Toyota is literally dominating the 8h of Bahrain, the last event of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship currently in its 2nd hour and with the sun towards sunset on the Sakhir track.
At the start there were immediate shivers due to Earl Bamber locking up on braking in the Cadillac and crashing into Mike Conway’s #7 Toyota, sending it into a spin, with the #6 and #99 Porsches forced to widen.
Behind it, the ruckus broke out between turns 2-3, where the LMP2s of United Autosports #22 and #23, and the Alpine #36 spun, also involving the Vanwall of Tristan Vautier, who was rear-ended by Phil Hanson in the #22 . The latter returned to the pit lane shortly afterwards to serve the Drive Through penalty imposed on her for an infringement detected on Saturday.
Same punishment inflicted on the Porsche #56 of PJ Hyett (Project 1-AO) for having crossed the pit lane at the entrance before the start, while Bamber was stopped for 1′ of Stop&Go for the error at the start, even if the New Zealander reported a problem with your V-Series.R.
The Toyota #8 then found itself free to run away and the excellent Sébastien Buemi led with the classic ‘arm out the window’, also because the Ferraris of Alessandro Pier Guidi (#51) and Miguel Molina (#50) – having exchanged positions after about twenty minutes – they had a slower pace constantly around half a second compared to the GR010 Hybrid.
The confirmation of a disarming supremacy on the part of the Japanese came from Conway, who took just an hour to climb the rankings, repeatedly overtaking all his rivals and gaining 3rd position, undermining Pier Guidi’s place of honor without running unnecessary risks.
Being half a minute from the top, Ferrari is currently trying to keep one foot on the podium with the #51 with the strategy of 3 new tires fitted at the pit stop (front right double stint), even if the Porsches have a pace that can lead them to play with the 499Ps. A wild Will Stevens is fourth with Jota’s 963 #38, having passed Molina’s Red on the straight, which now has the German LMDhs of Team Penske #6 and #5 behind him (also switching in order halfway through the race). second hour), and Proton Competition #99, protagonists of an interesting threesome.
For now, the Peugeots #94 and #93 are struggling in ninth and tenth place, followed by the penalized Cadillac and Vanwall.
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 – Gibson: Ryan Cullen, Matthias Kaiser, Gabriel Aubry
In the LMP2 Class, after the chaos at the start, it was the Oreca of Vector Sport #10 that took the lead by a wide margin, but a technical infringement found by the stewards will force it to serve a 90″ Stop&Go shortly.
On the category podium for the moment there are Prema #9 and WRT #31, while Jota #28 and United Autosports #23 remain in the Top5 in full battle with each other.
The Prema #63 moved up to sixth, pulling behind the WRT #41, whose position is good for now from a championship perspective. Problems in the second hour deprived the Inter Europol Competition #34 of the podium, as Albert Costa was forced to stop to restart his 07-Gibson.
Alpine #35 and #36 complete the Top10, out of which United #22 ended up, penalized 1′ for having rear-ended the Vanwall at the start.
![#60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR - 19: Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni, Alessio Picariello](https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2Gzar5V0/s1000/60-iron-lynx-porsche-911-rsr-1-1.jpg)
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR – 19: Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni, Alessio Picariello
Beautiful duels also in LMGTE AM, where Matteo Cressoni overtook Sarah Bovy after a few laps, running away in a virtual one-two of the Porsches of Iron Lynx/Dames, while the excellent Aston Martins of D’Station are fighting for third place in the category Racing-TF Sport #777 and ORT by TF Sport #25.
However, watch out for the #33 Corvette that Ben Keating is patiently bringing back to the positions that count after making an early first stop and therefore on a different strategy, virtually competing for the Top5 with the #54 AF Corse Ferrari. Behind them is the Aston Martin #98 of NorthWest AMR-Heart of Racing further behind.
The Top 10 is closed by the Porsches of Dempsey-Proton Racing #77 and GR Racing #86, followed by the Ferrari #57 of Kessel-CarGuy Racing. The Porsche #56 of Project 1-AO is 11th after the starting penalty, while the other two Ferraris of AF Corse are down in order.
The #21 spun at the start of the second hour in Turn 1, the #83 had started very well with Luis Pérez Companc, then the South American hit the Peugeot #93, flattening a tire and taking the inevitable Drive Through which relegated him at the rear of the group.
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