TOYOTA GAZOO Racing earned a dominant one-two victory in the season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain to secure a clean sweep of FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) titles.
Outgoing World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López took a hard-earned win, their second of the season in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, to crown TOYOTA GAZOO Racing as Hypercar manufacturers’ World Champions.
Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, in the #8 GR010 HYBRID, had started the weekend level on points with their Alpine title rivals but finished second to become drivers’ World Champions, adding to their 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours win.
“I am really pleased to complete the job here and win both World Championships,” said Hartley. “I don’t think it has really sunk in yet that we are champions again, but I’m sure it will soon.
“Thanks to everyone on the team for their fantastic support all year to give us a car to win the title and Le Mans. Today our objective was simply to beat Alpine and secure the title; we couldn’t afford to take any risks just to get the race win.
“Car #7 had the pace and deserved the victory, so well done to them. They have been tough competitors all year and it has been fiercely fought, also with Alpine who kept us honest. We worked hard for this title and it is a credit to the whole team.”
Sébastien and Brendon write their names in the record books as the first drivers to win three titles in the top category of WEC or its predecessor, the World Sportscar Championship. Ryo, a Le Mans winner in June, capped a remarkable rookie season by becoming Japan’s third WEC champion.
A perfect result in Bahrain was a fitting end to a successful season for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, which now has a fifth world title double from 10 years of WEC competition, adding to a roll of honour in 2022 which includes a fifth consecutive Le Mans win and eighth victory at Fuji Speedway.
Success in WEC ensures TOYOTA GAZOO Racing achieves the unique feat of winning every available title, eight in total, in the three FIA series it participated in this season: the World Endurance, World Rally and World Rally Raid Championships.
The race began under bright Bahraini sunshine, with air temperatures of 35°C, and the on-track action was equally hot. Sébastien led from pole while José fought with the #36 Alpine, losing third at the start before regaining the place three laps later, following a safety car period.
Sébastien held off the challenge of the #93 Peugeot, with José firmly in contention in third. Just six seconds covered the top three when the opening pit stops arrived after an hour, during which José leapfrogged the #93 for second and closed to the rear of the #8, before Sébastien edged out an advantage.
When a technical problem sidelined the #93 after two hours, a full course yellow allowed both GR010 HYBRIDs to swap drivers. Brendon took over the #8, with Mike in the #7, and they battled throughout their first stint, separated by less than a second until Mike took the lead early in the fourth hour as the sun set over Bahrain International Circuit.
Mike pushed hard to build a gap and at half distance he led by a few seconds going into the next pit stops, when Kamui took the wheel. A lap later, Brendon’s stint ended and Ryo brought the #8 back on track directly behind the #7.
Kamui gradually extended his advantage to 15 seconds by the end of the fifth hour, doubling the #7 car’s lead over the next hour before José and Sébastien returned to their respective cockpits with less than two hours remaining.
Further driver changes with 45 minutes to go left Mike to take the chequered flag, finishing 45.471secs clear of Brendon in the #8. That triggered title celebrations to bring the curtain down on an exciting Hypercar season after 58 hours of competition covering 10,620km since the first race in Sebring eight months ago.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has one remaining appointment in the 2022 season, the official WEC rookie test at Bahrain International Circuit. LMP2 driver Lilou Wadoux has been nominated by WEC to drive the GR010 HYBRID and she will therefore become the first female Hypercar driver during Sunday’s test.
8 Hours of Bahrain – Result
1st #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 245 laps
2nd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +45.471secs
3rd #36 Alpine Elf Team (Negrao/Lapierre/Vaxiviere) +2 laps
4th #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies (Duval/Menezes/Müller) +6 laps
5th #31 WRT (Galael/Frijns/Vanthoor) +8 laps
6th #23 United Autosports USA (Lynn/Jarvis/Pierson) +8 laps
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