth fastest overall – and taking the final slot in tomorrow’s Hyperpole – is the WEC’s No. 33 High Class Racing entry. The Danish team making a quick recovery after stopping on track during FP2

LMGTE Am sees Aston Martin Racing on top  In LMGTE Am, the No. 98 Aston Martin Racing entry was on top with Ross Gunn setting the pace early on with a time of 3:52.778 in the Aston Martin Vantage. TF Sport was second, the British squad 0.183s adrift of pace-setters Aston Martin Racing. Rounding out the top three in Am qualifying was Gulf Racing in the No. 86 Porsche 911 RSR. The final three slots for LMGTE Am entries in Hyperpole were taken by Luzich Racing plus full-time WEC entries Dempsey-Proton Racing and Team Project 1 who finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. FP3 will commence at 20h00 CEST local time tonight before a final practice session at 10h00 tomorrow morning. Tomorrow’s Hyperpole will get underway at 11h30.

Toyota tops qualifying times at Le Mans

• Le Mans Racing team Sport Toyota
• At 9/17/2020 06:30:00 p.m.
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Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No.7 TS050 HYBRID trio of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria Lopez won today’s sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. 

Today’s race saw extremely changeable weather conditions including four safety car sessions due to intermittent rainfall and incidents out on track. After a week of extremely hot temperatures, the rain returned to Spa-Francorchamps where tyre choice played a major factor in today’s action-packed race. Rebellion Racing started on pole but the Swiss team suffered an early setback when Norman Nato lost valuable time due to high tyre pressure issues in the opening stint. 

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Today’s win for the Toyota Gazoo Racing marks the third win of the season for the No. 7 car (and fourth for the squad) and sees the No. 7 entry extend its lead at the top of the overall leaderboard to 12 points.

United Autosports storms to third consecutive LMP2 victory

British team United Autosports once again ruled supreme in the highly-competitive LMP2 category as its trio of drivers Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Paul Di Resta claimed their third successive LMP2 victory in the ORECA 07 – Gibson.  

AF Corse finish on top in LMGTE Am 

LMGTE Am also provided plenty of action and lead changes but the supremely consistent No.83 AF Corse of François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Nicklas Nielsen claimed victory after a hard six hours of action.

It was a second victory this season for the trio, and the No.83 became the first Ferrari to score multiple Am wins in a season since SMP Racing in 2015. The result stretches their lead at the head of the points table to 110 points, 12 ahead of third place finishers No.90 TF Sport.

Toyota wins an unpredictable TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

• 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps FIA World Racing Toyota
• At 8/16/2020 02:01:00 a.m.
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Fernando Alonso celebrated a winning start to his FIA World Endurance Championship career as he and teammates Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima took a conclusive victory in today’s eventful TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. 63,000 fans enjoyed superb weather, fun and entertainment on and off track over the three days that the WEC was in Belgium.

In the first race of the 2018-19 WEC Super Season the No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing car led the vast majority of the race to head home the sister Toyota TS050 HYBRID of Mike Conway, José María López and Kamui Kobayashi. 

Alonso crossed the finish line 1.444s ahead of Mike Conway in a formation finish which was made all the more remarkable by the No.7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID starting from the pit lane, a lap behind the entire field, after a post-qualifying technical infringement. 

For Alonso it was his first victory at Spa for almost 18 years and he became the first Spaniard to win a WEC race since Marc Gené triumphed for Audi, also at Spa, in 2012. 

Rounding out the podium was the No.1 Rebellion Racing crew of André Lotterer, Neel Jani and Bruno Senna in their first race with the new non-hybrid Rebellion R13-Gibson. 

The sister Rebellion Racing entry of Thomas Laurent, Gustavo Menezes and Mathias Beche took fourth, while the ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01-Nismo took a best ever fifth position. 

The next round of the WEC Super Season will be the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 16/17th June. 

Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima head Toyota 1-2 in Spa

• Championship Nakajima Racing Toyota
• At 5/05/2018 10:34:00 p.m.
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• Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway combine to set average of 1m54.488s to grab pole position in No.7 car

• Kobayashi sets outright quickest lap on 1m54.488s to seal first Toyota pole at Spa 

• No.8 Toyota TS050-HYBRID places second as Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima lap 0.379s off sister car

• No.1 Rebellion Racing Rebellion R13-Gibson is third as Neel Jani and Bruno Senna finish as best non-Hybrid entry 

• No.3 Rebellion car of Gustavo Menezes and Thomas Laurent starts fourth 

• Session interrupted by two red flags. The first for the No.17 SMP Racing BR Engineering BR1-AER which stopped on track with a technical problem. Car will start from rear of grid. 

• Second red flag caused by accident to DragonSpeed entry driven by Pietro Fittipaldi at Eau Rouge. 

• Session delayed by 40-minutes as Fittipaldi receives medical attention for suspected leg fractures 

• Brazilian transported to Liege hospital. Condition is not life-threatening 

• Signatech Alpine Matmut grabs pole in LMP2 as Nicolas Lapierre and Pierre Thiriet combine for average of 2m02.405s 

• 2016 champions are 0.1s ahead of G-Drive Racing car driven by Jean-Eric Vergne and Andrea Pizzitola 

• No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing LMP2 car of Ho-Pin Tung and Gabriel Aubry will start third

Toyota claims pole for Total 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

• 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Racing Sports Toyota
• At 5/05/2018 10:30:00 p.m.
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On the occasion of the official FIA WEC ‘Rookie’ test in Bahrain, the day after the final round of the 2017 season, one of the most experienced ‘rookies’ of them all successfully completed his first laps in a Le Mans Prototype.  Following a total of 113 laps / 611 km in the No.8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID, the two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso – who has for several years expressed a strong interest in endurance racing and has indeed visited the WEC paddock more than once – pronounced himself very happy with the experience. He set a best lap of 1:43.013. “It was a great day. Testing an LMP1 car is always a nice thing for any racing driver because these cars are amazing to drive. They are very consistent throughout a stint which is a positive thing. I have wanted to test a car like this for a long time now and today I could achieve that so I am happy.” Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Also testing today with Toyota was the Promoter’s choice for emerging talents, Jackie Chan DC Racing’s Thomas Laurent who yesterday finished second in the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Trophy title chase. He completed 31 laps, recording a fastest time of 1:43.273.  The 19-year-old Frenchman said afterwards, “I’m really happy about how this morning went and to drive in an LMP1 car with Toyota was just a dream come true.  “The car is just amazing, the downforce, the braking, the acceleration with the boost, is all super impressive. It’s a real weapon. I have been doing my ‘homework’ each night to learn about the car and had some time to adapt to it in the Toyota simulator in Cologne.”

Driving today in the LMP1 category was newly crowned World Series Formula V8 3.5 champion Pietro Fittipaldi. He completed 32 laps on what was the 919 Hybrid’s last appearance in a WEC event and was congratulated by Porsche LMP Team Principal Andreas Seidl for doing a solid performance.  A total of 14 cars ran during the five hours of track time, with three LMP1, six LMP2, four LMGTE Pro and one LMGTE Am. Among the LMP2 cars was the championship-winning Vaillante Rebellion which gave second placed World Series driver Matevos Isaakyan 30 laps, while Jackie Chan DC Racing tested two young drivers and carried out some development work for Cosworth. Also carrying out development work were the two 911 RSRs from the Porsche GT Team. The test closed at 16:00 local time, and the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship is now officially over.  See you all in 2018, and stay tuned to FIA WEC and its social media channels for all the latest news.

Fernando Alonso completes successful WEC test in Bahrain

• Bahrain Fernando Alonso FIA WEC FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship Toyota
• At 11/19/2017 02:44:00 p.m.
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Toyota Gazoo Racing celebrated its fifth win of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship season at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain today, as the No.8 Toyota TS 050 HYBRID triumphed at an eventful season finale. Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima claimed a third consecutive WEC win to ensure that the Japanese manufacturer won five races in a WEC season since they entered in 2012.  Buemi took the lead from Neel Jani’s pole sitting Porsche 919 Hybrid in the first hour after fighting through from fourth on the grid in the early exchanges. Nakajima and Davidson were both able to extend the lead and the car eventually took the chequered flag by a full lap.  Davidson in particular had an eventful race, as he raced through the pain barrier after breaking a toe in his left foot in a bizarre pit accident.  Porsche LMP Team claimed second and third in their farewell race as the No.2 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber claimed second position ahead of the No.1 sister car driven by Neel Jani, André Lotterer and Nick Tandy.  To read the whole LMP1 report CLICK HERE For all classifications and timing CLICK HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Senna and Canal take LMP2 crown in dramatic finale Vaillante Rebellion celebrated a memorable first LMP2 championship success after a tense and thrilling finale at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain on Saturday evening.  Bruno Senna and Julien Canal claimed the crown after they sealed a fourth win of the season and a third in succession along with their teammate Nicolas Prost. Senna and Canal lifted the championship trophy and, although Prost will not be crowned champion due to missing the Nurburgring race in July, his teammates and team praised his massive contribution to the success.  The No.31 Vaillante Rebellion ORECA-Gibson was engaged in a fascinating race long duel with the No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car crewed by Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung. To read the full report CLICK HERE Provisional classifications can be found HERE

