- Charlie Thornton
- Nov 6, 2024
- 6 min read
FIA World Endurance Championship - 8 Hours of Bahrain Weekend Report
The final round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship heads to the classic eight hour clash at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Hypercar titles on the line for Porsche, Toyota and Ferrari.
LMGT3 QUALIFYING
The final LMGT3 qualifying session of 2024 kicked off with a standout performance and unexpected results. Midway through the session, Josh Caygill in the #95 United Autosports McLaren 720s GT3 Evo stole the show, reaching the top of the timing sheets with a blistering lap, setting a high benchmark for the other competitors to chase. This reaffirmed the potential the McLaren’s had as a strong contender heading into the eight hour race on Saturday. Meanwhile, battles for the lower positions in LMGT3 continued, with teams aiming to get into the top ten Hyperpole session, the two Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3’s showed good pace as well, sitting second and third. The all-female crew from the Iron Dames in their #85 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 delivered a time good enough for third, proving once again that they’re not to be overlooked, and still a potential race winner. In the closing minutes, James Cottingham in the sister United Autosports McLaren wrapped up the top five, and despite these surprising performances, disappointment set in for BMW and Mustang who, against expectations, failed to get any cars through to the Hyperpole session, sitting in twelfth, thirteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth respectively.
LMGT3 HYPERPOLE
Hyperpole started off with a few setbacks for certain drivers, especially Tom van Rompuy in the #81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, who had his first lap deleted for track limit violations, setting him back early in the session. Caygill continued his dominance with a fantastic lap for the #95 United Autosports McLaren, securing P1 again. The Iron Dames managed to keep their momentum in the second session too, getting themselves up to P3, narrowly beaten by the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari. The strong showing from the McLaren’s saw them achieve a historical front-row lockout after a late lap for P2 from the sister United Autosports car.
HYPERCAR QUALIFYING
The 2024 season has seen a curious trend in Hypercar and LMGT3 pole positions, with no Hypercar pole sitter winning a race yet, and only the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin achieving a pole to win. The tension for pole position will rise, giving the pole-sitter a greater chance of the win. In the early phases of qualifying, both of the Toyota’s set the pace, with an intense battle for the front rows, with multiple teams vying for the top positions. Both of the Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8’s, both factory AF Corse Ferrari’s, and both Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963’s were showing solid performances, with additional support from a single JOTA and Proton Competition Porsche rounded out the Hypercar qualifying session.
HYPERCAR HYPERPOLE
In the final push of the season, Brendon Hartley clinched pole position with a fast lap of 1:46.714, putting Toyota at the front. His teammate followed closely, just three-tenths behind, locking in a 1-2 for Toyota. Ferrari performed well, taking third and fifth, while the Proton Competition Porsche 963 took fourth. Porsche Penske Motorsport claimed sixth and seventh, while JOTA secured eighth. BMW rounded out the top ten, redeeming themselves from a disappointing LMGT3 session.
RACE
The final round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship at the 8 Hours of Bahrain started with the #8 Toyota GR010 on pole in Hypercar, and the #95 United Autosports McLaren on pole in LMGT3. At the start, the #51 Ferrari managed to overtake the sister #7 Toyota in the first lap, putting them into second position, followed by Julien Andlauer in the Proton Competition Porsche 963 in third, who also overtook the Toyota. Contact with the championship contender #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry forced the car to drop down to last in Hypercar, meanwhile the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini gained eight positions in the opening laps, moving upto eighth. The #6 managed to climb back to fifteenth over the following laps, but this would not be good for their championship hopes.
As the race progressed, notable incidents impacted several competitors, notably the pole-sitting Toyota with Sébastien Buemi at the wheel, who was spun by Hiroshi Koizumi in the #82 TF Sport Corvette at turn one. Shortly after, the #50 Ferrari went off-track while attempting to pass two LMGT3 cars, proving that traffic management is key to endurance racing. With less than an hour of the race completed, the first retirement came when the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 suffered a left-rear suspension failure, meanwhile additional technical difficulties plagued several other teams, especially the #7 Toyota who faced shifting issues, inevitably dropping the car from fifth to seventh in just one lap. The #59 McLaren LMGT3 encountered radio communication issues, leaving the drivers without contact to the team.
