TOYOTA CRUISES AS RIVALS CRASH
Manufacturer is back on top in Bahrain after Rebellion/ginetta clash
Toyota claimed a crushing victory in the World Endurance Championship round in Bahrain last weekend after capitalising on early woes for its LMP1 rivals Rebellion and Ginetta.
The #7 TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez moved into the lead on the opening lap after Bruno Senna’s Rebellion R-13 and the #5 Ginetta of Charlie Robertson collided at Turn 2.
From there on, the #7 trio enjoyed a trouble-free run, securing their second victory of the 2019-20 season following their triumph at the Silverstone season opener in September. The result propelled Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez into the lead of the championship, ahead of the #8 car of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley that finished a lap down in second.
Buemi was caught out in the first-lap melee and dropped to the lower regions of the pack, also requiring a change of front bodywork, but recovered sufficiently to seal a 1-2 finish for Toyota.
The polesitting Rebellion of Senna, Norman Nato and Gustavo Menezes completed the podium spots after receiving a double whammy in the opening half of the race.
Senna had recovered from the hit he received from Robertson to run second in hour two, but an unscheduled visit to the garage to fix a gear selection issue left the Rebellion three laps down.
Senna was furious with the contact from Robertson, saying: “The guy completely destroyed our race. I know he made a mistake, lost control of the car, but he completely took me out.”
Both Ginettas retired from a race where success handicap had made them the early favourites for victory. The #5 G60-LT-P1 of Robertson, Ben Hanley and Jordan King crawled to a halt in the fifth hour near Turn 9, while the sister car pulled into the pits in the penultimate hour.
United Autosports claimed its first victory in the LMP2 class after Paul di Resta, Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque led throughout the eight hours in the #22 ORECA.
Aston Martin came out on top in a close scrap with Ferrari to take its second GTE Pro win of the season. The Ferrari of Miguel Molina and Davide Rigon had been leading the race prior to the final round of stops, but quicker pitwork by the Aston Martin crew catapulted Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim into the lead.
Porsche claimed GTE Am honours, via the Project 1 crew of Ben Keating, Larry ten Voorde and Jeroen Bleekemolen.