2019 8 Hours of Bahrain
The 2019 8 Hours of Bahrain, formally known as the 2019 BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain, for sponsorship reasons, was an endurance sportscar racing event held on 14th December 2019, as the fourth round of the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship. This would mark the return of the FIA WEC to the Bahrain International Circuit for the first time since 2017, and would also be the inaugural running of the race, in an extended 8 hours format, having previously been run as the 6 Hours of Bahrain. The race was won by the #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid run by Toyota Gazoo Racing, and driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and José María López.
Background
The provisional calendar for the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship was unveiled at the 2018 6 Hours of Silverstone, featuring eight races, on five continents, starting at Silverstone in September 2019 with a four-hour race, and ending with the Le Mans 24 Hours in June 2020. It was noted that for first time in the FIA World Endurance Championship, 4 and 8 hour races would be introduced, at the Silverstone Circuit, Shanghai International Circuit, and the Bahrain International Circuit, following a fan survey which was conducted by the championship[1][2][3][4] despite there being an overwhelming preference being shown for races with durations of 6, 12 and 24 hours.[5]
Entry list
A provisional entry list was issued on the 12th of November 2019[6], with 31 cars split across 4 classes, with all 4 full season LMP1 entrants listed, alongside 9 LMP2 cars, up from the 8 full season cars due to the addition of the #26 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01, with a driver lineup for Jean-Éric Vergne, Roman Rusinov and Job van Uitert. The GTE Classes saw no additional cars entered, with all 6 full season GTE-Pro cars, and 11 GTE-Am cars being listed.[7] Majority of the race seats were indicated to have been filled, with the exception of the 2 Team LNT Ginetta G60-LT-P1s, and the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR. The list also saw changes to the driver lineup for the #57 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR, with Larry ten Voorde returning for a second race, alongside Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen replacing Felipe Fraga, who would be competing in the Stock Car Brasil season finale, which clashed with the 8 Hours of Bahrain. On 26 November, Team LNT announced its driver lineup for the race, with the majority of its drivers continuing with the team, with the exception of Egor Orudzhev, who would make way for Chris Dyson, alongside a minor shakeup in the driver lineups for each car. [8] On 10 December 2019, it was announced that Khaled Al Qubaisi and Adrien De Leeneer would complete the lineup for the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche, replacing Angelo Negao and Will Bamber.[9]
Qualifying
Qualifying Report
In LMP1, the #1 Rebellion Racing Rebellion R13 would score a 2nd consecutive Pole Position, once more piping another Team LNT Ginetta to pole position. Norman Nato and Bruno Senna set an average time of 1:42.979 that put the #1 Rebellion R13 0.144 seconds clear of the #5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 of Charlie Robertson and Ben Hanley. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Toyota TS050 Hybrids occupied the second row of the grid with Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima out-qualifying their teammates from the #7 car, Mike Conway and José María López by less than a tenth of a second, with the average time achieved by Hartley and Nakajima in the #8 Toyota, being 0.863 seconds off the pole-sitting Rebellion. The #8 had also outqualified the #7 in spite of the fact that it was running with a slightly larger success penalty than its sister car for the weekend. The #6 Team LNT finished 5th in the session, rounding out the LMP1 field.
In LMP2, Paul di Resta and Philip Hanson handed United Autosports its maiden WEC pole, after setting an average laptime of 1:45.357 in the team’s #22 Oreca 07. Di Resta had been the only driver to set a sub-1:45 laptime among the first set of drivers, while the silver-rated Hanson consolidated his co-driver’s work, scoring the second-quickest time in the second set of drivers, resulting in the #22 United Autosports team pipping the second-placed #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca of Will Stevens and Gabriel Aubry to pole, by 0.292 seconds. Guest entry, G-Drive Racing finished 3rd in the session, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Job van Uitert qualifying the car, with the TDS-operated car starting alongside the Shanghai winning Jota Sport Oreca on the second row, whilst Cool Racing and High Class Racing would line up in fifth and sixth. The #35 Signatech Alpine would lineup on the fourth row, next to the #29 Racing Team Nederland Oreca. The sole non-Oreca in the LMP2 field, the #47 Cetilar Racing Dallara P217, run by AF Corse rounded out the LMP2 pack, with the car finishing nearly half a second behind the #29.[10]
In GTE-Pro, Richard Lietz and Gianmaria Bruni finished the session on class pole, claiming Porsche’s third consecutive GTE-Pro pole in 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship. This was also the 2nd pole of the season scored by the pair, who had also sat on pole for the 6 Hours of Fuji. The pair in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR combined for an average time of 1:56.485, narrowly outpacing their class championship-leading teammates in the #92, Kévin Estre and Michael Christensen by 0.060 seconds. The pair of AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evos qualified third and fourth, with the #51 entry of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi leading the pair of Ferraris, the #51 pair still looking to bounce back following their exclusion from the 4 Hours of Shanghai. Aston Martin Racing struggled in the session, with the #95 entry of Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim qualifying fifth, nearly a second adrift of the pole-sitting Porsche, in what usually was a tightly spaced class, after struggling due a flat-spotted tire. The sister #97 car, would instead start last, after Maxime Martin’s time was deleted due to him exceeding track limits.
