Porsche win in Bahrain as nail-biting finale guaranteed for LMGTE Pro title fight
Kevin Estre and Neel Jani took a third LMGTE Pro win of the season after a faultless display in searingly hot conditions at today’s Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain.
The No. 92 Porsche GT Team crew dominated proceedings taking a rare WEC lights-to-flag victory virtually unopposed after converting Estre’s fourth pole position of the season.
The win means that Estre and Jani are now just a point behind James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the LMGTE Pro title fight with one round to go. Equally Ferrari has the same margin over Porsche in the GT Manufacturers' FIA World Endurance Championship.
The full race highlights of the 2021 BAPCO 6 Hours of Bahrain.#WEC #6HBahrain pic.twitter.com/kWmRule7xj
— WEC (@FIAWEC) October 30, 2021
Porsche enjoyed its pace advantage throughout the race with the No.91 Porsche driven by Richard Lietz and Gimmi Bruni riding shot gun in second place for most of the race, largely as protection for their sister car and the drivers' 2021 title quest.
The Porsche 911 RSR-19 cars managed its tyres expertly to lead all the way and set up an intriguing title finale showdown on the same track, over eight hours, next Saturday afternoon and evening.
Calado and Pier Guidi took third position but also kept their slender lead in title fight which will go down to the wire but is expected to see the Ferrari 488 GTE Evos quicker in the cooler conditions in the final race
Miguel Molina and Daniel Serra claimed fourth place in the No.52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.
TF Sport take first victory of WEC Season 9 in LMGTE Am
In the LMGTE Am category TF Sport scored its and Aston Martin’s first win since the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans after a finely judged victory.
Ben Keating, Dylan Pereira, and Felipe Fraga built a fine race after only starting sixth on the class grid.
But Keating, who ultimately took his second win in Bahrain, was able to make immediate headway through the highly competitive field and hand over the No.33 Aston Martin to Pereira who rested the lead from the No.98 Aston Martin Racing entry.
The full race highlights of the 2021 BAPCO 6 Hours of Bahrain.#WEC #6HBahrain pic.twitter.com/kWmRule7xj
— WEC (@FIAWEC) October 30, 2021
When Fraga took over for the final two hours he was able to first extend the lead and then defend it against first the No.56 Project 1 Porsche of Matteo Cairoli and then the No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche driven by Matt Campbell.
The Brazilian took the chequered flag five seconds ahead of the chasing Porsches to delight the TF Sport team and reduce the LMGTE Am title chase gap to the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari trio of Francois Perrodo, Niklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera to 21.5pts with 39 to play for next weekend.
Campbell sealed second place in the car he shares with Christian Reid and Jaxon Evans, while Cairoli came home third in the Porsche 911 RSR-19 he shares with Egidio Perfetti and Riccardo Pera.
Ferrari entrants featured in the opening exchanges at the front with the No.60 pole-sitting Iron Lynx entry driven by Rino Mastronardi leading the first 25-minutes until a gearbox issue forced the Italian to pit.
Francesco Castellacci took over at the front, but damage sustained from run over debris delayed the No.54 AF Corse later in the race.
Both of the other Aston Martin cars of D’Station and the No.98 Aston Martin Racing entered car had spells in the lead, but the former hit mechanical issues while the latter ultimately took fourth place.
Points leaders Perrodo, Nielsen and Rovera came home in fifth position and were the highest placed Ferrari 488 GTE Evo contender.
