Hartley, Bamber ride off into the sunset
It was not the fairytale finish Kiwis Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber had hoped for, but second place was not a bad way to wrap up their World Endurance Championship-winning season.
The duo, joined by German Timo Bernhard, had locked up the WEC title in the previous round at Shanghai, so there was little on the line but pride at the Six Hours of Bahrain yesterday.
But with Porsche pulling out of the LMP1 division afterthe race, they had hoped to end on a high.
Instead, it was the driver of the Toyota No 8 car who spoiled Porsche’s party by standing on the top step of the podium ahead of Hartley and co and the Porsche No 1 car driven by Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer and Nick Tandy.
Hartley, who has been confirmed as a fulltime Formula One driver for Toro Rosso in 2018, said there was some sadness.
‘‘It is good to have both cars on the podium today but it is mixed emotions. I’m honoured having been part of this programme and I will miss it,’’ he said.
Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima won their third consecutive race to close out the season second on the drivers’ standings.
The trio started the race fourth on the grid, but survived the incident-packed race to end up one lap ahead of their nearest challenger. That result was made even more impressive with the revelation that Davidson drove his entire leg with a broken toe after stubbing it on the way to the car.
But that proved minor compared to what the other three contenders dealt with.
The second Toyota entry had an early collision with an LMGTE Pro car which cost them two laps, while the Porsche No 1 car picked up a flat tyre and stop-go penalty after a dangerous overtaking manouevre of a lapped car.
Bernhard started in the Porsche No 2 car, but on the third lap he drove over a bollard, which got stuck under the car.
The team lost a lap removing it, so when the Kiwi duo joined the race, it was out of reach.
Bernhard, the first test driver involved with the 919 Hybrid, was given the chance to finish the race a comfortable second ahead of their sister car.
‘‘The race result is secondary today,’’ Bernhard said. ‘‘It is the end of great era. I’m honoured having been part of this programme from the very beginning until the last lap. A great crew, great people and great team mates. I will miss them. This programme definitely is the highlight of my career.’’
Hartley now faces a quick turnaround as prepares for the final F1 race of the season in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend.