An encore from Hartley, Buemi and Hirakawa
The Bahrain 8 officially closed the 2023 WEC season, and with the results of the Sakhir weekend also came the latest verdicts of this world championship: Brendon Hartley, Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa they graduated once again world champions in the Hypercar category behind the wheel of Toyota GR010 Hybridthus conquering theirs second consecutive world title. In a race that could still offer world championship chances to the other Toyota of the Conway-Kobayashi-Lopez trio, the Japanese #7 has to settle for the role of vice-champion. On the podium the Ferrari #50 of Fuoco-Nielsen-Molina, in turn followed by their teammates Calado-Giovinazzi-Pier Guidi. The latter, despite the fourth final position, can still boast success in this year’s prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, which coincided with the hundredth edition of the historic French race. A victory that allowed Ferrari to raise one of the most coveted trophies at an international level for the first time since 1965, i.e. 58 years after the last victory.
2023 Drivers Ranking
POS. | # | PILOTS | TEAM | POINTS |
1 | 8 | Hartley-Hirakawa-Buemi | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 172 |
2 | 7 | Conway-Kobayashi-Lopez | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 145 |
3 | 50 | Fire-Nielsen-Molina | Ferrari – AF Corse | 120 |
4 | 51 | Calado-Giovinazzi-Pier Guidi | Ferrari – AF Corse | 114 |
5 | 2 | Bamber-Lynn-Westbrook | Cadillac | 72 |
6 | 6 | Estre-Lotterer-Vanthoor | Porsche Penske | 71 |
7 | 5 | Cameron-Christensen-Makowiecki | Porsche Penske | 61 |
8 | 93 | Jensen-Di Resta-Vergne | Peugeot | 51 |
9 | 38 | Yifei-Da Costa-Stevens | Hertz Jota – Porsche | 38 |
10 | 708 | Dumas Pla | Glickenhaus | 34 |
11 | 94 | Menezes-Duval | Peugeot | 28 |
12 | 708 / 4 | Ryan Briscoe | Glickenhaus – Vanwall | 24 |
13 | 94 | Nico Müller | Peugeot | 22 |
14 | 708 | Franck Mailleux | Glickenhaus | 4 |
15 | 94 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Peugeot | 6 |
16 | 4 | Esteban Guerrieri | Vanwall | 6 |
17 | 4 | Tom Dillmann | Vanwall | 6 |
18 | 4 | Jacques Villeneuve | Vanwall | 6 |
19 | 708 | Nathanael Berthon | Glickenhaus | 4 |
20 | 99 | Bruni-Tincknell-Jani | Proton – Porsche | 4 |
21 | 4 | Tristan Vautier | Vanwall | 0 |
22 | 4 | Joao Paulo de Oliveira | Vanwall | 0 |
Unstoppable Toyota
On the other hand, in the period between the establishment of the LMP1 category and the current Hypercar category, the Toyota doesn’t seem to know a single inflection: from 2018-2019 to todaythe Japanese company is always present at the top of the Constructors’ ranking, with this year’s success (already achieved mathematically before Sakhir) which is equivalent to fifth consecutive of its history in the WEC.
Manufacturers Ranking
POS. | MANUFACTURER | POINTS |
1 | Toyota | 217 |
2 | Ferrari | 161 |
3 | Porsche | 99 |
4 | Cadillac | 79 |
5 | Peugeot | 67 |
6 | Glickenhaus | 36 |
7 | Vanwall | 10 |
The other classes
The 8 Hours of Bahrain also proved decisive for the last championship in the history of LMP2, which will disappear from the championship from next season to remain only for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In this regard, the drivers’ title was won by the Team WRT trio consisting of Rui Andrade, Louis Deletraz and by the former Polish F1 driver Robert Kubica. In LMGTE AM mathematics had already rewarded Nicky Catsburg, Ben Keating and Nicolas Varrone on Corvette Racing, but the 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain will be remembered mainly for the all-female victory of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting, present on the top step of the podium in Sakhir as well as vice-champions of the category.
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