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 14 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 overall by the #7

The

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,

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 out-qualified 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,

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]

Race

Race Report

The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050

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. While Hartley ascended into 2nd place, the Rebellion lost 3 laps, falling outside the top 10 in the process. The #6 Ginetta also benefited from the suspected issue for the Rebellion, jumping into 3rd place, albeit being 1 lap down on the leading #7 Toyota, with Chris Dyson having spun early on during his first stint in the car. The sister #5 Team LNT car, which had been involved in a collision earlier with the #1 Rebellion had recovered, being ahead of all of the LMP2 cars, save for the leading car in the secondary prototype class, the #22 United Autosports.

In the GTE-Pro category, AF Corse's

At the end of the 4th hour, the #7 Toyota of José María López, who had taken over from Kamui Kobayashi, held an enormous gap over of over 1 minute against the second-placed sister #8 Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima, while Team LNT sat third with the #5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 AER of Ben Hanley, while Gustavo Menezes had brought the #1 Rebellion R13 back to overall, having lost three laps earlier, with a suspected driveline problem. In LMP2, the #22 United Autosports built up a one-minute lead in LMP2, in the hands of Felipe Albuquerque ahead of the guest G-Drive Racing entry.

In GTE-Pro, Aston Martin Racing found itself at the head of the class, when the team elected not to stop the #97 Vantage GTE during a fourth-hour Full Course Yellow. The #92 Porsche 911 RSR of Kevin Estre, which had been second to the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo prior to the FCY, suffered a setback when it suffered a damper failure, and had to been pushed into the garage, losing a handful of laps, and rejoining 27th outright. The sister car of the #92 also saw itself struck with trouble, as the #91 Porsche, then piloted by Gianmaria Bruni limped to the pits with a right-front problem and also rapidly slid down the order. This gifted Alessandro Pier Guidi the GTE-Pro lead in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo; however, he made a stop at the end of hour four, giving AMR a 1–2, with #97 ahead of the #95. In GTE-Am, Team Project 1's #57 Porsche 911 RSR led, following Larry ten Voorde's pass on the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche of Michael Wainwright.^[16]

Following the end of the fifth hour, the LMP1 class suffered its first casualty, with the #5 Ginetta being struck down due to a mechanical issue, grinding to a halt on the track. Its sister car, the #6 would pull into the garage at the penultimate hour, resulting in neither Ginetta making it to the end of the race.^[17]

By the end of the race, following the end of the 8th Hour, the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid, driven across the line by

In GTE-Pro, Aston Martin Racing claimed its second GTE-Pro win of the season, in what proved to be a hard-fought race in the desert. Marco Sørensen took the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE across the line, holding a 13.798s lead over the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Miguel Molina, with Molina being slapped with a late-race penalty, that severely impacted the #71's chances at victory.^[21] Initially, a quicker final stop for the Prodrive-run AMR team had put Sørensen out front of Molina in the final hour, following what had been a race-long duel in the desert, between the two manufacturers that went down to the wire, until the final hour. It was at the final hour, where AF Corse's and Molina's victory bid fell apart, when the Spaniard was served a drive-through penalty with just over 30 minutes left on the timer, for a spinning his wheels during his final scheduled stop, effectively handing over the win to Sorensen and his co-driver Nicki Thiim. However, the #71 AF Corse Ferrari of Molina and Davide Rigon was still able deny Aston Martin Racing a 1–2 finish, with Maxime Martin rounding out the class podium in 3rd, in the #97 entry alongside co-driver Alex Lynn. Initially, it was thought that the #97 would be denied third, after Calado in the #51 Ferrari had done an overtake from the outside of Martin, after the restart following the race's second Full Course Yellow, which occurred during the final hour. However, Calado's overtake was later reviewed by race officials, and as the overtake was deemed to have been made beyond track limits, the AF Corse driver was ordered to return the position with 20 minutes remaining on the timer. As a result, Calado and co-driver Alessandro Pier Guidi, were relegated to finishing fourth in class. The duo finished ahead of both Porsches, with the #91 Porsche 911 RSR of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz coming in fifth, falling behind the class pack in the fourth hour with a right-rear puncture, resulting in an unscheduled pit stop. The #92 Porsche, which had entered the weekend as GTE championship leaders, fell out of contention for the race win, with a left-rear damper failure just minutes before the issue on the sister car occurred. The #92 crew of Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen eventually finished sixth, and at the tail end of the Pro class, but seventh in the overall GTE classification in the race, behind the Am class #57 Team Project 1 Porsche.