Chaos continued with just over two hours completed, with the other Lexus stalling off-track, and later being moved to an access route, soon afterwards the #20 BMW Hypercar retired due to drivetrain issues, creating a smoky spectacle in the garage as attempts to restart the engine failed. The #2 Cadillac also faced scrutiny after a reprimand for tyre pressure infringement, followed by an investigation into power consumption.
With less than half of the race remaining, the #51 Ferrari surged into the lead, overtaking the #7 Toyota as it struggled with its ongoing issues, when a full course yellow followed shortly after significant debris from an LMGT3 was scattered across the track at turns eleven and twelve. In a close call, marshals entered the track at the wrong time, narrowly avoiding a high-speed Peugeot. Just a few minutes later, the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 experienced a major engine fire, triggering a virtual safety car. In the LMGT3 category, the Iron Dames took the lead from the #81 TF Sport Corvette, with Alex Riberas in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin close behind, soon moving up to second. Unfortunately, the Aston Martin’s lead was short-lived as it dropped from first to tenth after a strategic error, allowing the Iron Dames and the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari to battle for the LMGT3 lead. Toyota left all hope on a single car into the final two hours of the race, after retiring the #7 Toyota GR010.
The race entered its final hour with the #55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari and the #81 TF Sport Corvette in a fierce battle for the LMGT3 lead, several teams, including the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport, #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche, and the #99 Proton Competition Porsche faced drive-through penalties for virtual safety car protocol infractions, shaking up the standings. Meanwhile, contact between the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport and #36 Alpine A424 of Charles Milesi added to the competition while fighting for the top ten positions.
Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 Ferrari 499P powered through the field, reclaiming third position with an overtake on the #93 Peugeot with just a quarter of an hour to go. Close to the end of the race, the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin suffered front-left damage after a collision with Augusto Farfus in the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, who was ultimately deemed responsible, and given a drive-through penalty.
The final lap brought intense drama as Giovinazzi in the #51 Ferrari made a move for second position on Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry at turn one. Though unsuccessful initially, he secured the position after navigating the esses, adding to a thrilling finish to Ferrari’s performance. Unfortunately, the glory for Ferrari wouldn’t last long as their podium finish was stripped from them post-race due to the car using two sets of tyres more than the allocation for qualifying and the race. The penalty was a four minute and fifty-five second penalty, which was converted to two laps removed, which dropped the car to the back of the Hypercar field, and more importantly out of the points.
As the chequered flag waved, the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing claimed victory, also securing the Manufacturers’ Championship for Toyota, beating Porsche and Ferrari. Porsche Penske’s #5 finished third on track, but inherited second position after the penalty for the #51 Ferrari. This meant that the #93 Peugeot of Mikkel Jensen, Nico Müller and Jean-Éric Vergne achieved third position and a podium for the French marque. Porsche Penske’s #6 also celebrated a major achievement, as they took home the Drivers’ Title after a solid and consistent season.
In the LMGT3 class, the #55 triumphed with a win, while Corvette celebrated a double podium finish in second and third, cementing a successful day in Bahrain. The race delivered high-octane drama, strategic manoeuvres, and relentless determination from the entire field. With Toyota and Penske Porsche emerging as champions, the season concludes with plenty of excitement for 2025, with the highly-anticipated V12 growl from the Aston Martin Valkyrie joining us in the future.
AN UNCHANGED 2025 SEASON
The FIA World Endurance Championship will return to the same eight tracks in 2025, and as previously mentioned, new cars will be introduced at the first round in Qatar in February.
Round 1: Qatar 1812km - Qatar, 28th February 2025
Round 2: 6 Hours of Imola - Italy, 20th April 2025
Round 3: 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - Belgium, 10th May 2025
Round 4: 24 Hours of Le Mans - France, 14th - 15th June 2025
Round 5: 6 Hours of São Paulo - Brazil, 13th July 2025
Round 6: Lone Star Le Mans - United States, 7th September 2025
Round 7: 6 Hours of Fuji - Japan, 28th September 2025
Round 8: 8 Hours of Bahrain - Bahrain, 8th November 2025
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