The fInal hour is upon us and the pace is relentless as Toyota are going for a third world championship for their drivers. It will be the #8 winning over the #7 sister car of Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez, and Kamui Kobayashi. Final stop for the Corvette #33 and the final stop, maybe, for the #50 Ferrari. There could be real jeopardy and a splash and a dash. The #51 sister car as well is going to have everything thrown at it. This is the final stop in GTE Am in the #85 Iron Dames Porsche. Antonio Felix Da Costa off the road, they have dropped to third place but would still love a podium. Mike Conway brings the #7 Toyota in. The #51 Ferrari is in. Kamui Kobayashi, the team boss at Toyota, he will finish the race out. Is this just symbolic? Pace and efficiency. Will Stevens also in the pit lane. His pace, he was running a 1:57 dead. The race leader at 1:57.4. Fuoco at 1:57.9 and a 1:58,3 for Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Da Costa back on rack and the #50 Ferrari goes by so Will Stevens will have to push, push, push. 55 minutes remaining. Stevens has the #6 Penske Porsche and the race leading #8 Toyota. The racetrack is getting colder and colder so warming up brand new tires that are stone cold, will be hard. This is going to be a sizzler to the bitter end, folks. Don't run to the fridge now. This is a race against time for Will Stevens. The gap is opening but Stevens is vulnerable under acceleration and braking. In a straight line you build internal tire temperature through centrifugal force.
Jota, Ferrari, and Penske Porsche battling for the final podium spot. I don't think all the Hypercars can go an hour on fuel, or maybe the GTE Am cars are what I am thinking about. It is GTE. Michelle Gatting, Casper Stevenson, Alex Riberas, Charlie Eastwood, Julien Andlauer, Davide Rigon, Daniel Serra, Nicky Catsburg. That's a stellar bunch. Fastest lap of the race is Kamui Kobayashi lap 221, last lap 'round. Brendon Hartley in the lead has also gone faster. Kazuki Nakajima cngratulating Mike Conway. The race has been good but challenging especially for car #7. It is not as easy it looks but both drivers have performed really well.
Toyota are hopeful. Sebastien Buemi is frustrated, and the team is used to that. Everyone is pushing hard. Kazuki Nakajima will be responsible for driver selection for the factory drivers for the Lexus LM GT3 program. WRT run 1-2 ahead of Jota in LMP2 with 45 minutes to go. Michelle Gatting 11.2 seconds ahead of second place in GTE Am in the GTE swansong. The final chapter of GTE has been being written not with a whimper but with a bang. Nicky Catsburg looking for a drive in GT3 for next year.
Will Stevens has more fuel in the tank of the #38 Jota Porsche than we first thought. Stevens on a tear chasing Antonio Fuoco in traffic. Stevens is catching him, and fast. Can everyone make it on fuel? That is the big question mark. 31 laps it will be very close. 31 laps, 31 minutes and change. 25, 56 minutres, over an hour, and we have 41 minutes on the board. Will we get the Monaco race where all the F1 drivers ran out of fuel on the final lap? Herta Team Jota, Ferrari AF Corse, and Porsche Penske Motorsports, they are all going to be pushing hard.
Trouble for Vector Sport! Gabriel Aubry is slowing! Ge us crawling on the outside of the circuit. He is pulling off to the side. Will he have to do a Control, Alt, Delete? They are saying they are stuck in first gear as the #41 WRT car pits from second place in LMP2. There are tires ready Casper Stevenson has found pace and the GTE Am slugfest is not over yet. Yellow at turn 13 for Gabriel Aubry and he cannot get the car home under his own steam. The car is still crawling. It starts again. Try turning it off and on again.
