8H Bahrain 2 Hour update: Toyota overhauls Alpine to lead while Ferrari and Porsche battle it out in LMGTE Pro

Kevin Estre in the No.92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR and James Calado driven Pro No.51 AF Corse Ferrari have superb first hour fight in LMGTE Pro 

In LMP2 Racing Team Nederland lead, while No.83 AF Corse Ferrari heads LMGTE Am.

Hypercar  

• Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 after two hours in Bahrain 
• Mike Conway overtakes Nicolas Lapierre in first hour after Alpine gets jump from third on grid in opening corners 
• No.7 Toyota relinquishes lead to Sebastien Buemi in No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar after 82-minutes of racing 
• At two-hour mark the No.8 car has slender advantage over No.7 as Kazuki Nakajima leads Jose-Maria Lopez by 18-seconds 
• Alpine ELF Matmut  took lead at start with Nicolas Lapierre racing to the front 
• However, he was soon overtaken by both Toyotas before a gear selection issue forced a long pit -stop and the car lost three laps as issues were fixed 

A world champion is a world champion forever. Let’s go racing from daylight to night in Bahrain. 8 hours on the clock to make endurance history.#WEC #8HBahrain pic.twitter.com/t90ml0Qgj2

— WEC (@FIAWEC) November 6, 2021

LMGTE Pro  

• Sensational opening first two hours as Porsche and Ferrari battle ferociously for lead in super-close LMGTE Pro battle 
• Pole sitting Kevin Estre resists James Calado’s No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Pro machine  
• Calado though muscles his way through but then has to give place back after breaking track limits 
• Battle rages after first stops but becomes a race for second as Gimmi Bruni takes up lead after a quicker stop 
• But a full course yellow to clear track debris just before third hour sees Ferrari lose time and drop behind Porsche  
• At two-hour stage No.91 leads No.92 by 2-seconds, with No.51 in third four laps further back 
• All four in LMGTE Pro are just 7.7-seconds apart as No.52 AF Corse Ferrari sits fourth in titanic battle for supremacy 

OH YES. This is what we want during 8 hours please gentlemen.#WEC #8HBahrain @PorscheRaces @FerrariRaces pic.twitter.com/i1BLQ5hjXC

— WEC (@FIAWEC) November 6, 2021

LMP2  

• Giedo van der Garde reprises amazing start from last Saturday’s race to snatch the lead again at the start from fourth on the grid 
• He then opens significant gap to hand over to Frits van Eerd who holds lead 
• Realteam Racing initially place second as Loic Duval completes first stint and gives over cockpit to Esteban Garcia  
• But Garcia is tracked down by Stoffel Vandoorne in No.28 JOTA Oreca-Gibson who takes second place V
• Vandoorne took over from Sean Gelael who suffered dramatic spin at start of second hour while lapping LMGTE Am cars 
• Points leaders Team WRT sits fourth as Robin Frijns tracks Vandoorne after teammate Ferdinand Habsburg completes strong first two stints 
• Frijns makes move on Vandoorne at T1 just before start of third hour and takes third place 
• No.38 JOTA is fifth after Roberto Gonzalez finishes tremendous double stint before handing over to Anthony Davidson who races in the last event of his illustrious career today 
• United Autosports USA place sixth but take full course yellow stop along with JOTA cars under full course yellow 

LMGTE Am 

• Cetilar Racing with Roberto Lacorte at wheel leads from the start  
• However, Italian is hit by No.777 D’Station Aston Martin driven by Tomanobu Fuji 
• Japanese ace gets drive-through penalty for the contact and drops down further after contact with No.85 Iron Lynx Ferrari 
• Cetilar resume in lead as Giorgio Sernagiotto extends lead but doesn’t pit under full course yellow just before start of third hour 
• This allows No.83 AF Corse points leading Ferrari to take the third as Francois Perrodo takes second stint at wheel after Alessio Rovera takes second hour stint 
• Cetilar drop to second ahead of Team Project 1 Porsche places third ahead of No.57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 
• TF Sport and No.98 Aston Martin collide on opening lap, and both have to pit with tyre damage