Alessio Rovera is indeed in the pit lane. He leads the LMP2 Pro-Am battle. Algarve Pro are running close behind Rovera. That is the #45 Algarve Pro Racing car with Aussie James Allen at the wheel of it, sharing alongside Austrian Rene Binder and American Steven Thomas. ARC Bratislava are still running but have just now come back on track after spending time in the garage. We are also watching the GTE-Am scrap for third place between the #56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Gunnar Jeanette and the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage with Henrique Chaves, the Portuguese driver, still behind the wheel. Chaves is actually the meat in the sandwich between both Project 1 Porsche's with the sister #46 car running directly behind. I have no idea who is at the wheel of #46, however.
I cannot be absolutely sure if it is Matteo Cairoli, Nicky Leutwiler, or Mikkel Pedersen. ARC Bratislava lost seven laps while being serviced in the garage. The battle for fourth in LMP2 rages on as we speak, between Antonio Felix da Costa, and Phil Hanson. Hanson has fresher tires. Meanwhile, Jota Sport have indeed posted onto Twitter, the official delivery to the commentary box of their recently published new book, "JOTA For Dummies"! Thanks, guys! That really well help us out! Cheers, everyone. Blimey! Blue flags not being signified as an approaching LMP2 but for the car in front. Meanwhile, Hirakawa is almost 18 seconds behind Kobayashi in the internecine Toyota battle at the top of the tree. We are informed by an astute Twitter follower of the WEC that the minimum drive time of the GTE Am class in an eight-hour event is two hours and 20 minutes.
Too many damn rules for simpletons like us who just talk about this stuff as we go back onboard the #94 Peugeot 9X8. It is catching up with the rest of the Hypercars, Loic Duval at the wheel of it. This section of the circuit asks for a lot from both ends of the car. This is a very tricky circuit here in Bahrain and you need patience. We see a lot of sparks off the bottom of the car. Slowing the car down and turning is tricky and when the corner tightens at the end is even more difficult. It is extremely demanding.
The stony, super abrasive surface, and the heat of the desert. This track is so punishing to the tires. We'll get back to that in a moment. Right now, the leading Toyota's are the only two of the five Hypercars on the lead lap. #7 ahead of #8 with the #36 Alpine in third spot followed by both of the Peugeot's. #7 has 18 and a half seconds in hand over #8 in Toyota land, currently. 152 laps completed, totaling 511 miles so far. You have to babysit the tires through your stint and make sure they are there at the end. Meanwhile, the battle for second spot in LMP2 rages on between Robert Kubica in the #9 Prema Orlen Team car and the #23 United Autosports entry in the hands of Oliver Jarvis.
This is getting closer and closer. The #54 Ferrari of Nick Cassidy is being warned by driver lineups. Excuse me, track limits, not driver limits. Nicholas! That's how his dear mom would refer to him finding about the track limits infringement. Nicholas, what did I tell you about going outside track limits? Keep it on the tarmac, please. OK. That was hilarious! It won't be long until the #94 Peugeot is closing up again as Jean Marc Finot, head of motorsports at Stellantis, looks on. Peugeot Sport is part of that group.
Ooh. That's a tasty looking sandwich! It appears the sack lunches being given to the teams and to the commentators are the same. I think that is a ham and cheese. Factory Porsche #92 in the pit lane for routine service in this final event in WEC history for the GTE Pro class. In 2023 we will see only GTE Am and then, by 2024, I believe, or have heard rumblings, that the GT3 cars will become a part of FIA WEC. We'll see how that is going to develop. Peugeot were expecting a trouble-free race, but it has not materialized that way as the Porsche 911 RSR-19 exits and the #93 Peugeot 9X8 is in the lane now. Peugeot seem quietly confident in this race and then for what is to come in the next season.
Peugeot are changing tires and through the winter they have to be honest about raising their game over the winter. We thought the LMP2 battle was for the lead. It isn't. It is the battle for second. So, Oliver Jarvis moves to secod spot just ahead of the #9 Prema car of Robert Kubica, as Robin Frijns leads for WRT in the #31 car. Peugeot are lacking for experience in racing before the start of next season in 2023. Could they consider Daytona? They might want to. Although I don't know if IMSA will let them in.
