Motorsport Week looked at the key talking points in a preview on the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season finale, the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
The eighth and final race of the 2024 season will take place on Saturday 2 November at the Bahrain International Circuit.
As traditional in the WEC since the inaugural 2012 season, Bahrain will conclude a thrilling season albeit this time for the Hypercar and LMGT3.
It will mark only the fifth eight-hour edition, which succeeded the initial six-hour format – excluding part of the double-header in 2021.
Twenty-twenty-four has characterised an action-packed WEC campaign which has seen the most overall winners in a season – six – since 2012.
From closing championship titles and dominant season-long runs, there are some fundamental factors to look out for at the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
A reminder of the circuit’s demands
Though the WEC uses the 15-turn Grand Prix circuit, the Sakhir-based circuit – opened 20 years ago in March – offers various configurations.
At eight hours in duration, this will be the third longest race this year behind the approximately 10-hour Qatar season-opener and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Drivers and teams will contend with heat and humidity owing to the desert environment in which the Bahraini circuit is located in.
Heat stresses the electronics within each car so reliability is still vital, in addition to intensifying tyre degradation so drivers will be expected to manage their rubber throughout their respective battles.
There are key heavy braking zones into Turns 1, 4 and 14, therefore teams will run only as much brake ducting as needed to ensure optimised brake management and especially Hypercars will need to avoid major tyre-brake lock-ups.
However, since Le Mans’ notable circuit features heavier braking zones, this should be an approachable challenge for everyone.
Furthermore, the race will run from 11am local time, towards sunset, and into the nighttime phase although Bahrain utilises floodlights so visibility during this phase is rarely an issue.
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A job to wrap up for Porsche’s #6 team
Previously at the 6 Hours of Fuji, the #6 Porsche Penske 963 crew won their second race of the season after Qatar.
By doing so, they broke the streak of six consecutive different winners for the first time in the WEC.
Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor have led the Drivers’ championship since the beginning of the season.
Their race-by-race consistency and form has rewarded them a comfortable points lead all the way through to Bahrain.
As a result, they will only need to finish ninth or higher in the race to claim Porsche’s first WEC Drivers’ title since 2017.
Furthermore, the Le Mans-winning #50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P team – Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen – will be under pressure if they wish to deny title glory for the #6.
They will need to rely on a poor performance from the #6 Porsche — which has finished inside the top-six at all races thus far.
In order for the #50 Ferrari to win the title, they must win the race whilst the #6 finishes 10th or below, to claim the championship by one point.
Given the solid reliability and fair performances of the #6 throughout this season, this will be a tall order.
Meanwhile in the Hypercar Manufacturers’ title fight, reigning champions Toyota GAZOO Racing could still fend their crown.
Toyota’s highest-placed car will need to win the race as Porsche will take P2 or below.
Porsche, however, will win if they take pole position and have a 963 finish second or above.
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Farewell to Chip Ganassi Racing
One of the key headline stories in recent months has been the confirmation that JOTA will switch from Porsche to Cadillac machinery.
This will also mark a move from being a customer team to representing the Cadillac factory name.
IMSA’s 27th running of Petit Le Mans was the final race of the championship for Chip Ganassi Racing in IMSA.
The 2006 and 2007 Daytona 24 Hours winners will conclude their sportscar efforts, at least as far as we know, in Bahrain with their #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.
In terms of the WEC, they previously ran the Ford LMGTE Pro project in partnership with the Detroit make from 2016 to the 2018-19 Super-Season.
Cadillac will be represented by two JOTA-liveried Hypercars next year but Chip Ganassi will depart after Bahrain.
Finalising the first LMGT3 title honours
Likewise in LMGT3, Porsche (Manthey) have run an even more dominant campaign in the first year of the LMGT3 category.
The #92 PureRxing Porsche 911 LMGT3.R leads the standings on a remarkable 136 points.
Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler have finished on the podium in all races so far but Le Mans.
They will need to simply finish the job in Bahrain as the undisputed LMGT3 Drivers’ and Teams’ champions.
Second position is held by the other (EMA) Porsche, the #91.
Their commanding victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans brought them a healthy 50-point haulage despite finishing outside the top-10 on three occasions.
Even so, #91 drivers Morris Schuring, Richard Lietz and Yasser Shahin are on 90 points and just five points ahead of the nearest rival, the #31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3.
Margins are even tighter behind as the #31 BMW are just two points ahead of Heart of Racing’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 crew.
Amongst this pressure, could the #85 Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2 Iron Dames entrant finally take their second WEC victory after misfortune earlier in the season has denied such glory?
One last chance for a seventh different winner
In Bahrain, the season has one more chance to surprise with another different Hypercar race victor.
Toyota’s #7 GR010 Hybrid co-driver Mike Conway, who missed Le Mans due to a cycling accident, has the most wins in Bahrain.
During his 2013 LMP2 season with G-Drive Racing, he won the six-hour event in an Oreca 03 with teammates Roman Rusinov and John Martin.
Since joining Toyota’s WEC project in the following year, he won in Bahrain on five more occasions overall.
So far this season, Porsche’s #6 and #12 JOTA customer team have taken victories, plus the #7 Toyota, the #50 Ferrari and the #83 privately-funded AF Corse Ferrari.
In Fuji, the #02 Cadillac of Alex Lynn marvellously denied pole position to home heroes Toyota GAZOO Racing.
Unfortunately, an accident with Earl Bamber driving ended their winning hopes in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Sebastien Bourdais will rejoin the duo since helping them out at the Qatar 1812 km season-opener, so there is one final chance before the Cadillac-Chip Ganassi partnership comes to an end.
The 8 Hours of Bahrain will commence on Saturday 2 November from 2pm local time or 11am GMT.
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