Toyota claims fifth victory of 2017 FIA WEC season in Bahrain

• 6 Hours of Bahrain FIA World Endurance Championship Porsche Racing Toyota
• At 11/18/2017 08:23:00 p.m.
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No.1 Porsche claims pole in Bahrain for final race  Porsche took a final pole position with the ultra-successful 919 Hybrid as it bows out of competition at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain.  Nick Tandy and Neel Jani combine to set a blistering 1m39.383s average in a thrilling qualifying session. Claiming the No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid’s third top spot of the season, Jani topped the times with a scintillating best lap of 1m39.084s to snatch the pole from the No.7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID of Mike Conway and José Maria Lopez.  Completing the second row of the LMP1 giants go to battle for the final time tomorrow afternoon.  • Nick Tandy and Neel Jani seal pole with average of 1m39.383s • Third pole of season for No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid in final outing for car  • Toyota place second as Mike Conway and José Maria Lopez combine but miss out on pole by 0.268 • No.2 Porsche of champions Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley place third • No.8 Toyota TS 050 HYBRID starts fourth as Davidson and Nakajima qualify  For all classifications and timing CLICK HERE Retrouvez ICI tous les articles de notre site en version française

Signatech Alpine snatches crucial pole point in LMP2  The LMP2 category saw a fascinating grid order unfold as the Signatech Alpine duo of André Negrão and Gustavo Menezes combined to seal a third pole of the 2017 season for Les Bleues.  It was a fine performance form the Brazilian/US alliance as they swept to a 1m47.227s average to claim the pole by 0.3s. Menezes has an outside chance of taking back-to-back titles but with a 22-point deficit looks likely to have to reply on good fortune. Lining up second and third in class will be the title protagonists, the No.31 Vaillante Rebellion and No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing entries. Bruno Senna and Julien Canal have a four point advantage heading in to the race tomorrow over Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung.  • LMP2 pole goes to Signatech Alpine as Andre Negrão and Gustavo Menezes combine to take third pole position of season with an average of 1m47.227 • No.38 Jackie Chan DC Racing title chasers start second • Title leaders Bruno Senna and Julien Canal in No.31 Vaillante Rebellion entry start right behind rivals in third as they have four point advantage

Ferrari claim critical GTE pole Ferrari came out on top after another closely fought LMGTE Pro qualifying session at the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain this evening. Davide Rigon and Sam Bird took their fourth pole position of the 2017 FIA WEC campaign to ensure that Rigon’s slight title chances remained.  The No.71 AF Corse Ferrari took the pole with an average of 1m56.033s. Rigon set a sensational best outright lap of 1m47.058 to set a new qualifying record in class with the Ferrari 488GTE.  Lining up alongside the Ferrari will be the No.97 Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE as it bows out this weekend after a glorious WEC career.  Darren Turner and Jonny Adam set an average of 1m56.372s, while No.67 Ford GT duo of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell placed third, as the British pair set about hunting down title rivals - James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi - who start just one place behind in their No.51 AF Corse Ferrari.  Porsche duo Frederic Makowiecki and Richard Lietz finish sixth as they look to reduce the two point deficit to Calado and Pier Guidi in points table.

Lamy and Dalla Lana take 7th pole of the year! Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana take seventh pole position from nine races and extend lead in title stakes to 11 points. Lamy and Dalla Lana set average lap time of 2m00.111s, with Lamy peaking on category best of 1m59.328s.  Close session sees Clearwater Racing miss out on pole by just 0.17s as Weng Sun Mok and Matt Griffin set an average of 2m00.285s in their Ferrari 488GTE.  Dempsey Proton Racing starts third as Christian Ried, Matteo Cairoli and Marvin Dienst look to reduce 11-point gap to No.98. Aston Martin drivers.

Porsche LMP claim pole for final race; Signatech Alpine, Ferrari and Aston Martin start in class pole positions in Bahrain

• 6 Hours of Bahrain Ferrari Porsche Race Toyota
• At 11/17/2017 12:29:00 p.m.
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