The light is gone, and the air temperature drops slightly but the track temperature is fairly consistent. It is a hot and humid evening. Loic Duval in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 does have air conditioning so he is comfortable in the car. That is something the Toyota drivers do not have in either car. Duval was clearly given a signal to exit the pit lane but then slammed on the brakes when the car controller had not lifted the pit board. The car was still connected, and the mechanic wanted to go ahead and change the tires. That was a massive miscue. They are still a test team, not a race team, yet.
They will get there. Toyota in the lane and that is Kamui Kobayashi. In replay, we see a massive smoke cloud out the back of the Peugeot #93. That's a massive brake locking episode from Mikkel Jensen. Meanwhile, we return for chapter two of the Robert Kubica and Oliver Jarvis story. We are still looking ahead to find out where the shape of the 2023 FIA WEC grid goes. Jota are reserving their options to run new, fresh left side Michelin tires. United, Prema, and WRT will have a harder time getting to the end of the motor race on the tire allocation.
Extra grip gives a driver so much more confidence as Oliver Jarvis is reeling in Robert Kubica again. The #88 GTE Am Porsche is in the pit lane, presumably for scheduled service. Fred Poordad sharing with Patrick Lindsey and Jan Heylen. Fuel in the tank and left side tires. They are languishing way down in 38th place. Patrick Lindsey an ex-champion. He was the very first champion in a GT car from the United States in the World Endurance Championship and shall be joined on the roll of honor by Ben Keating. Here is the #33 TF Sport Aston as Henrique Chaves has fnished his stint.
The LMP2 lead battle continues producing much excitement. Frijns vs. Jarvis. How do drivers who compete in other series do this championship as well? Are they limited in time for testing? In LMP2 there is very little testing. The Hypercars are the only ones who do long distance testing at tracks like Paul Ricard or Aragon. The testing is nowhere near as rigorous in other championships compared to LMP1 and Hypercar now. Ben Keating has cooled down. But yes, it is demanding on your time to run in multiple sports car championships.
Whoever pays you the most, that is the team that becomes your priority and you fit other programs, other opportunities to drive, around that main objective. Jarvis is closing on Kubica and fast. Jarvis' leader lights are confusing. But it is clear he is third. This was last seen in 2016 in the battle in GTE Pro between Ford with the Ford GT and Risi Competizione with their factory Ferrari 488 GTE at the time when one of the cars had a dud position light. The Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE is in the pit lane. Sarah Bovy has been persuaded to get out of the car to hand off to one of her teammates.
David Pittard, before he pitted, brought the gap down from 48 seconds to ten seconds. Great hearing the turbo on the Ferrari, with the chatter of the wastegate. In 2012, the first visit here for Toyota, the car was a development car in LMP1. The number panel failed and that car was not a serviceable race car. The team had to change the whole number panel. Audi really raised the game in terms of serviceability. Audi had basic details like a race car prep bay in the factory was mirrored in the garage. They relentlessly practiced changing parts on their cars.
Ferrari #52 is serviced and sent. This is the Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Davide Rigon car. #52 only had the rear tires changed. Ferrari have built up a stock of tires for later but at the same time Porsche has done the same thing and yet, they are out of touch to the Ferrari's. Kubica and Jarvis continue their battle. Molina is driving #52 and earlier we did see Antonio Fuoco chasing down James Calado. Oliver Jarvis still chasing Robert Kubica. Catching is one thing but passing is a completely different kettle of fish. Whoa! Look out! Robert Kubica runs wide over the curbs and onto the paint on the outside of the circuit and this is going to be manna from heaven for Phil Hanson allowing the United car to make a pass!
Robert Kubica stays on it with the momentum. But since he has junk all over his tires, Jarvis is going to make the move and make it stick and there is nothing the Polish ex-Formula 1 driver can do about it. Blue exhaust flames spewing out the tailpipe as the Corvette team are in the lane for a driver change and for service. Nick Tandy will get into the car as Alexander Sims buckles him in. They want a podium after having a horrible weekend and horrible qualifying effort before the race. This is the fifth WEC race of the 2022 season excluding Le Mans which is completely different.
