Under the setting sun, and in the shadow of the magnificent facilities of the Sakhir International Circuit in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the seventh and penultimate round of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship will take place on Saturday, 15th November. There are World Championship titles at stake, and a successful race for certain teams in the Middle East would see some championships settled while others will not be known until the final round in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The Masters of LMP1
Following its dominant performance in Shanghai, Toyota Racing comes to Bahrain knowing that the World Championship title is within reach. The British/Swiss partnership of Davidson-Buemi in the No.8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid now enjoys a huge 42-point margin over their nearest pursuers meaning that they need just 10 points to confirm themselves as champions for the first time. Briton Mike Conway re-joins the Japanese team for the second time this year (following the Lone Star Le Mans event in Austin) and will be in the No.7 entry with Wurz and Sarrazin.
As witnessed by the identical qualifying times set by Toyota and Porsche in China, the German manufacturer is demonstrating an increasingly regular presence at the top of the time sheets, and it will be working hard to secure its first victory in 2014. Audi Sport gained valuable points in Shanghai to keep it within reach of the Manufacturers’ World Championship title, but will need a great deal of luck on its side to retain its crown for the third successive year.
With the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Teams already settled in Rebellion Racing’s favour, and in the hands of Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld and Mathias Beche, the team’s No.13 entry (Kraihamer-Belicchi-Leimer) will be racing for its second victory of 2014. The Lotus team’s CLM P1/01 AER bounced back from adversity in Japan and recorded its second finish of the season in the sixth round; for the 6 Hours of Bahrain Pierre Kaffer will be joined by Swiss GP2 driver, Simon Trummer, and European Le Mans Series standout, Nathanael Berthon.
A battle royal for LMP2
The superbly consistent trio of Roman Rusinov, Olivier Pla and Julien Canal have taken G-Drive Racing to within eight points of 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 WEC points scorer, SMP Racing. This is one of the closest battles throughout the field, and the class battle between the Ligier JS P2 ORECA 03R Nissan of the two Russian teams is likely to be as fiercely fought as always. SMP will be backed up, as always, by its all-Russian crewed No.37 entry.
KCMG suffered a severe setback to its challenge hopes in Shanghai after its first lap accident, and will be determined to repeat its 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas victory. OAK Racing’s Morgan Judd will once again be on the entry list with American-based South African Mark Patterson, Nissan Global Ambassador Keiko Ihara and American-Chinese driver David Cheng behind the wheel. The French team had a difficult 6 Hours of Shanghai due to brake balance issues and will be hoping for a better race in Bahrain.
GTEs go head to head in the title chase
Following the disastrous race in China for both AF Corse’s lead No.51 car (Bruni-Vilander) and the No.97 Aston Martin Racing entry of Turner-Mücke, Porsche gained a considerable advantage in the battle for the LMGTE Manufacturers World Cup and there is now just seven points between the famous Prancing Horse brand at the top of the leader board and the resurgent German marque. The gap is also reduced between the Ferrari pairing and Porsche Team Manthey’s Frederic Makowiecki in the GT Drivers’ title chase, with Aston Martin’s LMGTE Pro entries both keen to redress the balance after a challenging Chinese round. Porsche driver Nick Tandy joins the No.91 911 RSR line up alongside Bergmeister and Lietz, while the No.99 Aston Martin Vantage V8 will benefit from the local knowledge of Saudi driver Abdulaziz Al Faisal in place of Darryl O’Young (competing at Macau) for this Middle Eastern round.
An Aston Martin Champion, but who will it be?
Aston Martin Racing has its hands on the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am teams with an unassailable lead, but the identity of the drivers who will pick up the Championship trophy for this class won’t be known until the chequered flag has been shown for the 6 Hours of Bahrain. Nicki Thiim returns to the No.95 ‘Dane Train’ to support Kristian Poulsen and David Heinemeier Hansson, while the No.98 Vantage V8 crew of Dalla Lana-Lamy-Nygaard remains unchanged.
The class returns to its full strength with both AF Corse Ferrari 458s on the entry list. The No.61 F458 will feature two ELMS Ferrari drivers making their debut in the FIA WEC, Belarusian Alexander Talkanitsa Sr and Alessandro Pierguidi, and they will be racing with American Jeff Segal who competed for 8Star Motorsports in the fourth and fifth rounds of the championship. Stephen Wyatt, Michele Rugolo and Andrea Bertolini return to the cockpit of the No.81 Ferrari, while the AF Corse-managed 8 Star entry retains Matteo Cressoni alongside Roda and Ruberti.
The Porsche 911 RSR entry from ProSpeed Competition is unchanged, while Klaus Bachler is back from Porsche Supercup duty to support Christian Ried and Khaled Al Qubaisi in the Proton Competition car.
The 6 Hours of Bahrain takes place on Saturday 15th November, with practice beginning on Thursday 13th and qualifying on Friday 14th.
CLICK HERE for the provisional entry list for the 6 Hours of Bahrain
Fiona Miller
