A win at the 8 Hours of Bahrain by the #8 Toyota was sufficient to secure the WEC manufacturer’s crown for yet another year.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has secured the World Endurance Championship (WEC) title once more in 2024, with a dramatic comeback for the win by their #8 car (driven by Sebastien Buemi, Brendan Hartley and Roy Hirakawa) at the recent 8 Hours of Bahrain bringing home this coveted manufacturer endurance racing crown for the Japanese automaker for the sixth year running.
The #6 Porsche Penske trio of Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, and Kevin Estre meanwhile secured the drivers’ title this year, despite finishing 11th in the 8 Hours of Bahrain after two penalties in the final hour. This particular trio were incidentally the only team to achieve two wins this season (Qatar and Fuji), with Lotterer celebrating his second FIA WEC title in what was his final race as a factory driver for the Stuggart stallion team.
Toyota’s charge to retain its crown at Bahrain started off strong early on in the race, with a one-two on the grid converting to an early lead from both cars. Contact with a GT car in the first hour and a fuel pump issue for the #8 and #7 GR010 Hybrids respectively unfortunately saw the team with only one car on track down in 10th place in the final stages of the race.
An incredible team effort and a dominant driving display nevertheless saw Sébastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota chase down the leading #5 Porsche Penske 963, to which he eventually then overtook for the lead (and the eventual win) in the final hour. The intermittent fuel pump issue on the #7 sister car on the other hand unfortunately saw it be retired with just over two hours to go on the clock, thus dashing the slim driver’s hopes of Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries.
The chequered flag in Bahrain concluded a 2024 WEC season which featured 72 hours of racing, at eight rounds on four continents over almost 10 months. Toyota Gazoo Racing’s 2024 season record stands at five podiums, including three wins, and two pole positions, earning 190 World Championship points.
By the way, this most recent successful title defence sees for Toyota actually still sees it be the only manufacturer to date to be crowned the World Endurance Manufacturers’ Champion in the Hypercar era, which began in 2021. The aforementioned six consecutive win streak includes its two prior manufacturers’ titles it won in the LMP1 ruleset that immediately preceded it.
After the race, an exhilarated Sebastien Buemi commented: “It’s crazy to think we won the race considering how it was going at some point. Against all the odds, with issues, penalties and bad luck it’s an amazing feeling for the team to win the World Championship. That was our target here and we’ve achieved it thanks to a brilliant effort from the team.”
“When our car was down in 10th, we were going to the back of the Hypercar field during the pit stops and I thought we were done. But my team-mates did a good job hanging on with the old tyres and that meant I had a tyre advantage at the end. When it mattered today, we did a good job together and I am so pleased for the whole team,” he added.