Not every car in GTE Pro has won even one race this year. Everyone has been in the fight. It is hard to work to be so close and to pile the pressure on a rival driver. Hard to resist it as well. So, Jarvis is now second with a legal light panel and rear tires only for James Calado on this pit stop, he stays in the car, and it appears he once again gets just rear tires. Alex Brundle still in the #34 Inter Europol LMP2 car for a double stint. The tail is changed to make a rear wing adjustment. Algarve Pro Racing have taken the lead from AF Corse in the Pro-Am portion of LMP2 with just a shade over two and a half hours to go.
Matthias Beche is back on track, back on the lead lap in the ARC Bratislava car that has gained time on GTE Am cars, a bunch of them. ARC Bratislava conclude their career in the FIA WEC after this race, the finale for 2022, is complete. Three cars have locked in their fastest laps of the motor race. Matteo Cressoni in the #60 Iron Lynx Ferrari GTE Am car, #86 Ben Barker in the GR Racing Porsche in GTE Am, and Renger van der Zande in the #10 Vector Sport LMP2 car. Fuoco is now less than 16 seconds behind Calado in the battle of the Ferrari's in GTE Pro. The two leading Toyota's are 23 seconds apart with #7 now putting 164 laps on the board, 551 and a half miles.
Ben Keating tells us that the race has been interesting, and that TF Sport has run the best race possible, but they've been very unlucky pitting the lap before both Full Course Yellows we've seen. That gives their competition a 30 second advantage. This race, for the TF Sport team, is really all about the championship and being contenders. They are following the #98 Aston Martin with Paul Dalla Lana driving. They have to finish seventh if the TF Sport team finishes second. Don't get too comfortable. Stay with the program. Keating ran just over three hours in a hot GTE car. Henrique Chaves and Marco Sorensen continue the fight.
Keating, the Texas car dealer and racing driver. They've made a great run at the title. This #33 Aston Martin went airborne and upside down over a sausage curb at Monza last summer. As we continue to talk about Ben Keating and his teammates at TF Sport, we should also have a look at the GTE Am pit stop sequence. The running order shows Iron Dames in the lead followed by Northwest AMR, Team Project 1 car #46, TF Sport, AF Corse, and Team Project 1 car #56. Most of the top six have done five pit stops already including Iron Dames, Northwest AMR, TF Sport, and the #56 team at Project 1. Compare that with the #46 Team Project 1 Porsche that has done half a dozen stops, and the #54 AF Corse Ferrari which has done seven of them.
TF Sport have really made a run for the title. As the GTE Am order stands currently, it is Michelle Gatting at the top of the pile in the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE. Ben Keating will be back in the WEC in 2023 in yet another different car and will campaign a Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. Two and a half hours of racing remaining in the 2022 season. Early doors in GTE Am, the #71 Spirit of Race Ferrari went ahead in the division before running into problems. The Iron Dames have been in front, and they won the 4 Hours of Portimao in the European Le Mans Series. They are looking incredibly strong.
Loic Duval is currently driving the #94 Peugeot 9X8 as it is pit stop time for the #1 Richard Mille Racing Oreca 07 in LMP2, Charles Milesi at the wheel of it. He replaces Paul Loup Chatin and of course Lilou Wadoux is the third driver. Also in the pit lane is the #41 RealTeam by WRT Oreca which is being shared by the trio of Rui Andrade of Portugal, Ferdinand Habsburg of Austria, and Norman Nato of France. We will have a look at the pit stop sequences in LMP2 as well and five of the top six have all completed seven stops already. #31 WRT, both of the United Autosports cars running second and fourth in class, the third place #9 Prema Orlen Team car, and the #38 Jota car.
The only car that has done one more stop, on eight pit stops, is the sister Jota Oreca 07, car #28. Sports car racing is the arena to go racing. The test session that will take place tomorrow after this race is over has people like Maxi Gunther, who has raced open wheel cars and GT3 and we will also see Frenchman Yann Erlacher tomorrow who has done prototype and touring car racing. Erlacher has run LMP3 and is a two-time FIA World Touring Car champion and an ice racer as well. Erlacher could be a possible prospect at the rookie test.
