8 HOURS OF BAHRAIN
FIA WEC | ROUND SIX | NOVEMBER 10 - 12
- Mike Conway and teammates Kamui Kobayashi and José María López took a hard-earned win in Bahrain, their second win of the season in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, to help crown TOYOTA GAZOO Racing as Hypercar Manufacturers’ World Champions.
- Starting the weekend off strong by achieving P3 in qualifying, the #7 car started on the second row of the grid.
- The race began with José María López taking the first stint, in firm contention for the lead.
- Just six seconds covered the top three when the opening pit stops arrived after an hour, during which José María López overtook the #93 for second and closed to the rear of the #8.
- When a technical problem hit the #93 after two hours, a full course yellow allowed the team to swap drivers handing it over to Mike.
- Mike took the lead early in the fourth hour and pushed hard to build a gap and a half distance holding that gap all the way till the next pit stop where Kamui Kobayashi took the wheel.
- Kamui Kobayashi gradually extended his advantage to 15 seconds by the end of the fifth hour, doubling the #7 car’s lead over the next hour before José María López took over with just two hours remaining.
- With just 45 minutes to go Mike took over the cockpit of the #7 GR010 HYBRID and increased the gap between him and 2nd allowing him to take the chequered flag in 1st place, with a 45.471secs clear of 2nd place.
- As the curtains close on a thrilling Hypercar season, Mike Conway signs off the 2022 season in the #7 GR010 HYBRID achieving 3rd in the championship with two victories and five podiums from six races.
- A successful season for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing sees the team claim their fifth world title double from 10 years of WEC competition.
- For Mike, his 3rd place in the championship standings sees him finish inside the top-three places for the fourth consecutive season, having claimed World Championship titles in 2019/20 and 2021.
MIKE'S RACE REVIEW
“It feels great to win the race and be part of a one-two for the team. Congratulations to Kamui, José and the whole #7 crew who did a stellar job here, and also to car #8 on the championship, they had a really consistent, strong year so fully deserve it. Our race went very well and it was a close fight for a lot of the eight hours. Car #8 kept us on our toes as always until Kamui pulled out a good gap which made it more comfortable. Everyone on our car executed really well today, with a nice clean race, good pit stops and the right strategy. It’s fantastic to win the manufacturers’ title again; thanks to everyone in Japan, Cologne and all the other people who have made this happen.”