It is the finale of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship. For the second time in as many weeks, we are racing in the Bahrain desert. This time it is the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain, the traditional season ender for the FIA World Endurance Championship. We will be bringing you, the entire race, in hourly reports as usual, but in two halves, focusing on the first four hours, and then, the last four hours. The Kingdom of Bahrain is the title decider. The duel in the desert will see nine of ten titles decided in the eight hours we have coming up, racing from lunchtime, into the darkness. We should see the darkness by the middle of the race. Titles to be decided for Hypercar drivers as well as LMP2 and also GTE-Pro and GTE-Am. This event is a longer race but it won't be as difficult as the six hour race we saw.
Anthony Davidson, our 2014 FIA WEC World Champion, he will be racing his final event of his career today. We will miss him. A driver who has raced for Aston Martin, Peugeot, Toyota, and more. He has also run in Formula 1. The pavement here has never been redone since the track was built in 2004. 17 years of time have made this place extremely rough. 38 points will be the maximum totals this weekend for every class. Again, this is Anthony Davidson's last ever professional event. Davidson knows he has a job to do to try to win a championship. He has a sepcial helmet today that was a total surprise. It is a new Bell helmet that they took their helmet designs and melded them into this new helmet.
Anthony Davidson, returning to LMP2 has given his love of motor racing back to him. Anthony Davidson will still be a test driver for Mercedes in Formula 1. Egidio Perfetti might take a sabbatical after this race is over. We have the two all female teams here and we are going to get more female talent for tomorrow's rookie test. We will have guests during this race and we will hear from a number of lady drivers who will also be in the test session tomorrow. You will hear more about that. This is also going to be Henrik Hedman's final full season race. In GTE-Am, it is a two horse race for drivers and teams. It is #83 AF Corse Ferrari vs. #33 TF Sport Aston Martin. #83 will win the GTE-Am title with a fourth place or better finish.
Toyota won last time out and won the championship for the #7 car. The battle is now for the constructor's championship I believe. The driver's cup is in their back pocket. #8 has nothing to lose so they will push their teammates. Jose Maria Lopez is a champion in several categories. Third in GTE-Pro is the #91 factory Porsche 911 RSR-19 with Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz, and Fred Makowiecki. Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado start second in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari. No Pro team for Aston Martin. They are self funded and not a factory team per se. AMR might come back next year. We will see a boost of the final year of GTE-Pro next year.
Porsche #92 is to be driven today by Kevin Estre, Michael Christensen, and Michael Christensen. Drivers points are equal between Porsche #92 and Ferrari #51. Ferrari has their two-driver team while Porsche fields three drivers. An extra driver will help. One of the LMP2 championship contenders is the #28, with Tom Blomqvist, Sean Gelael, and Stoffel Vandoorne. Tatiana Calderon, Beitske Visser, and Sophia Floresch are back for the full-season #1 Richard Mille Oreca. Dennis Andersen, Anders Fjordbach, and Robert Kubica are in the #20 High Class Racing Oreca. Watch for the #29 Racing Team Nederland Oreca.
That car will have Frits van Eerd, Giedo van der Garde, and Job van Uitert driving as we hear the Bahrain national anthem before the race begins. Second spot in LMP2, the #70 RealTeam Racing Oreca with Esteban Garcia, Norman Nato, and Loic Duval. Nico Lapierre will start the #36 Alpine A480 hypercar, a car that will be back next year with a new car to come in 2024. Kazuki Nakajima is the other driver who is departing, retiring after this race is over. He is sharing the #8 with Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. On pole is Toyota #7 with Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez, and Kamui Kobayashi as we welcome Allan McNish into the commentary booth with Martin Haven and Graeme Goodwin.
Retirement from racing comes after it is finished of course. Charles Milesi has really been able to prove himself in LMP2 and has gotten quicker and quicker and quicker. Milesi has been racing with a couple different teams this year already. We will be watching the Ferrari vs. Porsche battle in GTE-Pro. That is going to be massive. Whoever finishes ahead wins the World Championship. Toyota #7 does not have to win this race to win the title, but they want to win anyway. This is the final race of the year and this event is very different from the six hour event we saw last weekend. We start in baking heat and finish in the darkness. Green flag, and the cars roll away off the grid.
