WEC
Hartley puts Toyota on pole in Bahrain, Peugeot and Alpine at the back of the pack
Brendon Hartley takes pole in Bahrain - Photo: DPPI
- Toyota takes a valuable point in the fight for the Constructors' Championship. The Japanese manufacturer has in fact signed the Hyperpole of the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the final round of the 2024 season of the WEC, through Brendon Hartley at the wheel of the GR010 Hybrid n°8. With a time of 1:46.714, the New Zealander beat his teammate Nyck de Vries by more than three tenths for a 100% Japanese first line. With this performance, Toyota returns to nine points from Porsche among manufacturers.
- The second line will be formed by the Ferrari #51 and the #99 Proton Competition Porsche. In the fight for the Drivers' title, the #50 Ferrari and the #6 Porsche will start from the third row for what promises to be an eventful start this Saturday at 12:00 (French time).
- After setting the best time in Free Practice 1 and 3, Peugeot did not give any illusions during the qualifications this Friday. The two 9X8s finished in 15th and 17th places. It is not much better for Alpine since the two A424s signed the 14th and 18th times. Coming out too wide at the exit of the last bend during his last attempt, Mick Schumacher set the last time in the Hypercar category. The #93 could however start from the last position in the Hypercar category since its laps #2, #3 and #4 were cancelled for technical infringement.
- In LMGT3, the best time went to Joshua Caygill in 2:02.201 at the wheel of the McLaren 720S Evo No. 95 from the United Autosports team. This is the first pole position of the season for the British manufacturer, which even scored a double since James Cottingham took second place, just two thousandths of a second behind his teammate.
- Frenchman François Hériau completed the podium in the #296 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 55, just 0.166 seconds behind the poleman. Sarah Bovy failed to reach the podium for the Iron Dames, 0.435 seconds off the benchmark time. Aliaksandr Malykhin completed the top five in the Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche 5.
- Among those eliminated in qualifying, we should note the two BMW M4s from Team WRT and the two Ford Mustangs from Proton Competition which did not manage to reach the top ten.
Valentin GLO
Journalist. Endurance reporter (WEC, IMSA, ELMS, ALMS) and sometimes F1 or IndyCar.
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