The pit stops are all equal in GTE Pro. All five top cars have made five pit stops including the two leading AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE's, the #64 factory Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R and the two factory Porsche GT Team 911 RSR-19's, cars #91 and #92. James Calado has a healthy lead in GTE Pro and is 13.6 seconds ahead of the sister car, having run 158 laps so far, 531 miles. Calado has stolen the dynamite from Alessandro Pier Guidi. They are maximizing their opportunities. He is being caught up though by the sister car #52 of Antonio Fuoco, the Italian. Fuoco is catching the sister car.
That said, the #52 cannot be champion the way the points are and have been earned, if any of the rival cars finish ahead of it. So, the #51 Ferrari, or either or both of the factory Porsche's unless one of those three cars has a catastrophic incident or failure. Here are the points tables in GTE Pro for manufacturers and drivers, both. Ferrari leads the manufacturers' championship with 281 points and has a 32-point buffer over Porsche in second with 249 points while, Chevrolet are in third but only have accumulated 98 points on the year so far. Here too, are the provisional drivers' standings.
Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado are tied for the points lead on 158 points, as they earn equal points being co-drivers, being teammates for the full season. They are 33 points ahead of Gianmaria Bruni who has 125 points. A single point behind Bruni is fellow Porsche works driver Kevin Estre on124 points who is also tied with Michael Christensen, his factory Porsche AG teammate on 124 points and then, in fourth place all alone, and four points behind Christensen, is Antonio Fuoco, lead driver for the #52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE.
Jota Sport car #28 in the pit lane for a driver change and service. Now we are watching the battle raging for eighth place in the LMP2 class. Inter Europol has it and APR want it. Algarve Pro Racing on a charge. Here's the LMP2 points standings as they currently run with under two and a half hours left. Jota car #38 leads on 129 points followed by the #31 WRT entry 13 points back on 116 markers. Only three points down is the #23 United Autosports USA entry. Fourth place is the #9 Prema Orlen Team car. The have 99 points. Behind them is the other WRT car, the #41 RealTeam with WRT entry on 93 points.
23 points down, on 70 markers, in sixth place, is the sister Jota Oreca entry, car #28. Alex Brundle is being chased down by James Allen. They both pass the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche in sixth in GTE Am with Harry Tincknell at the wheel of it after Christian Ried made a massive effort earlier on in this motor race. Now, the sister #38 Jota Oreca is in the pit lane. They are doing a driver change and taking a tearoff off the windscreen. The heavy lifting for Algarve Pro Racing has been by James Allen and Steven Thomas still needs to drive another stint. Roberto Gonzalez has done his full drive time in the #38 car.
Therefore, both Will Stevens and Antonio Felix da Costa are surely picking up the slack. Quite possibly at Inter Europol, Jakub "Kuba" Smiechowksi, he has more time to drive in the #34 car. Smiechowski of course sharing with Alex Brundle and with Esteban Guttierrez. All three of these cars we have mentioned, #34, #38, and #45, each is in order running for position in the LMP2 class. Ed Jones tries a full send on Jakub Smiechowski and makes it work. Ed Jones, the Emirati-born British racing driver sharing alongside South African Jonathan Aberdein and Dane Oliver Rasmussen.
The #31 WRT LMP2 is in the pits for a driver change and scheduled service. The #31 car is also undergoing a tire change. Glad to see that Algarve Pro is allowed to be racing here. This is the "sport" in sports cars. There are fierce rivalries, but everyone knows how tough it is to actually compete in spite of the rivalries we always hear about that can occasionally boil over into something that isn't pretty. Vincent Vosse, the team owner at WRT looking on, wearing his familiar, trademark, flat hat. Prema have now moved into the erstwhile LMP2 lead.
We are continuing to watch the battle for eighth in LMP2 between Alex Brundle and James Allen. The Brit vs. the Australian. The Prema car is out of sync compared to some of the other LMP2 teams with just a tad over two hours of racing left in the season. Pogoing up and down the order and being out of sequence has been a problem for the #94 Peugeot 9X8. But not now. That car is back up into the fifth position of the five Hypercars in the field. It had been losing places to the LMP2's but isn't doing so now.
