r/wec • u/AutoModerator • Nov 02 '24
Session has Ended [OFFICIAL] 8 Hours of Bahrain - Post-Race/Season Thread
aaand that's a wrap! 2024 WEC season is over! How was the finale? Sound off below!
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r/wec • u/AutoModerator • Nov 02 '24
aaand that's a wrap! 2024 WEC season is over! How was the finale? Sound off below!
6
u/Michal_Baranowski Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid #8 Nov 02 '24
What a wild season finale... I can't even believe that I don't like Bahrain circuit, yet I totally enjoy any races which are being held there. This one. Wow, I can't believe the conclusion. Of course, VSC clearly played a huge role, but even before that it was unpredictable and had fair share of dramas. Bunching up the field clearly spiced up entertainment up to 11 in the final 90 minutes.
Hypercar - I can't even believe and don't know how on Earth Toyota #8 managed to win this one. It was the race they should have lost and had no chances to bounce back, made strategic errors pretty much for 6 hours, had a contact, struggled, yet hit the jackpot when safety car came, right tyre choice finally and then... What a stunner! Sebastien Buemi - drive of the day. Say what you want, you may dislike him, you can hate me for what I will say, but I am a Buemi fan. On his A+ day, Buemi delivers big time. And he did just that today. Huge moves, including the final one on Matt Campbell and Porsche #5. Clearly helped #8 winning the race. Great finale for Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa. Too bad #7 had a nightmare of a race, sadly again this year with reliablity problems. This is pretty worrying. Fuel pump issues successfully derailed any mathematical chances for #7 winning drivers' championship. Toyota made reliability upgrades before this year, but maybe they are not working all the time. And in Bahrain... Despite winning manufacturers' championship courtesy of #8's comeback of comebacks, Toyota has something to think about for 2025 season. Still, happy for this win and the title. Great conclusion to the season for Toyota, especially after a miserable day at Fuji.
Ferrari #51 ends the race in second place. They lead for the most part after #8 had a contact. They were in the driving seat for a huge portion of the race, however once again safety car situation threw some sand into their cogs. Final pit stop left #51 having to come back from fifth place. Great final stint from Antonio Giovinazzi and that final lap pass on Porsche #5. Good end of a mixed season for #51. No happy ending for #50 which was involved in a lap 1 shenanigans with other cars, getting some performance-affecting damages, falling even down to last place at some point. Later on they came back hard, only to lose a points-scoring place due to a puncture which was an effect of a contact with an Alpine. Their drivers' championship pursuit was pretty much done as well. At least #50 finished in second in the points and won Le Mans this year of course.
Porsche #5 in third position today. After a troublesome first stint, #5 successfully climbed up the order and became a serious contender for a race win. Victory wasn't to be as #8 Toyota passed #5 and hard-charging Ferrari #51 did the same on the final lap. Still, third place overall, but manufacturers' championship for Porsche was lost on the final hurdle. After all, Porsche #6 managed to defend their lead in drivers' standings and thus Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer became drivers' champions in 2024. It was a miserable day for #6 crew, filled with incidents, terrible first two stints and penalties which denied them a top 10 finish. Thankfully their competition scored no points either. In the end, well-deserved title for #6 crew. Throughout the year they were the most consistent team, scored big points pretty much on all occassions bar this race. Quite nostalgic about Andre Lotterer. He is WEC champion again after 12 years! I remember his days at Audi, he was the absolute star of LMP1 racing. Most likely, his final WEC title and who knows whether he races in WEC next year. If not, then I am privleged to know that I witnessed his WEC career. I will forever remember his performances in Audi. 2024 championship with Porsche feels like beautiful send off...
Peugeot in fourth position... #93 just like Toyota #8 was lucky with SC, because pace-wise Peugeot was nowhere. Of course, their race pace was still better than in qualifying, but still hardly enough for something better than maybe 9th-10th place finish. But they got some luck anyway and found themselves in third position after their final pit stop. Lack of pace was evident. #93 was on fresher medium tyres, while Ferrari #51 had way older and more worn mixture of mediums and hards. And yet Peugeot was a sitting duck against Ferrari. And luckily they defended themselves from a hard-charging Alpine #35. 4th position for Peugeot is a good finish to a problematic season. Revised car didn't produced much goods. Fair to say that their best race was in Qatar - with an older spec of 9X8... The pace isn't there, reliablity isn't either - #94 retired with another hybrid failure. 2025 season will be a moment of truth for Peugeot.