All 31 cars get away safely. Claudio Schiavoni starts caboose on the field. Almost all GTE-Am cars have gentleman drivers starting. The cars are on their warmup laps. The field lines up behind the Porsche safety car. It is time to start the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Red lights on. Red lights out. Away we go for the final time in 2021! The Toyota's thought they would lead but Alpine gets past and there's loads of action in LMP2 already as we see Ferrari leading GTE-Pro. The Toyota's are beginning to motor. This LMP2 scrum is on. Loic Duval vs. Phil Hanson and more. We see Beitske Visser being passed by Roberto Gonzalez.
One lap done and dusted. Alpine are leading the Toyota's. They want the Toyota's to work hard for the win and not have it all their own way. Oh dear!. Ben Keating has a left front tire puncture right through the final turn before he gets to pit lane. Giedo van der Garde is leading Norman Nato. Francois Perrodo could be within striking distance of the GTE-Am title. James Calado is holding up Gianmaria Bruni. #92 and #51 are the title contenders so the other two cars for each team respectively, will defend. Now, Ben Keating gets a new tire but the rim of the wheel was machined off as well. There was contact between two of the Aston Martin's. Paul Dalla Lana had a flat right rear tire as well! Yikes!
Sean Gelael is being monstered by Ferdinand Habsburg. Dalla Lana will not lose a lap to the other GTE-Am contenders. Paul Dalla Lana sharing with Brazilian's Augusto Farfus and Marcos Gomes. Now then, the GTE-Pro scrum continues as Miro Konopka also runs ahead in the #44 ARC Bratislava LMP2 entry. Ferrari has the run on the Porsche for the GTE-Pro lead. Done and dusted. How much will they take out of their tires in the early going? That question is irrelevant. Track position will be mega. That's extremely important. Kevin Estre was able to nurse his tires in last weekend's six hour event. Ferrari also have all the oomph back that they didn't have last weekend, but it is wheel to wheel as James Calado now goes for the lead of the motor race here.
Into the hairpin they go, ripping the tires to shreds. Gianmaria Bruni has to protect Kevin Estre. First and fourth win the title over second and third. If this race ended now, Ferrari would sweep. But we have seven hours plus to go. Alpine lead from Toyota. No one has gotten on the horn to the Toyota yet and said, "we have to pass." Toyota are content to wait for Alpine to hit the pit lane for fuel. Toyota are going to be nursing their tires so they don't get knackered. Ferdinand Habsburg wants by Roberto Gonzalez. Nine points is the difference in the LMP2 title fight. That is between WRT and Jota. Car #51 must give an overtaken position back. Information to the pit lane.
The Aston Martin's were delayed and they will soon go a lap down. Ben Keating and company are going to have a long race. Keating sharing with Dylan Pereira and Felipe Fraga. Estre is keeping a watching brief and there you go, as Estre is pressing past Calado althougn Gianmaria Bruni wants a bite of the cherry as well in the esses down the hill. Daniel Serra in the second Ferrari is pressing on well, too. Serra sharing with Miguel Molina. Nico Lapierre still leads over the Toyota's, with the Alpine. We are also watching the seriosu scrum in LMP2. Giedo van der Garde is pulling away from some of the other field in LMP2. Roberto Gonzalez is really going for it in this stint and he is the gentleman driver. It is not his prime job to be a racing driver.
Phil Hanson is trying his best to control his tires. Control and protect the tires through the first stint. Your tire will never forget the abuse and will pay you back for it. This is a quote from Anthony Davidson and he is right. The Aston Martin shemozzle earlier is a racing incident. So, Mike Conway is just now starting to reel in Nico Lapierre. In GTE-Pro, the cars are flying... Am, excuse me. Tomonobu Fujii has made his way by Katherine Legge. Aston Martin vs. Ferrari with another Ferrari of Roberto Lacorte ahead. We saw Francesco Castellaci lead last weekend. But it is a role reversal this weekend. Francesco Castellaci is down the order compared to last weekend.
Sebastien Buemi is told to look after the right rear tire. More tire being used by #7. Nico Lapierre still leads but the Toyota's are bearing down on him. Sebastien Buemi must look after the right rear tire and Mike Conway sails past into the lead of the motor race. This is important to put the #36 car between the two Toyota's. The Alpine is losing rear tire grip. The Toyota can unleash their hybrid boost at 120 kilometers an hour and above. Buemi must go for second if he wants to compete for the title or the #7 is going to be whistling off into the distance. Nico Lapierre is not that friendly dog that rolls over to have his tummy rubbed. He is going to nip at the heels of the Toyota's.
