WEC – Buemi and Davidson joined the circle in Bahrain

The weekend was almost perfect for Toyota at the 6 Hours of Bahrain since the Asian brand took victory with the TS040-Hybrid n°7 of Wurz-Sarrazin-Conway who scored his first success of the season. The No. 8 sister car of Buemi-Davidson was accustomed to the top step of the podium until now, but an alternator failure put an end to the Swiss and Briton's hopes of success.

However, the fifth place of the Audi n°1 of Trélyer-Fässler-Lotterer was not enough to prevent Sébastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson from taking the crown before the final in Sao Paulo (Brazil) played on November 30. The two drivers from the Asian manufacturer become the brand's first world champions since Didier Auriol in the 1994 season. WRC. “I'm really happy, it's a huge feeling to win the World Championship”, said the former pilot Toro Rosso. “It's not the way we wanted, but we're really happy. Win a championship when you are facing Porsche and Audi is a fantastic success story. We had the car to win the race but I'm happy that it was the #7 that won. »

His British teammate shared his enthusiasm, recalling that he has reached the top step four times this season, including twice with Nicolas lapierre who has not driven since the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas). “It was an incredible year. Personally, it is the greatest achievement of my career. I've never been a world champion before this title, so it means a lot to me and I still haven't really realized it. The team did an incredible job and gave us the fastest car. It wasn't exactly the way we wanted to win the title but I'm not complaining. A big thank you to the mechanics today for putting the car back on track, not only the guys from #8 but also the team from #7 who helped us get going again... But there is still work to be done at the Brazil, win the World Manufacturers' Championship. »

Toyota does not have too much to worry about since the Japanese manufacturer is 40 points ahead of Audi, while 44 units remain to be distributed.

Discover the analysis of the 6 Hours of Bahrain carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1987 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.