Toyota Gazoo Racing has claimed a one-two finish in the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain, with the win going to the #7 TS050 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez.
Conway started the car and took the lead when the #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson in the hands of Bruno Senna was hit by the spinning #5 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 – AER of Charlie Robertson of lap one.
The #7 crew then drove a trouble free race to take a dominant victory, finishing a lap ahead of the #8 TS050 Hybrid of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley. Senna, Gustavo Menezes and Norman Nato recovered to finish third for Rebellion, despite spending time in the pits with a mechanical issue.
Team LNT experienced a bad race, with both cars not making the chequered flag. First, the #5 of Robertson, Ben Hanley and Jordan King came to a halt on track and retired, and the #6 of Mike Simpson, Chris Dyson and Guy Smith followed suit later in the race, being wheeled back into the garage.
United Autosports took their first WEC victory in dominating fashion in LMP2. The #22 ORECA 07-Gibson of Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Paul di Resta led from the start and was never really under threat from their rivals.
JOTA finish their 2019 season on a high with a double podium. The #38 ORECA 07-Gibson of Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix da Costa and Anthony Davidson finish in second place, while Ho Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Will Stevens recover from a first lap spin to come home in third in the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA.
Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen meanwhile won a close and chaotic GTE Pro battle, claiming their second victory of the season in the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR.
Porsche looked strong for a large part of the race, but both cars suffered issues that dropped them out of podium contention. First, the #92 911 RSR-19 of Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen came in with a suspension issues, and was soon followed by the #91 at the hands of Gianmaria Bruni, which had suffered a puncture and bodywork issues.
Sorensen then resisted pressure from the #71 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Miguel Molina until the Spaniard was given a stop and go penalty for spinning his wheels during an extra stop, handing victory to the Dane Train and second to the AF Corse duo.
Alex Lynn and Maxime Martin complete the podium in the #97 Aston Martin, being handed third after James Calado was ordered by race control to give the position back ot the Belgian after an earlier pass was deemed illegal. Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi went on to finish fourth in the #51 Ferrari, ahead of the #91 Porsche.
Team Project One took victory from pole position as the #57 Porsche 911 RSR of Ben Keating, Larry ten Voorde and Jeroen Bleekemolen won in GTE Am, thanks in part to a marathon opening stint by Keating in the opening hours.
The Dutch duo of Ten Voorde and Bleekemolen then defeated the #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Paul Dalla Lana, Darren Turner and Ross Gunn to take the chequered flag. Gulf Racing completed the podium, with the #86 Porsche 911 RSR of Mike Wainwright, Andrew Watson and Ben Barker finishing third despite a drivethrough penalty for unsafely rejoining the track.
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