In GTE-Am,

GTE-Am championship leaders TF Sport, who had been seeking a hat trick of consecutive class wins, to further build up their lead in the standings, was one of just two retirements in the Pro-Am class, with the #90 Aston Martin dropping out of the race, having suffered from a fuel starvation issue with two hours to go to the end.^[22]

Post-Race

Following the race, 2 time FIA World Endurance Champion Sébastien Buemi said that the #8 crew were driving the car in a "survival mode", due to damage arising from various incidents during the race, including that from the opening-lap incident, where Buemi went off-course to avoid Bruno Senna's Rebellion R13, which initially resulted in a nose change in the first pit stop. This earlier setback was compounded later in the race, when Nakajima made contact while attempting to lap a Ferrari 488 GTE car, damaging the Toyota's floor and rear deck, costing the car downforce. Toyota GAZOO Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon also admitted that a 1-2 finish had been unlikely to occur initially, due to the success ballast, and that they had benefited from the LMP1 privateer misfortunes, for the result to be achieved. He also added that the reason the team opted against changing the floor of the car was due to the length of time required to replace it, which could have potentially cost the car its 2nd-placed finish.^[23]

Also in the LMP1 class, third-place finisher Bruno Senna expressed his regret at giving Charlie Robertson in the #5 Ginetta any space while the duo were at turn 2, and felt that he should have had forced Robertson off-track, which would have prevented the 2 from colliding, believing that the collision had destabilized the internal system of the cars, leading to the issue with the car's electronic shifting system, that had ultimately forced it to pit for a lengthy repair during Hour 3. Rebellion Racing team manager Bart Hayden however, appeared to disagree with his driver's opinion, stating that it was a very remote possibility, as the Electronic Shifting Motor had been on the side of the car, away from the Ginetta G60-LT-P1 of Robertson. Senna's co-driver, Gustavo Menezes did not comment on the possibility of the Electronic Shifting Motor failure and the turn 2 incident being linked, although he did agree that the Electronic Shifting Motor failure had cost the team the chance of winning the race, and that without the issue, the team could have caught up on the lost time from the collision.^[24]

Meanwhile, in LMP2, High Class Racing would drop Goodyear as its tyre supplier, with Michelin to supply the team from Lone Star Le Mans onwards. The Danish team would get its first running on Michelin tyres during the post-race test.^[25]

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.^[26]