In GTE-Am, Ben Keating claimed his first WEC class pole, teaming with Larry ten Voorde to bring the #57 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR to the class pole. The #54 AF Corse Ferrari qualified second, followed by the #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR in third, the #54 preventing a Porsche front row in the Pro-Am class. The #83 AF Corse Ferrari, which is in the title battle with the #90 TF Sport, would start from fourth, after Francois Perrodo was unable to replicate the performance of his teammate Nicklas Nielsen, the Dane having put the #83 atop the running order for the class before the driver swaps.[11][12]
Qualifying Results
Pole Position winners in each class are in bold[13]
| Pos | Class | Team | Average Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | No. 1 Rebellion Racing | 1:42.979 | - | 1 |
| 2 | LMP1 | No. 5 Team LNT | 1:43.123 | +0.144 | 2 |
| 3 | LMP1 | No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing | 1:43.497 | +0.518 | 3 |
| 4 | LMP1 | No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing | 1:43.842 | +0.863 | 4 |
| 5 | LMP1 | No. 6 Team LNT | 1:43.887 | +0.908 | 5 |
| 6 | LMP2 | No. 22 United Autosports | 1:45.357 | +2.378 | 6 |
| 7 | LMP2 | No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing | 1:45.649 | +2.670 | 7 |
| 8 | LMP2 | No. 26 G-Drive Racing | 1:45.953 | +2.974 | 8 |
| 9 | LMP2 | No. 38 Jota Sport | 1:46.415 | +3.436 | 9 |
| 10 | LMP2 | No. 42 Cool Racing | 1:47.265 | +4.286 | 10 |
| 11 | LMP2 | No. 33 High Class Racing | 1:47.323 | +4.344 | 11 |
| 12 | LMP2 | No. 36 Signatech Alpine Elf | 1:47.725 | +4.746 | 12 |
| 13 | LMP2 | No. 29 Racing Team Nederland | 1:48.899 | +5.920 | 13 |
| 14 | LMP2 | No. 47 Cetilar Racing | 1:49.474 | +6.495 | 14 |
| 15 | LMGTE-Pro | No. 91 Porsche GT Team | 1:55.485 | +12.506 | 15 |
| 16 | LMGTE-Pro | No. 92 Porsche GT Team | 1:55.545 | +12.566 | 16 |
| 17 | LMGTE-Pro | No. 51 AF Corse | 1:56.087 | +13.108 | 17 |
| 18 | LMGTE-Pro | No. 71 AF Corse | 1:56.318 | +13.339 | 18 |
| 19 | LMGTE-Pro | No. 95 Aston Martin Racing | 1:56.389 | +13.410 | 19 |
| 20 | LMGTE-Am | No. 57 Team Project 1 | 1:57.602 | +14.623 | 20 |
| 21 | LMGTE-Am | No. 88 Dempsey-Proton Racing | 1:57.661 | +14.682 | 21 |
| 22 | LMGTE-Am | No. 83 AF Corse | 1:57.690 | +14.711 | 22 |
| 23 | LMGTE-Am | No. 56 Team Project 1 | 1:57.863 | +14.884 | 23 |
| 24 | LMGTE-Am | No. 86 Gulf Racing | 1:57.977 | +14.998 | 24 |
| 25 | LMGTE-Am | No. 98 Aston Martin Racing | 1:58.002 | +15.023 | 25 |
| 26 | LMGTE-Am | No. 90 TF Sport | 1:58.047 | +15.068 | 26 |
| 27 | LMGTE-Am | No. 62 Red River Sport | 1:58.217 | +15.238 | 27 |
| 28 | LMGTE-Am | No. 70 MR Racing | 1:58.635 | +15.656 | 28 |
| 29 | LMGTE-Am | No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing | 1:59.959 | +16.980 | 29 |
| 30 | LMGTE-Pro | No. 97 Aston Martin Racing | 1:56.253 | +13.274 | 30 |
| 31 | LMGTE-Am | No. 54 AF Corse | 1:56.903 | +13.924 | 31 |
Race
Race Report
The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050 Mike Conway led the opening hour of the 8 Hours of Bahrain, benefiting from a incident between the two front row cars of Bruno Senna and Charlie Robertson. Senna in the pole-sitting #1 Rebellion Racing R13 Gibson and Robertson in the 2nd placed #5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 were spun around following contact, which allowed Conway to easily slip through the pair and swiftly take the lead of the race. Robertson had appeared to lose the rear of his Ginetta as the pack came into the Turn 2 left-hand kink after the Turn 1 right-hander, and ran into Senna. As both cars collided, the #5 bore most of the brunt of the impact, while Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota was also caught up and lost seven overall positions in his No. 8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid. This incident scattered the LMP1 field and left the LMP2-leader, the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07, with Paul