Toyota runs 1-2 in 8 Hours of Bahrain at halfway

Leading #7 Toyota
Leading #7 Toyota

As it has done since the opening lap, the #7 Toyota driven by Jose Maria Lopez currently leads the #8 Toyota driven by Kazuki Nakajima at the halfway point of the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain World Endurance Championship race. They have a 2-lap lead on the third place car of Ben Hanley.

The #22 United Autosports entry driven by Felipe Albuquerque leads the LMP2 class the #97 Aston Martin leads the #51 AF Corse Ferrari in GTE-Pro.

The #5 Team LNT Ginetta is up to third but two laps down, after the #1 Rebellion suffered gearbox and suspension issues in the third hour which forced the team to pit the R-13 for repairs. The issue, according to the team, was caused by the damage sustained from the contact with the #5.

“I think the Ginetta missed a memo that’ it’s an eight hour race," a disgruntled Bruno Senna said of the incident with Charlie Robertson (who later apologized for his misjudgment).

“I didn’t do anything, I didn’t squeeze him off the track and he hit me, it dropped me to dead last. We have damage on the car, there’s something going on with the suspension, it’s not ideal. We’re going to have to do something very special here to win. The fighting spirit is still on."

In LMP2, United’s ORECA continues to dominate, the British team now holding a comfortable lead over the G-Drive Racing Aurus which has successfully fought back from its tire issue in the opening hour. The #38 JOTA ORECA is the first of the Goodyear runners in third.

GTE Pro has been the most action packed of the four classes so far in this one, with door-to-door, nose-to-tail action between the three marques for multiple lengthy sequences. But the biggest headline is that disaster has struck Porsche.

Just before the halfway mark, within the space of 10 minutes, both GTE Pro Porsches hit trouble.

The #92 came in with mechanical trouble first. “Kevin Estre reported some issues with car behavior in last two laps, so we had to look at the car, we’ve had to change a damper," Michael Christensen said.

Moments later the #91 was also forced to pit for a puncture.

“I don’t know what happened as I was out of the car, after the stop Gianmaria (Bruni) reported a puncture, we have damage on the underfloor now. Now the time lost is so much that it’s just about finishing," Richard Lietz explained.

Currently the #95 Aston Martin leads after a rollercoaster race so far, ahead of the two AF Corse Ferraris (the #71 leading the #51) and the #97 Aston Martin. Both Porsches are now off the lead lap.

Running Order at 4 Hours (Halfway)

POS CLASS CL P No. TEAM CURRENT DRIVER LAPS BEHIND PITS STATUS
1 LMP1 1 #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Jose Maria Lopez 127 0.000s 5 Running
2 LMP1 2 #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Kazuki Nakajima 127 1:08.632 5 Running
3 LMP1 3 #5 Team LNT Ben Hanley 125 2 LAPS 7 Running
4 LMP1 4 #1 Rebellion Racing Norman Nato 124 3 LAPS 6 Running
5 LMP1 5 #6 Team LNT Michael Simpson 123 4 LAPS 6 Running
6 LMP2 1 #22 United Autosports Filipe Albuquerque 123 15.096 6 Running
7 LMP2 2 #26 G-Drive Racing Roman Rusinov 123 1:03.470 5 Running
8 LMP2 3 #38 Jota Roberto Gonzalez 122 5 LAPS 6 Running
9 LMP2 4 #37 Jackie Chan Dc Racing Ho-Pin Tung 122 5.148 6 Running
10 LMP2 5 #36 Signatech Alpine Elf Thomas Laurent 122 53.711 5 Running
11 LMP2 6 #29 Racing Team Nederland Frits Van Eerd 121 6 LAPS 6 Running
12 LMP2 7 #33 High Class Racing Mark Patterson 121 12.466 6 Running
13 LMP2 8 #42 Cool Racing Alexandre Coigny 121 27.155 5 Running
14 LMP2 9 #47 Cetilar Racing Andrea Belicchi 120 7 LAPS 6 Running
15 GTE Pro 1 #97 Aston Martin Racing Maxime Martin 117 10 LAPS 3 Running
16 GTE Pro 2 #51 AF Corse Ferrari Alessandro Pier Guidi 117 6.636 4 Running
17 GTE Pro 3 #95 Aston Martin Racing Marco Sorensen 117 10.978 4 Running
18 GTE Pro 4 #71 AF Corse Ferrari Davide Rigon 116 11 LAPS 4 Running
19 GTE Am 1 #57 Team Project 1 Larry Ten Voorde 115 12 LAPS 4 Running
20 GTE Am 2 #86 Gulf Racing Michael Wainwright 115 39.462 4 Running
21 GTE Am 3 #98 Aston Martin Racing Ross Gunn 114 13 LAPS 4 Running
22 GTE Pro 5 #91 Porsche GT Team Gianmaria Bruni 114 12.959 5 Running
23 GTE Am 4 #77 Dempsey – Proton Christian Ried 114 37.301 4 Running
24 GTE Am 5 #54 AF Corse Thomas Flohr 114 48.557 4 Running
25 GTE Am 6 #90 TF Sport Jonathan Adam 114 54.085 4 Running
26 GTE Am 7 #83 AF Corse Francois Perrodo 114 1:12.595 4 Running
27 GTE Pro 6 #92 Porsche GT Team Kevin Estre 114 1:13.242 5 Running
28 GTE Am 8 #70 Mr Racing Motoaki Ishikawa 113 14 LAPS 4 Running
29 GTE Am 9 #62 Red River Sport Bonamy Grimes 113 30.736 5 Running
30 GTE Am 10 #88 Dempsey – Proton Khaled Al Qubaisi 109 18 LAPS 4 Running
31 GTE Am 11 #56 Team Project 1 David Heinemeier-Han 97 30 LAPS 5 Running