Toyota preserved the suspense for Bahrain

Toyota Gazoo Racing semble avoir à coeur de terminer la saison 2016 du WEC sur une bonne note. Après avoir décroché sa première victoire de la saison sur ses terres à Fuji le 16 octobre, le constructeur japonais a réalisé un beau tir groupé en plaçant ses deux TS050 Hybrid sur le podium derrière la Porsche n°1 de Bernhard-Hartley-Webber.

However, the race was not a cakewalk for the No. 6 Toyota Conway-Sarrazin-Kobayashi, the only one able to compete for the Drivers' title with the No. 2 Porsche of Dumas-Jani-Lieb, since it was slowed down by two punctures. The crew in second place in the Championship still managed to secure second place, helped by respecting the team instructions of Davidson's sister car-Buemi-Nakajima.

“It was a good race for us, even if it’s not worth our victory in Fuji, admitted Stéphane Sarrazin. We were competitive this weekend and we proved that the car was capable. We were unlucky with these punctures. Who knows what we could have done without it? I remain very satisfied because we remain in the fight for the title even if it will not be easy to regain 17 points (on the No. 2 Porsche in Bahrain). »

The No. 5 sister car got its first podium of the season after coming close at Fuji, already taking 4th place.

“It was a very difficult season and we are even more happy to be on the podium, commented Sébastien Buemi. We knew we could be competitive racing here and we were. We just weren't fast enough to match the #1 Porsche. We are confident for Bahrain where we should also perform well. »

Discover the analysis of the 6 Hours of Shanghai carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2088 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.