di Resta in second overall as Conway sped away out front. Second in the LMP1 class was Mike Simpson in the #6, and was fifth overall, while Buemi and Senna were further behind, with Robertson losing 2 laps owing to repairs to the Ginetta. The result of the carnage at Turn 1 meant that for the first half hour of the race, the LMP2 cars ran ahead of the all P1s, bar the lead Toyota. In LMP2, di Resta consolidated his pole position, leading through the opening round of pit stops from Job van Uitert in G-Drive Racing's Aurus-badged Oreca. Nicolas Lapierre was third for a time for Cool Racing but the Frenchman fell back during the opening stint as Andre Negrao, Kenta Yamashita and Anthony Davidson found ways past surged past in the #35, #33, and #37 Orecas.
In GTE Pro, Alessandro Pier Guidi led the first stint in GTE-Pro after a first-corner shuffle led to pole man Gianmaria Bruni losing four places in his #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19. Bruni was knocked out wide when Pier Guidi locked up slightly into Turn 1 and dropped down the order, as Kevin Estre, Marco Sørensen, and Miguel Molina overtook him. By the end of hour one, Pier Guidi had drawn out a three-second gap to Estre while Bruni was back up to third, having overtaken Molina, before later gaining an additional place, when Sørensen brought the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE in for an early regular pit stop. Team Project 1 controlled the opening hour of the race in GTE-Am, with a 1-2, as Ben Keating in the #57 converted his pole position into a massive 15-second lead ahead of Egidio Perfetti in the #56. Third in class behind the two Porsches was the #98 Aston Martin of Paul Dalla Lana.[14]
In the third hour of the race, Rebellion Racing lost its second place in the third hour, following a suspected driveline problem, which promoted Toyota into a commanding one-two position, which they would hold for the remainder for the race. At the time when the #1 was forced to pit, the driver at the time, Gustavo Menezes had held a 50 second gap over Brendon Hartley in the #8.
Race Result
The minimum number of laps for classification (70% of the overall winning car's race distance) was 180 laps. Class winners in bold.[15]
References
- ^ Kilbey, Stephen (2018-08-17). "Brazil, Bahrain rejoin WEC calendar for 2019-20". RACER. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Collantine, Keith (2018-08-17). "FIA WEC Calendar cuts some races to 4 Hours". Race Fans.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Goodwin, Graham (2018-08-17). "2019-2020 FIA WEC Provisional Calendar Revealed". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Goodwin, Graham (2018-08-17). "Notes On The Provisional 2019/2020 FIA WEC Calendar". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Burrows, Ian (2018-02-01). "2017 WEC Global Fan Survey" (PDF). motorsport.com. p. 20. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "4H Bahrain Provisional Entry List" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Lloyd, Daniel. "G-Drive's ELMS Lineup to Tackle 8H Bahrain – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
- ^ "Dyson Joins Team LNT For Bahrain – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
- ^ Dagys, John. "Al Qubaisi to Make WEC Return in Bahrain – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
- ^ Lloyd, Daniel. "Rebellion Beats Ginetta to 8H Bahrain Pole – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ "Rebellion Takes Pole For 8H Bahrain – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ Dagys, John. "Lietz, Bruni Claim Third Straight GTE-Pro Pole for Porsche – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
- ^ "2019 8 Hours of Bahrain" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Lloyd, Daniel. "Conway Leads Opening Hour after First-Lap Clash – Sportscar365". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
- ^ "2019 Bahrain 8 Hours Results" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)