So often the electronics glitch as Robin Frijns is in the lane for the final stop for the #31 WRT team. They can clean the car for safety reasons as well as cleaning the windscreen. Michelle Gatting has a problek and the rattle guns are recalcitrant on the #31 WRT car. Is Michelle Gatting feeling the pressure? Is she in traffic? Here she comes. She is three seconds off the pace. Behind is the #777 D'station Aston Msrtin. The #10 Vector Sport car is in the garage. Prema in the lane for a quick pit stop. When the #9 sister Prema car comes in, we'll see what happens.
Bent Viscaal should come in this lap. 35 minutes left on the clock. The last pit stop of the year. My goodness. Bent Viscaal to the pit lane in the #9 Prema car. Don't hurry the pit stop. The #41 WRT entry takes the lead, Louis Deletraz and company, leading the championship standings in the LMP2 class. WRT are perfectionists. Their Audi GT3 programs were perfect and we are seeing that too in their BMW GT3 program as well. The #31 car is just entering turn eight and is quite a way down the road.
WRT in the pound seats. Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 in Hypercar. Fuoco and Stevens battling and Casper Stevenson, too, he is focused on the Iron Dames Porsche in GTE Am. Stellar drives for Sarah Bovy and for Liam Talbot. The GTE Am gap is now under two seconds. Push to pass not working for Iron Dames as now the Jota Porsche is reeling in the Ferrari. Brendon Hartley having traffic issues and he will be far more sanguine about it than Sebastien Buemi. Rui Andrade says that both cars for WRT are running well, or they both were until the troubles for the sister #31. The #41 sister car is now leading. Rui Andrade says he has no words on that.
He says they have their fingers crossed and have had two wins, and five podiums in six races. Rui Andrade, he will be Angola's first ever motorsports world championship. It is the end of their relationship with WRT unless they run in the European Le Mans Series because they won't drive in GT3 or in Hypercar with the BMW's. Make sure there are no fumbles. Michelle Gatting leading the race in GTE Am and this is the final Porsche and GTE Am race. They will be back in a Lamborghini next year that they have been running with Lamborghini in GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship.
Casper Stevenson is pushing and now, Charlie Estwood pulls to the side of the road with mechanical problems. I see smoke billowing out of the front of the car. I don't think this will cause a safety car and there is a double waved yellow over there, close to the corner station where the marshals can get to him. Look for the orange barriers to be rescued from there. Only 25 mnutes to go. So, this is a local double yellow at turn eight. It is a smoky end of the road for the ORT by TF Sport Aston Martin. Sarah Bovy can barely look. Michelle Gatting still leads GTE Am.
There is something major broken in the engine of the Aston Martin and hopefully there is not an oil slick down there. Stevenson just two plus seconds behind Gattig with 23 minutes to go. Vamos. It sounds like the Iron Dames will have this covered. Catching is one thing, passing is another. A win in the final race for the Porsche 911 RSR-19 worldwide it will be incredible. There is potential frailty for Toyota and their medium compound Michelin tires.
The Ferrari has hard compound Michelin tires. We atill have a local yellow for the recovery of the Aston Martin as Will Stevens is closing on Antonio Fuoco. How much energy do they have left? If you know you are in a hole you go hell for leather and if you lose a fuel race, that's it. But don't give up 20 minutes from home. We'll have to see what will happen. Marshals on track and an intervention vehicle at turn eight. 20 minutes to go. Less than that as we speak. Michelle Gatting leading GTE Am. Ryan Briscoe in the Vanwall still on track. Throttle sensor issues for the #10 Vector Sport LMP2 car. Iron Dames lead by two seconds and growing from D'station in second place.
We are now back to full green flag conditions. The Vanwall seems to be holding up Michelle Gatting. 2.4 seconds is the gap in GTE Am between Gatting and Stevenson. It is the rhythm of how the car flows around the track that must remain constant. The Vanwall Hypercar is still hobbled. Brendon Hartley is about to earn a third FIA World Endurance Championship. WRT are bringing their cars together. Brendon Hartley would win his fourth title and have a unique double double. Two titles with Porsche and two with Toyota.
