Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez have taken victory in the 8 Hours of Bahrain, thus clinching the 2019/20 WEC driver’s championship.
The #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid started the season 8 finale in Bahrain from pole position and remained unchallenged throughout the race, finishing over a minute clear of the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley, which finished in second.
In LMP2, Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Will Stevens took the class win in the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07-Gibson, also becoming the first LMP2 car to finish on the overall podium since 2017.
The battle for LMP2 was extremely close throughout the eight hours, but was effectively decided when newly crowned champions United Autosports were handed a penalty for a pit entry incident with Filipe Albuquerque behind the wheel, hitting the #37 ORECA 07 driven by Aubry. The penalty took the #22 ORECA 07-Gibson out of contention for the win.
The JOTA ORECA then jumped ahead during a pitstop, but was decided with less than ten minutes remaining, Aubry took the lead with a contact-heavy pass on Antonio Felix da Costa and went on to win the race.
Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix da Costa and Anthony Davidson finished second #38 JOTA ORECA 07-Gibson, with the class podium completed by the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA 07-Gibson of Frits van Eerd, Giedo van der Garde and Nyck de Vries. De Vries was challenged by Thomas Laurent in the #36 Signatech Alpine A470-Gibson in the final hour, but held on.
Laurent, Andre Negrao and Pierre Ragues finished fourth in class, with Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Paul di Resta finishing fifth for United Autosports, thus bringing their WEC winning streak to an end.
In GTE Pro, Porsche took a one-two victory, while Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen were crowned GT Driver’s champions for Aston Martin Racing.
Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen started from pole position in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 and remained largely unchallenged throughout, collecting their second victory of the season. Team-mates Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz finished second in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19, with Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina third in the #71 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
Despite a challenging race, Aston Martin locked up the GT World Driver’s Championships with the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR. Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen finished fifth in class, behind team-mates Maxime Martin and Richard Westbrook in the #97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR in fourth place, which was enough for them to clinch the title.
In GTE Am, Francois Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Nicklas Nielsen took the GTE Am titles with a second-placed finish, while Egidio Perfetti, Larry ten Voorde and Jorg Bergmeister took the final win of the season in GTE Am in the #56 Porsche 911 RSR.
The race in GTE Am was closed and featured frequent lead changes, but it was decided in the favor of Team Project 1. With their second place, AF Corse locked up the title as TF Sport finished down the order following a late brake change.
Khaled al Qubaisi, Jaxon Evans and Marco Holzer completed the podium in the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR, with the top five completed by the #54 AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Giancarlo Fisichella and the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR of Mike Wainwright, Alessio Picariello and Ben Barker.
| # | Drivers | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CONWAY M. / KOBAYASHI K. / LOPEZ J. | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | |
| 2 | BUEMI S. / NAKAJIMA K. / HARTLEY B. | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 1:04.594 |
| 3 | TUNG H. / AUBRY G. / STEVENS W. | JACKIE CHAN DC RACING | 16 LAPS |
| 4 | GONZALEZ R. / FELIX DA COSTA A. / DAVIDSON A. | JOTA | 16 LAPS |
| 5 | VAN EERD F. / VAN DER GARDE G. / DE VRIES N. | RACING TEAM NEDERLAND | 16 LAPS |
| 6 | HANSON P. / ALBUQUERQUE F. / DI RESTA P. | UNITED AUTOSPORTS | 16 LAPS |
| 7 | ELFLAURENT T. / NEGRÃO A. / RAGUES P. | SIGNATECH ALPINE | 17 LAPS |
| 8 | CHRISTENSEN M. / ESTRE K. | PORSCHE GT TEAM | 28 LAPS |
| 9 | BRUNI G. / LIETZ R. | PORSCHE GT TEAM | 28 LAPS |
| 10 | RIGON D. / MOLINA M. | AF CORSE | 28 LAPS |
| 11 | WESTBROOK R. / MARTIN M. | ASTON MARTIN RACING | 29 LAPS |
| 12 | SØRENSEN M. / THIIM N. | ASTON MARTIN RACING | 30 LAPS |
| 13 | PERFETTI E. / TEN VOORDE L. / BERGMEISTER J. | TEAM PROJECT 1 | 31 LAPS |
| 14 | PERRODO F. / COLLARD E. / NIELSEN N. | AF CORSE | 31 LAPS |
| 15 | AL QUBAISI K. / EVANS J. / HOLZER M. | DEMPSEY – PROTON RACING | 31 LAPS |
| 16 | FLOHR T. / CASTELLACCI F. / FISICHELLA G. | AF CORSE | 31 LAPS |
| 17 | WAINWRIGHT M. / PICARIELLO A. / BARKER B. | GULF RACING | 31 LAPS |
| 18 | KEATING B. / PEREIRA D. / BLEEKEMOLEN J. | TEAM PROJECT 1 | 32 LAPS |
| 19 | CALADO J. / SERRA D. | AF CORSE | 32 LAPS |
| 20 | RIED C. / PERA R. / OLSEN D. | DEMPSEY – PROTON RACING | 32 LAPS |
| 21 | YOLUC S. / EASTWOOD C. / ADAM J. | TF SPORT | 32 LAPS |
| 22 | DALLA LANA P. / LAMY P. / GUNN R. | ASTON MARTIN RACING | 32 LAPS |
| 23 | GRIMES B. / COZZOLINO K. / NOBLE C. | RED RIVER SPORT | 32 LAPS |
| 24 | LACORTE R. / BELICCHI A. / SERNAGIOTTO G. | CETILAR RACING | 32 LAPS |
