TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) has made a new achievement as the first World Champions of the Hypercar era with a one-two victory in the 6 Hours of Bahrain.

The car #7 GR010 HYBRID driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez won the penultimate round of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Meanwhile, Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley in the #8 car finished in second place.

The win also helped to maintained the GR010 HYBRID Hypercar's 100% winning record in 2021, with one race remaining. So, expect both cars to switch their focus for the drivers' title fight in next weekend's final race. The Le Mans-winning #7 crew moved a significant step closer to retaining the World Championship they won in Bahrain 12 months ago. Their third win of the season extends their advantage over the #8 drivers to 15 points.

The contest between the two GR010 HYBRID crews was intense throughout the event and, when the race got under way, Sebastien in the #8 held the advantage from pole position. But Mike pursued him throughout the first stint and the pair were separated by less than a second for the opening 45 minutes.

The cars were closely matched and the lead changed hands several times in the early stages as the momentum swung. Eventually the #7 established itself at the front, suffering slightly less from tyre degradation on a day when all Hypercars faced the same issue.

At half distance, Jose led by just 10 seconds from Sebastien but the battle took a decisive turn after four hours when the #8 was delayed during a tyre change and dropped to third. Although Brendon swiftly overtook the Alpine to reclaim second, he trailed Kamui by around 40 seconds.
The GR010 HYBRIDs maintained their pace at the front and Kamui was at the wheel of the victorious #7 car when it crossed the line after 185 laps. Kazuki following 51.401secs later to complete the one-two.

The end of this six-hour contest marks the halfway point in WEC's Bahrain double-header. The teams will immediately begin preparations for an eight-hour race on Saturday 6 November which brings the curtain down on the 2021 WEC season and decide the outcome of the drivers' World Championship.

Credited to JCN Newswire and Toyota

6 Hours of Bahrain results:

1st #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 185 laps
2nd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +51.401secs
3rd #36 Alpine (Negrao/Lapierre/Vaxivierre) +1 lap
4th #31 Team WRT (Frijns/Habsburg/Milesi) +5 laps
5th #28 JOTA (Galael/Vandoorne/Blomqvist) +5 laps
6th #38 JOTA (Gonzalez/Da Costa/Davidson) +5 laps