WRT remain 1-2 and will hold station. The #41 car will be champions but what if the race leader splits the two cars? That is a good question. This is going to be an emotional finish. 14 minutes, seven laps. The end of an era, and the beginning of a new one. GT3 cars with Goodyear tires coming. Michelle Gatting might just be pulling away. The GTE era is about to depart. Who will be the final winner? Dempsey Proton chasing Northwest AMR, Christian Ried will not win the final GTE race but one of his cars that he oversees, could do so. Will Stevens is catching Antonio Fuoco. This is in Hypercar. Harry Tincknell is chasing down the #93 Peugeot 9X8.
Ten minutes to go in Bahrain, in the season, and in the life of LMP2 and GTE in the WEC. Stevens continues chasing Fuoco. Michelle Gatting has three seconds in hand. Gatting will get onto the frontstretch with the #9 Prema LMP2 car and the #2 Ganassi Racing Cadillac V Series R Hypercar going by. Louis Deletraz leads LMP2. The final LMP2 race save for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sevem and a half minutes to go and the GTE Am gap in the final race, is four seconds, for the win. You cannot celebrate until you pass the checkered flag.
The gap is tantilizingly over a second between Stevens and Fuoco. Stevens gets balked behind Casper Stevenson. Will Stevens passes Casper Stevenson. Ferrari scored pole at Sebring, and Le Mans, and won Le Mans. Now, they can get on a podium. Game over for Vector Sport. Throttle senso, busted. Now, they are focusing on testing and readying the Isotta Fraschini Hypercar in for next year. Five minutes to go. In fact, less than that. You just cannot win a race without a large slice of luck. A spin for a GTE Am Ferrari and the #8 Toyota dodged a massive bullet.
Three laps to go. Maybe two. WRT will be back with two BMW M Hybrid V8 Hypercars and two GT3 BMW M4 GT3's next year. Michelle Gatting and company are likely going to hold on as poor old Casper Stevenson has done all he can. Michelle Gatting will be passed by the leading Toyota. It looks done and dusted on pace. Will Stevens is coosing on the Ferrari but I don't think he will make it. Brendon Hartley knocking down fast lap after fast lap. Less than a minute to go. Be careful, be careful. Final lap.
Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, and Rahel Frey, are going to win a world championship! Final lap for Toyota. Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, and Sebastien Buemi will be three-time world champions. Kobayashi second and Fuoco for Ferrari in third place. Toyota #8 win their third race of the year and they win the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship! Victory in Bahrain and a title for Toyota #8. GTE Am, the last race win goes to the Iron Dames! Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, and Rahel Frey, an all-female crewed car wins a World Championship race and in LMP2, it is Louis Deletraz, Rui Andrade, and Robert Kubica! It is like Christmas!
Here are the race winners.
Overall/Hypercar: #8 Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid
LMP2: #41 Andrade/Deletraz/Kubica Team WRT Oreca 07
LM GTE Am: #85 Bovy/Frey/Gatting Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19
WRT and Iron Dames take the final ever victories for LMP2 and for GTE in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Just incredible after 11 years.
Champions:
Overall/Hypercar: #8 Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid
LMP2: #41 Andrade/Deletraz/Kubica Team WRT Oreca 07
LM GTE Am: #33 Keating/Varrone/Catsburg Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R
Ryo Hirakawa has two titles. Brendon Hartley has four, two with Porsche and two with Toyota. Rui Andrade and Robert Kubica become the first champions from their home nations of Angola and Poland. That's remarkable. Congratulations too, to the Iron Dames! Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, and Rahel Frey have won! Phenomenal! What stories will we have in store for 2024? It is going to be remarkable. That's it. FIA World Endurance Championship 2023 is done and dusted.
See you in 2024 for more wonderful action. We'll see you for more Hypercar racing and for GT3. For now, from Bahrain, thanks for joining us. Bye bye. So long until next year.
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