For Toyota #8, they can only win if the sister car runs into trouble. Ferdinand Habsburg sends it late. The Hypercar's and the LMP2 cars, they give you real tunnel vision. The Toyota's are getting caught up in GTE-Am traffic. Sebastien Buemi chops the nose off a Porsche through traffic, look. Ferdinand Habsburg moves to fourth in LMP2. Toyota's can race each other as long as they don't wreck each other. So, Francesco Castellaci is trying his level best to pass Katherine Legge in the #85 Iron Lynx Iron Dames Ferrari. Castellaci has the advantage followed by Legge and Francois Perrodo. Egidio Perfetti is being monstered by Khaled al Qubaisi, former winner here in Bahrain in GTE-Am.
Ferdinand Habsburg is now right in the middle past Loic Duval. Good, clean pass. Renger van der Zande is moving in on this group in the #34 Inter Europol LMP2 car. van der Zande sharing with Alex Brundle and Jakub Smiechowski. Katherine Legge is still under pressure from Francois Perrodo and in turn, Khaled al Qubaisi, he is really pressing hard and has left Egidio Perfetti in the dust. A warning flag for the #33 and #98 Aston Martin's of Ben Keating and Paul Dalla Lana, taking the Aston Martin's out of the GTE-Am battle. Keating and company need to win and Francois Perrodo must finish fifth or worse so that the #33 TF Sport team can win the championship.
Francois Perrodo tries Katherine Legge. No dice. Ferrari showing a lot more pace this weekend than they did in the six hour race last weekend. Phil Hanson will have his hands full with Ferdinand Habsburg fairly soon. By the same token, he has to stay ahead of Sean Gelael and Habsburg is told to not push the tires too hard. At Jota, the deal is, well, we don't really know what the deal is. We're not hearing it. Sean Gelael and company lead by two points from WRT in LMP2. Gelael says that his tires are not performing probably in the window he wants. He is protecting the tires. Both Jota cars are starting their lower rated drivers. #28 at Jota lead the drivers' standings over WRT by two points and the reverse is true in the teams' cup by five points for LMP2.
We will have to see who wins after the checkered flag falls today. Charles Milesi is their Silver rated driver and is quick on his own merit. In GTE-Pro one team has to beat the other and the same is true in LMP2. Khaled al Qubaisi has passed Francois Perrodo and is now battling with Katherine Legge. Everyone is going two or three wide in this LMP2 scrap. Habsburg slides to the inside and here comes the #38 Jota car as Loic Duval has to be hung out to dry and Renger van der Zande, too, pushes his way forward. Giedo van der Garde has a lead of 14 seconds through 17 laps! Jeepers creepers! The GTE-Am battle is alive too. Roberto Lacorte vs. Tomonobu Fujii. Ferrari and Cetilar Racing vs. Aston Martin and D'station Racing.
Phil Hanson gets block passed by Charles Milesi. Renger van der Zande now is right on Roberto Gonzalez's six. Habsburg is pulling the gap away from Phil Hanson. These drivers are running in the 1:55 range for LMP2 lap times. GTE-Pro, meantime, #92 leads at Porsche over the #51 Ferrari. Ferrari need to be in front if they want to win and sweep the whole table. Right now, Porsche are in the pound seats early on. Kevin Estre spoke about Porsche being able to use a different tire compound in the latter stages of the race when the temperature cools off. Tomonobu Fujii is still reeling in Roberto Lacorte in GTE-Am as the LMP2 cars are flying towards the GTE-Am traffic.
Jakub Smiechowski is suited and booted. Renger van der Zande passes but here comes Sean Gelael. Renger van der Zande has to give it up. His two team mates can mathematically win the LMP2 championship with dramas for others. Gelael to the inside with traffic ahead. Roberto Gonzalez running through the traffic allows Sean Gelael to move in. Now, Roberto Lacorte is pressing hard as well, look, with Tomonobu Fujii still there. Fujii is closing in. The #33 TF Sport Aston Martin is a lap down. Gonzalez is really driving well as we watch Francois Perrodo scrapping again with Katherine Legge.
The gap is two and a half seconds between the two Toyota's while we see Porsche beating Ferrari in the championship as it stands over their team cars for each team. It is possible Porsche could go 1-2 and sweep everything. We shall see. Katherine Legge gets into turn one hot and loses time. She is passed by Christian Ried and others. Ried is the only driver to have raced in every single FIA WEC race since the series began almost a decade ago now. 40 minutes now on the board. A long, long, long way to go. Jota and Racing Team Nederland are both prepping for pit stops. If you bully your tires early, there will be payback later.
