It feels becoming that after the closest, most dramatic FIA WEC season up to now, the foremost honors had been cut up throughout the highest three Hypercar producers, with Toyota, Porsche and Ferrari all taking a slice of the pie.
Porsche’s No. 6 crew held on to say the Hypercar Drivers’ World Championship regardless of ending down the order within the finale. Toyota snatched the producers crown within the ultimate hour of the season with a spirited drive from Sebastien Buemi. And Ferrari, regardless of lacking out on a title, will look again on the 2024 season fondly after claiming its second Le Mans victory in a row again in June.
It actually was a outstanding marketing campaign, one which had a little bit of every little thing. It produced its fair proportion of thrills and spills on monitor and off, common doses of drama and controversy and quite a lot of historic milestones.
With the mud settled in the course of the off season, there can be a lot to unpack and replicate on earlier than the WEC paddock reconvenes subsequent 12 months in Qatar for Season 13. Proper now, although, it’s time to have a good time the newly-crowned champions after the wild finish to the season in Sakhir.
For Porsche Penske Motorsport, it was a really memorable day, even when it wasn’t fairly the fairytale ending that everybody inside the group dreamed of.
Having claimed a sweep of IMSA GTP titles, a GTD Professional championship with AO Racing and the FIA WEC LMGT3 and Hypercar World Cup honors with Pure Rxcing and HERTZ Group JOTA previous to Bahrain, finishing the set within the Center East with each Hypercar titles felt virtually inevitable.
WEC season finales by no means fail to provide drama, and on this event, the wily outdated fox that’s Toyota pulled off the upset, coming in and stealing the producers title after a late-race showdown between Buemi and Matt Campbell.
The protection automotive durations and a full course yellow which bunched up the sector and arrange a nail-biting ultimate hour performed an enormous position. They allowed the pole-sitting No. 8 Toyota to get better from its dramas earlier within the race by the point it emerged from the pit lane for the ultimate time. Abruptly, having regarded down and out with three hours to go, Toyota’s outlook modified. Buemi was strapped in, held a tire benefit over Campbell forward within the No. 5, and had an opportunity to cap off a tremendous efficiency with one ultimate overtake for the win.
A dream come true for Buemi and firm, with post-race feelings and sheer exhaustion overflowing. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Photos
“After I jumped in in direction of the tip I used to be like P10, and I knew how laborious it was to make progress, so I didn’t assume we may come again,” Buemi defined. “However what occurred was, with my tire benefit I used to be capable of make strikes each lap or two and we managed to execute a shorter cease on the finish, leaping the No. 6 Porsche, the Ferrari, and it meant all I needed to do was to catch the No. 5.
“It was like a dream as out of the blue I knew we may win. It felt like every little thing was going our approach, in contrast to the remainder of the entire season. It may be one of the best drive of my profession.”
A really particular drive certainly, with a lot at stake, to ship Toyota a fourth consecutive Hypercar Producers’ title in a row and the one win from pole by a workforce within the class this season. It additionally helped take the sting out of the sister automotive’s torrid outing, as finally, with the No. 6 Porsche’s troubles, each units of drivers title contenders from Toyota and Ferrari will rue the missed alternative.
The No. 7 retired with a gasoline pump difficulty, which based on TGR’s workforce principal-driver Kamui Kobayashi, broken the engine and severely blunted the automotive’s efficiency. The choice to park the automotive was a painful one to make, however it allowed your entire engineering workers to shift focus to the No. 8’s cost.
In the meantime, Ferrari’s Le Mans successful No. 50 499P completed the race, however approach down the order in eleventh after struggling for outright tempo all through and shedding helpful time to a puncture.
The season’s ups and downs gave us a cut up set of champions, a lot to the delight of Porsche’s main crew of (from left to proper) Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Photos
All of it meant that the drivers honors went the way in which of Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer, regardless of their struggles and first non-points end of the season.
All three drivers performed their half this season, delivering a constant run of outcomes en path to being topped Hypercar drivers’ world champions for the primary time. In a area this deep, racking up two wins and two second-place finishes in eight races was no straightforward feat. It’s a title run that can be regarded again on for a very long time to come back.
“If you see how aggressive the sector is, it’s particular,” Lotterer, who departs Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Hypercar program together with his head held excessive, mentioned within the post-race convention.
“Earlier than in LMP1, Le Mans was what everybody needed, and in the event you gained the championship it was simply OK. Now with a lot competitors, the world championship has nice worth. At present wasn’t one of the best day, however we had the posh to afford it. We’ll go house pleased, goal achieved.”
“This 12 months has been superb,” added Vanthoor. “I’ve by no means labored with a gaggle like this, with my teammates, engineers and mechanics. It hasn’t sunk in, however right this moment is one I’ll always remember.”