Meanwhile, at the top of the shop, the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi, he is 31.4 seconds ahead of teammate Ryo Hirakawa in the sister #8 Toyota. Alpine, are third but a lap down to both Toyota's. The #36 Alpine A480 Gibson has Matthieu Vaxiviere at the wheel of it. Peugeot round out the top five. Mikkel Jensen driving the #93 and Loic Duval at the wheel of the #94. Kamui Kobayashi is lapping in the 1:52 range. All the others are in the mid to low 1:53 range. We look at the LMP2 pit stop sequence and it is fairly cut and dried. Prema Orlen Team have done one less stop than everyone else. They have taken seven stops while everyone else including WRT, both United Autosports cars, Jota, and RealTeam by WRT have done eight.
The #7 Toyota is in a different performance bracket because it has more pace and has this pace over the rest of the Hypercar field more often. Into the pit lane, the #83 AF Corse Oreca 07 in LMP2. All of these cars are so incredibly tight. Last time out at Fuji in Japan the #8 Toyota dominated the race and ran away with it while it appeared the sister #7 machine was falling off the veritable cliff. The #8 car absolutely threw down the gauntlet and there was no chance for the #8 team, the sister car, to answer the bell.
Oh dear! Alex Brundle and James Allen both spin off the road! They are on opposite sides of the road. This is critical in the battle for LMP2 Pro-Am honors. Where is the AF Corse car? Let's see if we can figure out what happened to Alex Brundle and to James Allen. Ah! Alex Brundle clips the #31 WRT car with Rene Rast at the controls. Then, James Allen does a sympathy spin. Rene Rast, on his out lap, tags a fellow competitor and sends him spinning. The stewards have pinged Rene Rast with a penalty. The #83 AF Corse car, meanwhile, was and is coming into the pit lane for service.
This could be an in lap for James Allen but when will we see the penalty. We saw that earlier with Lilu Wadoux. Robin Frijns knows WRT are in trouble. A drive through penalty shall be assessed to WRT. Prema pit from sixth place and Robert Kubica, the Polish driver, is set to hand the car over to Lorenzo Colombo of Italy. WRT get a drive through penalty. The GTE car that took Lilou Wadoux out has had a drive through penalty or a time penalty. Two hours and 15 minutes left on the board. Contact with the GR Racing Porsche is the deal. There were two time penalties in the first couple hours of this race.
Wow. We just saw something before the camera cut away to the next frame. Will Owen has passed Lorenzo Colombo for third spot. Owen sharing the car with Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque. Rene Rast has a penalty hanging over his head, and made a late lunge, throwing it over the curb, spinning Alex Brundle around and then, James Allen was an innocent bystander who really had little choice and spun in sympathy. Algarve Pro in and out of the pit lane and that car has dropped to third in LMP2. Incidentally, while they were in the pit lane, they did a driver change and Rene Binder is now in the car.
Nicklas Nielsen leads the Pro-Am section of LMP2 followed by Matthieu Lahaye in the Ultimate car and third, Rene Binder. Meanwhile, Peugeot are in the pit lane with the #93 9X8 Hypercar. They pit from fourth spot. #22 cops a ten second penalty added to the pit stop for overtaking the #41 off track and not ceding the place. We also see a drive through penalty for the #86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19. So, is it true that the #93 Peugeot is going back into the garage? Yes. Indeed, it is. Will Owen and Lorenzo Colombo, meanwhile, are scrapping for third place in LMP2. Owen does the undercut in the pit lane and makes his way around Colombo, the Italian.
Algarve Pro have dropped to third place with Rene Binder now driving. This will have LMP2 championship implications. Oliver Jarvis made his move on Robert Kubica. It was indeed the undercut. They did not really plan it but they are out of sync. Again, United vs. Prema Orlen, that is the battle we are watching on track currently. WRT could be penalized and be off the podium. United are potentially 1-2 as the #93 Peugeot 9X8 sits in the garage. We will hear now from James Allen. He tells us that he did not really know what to do because the whole track was blocked.
