This 2024 WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain race report was compiled by regular endurance-racing correspondent and motorsport fundi, Dr Nick van der Meulen.

The eighth and final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship took place in Bahrain in hot and humid conditions. As it is to be expected for endurance racing, there was tension and drama throughout the race before the Hypercar drivers’ and manufacturer’s championship was decided. While the first half of the race ran without much incident, the second half of the event was peppered with race stoppages in the form of safety cars and full-course-yellows…

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Porsche Power

Penske Porsche #6 (Estre/Lotterer/L. Vanthoor) was in pole position to take the WEC world title, needing to finish eighth. The three-driver team struggled during qualifying and the first half of the race. They managed to enter a points-paying position for the first time after four hours and worked their way into fourth position in the late stages of the race. Their progress was hampered by safety car interventions and they finished outside the points in 11th place (this later became tenth place and the final point on offer).

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Despite this, they emerged as WEC world champions for 2024. Teammates #5 (Christensen/Makowiecki/Cameron) had a strong outing, leading the field with about 40 minutes remaining. Safety car intervention prevented them from taking victory, finishing on the podium. They lost out to Ferrari #51 on the final lap and had to be content with third position. This became second place following #51 receiving a post-race penalty.

“We had a mega season and won a world championship title in the second year with the Porsche 963,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “Still, it hurts to narrowly miss out on the manufacturers’ championship. Anyone who comes so close to winning that title wants to claim it in the end.”

Manufacturer’s Champions

Toyota had an up-and-down race, after locking out the front row in Hyperpole. Buemi blasted into the lead in Toyota #8 and looked comfortable, before being bumped off the circuit by GT3LM TF Sport Corvette #82. He rejoined in seventh position, but it appeared the car had damage. Later in the race, it was reported that the #8 (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa) had fuel pump issues, similar to the issue that befell #7 at Interlagos. The team rallied together to focus on #8, retiring #7 in the process, which paid off. The #8 used the safety car periods to work their way to the front, sailing past the #5 to take the lead with 40 minutes remaining, which they did not relinquish. Toyota’s victory and Porsche’s third place ensured that Toyota won the 2024 WEC Manufacturer’s championship.

So Close

At some stage during the race, there was a glimmer of hope for Toyota #7 drivers Kobayashi/de Vries to win the driver’s championship. Kobayashi blasted past the #51 to take the lead by half distance. However, the machine was hampered with electronic issues, which worsened as the race progressed. Kobayashi, as team principal, opted to retire the car and focus on the sister car instead – a decision that paid the team dividends.

Strong Finish

Ferrari #51 (Pier Guidi/Giovinazzi/Calado) performed strongly at Bahrain, running at the front of the field for much of the race. The safety car periods did not play into their hands, the #51 slipping back. They recovered strongly at the end of the race, snatching second place from Porsche #5 on the final lap of the 8-hour event. Unfortunately, they were found guilty of exceeding their tyre allocation and they were demoted to 14th and last in class.

Ferrari #50 (Fuoco/Nielsen/Molina) also had an outside chance at the drivers’ world championship, but they had a tough race, running at the back of the Hypercar class for a long time. They ventured into the top ten for a stint, but eventually finished outside the points. AF Corse #83 (Kubica/Ye/Shwartzmann) became the only Ferrari Hypercar team to score points, claiming eighth place following #51’s penalty.

Ending Positively

Peugeot had a hard day at the office, but still managed a positive result. The #94 machine (Duval/di Resta/Vandoorne) ground to a halt at about half distance, bringing out the first safety car. Peugeot #93 (Müller/Vergne/Jensen) finished a remarkable fourth, after running in the bottom half in the Hypercar class in the early stages of the race. This was converted to third place, a fitting end to Nico Müller’s tenure at the marque. Rumours are abound that he may join a Porsche team. He has signed for the Andretti Porsche Formula E squad and may continue in WEC with a customer team.

Alpine did well to have both of its machines finish in the points. The #35 (Gunon/Habsburg/Chatlin) finishing a fine fourth , while #36 (Milesi/Schumacher/Vaxiviere) finished ninth. WRT BMW #15 (Marciello/D. Vanthoor/Wittmann) was classified fifth. Cadillac #2 (Bourdais/Bamber/Lynn) was sixth and JOTA Porsche #38 (Button/Hanson/Rasmussen) seventh. Unfortunately, BMW WRT #20 (Frijns/S. van der Linde/Rast) ran into technical maladies and was forced to retire.

LMGT3 Winners

The LMGT3 class saw Vista AF Corse Ferrari #55 Rovera/Heriau/Mann take victory, after following a strategy that saw them stop once fewer than their rivals. TF Sport Corvette #81 (van Rompuy/Andrade/Eastwood) and United Autosport McLaren #59 (Cottingham/Costa/Saucy) spent the majority of the race at the front of the field, but had to be content with second and sixth in class, respectively. TF Sport Corvette #82 (Koizumi/Baud/Juncadella) finished third, despite having to serve a penalty for hitting Toyota #8 in the first hour. Iron Dames Lamborghini #85 (Frey/Bovy/Gatting) emerged in the lead battle after half distance, but they slipped to finish tenth.

Championship

The top ten finishers in each class score points. There are three points-scoring allocation forms, with different allocations for 6-hour, 8-10-hour and 24-hour events, respectively. Vanthoor/Estre/Lotterer won the WEC and Hypercar world championship with 152 points. They finished ahead of Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen with 115 points and Kobayashi/DeVries, with 113 points. Hartley/Hirakawa/Buemi finished fourth in the standings (109 points) following their victory. Sheldon van der Linde finished the season with 10 points and was classified 27th in the standings.

The Manthey Purerxing drivers Malykhin/Sturm/Bachler won the GT3LM world championship with 139 points. Stable mates Shahin/Schuring/Lietz finished runner up with 105 points. Rovera/Heriau/Mann (97 points) snatched the bronze medal from Farfus/Leung/Gelael (85 points). Kelvin van der Linde (Akkodis Lexus) was classified 23rd in the standings, with 18 points.

New Season

The 2024 WEC world championship closed with a rookie test the day after the final race, at the same circuit. Valentino Rossi impressed driving a BMW Hypercar for the first time. South Africa’s Jordan Pepper had a test behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. Fans will have to wait until the prologue, at Qatar, in mid-February 2025 to see Hypercars and GT3LM at full blast again. The first round of the new season is scheduled for 28 February 2025 for the Qatar 1812 km.