Ferrari and Toyota Battle Duel after 4 Hours in Bahrain; TF Sport Corvette Extends LMGT3 Lead
TF Sport Corvette Extends LMGT3 Advantage
HYPERCAR – Leader: No.51 Ferrari AF Corse
· James Calado fends off a charging Kamui Kobayashi as Ferrari and Toyota go head to head as mid-distance arrives in the BAPCO Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain
· Just 1.2 s covers the pair after four hours as Kobayashi looks for a move on the No.51 Ferrari 499P Hypercar
· Calado had continued to hold a small lead over the No.12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche throughout the third and fourth hours in a close battle in the final race of the 2024 FIA World Endurance
· Calado and Norman Nato respectively exchange lap times as they weave through traffic with daytime turning to night
· Nato is able to vault the previous second placed No.5 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar driven by Michael Christensen
· But both are overtaken by a flying Kamui Kobayashi in the No.8 Toyota GR010 Hypercar which takes second and starts to home in on leader Calado
· Earlier Kobayashi had to wrestle with an apparent electrical issue on his car and he lost several positions as a result
· Christensen is also able to usurp Nato with a fine move around the outside of Turn 1 to claim third position
· The sister Toyota places fifth as Brendon Hartley takes over from Sebastien Buemi
· Completing the top six was the leading BMW, the No.20 car driven by Robin Frijns, who headed the similar No.15 machine with Dries Vanthoor aboard
· But Frijns pulled in to the pits with a loss of power after 3hrs 45 minutes of the race and the BMW M Team WRT retire the car
· While there is despair for Frijns, Vanthoor pushes up in to fourth position ahead of Nato as the fifth hour arrives
· The rest of the Top 10 runs as: 7th No.38 Hertz Team Jota; 8th No.6 Porsche Penske; 9th No.83 AF Corse Ferrari and 10th No.2 Cadillac
· Kevin Estre pushes the championship leading Porsche 963 in to the Top 10 for the first after 86 laps. Should the No.7 Toyota be able to win this race, No.6 crew of Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor would need just a point to take the crown
LM GT3 – Leader: No.81 TF Sport Corvette
· The No.81 TF Sport Corvette continues to lead the LMGT3 category as Tom van Rompuy gets his second stint at the wheel as the mid-race phase approaches
· Prior to that Charlie Eastwood and Rui Andrade had extended the lead gradually and at half-distance they have a 29-second advantage over the No.59 United Autosports McLaren which has James Cottingham back at the wheel
· Fuji victors No.54 VISTA AF Corse run third as race starter Francesco Castellacci gets back aboard
· But the Italian is overtaken by a flying Richard Lietz just before the firth hour who outbrakes Castellacci in to T1 to take third
· Champions Manthey PureRxcing are fifth as Joel Sturm attempts to catch the leading quartet who run within 25-seconds of each other
· No.95 United Autosports McLaren completes the top six as Nicolas Pino gets his first track action of the day
· The only LMGT3 retirement comes in the third hour after the delayed No.78 Akkodis ASP Lexus stops on the circuit after a mechanical problem halts Arnold Robin
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