Toyota Gazoo Racing secure pole for 8 Hours of Bahrain
TDT | Manama
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Toyota Gazoo Racing secured a front-row lockout this evening for Saturday’s (Editor’s note: 8 November) Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The Le Mans-inspired spectacle will bring the curtains down on the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), while crowning the season’s undisputed world champions.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #7 crew of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nyck de Vries secured pole position after posting a fastest lap time of 1min 46.826secs in their GR010-Hybrid during this evening’s Hyperpole session of the WEC’s toptier Hypercar class. They led their teammates Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi, and Ryo Hirakawa in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #8 Hypercar, who were triumphant in Bahrain last year. Meanwhile, taking pole amongst the LMGT3 contenders were Akkodis ASP Team’s #78 crew of Arnold Robin, Finn Gehrsitz, and Ben Barnicoat. They registered a best lap of 2:01.661 in their Hyperpole runs behind the wheel of their Lexus RC F LMGT3 contender.
Hyperpole was contested in both categories by the top 10 from today’s qualifying sessions. The stage is now set for the highly anticipated Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, which is scheduled to flag off in daylight conditions at 2pm on Saturday afternoon. The chequered flag will then come down at 10pm at night following plenty of intense battles and drama under lights.
In the Hypercar class’ Hyperpole session, the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Hypercar was 0.151s separated from their #8 challenger.
Set to start in row two are the pair of Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 Hypercars. Their #94 trio of Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen, and Theo Pourchaire will start from third on the grid after going 0.340s from the leaders, while their #93 crew of Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, and Jean-Eric Vergne will be in fourth after finishing Hyperpole 0.382s off the pace.
Starting fifth through 10th, respectively, will be Cadillac Hertz Team Jota’s #12 crew, Aston Martin Thor Team’s #009 challenger, the drivers’ world championship-leading #51 of Ferrari AF Corse, the #5 of Porsche Penske Motorsport, Aston Martin Thor Team’s #007 triumvirate, and the #15 contender of BMW M Team WRT.
Earlier today in Hypercar qualifying, Aston Martin Thor Team had a one-two, led by their #007 crew of Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble, and Ross Gunn, who clocked a best lap of 1:47.290 in their Valkyrie Hypercar. Aston Martin’s #009 trio of Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen, and Roman de Angelis followed 0.131s behind. Meanwhile, in the LMGT3 Hyperpole session, the Akkodis ASP Team’s #78 beat the Iron Lynx #60 trio of Andrew Gilbert, Lorcan Hanafin, and Fran Rueda, driving a Mercedes-AMG LMGT3, to pole by a mere 0.326s. Iron Lynx’s #61 crew of Martin Berry, Lin Hodenius, and Maxime Martin, who were the pacesetters in the preceding LMGT3 qualifying session with a fastest lap of 2:02.991 in their Mercedes-AMG, will start from third after going 0.356s behind.
Akkodis ASP Team’s other crew of Petru Umbrarescu, Clemens Schmid, and Jose Maria Lopez in their #87 Lexus are fourth on the LMGT3 grid after going 0.558s from their teammates in the Hyperpole session.
Completing the front 10 on the LMGT3 grid were The Bend Team WRT’s #31 crew, Heart of Racing Team’s #27 car, the #88 of Proton Competition, the #21 of Vista AF Corse, the #46 of Team WRT, and the #59 of United Autosports.
Watarai claims seasonopening win from pole in Porsche Carrera Cup ME
Taichi Watarai secured an impressive pole-to-flag victory this evening in the season-opening race of the 2025/2026 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME).
The 12-lap sprint was held as part of the campaign’s first round, which is taking place in support of the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain at BIC. Watarai claimed the overall win in 25mins 02.785secs while also finishing first amongst the PCCME’s Pro class runners. He was joined on the podium by Bankcy and Sam Shahin, who are competing in the ProAm category.
Bankcy finished 6.203s behind the winner to also claim first place in his class, while Shahin was 8.601s behind Watarai.
Also in the top three amongst the Pro competitors were Caleb Sumich and Khaled Alahmadi. Taking third place in ProAm was Cedric Chassang.
Meanwhile, Petr Brecka won the Masters class, while Krister Andero finished second and Mark J Thomas was third.
Race two in the PCCME’s opening weekend is scheduled for Saturday at 11am. Watarai is also in pole position for the event.
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