Bahrain 2 Hr Report: Buemi leads for Toyota No. 8

Below are the main headlines after the first two hours of racing at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, the season-closer to this year's FIA WEC.

HYPERCAR 

• No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing entry started by Sebastien Buemi leads comfortably at the two hour mark after three-time champion opens up clear to chasing field. 
• Race starts with high drama as title chasing No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hypercar is spun around at the first corner by No.2 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Earl Bamber. 
• While Conway is forced in to aggressive recovery drive through the field, Bamber received a 6-second stop/go penalty and falls to the rear of Hypercar field. 
• Leading the charge to the No.8 Toyota initially is the pair of Ferrari 499P machines of No.50 of Miguel Molina and No.51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi. 
• But Ferrari AF Corse swap the two cars so No.51 goes to the fore and holds a solid second place with Pier Guidi38 seconds behind the leading Toyota. 
• The recovering Conway is third and on tail of Ferrari as third hour and second scheduled pit stop approaches. 
• Conway’s charge saw some epic overtakes on fellow Hypercar competitors as double WEC champion flexes muscles in excellent recovery drive. 
• Hertz Team Jota enjoy impressive first two hours as Will Stevens runs fourth  after clearing No.5 Porsche and No.51 Ferrari. 
• Miguel Molina places fifth for Ferrari ahead of the No.6 (Vanthoor) and No.5 (Christensen) Porsche. 
• In eighth place is the Proton Competition Porsche 963 with Neel Jani engaging in a ferocious battle with Laurens Vanthoor in the second hour. 
• Peugeot TotalEnergies run ninth and tenth with No.94 (Duval) heading No.93 (Vergne). 
• Delayed Cadillac is 11^th ahead of the Floyd Vanwall squad which is forced to take early race penalty for a qualifying offence. 

LMP2  

• Gabriel Aubry starts in opening hours as he takes the Vector Sport Oreca-Gibson LMP2 car to solid leading position. 
• Aubry heads the No.9 Prema car of Filip Ugran in opening exchanges and is able to pull a gap at the front before handing over to Matthias Kaiser who retains lead. 
• But disaster follows just before the third hour when Vector are notified of a 90-second stop/go penalty for a technical infringement. 
• Juan Manuel Correa sits second in LMP2 after taking over No.9 cockpit from Ugran, while Ferdinand Habsburg closes in with No.31 Team WRT car in third. 
• JOTA run fourth ahead of No.41 Team WRT and No.35 Alpine ELF Team. 
• Polesitter Tom Blomqvist in No.23 United Autosports entry loses the lead at T2 in multi-car collision which also involves sister No.22 United Autosports car of Phil Hanson. 
• Hanson is eventually penalised for triggering the incident with a 60-second stop/go penalty. 
• Blomqvist re-starts from rear of category and behind recovery making up several position, before handing over to Joshua Pierson so that car places ninth at two-hour mark. 
• Also involved in first lap incident is Matthieu Vaxiviere in the No.36 Alpine ELF Team and he drops back in to the pack. 
• Inter Europol Competition car stops on track in second hour and loses time but is able to re-start and continue ninth in class. 

LMGTE Am 

• Iron Dames make flying start with Sarah Bovy who leads all of first stint in No.85 Iron Dames Porsche. 
• But stablemates Iron Lynx Porsche takes over lead after quicker pit stop with Matteo Cressoni enjoys quicker pit-stop. 
• But team face compromise as Claudio Schiavone falls ill just before the start and is unsure to be able to drive later in the race. 
• No.777 D’Station Aston Martin runs third as Liam Talbot puts in strong double stint as replacement for Satoshi Hoshino. 
• 2023 champions Corvette Racing place 11^th but go on off-set strategy after Ben Keating pits early and begins fuel saving strategy in effort to secure fourth win of glittering season. 
• Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari receives drive-through penalty for first hour contact with No.93 Peugeot 9X8.