WEC: Toyota 1-2 in Bahrain qualifying

Brendon Hartley beat Toyota teammate Kamui Kobayashi to take pole position for the World Endurance Championship finale at Bahrain on Saturday.

Hartley took pole position with a lap of 1m46.564s in the #8 GR010 HYBRID he shares with Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa.

Kamui Kobayashi completed a one-two for the team, 0.489secs behind in the #7 GR010 HYBRID he drives alongside Mike Conway and José María López.

A second pole of the season for the #8 GR010 HYBRID extends their lead in the title race to 16 points over their #7 team-mates. A podium finish for Sébastien, Brendon and Ryo in Saturday’s race will therefore guarantee they retain the drivers’ World Championship.

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R team will kick off the 8 Hours of Bahrain race from the third position on the grid, thanks to their impressive performance today in the Hypercar qualifying session. The team’s previous best qualifying result was fourth at Spa-Francorchamps in April.

Alex Lynn, serving as the qualifying driver for the third race in a row, clocked a fastest lap time of 1:47.265 on his third of five total laps, which was 0.701 seconds away from the pole sitter.

“It was a really positive day,” said Lynn afterward. “Really happy for Cadillac Racing. We were quick on one lap and we were quick on the long run, too. I’m proud of our team and we’re motivated to have a good day tomorrow. I’m excited to have a good race because I think we’re going to have a good one and challenge for the podium.”

Fourth was the No.6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar qualified by Kevin Estre.

Ferrari AF Corse take fifth and sixth as the No. 50 (Antonio Fuoco) 499P heads the No.51 (Alessandro Pier Guidi) at the wheel of the Ferrari 499P Hypercar.

·The rest of Hypercar grid was completed by: No.5 Porsche Penske, Proton Competition Porsche, Hertz Team Jota, No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies, No.94 Peugeot TotalEnergies and Floyd Vanwall Hypercar.

After rain and high winds on Thursday, qualifying began on a warm, dry evening soon after sunset. Both GR010 HYBRIDs chose the medium compound Michelin tyres and waited three minutes in the pits before beginning their qualifying attempts. Brendon, who took pole last year in Bahrain, was the first GR010 HYBRID out on track, followed soon after later by Kamui, the lap Hypercar lap record holder at this circuit.

After warming tires for two laps, Brendon immediately moved to the top of the timing sheets with his first flying lap while Kamui moved into provisional second place. Both set faster first sectors on the following lap but, with tire degradation particularly high in Bahrain, soon headed back to the pits, with for the final moments of the 15-minute session.

None of the 10 other Hypercar competitors, on hard compound tires, could get close to their pace and qualifying finished with Brendon on pole from Kamui, meaning an all GR010 HYBRID front row for Saturday’s race, which starts at 2pm local time (4pm CET).

LMP2 Qualifying saw IndyCar-bound Tom Blomqvist boss the session, setting a 1:52.290 to take pole by two-tenths of a second in the #23 United Autosports ORECA.

“Fantastic job by the guys – we had some work to do after yesterday, and the #23 crew have really put it together,” Blomqvist said. “Credit to them. It’s a pleasure to drive a well-handling race car in qualifying conditions.

“I couldn’t have asked for much more. That’s two poles for me this season, and Olly [Jarvis] got the pole in Sebring at the first race of the year. Unfortunately, we’ve had some bad luck along the way in the races, and the championship hasn’t worked out the way we hoped … but tomorrow, we’ll go for the win!”

The #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR 19 will start the final GTE race tomorrow from pole position after a stellar 1:58.692 tour of the circuit from Sarah Bovy.

Bovy’s time, set with just under five minutes to go, was challenged in the final minutes of the session, but nobody could snatch the top spot from the Belgian, who finishes the season with three pole positions to her name.

Liam Talbot, the late addition to D’Station Racing’s driver line-up, came closest with a 1:58.982. The time came on his final flying lap, vaulting the #777 Vantage from fourth to a spot on the front row.

This lap dropped the ORT by TF Sport Aston Martin to third on the grid after Ahmad Al Harthy’s efforts. Takeshi Kimura steered the #57 Ferrari to fourth.

Ben Keating, who briefly sat top early in the session, will start tomorrow’s race from fifth in the title-winning #33 Corvette Racing C8.R.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “Congratulations to Brendon, he did an amazing lap to get pole position. It didn’t work well for me and, to be honest, I did a better lap in practice compared to qualifying. I was a bit surprised with the lap time and I’m not sure what happened. But we are still second on the grid, and it’s an eight-hour race so tomorrow is what really matters. In terms of the championship, it doesn’t change anything for our car. We have to win, so we approach the race in the same way as always. It will be a long race, with a lot of tire degradation and many things can happen. We will do our best.”

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “I was determined to be on pole, and I am so happy to achieve it. The car felt great. The team did an amazing job to get all the settings right for me. It’s a tricky track for qualifying because you only really get one lap, so everything has to come together. My lap didn’t feel perfect but it was very clean. It is an important pole because of the World Championship point, that’s why the team put a lot of emphasis on qualifying and why we used the medium tires. The point could be crucial because it means even if car #7 wins, we can finish third and still win the title. But we don’t approach the race any different to normal; we have to go for the victory. The race starts have been action packed this year so starting from pole is the place to be.”

Alex Lynn (Driver car #2) “It was a really positive day,” said Lynn afterward. “Really happy for Cadillac Racing. We were quick on one lap and we were quick on the long run, too. I’m proud of our team and we’re motivated to have a good day tomorrow. I’m excited to have a good race because I think we’re going to have a good one and challenge for the podium.”

Qualifying Results