Toyota Claims Pole for Thrilling WEC Finale in Bahrain

(WEC 2023 – Bahrain 8 Hours)

Sakhir, Bahrain – In a captivating qualifying session for the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) finale, Toyota’s Brendon Hartley secured pole position for the Bahrain 8 Hours on Friday. This result moves the Japanese manufacturer one point closer to Porsche in the manufacturers’ standings.

Hartley, piloting the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar, set a blistering lap time of 1m46.714s in the Hyperpole session, three-tenths quicker than his teammate Nyck de Vries in the sister car. This marks Hartley’s first pole position since this event last year.

“We had a tough day yesterday and were not happy with the few things,” said Hartley. “I learnt from quali one where I didn’t get the tyre prep quite right and then the car came alive in Hyperpole.”

The battle at the front was intense, with the factory Ferrari 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi taking third, just four hundredths behind the second Toyota. The top Porsche was the customer Proton 963 LMDh in the hands of Neel Jani, who was two tenths adrift of the leading pace.

In the LMGT3 category, the United Autosports team locked out the front row with their McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs, as Josh Caygill claimed the class pole by just two thousandths of a second over teammate James Cottingham.

The Bahrain 8 Hours, the final round of the 2023 WEC season, is set to commence at 14:00 local time on Saturday. Toyota’s narrow lead in the manufacturers’ championship promises a thrilling conclusion to the endurance racing campaign.

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