QUALIFYING FOR THE 8 HOURS OF BAHRAIN SETS THE STAGE FOR A DRAMATIC SEASON FINALE
Qualifying for the 8 Hours of Bahrain set the stage for a dramatic season finale, with Toyota showing strong form in both speed and teamwork and Lexus grabbing pole in LMGT3 for the second time.
Hypercar
The result was the same as last year, even though Toyota cannot win the championship this time after a difficult season. Still, the team has a good chance to finish the year with a podium or even a win.
Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, which he shares with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries. He was 0.151 seconds quicker than Brendon Hartley in the #8 Toyota. This was Kobayashi’s 18th pole position, making him second on the all-time list. He will try to take his 18th win in Saturday’s race.
Kobayashi said the car felt great and the team worked well. He admitted the season has been tough, with no podiums yet, but the crew wants to finish strong in the final race before the car is updated for 2026.
The #7 crew will need to beat last year’s Bahrain winners in the #8 Toyota, as well as both Peugeot 9X8 Hypercars, which start third and fourth thanks to strong laps from Malthe Jakobsen and Jean-Éric Vergne.
Alex Lynn qualified fifth in the #12 Cadillac for JOTA. He and his teammates Will Stevens and Norman Nato still have a small chance of stopping Ferrari from winning the title.
Behind them, Marco Sørensen put the Aston Martin Valkyrie in sixth. Antonio Giovinazzi was seventh in the #51 Ferrari, sharing the car with James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi. They lead the Drivers’ Championship by 13 points over the #83 AF Corse team.
Robert Kubica placed the #83 Ferrari in 12th, but the biggest setback came for the #6 Porsche Penske. Kevin Estre locked up at Turn One on his first lap, and the session never recovered. The car will start last in 18th place, hurting its championship hopes.
LMGT3
Finn Gehrsitz took pole position in LMGT3, leading a top-four lockout for Lexus and Mercedes. The Akkodis ASP Lexus cars were fast through all of qualifying, and Gehrsitz set two laps faster than anyone else to claim his second FIA WEC pole.
He said the team prepared well, the lap came together perfectly, and they believe they can fight for a podium or even a win in the race.
Lorcan Hanafin qualified second in the Iron Lynx Mercedes, with teammate Lin Hodenius in third. Clemens Schmid put the second Lexus in fourth.
Championship contenders had mixed results. Simon Mann was eighth in the #21 Ferrari, which must overcome an 11-point gap to fight for the title.
Manthey struggled badly, ending up 17th as Ryan Hardwick could not find speed in the Porsche 911 GT3 R. TF Sport’s Corvette was 14th with Tom Van Rompuy, the only other team still able to win the championship.
The 8 Hours of Bahrain starts tomorrow at 14:00 local time (12:00 CET).
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