Alpine did longer stints last weekend than they expected to. LMP2 cars will be in the lane and they are now as Sean Gelael hits the pit lane. Gelael sharing with Tom Blomqvist and Stoffel Vandoorne. Tires at the ready and they will go on only on the left side. The left side tires get abused most around here as we see Tomonobu Fujii taking the lead in GTE-Am and he is pulling away. Fujii taking no prisoners as Roberto Lacorte gets snipped after being distracted by a Hypercar. Fujii san was going for it. So, Mike Conway now leads by four seconds and we have the #29 of Giedo van der Garde in the lane, 20+ seconds up the road but we also have WRT and more in the lane while Phil Hanson takes the lead in LMP2.
Phil Hanson is looking after his tires. Giedo van der Garde rejoins the race. RealTeam in the lane for left side tires and Loic Duval is back on track. No tires for WRT and Ferdinand Habsburg stalled on the pit stop. Inter Europol get the bonus and they move ahead as they didn't bother to take tires. Henrik Hedman now is third n class in LMP2 with Phil Hanson and others. Trouble for the Alpine! A control, alt, delete for Nico Lapierre. He has problems with the car. The engine has gone sour perhpas. This is a major problem for Alpine and the #8 Toyota will also be in a pickle here. This Alpine issue cannot be fuel. #22 has pitted and Henrik Hedman now peels off.
It sounds like the gearbox has gone on the #36. There was clearly a ka-chunk sound. It is a mechanical issue. Juan Pablo Montoya replaces Henrik Hedman at the wheel of the #21 DragonSpeed LMP2 entry. Phil Hanson is now ahead of Ferdinand Habsburg and Renger van der Zande has leapfrogged a number of the LMP2 contenders. Beitske Visser moves ahead in the #1 Richard Mille Racing car. Driver out of the Alpine. It could very well be for a driver change, but, it could also mean game over. We shall see. Matthieu Vaxiviere is getting behind the wheel.
Racing Team Nederland now moves up a place as the LMP2 leader. Gearbox trouble for the Alpine it looks like. So, Ferdinand Habsburg is cruising now. He has 40 minutes to go on the tires as Loic Duval can pounce on him with Porsche's all in the way. Those are GTE-Am Porsche's of course. Everyone was stretched on tires in the six hour race last weekend. There's more of a cushion, with more available tires, for this race, for the eight hour race. Suffer in the heat and then throw the new tires at the car later on in the race as the weather (relatively) cools down.
Kevin Estre continues leading James Calado in GTE-Pro. Almost always, we see Alessandro Pier Guidi starting the race is really pulling the weight. Juan Pablo Montoya meanwhile, moves ahead of Miro Konopka. Wow. Alpine are ready to come back out. Hopefully their issues are fixed. Matthieu Vaxiviere at the wheel of it as the car returns to the speedway. Drive through penalty for the #777 GTE-Am leading Aston Martin for contact with the #47 Cetilar Rscing Ferrari. We have a lead change potentially, and it is the Ferrari and Porsche battle in GTE-Pro that we are watching.
Kevin Estre is managing the pace to keep ahead of Daniel Serra in the sister Ferrari. But Serra is managing fuel and tires and running behind right now. Fujii san had pushed the #47 Ferrari and so he will serve a penalty just announced, as a drive through, by Race Director Edoardo Freitas. Nico Lapierre says that the gearbox was having issues with upshifting and downshifting. There were parts changed and hopefully the car is running smoothly now. A very frustrating circumstance for the French team. #777 takes their drive through penalty. Take your medicine and get back after it. Cetilar Racing are also dropping down. Chang for the GTE-Pro lead as James Calado passes Kevin Estre and we have the leading #7 Toyota in the lane and so is Gianmaria Bruni in Porsche #91.
Calado caught Estre by surprise with his move we have just seen. That's a good pass and ooh, a little touch there, too, look. Toyota #8 pits and we have Mike Wainwright spun in the Porsche. Slow down there, you little whatsit. Francesco Castellaci wants by Roberto Lacorte and he will make the move. Aston Martin #98 of Paul Dalla Lana is a lap down now. We have no tires for Toyota.
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