Strange start with posters blown onto the track and rain showers – WEC Friday brought completely unusual images for Bahrain
One question could definitely be answered: Yes, the World Endurance Championship (WEC) also brought rain tires to the Bahrain 8 Hours. Because even during an intermittent rain shower, the race continued on the track
These were unusual images from a region that is otherwise only known for sandstorms. The Bahrain International Circuit escaped with a black eye, as it only caught the edge of a heavy thunderstorm that temporarily flooded the capital Manama, just a few kilometers to the north. Puns about bah-“rain” came naturally.
Training was interrupted, but not because of the rain. Because before it started, there were already strong gusts of wind blowing advertising posters onto the track. For this reason, the red flag had to be shown. Shortly after the restart, the rain set in.
The fact that the race was run in the rain is due to the fact that further showers cannot be ruled out. Although the rain is expected to ease over the course of the race weekend, showers are difficult to predict on the Arabian Peninsula as they occur very sporadically.
There was also an interruption in the second free practice session when Gunnar Jeanette in the Project 1 Porsche 56 (Hyett/Jeanette/Cairoli) crashed in the last corner. The damage to the Dino-Porsche “Rexy” still has to be assessed by the team. It remained dry during the practice session
Toyota clearly in the lead, Ferrari far behind
There was not much news to report from a sporting perspective. Toyota dominated both sessions, although the first practice session is of little significance due to the short dry phase. In the second session, Kamui Kobayashi in the 7 Toyota (Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez) set the fastest time of the day in 1:46.851 minutes.
“No games,” announces Rob Leupen. And the drivers are also preparing for duels.
“We’ll be racing directly against each other,” says Ryo Hirakawa. “Of course, we’re not allowed to drive into each other’s cars, but we’ll fight with each other as always. “
Mike Conway adds: “Let’s wait for qualifying first, because that will decide how we approach things. But we’re both fighting for the championship, so both cars should be allowed to do that.”
However, Toyota is likely to freeze positions at the final pit stop. A fight for victory would no longer turn the championship around anyway, as third place is enough for the 8 Toyota (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa) to take the title.
The LMDh cars, which are seven kilograms lighter, showed an improvement: The four Porsche 963s finished third to sixth in the first practice session. In the second session, the Cadillac took third place, albeit more than eight tenths of a second behind Toyota.
Bahrain witnessed scattered rain accompanied by thunder today. Many people shared videos of the rain, from different areas of the kingdom, on social media. @WeatherBahrainBahrain bahrainweather Bahrain gdnonline gdnmedia gdnmedia pic. twitter.com/dVEa7iIEI3
– Gulf Daily News (@GDNonline) November 2, 2023
The Porsche quartet was blown away by the Peugeot 9X8s in the second practice session. The problem child so far is Ferrari, who were miles away from the top in both practice sessions and have not yet been able to get under 1:50 minutes.
A third free practice session is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, which is expected to be very busy after the turbulence of the first session. The last qualifying session of the season will take place at 2 p.m.