Alpine's progress is worth noticing. After falling down the order early on, both cars steadily worked their way through. #35 finished in fifth position, #36 in tenth. Both cars in the top 10. What I am positively suprised about Alpine is not even reliablity improvements. Look at their fuel efficiency. All the time both Alpines pitted later than everyone else. They are clearly making good things with Mecachrome engine.
BMW probably hoped for something more than just sixth place finish for #15, but overall it was a good race for this crew. Pace showed from both cars was impressive, pretty much around Toyota, Ferrari and Porsche. #20 retirement is quite worrying and leaves some work to do in reliablity department, but BMW in general made gigantic leap forward with M Hybrid V8. Proper maiden win in IMSA this year and first podium in WEC at Fuji. It's getting better.
Final race for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing co-operation ended in seventh place. Felt like Cadillac was in every position today, apart maybe from a podium one. Tyre management was probably still an issue and this is something Jota will be thinking about next year.
Speaking of Jota, very good race from #12. They seriously looked like a challenger for the win. Safety car periods - especially the second one caused them probably that chance and finally a puncture left #12 on the sidelines. #38 in such circumstances ended in eighth overall and was the best privateer Hypercar today, just ahead of AF Corse Ferrari #83. #12 still won FIA World Cup for privateer teams. Good showing in their final race with Porsche 963 is a statement that Jota will be a major force as a factory Cadillac team next year.
Proton... What a troubled day. Julien Andlauer was like always pulling some magic, but they completely dropped of the contention. Hopefully next year Proton will improve. I am guessing that 963 customer cars is the plan for 2025.
DNF for Lamborghini. Story of their recent races. Amazing start straight into top 10 positions, then the pace fades away and finally some reliability issues. Weird, it wasn't like this at Le Mans. The pace is brewing inside SC63. The car just needs more polishing. Hopefully Lamborghini is not turning their backs on this program.
LMGT3 - final 90 minutes was a thriller. Amazing battle for the win between Ferrari #55 and Corvette #81. Alessio Rovera had the upper hand and secured the second class win in a row for AF Corse team. Rovera is a great driver, totally deserves a chance in Hypercar.
What to say about TF Sport Corvettes. It sounds like a maiden double podium should be a reason to celebrate, especially after a pretty bad season. But yet, it feels disappointing. #81 after passing United McLarens early on for the lead was in charge of LMGT3 for a huge part of the race. Safety car brought everybody up and #81 just couldn't keep the lead in a hard fight. #82 despite a penalty for a contact with Toyota #8 managed to gain time back under SC to finish in third. TF Sport finally drove a good race with Corvettes, but yet they came so close.
1-2 in the championship for Manthey Porsches, but today they had their worst race of the season - first time in 2024 with no class podiums. Pretty much the biggest surprise of the race in my opinion.
Just 6th and 8th in LMGT3 for United Autosports McLarens. After leading 1-2 early on, it feels quite underwhelming to finish with no podium place at all. Still, they are getting better with those cars progressively.
Both WRT BMW dead last in LMGT3. Ever since Le Mans their season just didn't go in the right way.
Dreadful race and whole season for Team ASP Lexus. Relability issues, failures, no pace... It's been like this all year long. I find it quite sad. Team ASP is one of the best in GT3 racing. First year with a new machinery is always meant to be difficult and challenging, but that much? I know that Lexus in WEC trim is not as rapid as the one in IMSA, but it just can't be only this reason. 2025 has to produce way more consistency, because I don't expect them to be super quick with such an old car in its final season. 2025 definitely will be a testing year and preparations for 2026 and new car from Lexus. Looking forward.
Double DNF for Proton Mustangs after similar engine failures in the same place... What an irony. A sign that Mustang GT3 has a long way to go, despite podium places at Le Mans and VIR in IMSA.
Post-season thoughts - it was quite an emotional year of racing in WEC. Top class has never been so stacked. Races were dramatic and interesting. That's positive. I am less positive about some decisions about neutralisations - introduction of VSC is clearly done for entertainment purposes and it served perfectly in Bahrain. Of course, spilled oil was a good reason to bring out SC anyway, so that's on race director's defence. Hoping that VSC will be used with a reason in the future.
Bring on 2025!
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