BoP push Toyota, Lexus and Mercedes in first row

WECHyperCar

Nov 7

It is nice to see the outgoing World Champions with both TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR010 HYBRID squatting first row for tomorrow eight hour of Bahrein. But, let’s face it, BoP has not been favorable to the Japanese manufacturer this season and it was about time to correct it. Same BoP surprise in LMGT3 with both Lexus and both Mercedes monopolizing the two first rows of LMGT3 pack.

Toyota GR010 Hybrid in first row tomorrow

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing delivered its best qualifying performance of the year to secure pole position and lock out the front row of the grid for Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, the final round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

Toyota #7 — 📷© Pierpaolo Lonardo for Italian-Endurance.com at Bahrain. Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway celebrating first pole this season.

The team has an exceptional record in Bahrain, having won the last eight races, and it goes into Saturday’s race determined to end a challenging campaign with a return to the podium. After disappointing recent results, qualifying saw a significant improvement thanks to a determined effort from the team and its drivers.

Kamui Kobayashi earned the team’s first pole of 2025 with a lap of one minute 46.826 seconds in the #7 GR010 HYBRID he shares with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.

📷© Pierpaolo Lonardo for Italian-Endurance.com at Bahrain. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7

Kamui Kobayashi (Driver, car #7): “I am very happy to be on pole again. It’s the result of a great job and a big effort from the team. We have had a tough season so far, so I am very proud that we could turn it around and get a one-two today. Everyone pushed very hard for this but tomorrow is another day and we know it will not be easy. Our target is to win. We are well prepared, and it should be an exciting race.”

Brendon Hartley was just 0.151secs behind in the #8 GR010 HYBRID he drives alongside Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa to complete the one-two.

📷© Pierpaolo Lonardo for Italian-Endurance.com at Bahrain. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “A very nice qualifying from the whole team. We are very pleased with the performance. I did a pretty tidy lap, although there were a couple of small mistakes and I was a bit conservative in places. Kamui nailed it and pipped me to pole. I was desperate to get it but congratulations to him. I am happy to start from the front row, which gives the best possible chance of finishing on the podium.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Team Peugeot TotalEnergies best qualifying performance this season

The Team Peugeot TotalEnergies achieved its best qualifying performance of the season by placing both PEUGEOT 9X8 on the second row of the starting grid. With a 1:47.166, Malthe Jakobsen secured P3, giving Team Peugeot TotalEnergies its best qualifying result of the season, while teammate Jean-Eric Vergne took P4 (1:47.208), placing the second PEUGEOT 9X8 right behind him.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Bahrain 2024. Both Peugeot 9X8.

Malthe Jakobsen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94): “It was a really fun late afternoon in the car for me. My goal was to make the top 10 in qualifying—it was close, maybe I could have played it a bit safer. P3 in Hyperpole is our best result of the season. Tomorrow it’s going to be very hot, and tyre management will be key.”

Jean-Eric Vergne (PEUGEOT 9X8 #93): “It was a great qualifying session for the whole team. We’re in a really good position to start the race. Now we need to keep up this strong form tomorrow and finish the season on a high.” Source: Team Peugeot TotalEnergies

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA qualifies fifth

Alex Lynn, driving the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, registered a best lap of 1 minute, 47.543 seconds on the 5.412 km (3.363-mile), 15-turn Bahrain International Circuit to qualify fifth among the 18 Hypercar entries.

Lynn, who will share duties with Norman Nato and Will Stevens, was the best-placed driver among entries in contention for the Drivers’ Championship as the #51 Ferrari was lower in the order and the #83 Ferrari and #6 Porsche did not advance out of the first round

Alex Lynn P5 (#12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R): “So we start in P5 for the race tomorrow and I’m pleased with that. We’ve had a run of pole positions this year so naturally you hope and you dream of another one, but I think honestly, I'm proud of that lap and proud of the session. The team has done a great job today and I think it was very close to the maximum of what we could do.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Hyperpole Hypercar results

Lexus and Mercedes locked LMGT3 two first rows

Lexus and Mercedes locked LMGT3 two first rows. Finn Gehrsitz in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus claimed a peak lap of 2:01.661, 0.326s faster than Lorcan Hanafin with the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes. Their sister cars are respectively third (Mercedes #61) and fourth (Lexus #87)

The race.

Saturday, November 8

12:00 p.m. (CET) - 8 Hours of BahrainThursday (2 p.m.-10 p.m. local time)