The front was loaded, and he spun out. He managed to take the Pro-Am championship lead in LMP2. The team lost time early on and has made it up. They are going to do all they can to keep it clean as time is running out. Just over two hours left to go yet. It was lucky Allen was on his in lap because if it were his outlap he would have had to live with knackered tires for 40 minutes, driving over a cattle grid. We can see from the onboard camera that the #22 United Autosport car in LMP2 is suffering from a cracked windscreen. Peugeot #93 continues being worked on and it sounds like fourth gear is stripped out of the transmission. That is Mikkel Jensen.
The #93 Peugeot has set fastest times at different points in the race in all three sectors of the track. First, second, and third sector. The Peugeot 9X8 is the fastest car in Bahrain. Peugeot have the pace. Jean Eric Vergne set the fastest lap of the motor race 110 laps ago. Now, so many skeptics said "oh, it won't work without a wing." But it is proving to be working well as we speak. So, we look at the overall leaderboard and intervals in Hypercar. Toyota still run 1-2 and continue leading. The #7 ahead of the #8. #7 has now put in 177 laps, 643 miles. Peugeot has more speed than Toyota has needed to deploy, more speed than Alpine has been able to deploy. But the car does not have reliability yet.
The car is broken. I think it is finished for the race. Now, back to the intervals. The sister #8 Toyota is 34.3 seconds behind while the Alpine is a lap down and the sole remaining Peugeot in the race is three laps in-arrears. There's still two hours to go. If Peugeot are looking for further race distance and getting more on the car, they should go race at Daytona next year, but they have to go through a taxing process. I very highly doubt that IMSA will let them in. The clock is ticking. You have to be all in. You have to make the decision and stick with it.
Penske Porsche, Cadillac, Acura and BMW will be there. No Ferrari and no Toyota. It is two weeks with the Roar test session as well. The centenary of Le Mans is next year as well. Do you want to have the chance to win something in a testing race? Or, do you want to do more and more closed testing? Currently, here are the class leaders.
Overall/Hypercar: #7 Kobyashi/Conway/Lopez Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid
LMP2: #31 Rast/Gelael/Frijns Team WRT Oreca 07
LM GTE Pro: #51 Calado/Pier Guidi AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
LM GTE Am: #85 Gatting/Bovy/Frey Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
Give me the money. I want to do the centenary Le Mans. Peugeot Sport have not mentioned Daytona at all. That being said, with the race they've had today, they should lobby for it. Meanwhile, the two Ferrari's, while we've been nattering, have changed places. Ferrari #52 has been allowed to pass by the #51 sister car. Calado was told by his team to let the sister car by. There was no complaining. Fuoco was let by. "I am just driving the race car, being a dummy" could be what the driver says, but he knows what he is expected to do.
In 2021, United Autosports won everything, and I mean everything. They were in the purpliest of purple patches. Will Stevens, fifth in LMP2, is chasing down both Lorenzo Colombo and Will Owen. Alex Lynn has his final warning for track limits. Stevens has driven a fabulous race today. Stevens is on the attack. Kubica's car is under attack from the leaders. He might just be getting ready for another stint, zipping his racing overalls up again. Actually, he is doing an interview in the pit lane with Louise Beckett.
He says that he is not sure he has seen a pit lane overtake but also mentions Prema Orlen had a slow pit stop and a disappointing pace. They cannot go faster even though they have gained time on their strategy going one lap longer in their stint. They are giving information to their teammates. He is disappointed in the pace but knows they are doing lifting and coasting to save fuel and offset themselves, trading pace against economy so there is less fuel needed at the end. It is the long game, but it is painful because your competition is going faster. Will Stevens is doing everything he knows to try and pass Lorenzo Colombo.
Colombo has to slow Will Stevens down by not rolling over and having his tummy tickled like a big dog. Colombo knows Stevens won't take unnecessary risks, and closing in on these two chaps is Norman Nato who is next in the serial aboard the #41 RealTeam by WRT entry. As we come to the end of another racing hour, ye olde plot doth thicken and in the background, look, it is the pole man, Norman Nato, making his bid to join the fight. United Autosport are not too far in front either. This is getting tasty in LMP2/.
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