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired
					Engine
1	LMP1	7	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi José María López	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	M	257	8:01:23.599
					Toyota 2.4L Turbo V6
2	LMP1	8	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima Brendon Hartley	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	M	256	+1 Lap
					Toyota 2.4L Turbo V6
3	LMP1	1	Rebellion Racing	Bruno Senna Gustavo Menezes Norman Nato	Rebellion R13	M	254	+3 Laps
					Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8
4	LMP2	22	United Autosports	Philip Hanson Paul di Resta	Oreca 07	M	249	+9 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
5	LMP2	38	Jota Sport	Roberto González	Oreca 07	G	249	+9 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
6	LMP2	37	Jackie Chan DC Racing	Ho-Pin Tung Gabriel Aubry Will Stevens	Oreca 07	G	248	+9 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
7	LMP2	26	G-Drive Racing	Roman Rusinov Jean-Éric Vergne Job van Uitert	Oreca 07	M	248	+9 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
8	LMP2	36	Signatech Alpine Elf	Thomas Laurent André Negrão Pierre Ragues	Oreca 07	M	248	+9 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
9	LMP2	29	Racing Team Nederland	Giedo van der Garde Frits van Eerd [nl] Nyck de Vries	Oreca 07	M	247	+10 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
10	LMP2	42	Cool Racing	Nicolas Lapierre Antonin Borga Alexander Coigny	Oreca 07	M	245	+12 Laps
					Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8
11	LMP2	33	High Class Racing	Mark Patterson Kenta Yamashita	Oreca 07	G	244	+13 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
12	LMP2	47	Cetilar Racing	Andrea Belicchi Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto	Dallara P217	M	240	+17 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
13	LMGTE Pro	95	Aston Martin Racing	Marco Sørensen Nicki Thiim	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE	M	235	+22 Laps
					Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
14	LMGTE Pro	71	AF Corse	Davide Rigon Miguel Molina	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	M	235	+22 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 4.0L Turbo V8
15	LMGTE Pro	97	Aston Martin Racing	Alex Lynn Maxime Martin	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE	M	235	+22 Laps
					Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
16	LMGTE Pro	51	AF Corse	James Calado Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	M	235	+22 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 4.0L Turbo V8
17	LMGTE Pro	91	Porsche GT Team	Gianmaria Bruni Richard Lietz	Porsche 911 RSR-19	M	233	+24 Laps
					Porsche 4.2L Flat-Six
18	LMGTE Am	57	Team Project 1	Jeroen Bleekemolen Larry ten Voorde Ben Keating	Porsche 911 RSR	M	233	+24 Laps
					Porsche 4.0L Flat 6
19	LMGTE Pro	92	Porsche GT Team	Michael Christensen Kévin Estre	Porsche 911 RSR-19	M	233	+24 Laps
					Porsche 4.2L Flat-Six
20	LMGTE Am	98	Aston Martin Racing	Paul Dalla Lana Darren Turner Ross Gunn	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE	M	233	+24 Laps
					Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
21	LMGTE Am	86	Gulf Racing	Ben Barker Michael Wainwright Andrew Watson	Porsche 911 RSR	M	233	+24 Laps
					Porsche 4.0L Flat 6
22	LMGTE Am	83	AF Corse	Emmanuel Collard Nicklas Nielsen François Perrodo	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	M	232	+25 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 4.0L Turbo V8
23	LMGTE Am	54	AF Corse	Francesco Castellacci Giancarlo Fisichella Thomas Flohr	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	M	232	+25 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 4.0L Turbo V8
24	LMGTE Am	77	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Christian Ried Riccardo Pera Matt Campbell	Porsche 911 RSR	M	231	+26 Laps
					Porsche 4.0L Flat 6
25	LMGTE Am	70	MR Racing	Olivier Beretta Kei Cozzolino Motoaki Ishikawa	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	M	230	+27 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 4.0L Turbo V8
26	LMGTE Am	62	Red River Sport	Bonamy Grimes Charles Hollings Johnny Mowlem	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	M	229	+28 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 4.0L Turbo V8
27	LMGTE Am	56	Team Project 1	Matteo Cairoli David Heinemeier Hansson Egidio Perfetti	Porsche 911 RSR	M	214	+43 Laps
					Porsche 4.0L Flat 6
DNF	LMP1	6	Team LNT	Michael Simpson Chris Dyson Guy Smith	Ginetta G60-LT-P1	M	195	6:15:00.212
					AER P60C 2.4 L Turbo V6
DNF	LMGTE Am	90	TF Sport	Jonathan Adam Charlie Eastwood Salih Yoluç	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE	M	178	7:35:48.349
					Aston Martin 4.0L Turbo V8
DNF	LMP1	5	Team LNT	Charlie Robertson Ben Hanley Jordan King	Ginetta G60-LT-P1	M	143	4:34:13.454
					AER P60C 2.4 L Turbo V6
DNF	LMGTE Am	88	Dempsey-Proton Racing	Thomas Preining Adrien de Leener Khaled Al Qubaisi	Porsche 911 RSR	M	109	3:46:55.748
					Porsche 4.0L Flat 6

References