Bahrain 8h WEC: Kobayashi puts #7 Toyota on pole for decider
The #7 Toyota will start the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship title decider in Bahrain on pole position after Kamui Kobayashi topped Hypercar qualifying on Friday.

The point that comes with pole means that Kobayashi and co-drivers Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez only have to finish Saturday's Bahrain 8 Hours to retain their championship.
Third place in the three-race Hypercar field will be enough to give them the title even if teammates Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima win the race aboard the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
Kobayashi posted a 1m46.250s on his first run, which was more than six tenths up on Hartley's 1m48.895s.
Both Toyota drivers went out for second runs: Kobayashi didn't set a representative time, while the three tenths Hartley found to get down to a 1m46.540s wasn't enough to wrest the pole.
The Alpine A480-Gibson ended up 0.775s off the pace, closer than in qualifying for the first race of the Bahrain double-header, courtesy of a 1m47.025s from Matthieu Vaxiviere.
Filipe Albuquerque snatched LMP2 pole position right at the end of the 10-minute prototype session. The Portuguese found seven tenths on a second set of tyres aboard the United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson.
His 1m49.525s was enough to beat the 1m49.819s from Norman Nato, who did not improve on a second run in the TDS-run Realteam Oreca.
Antonio Felix da Costa took third place in the first of the JOTA Oreca, his 1m49.910s coming on the second flying lap of his solo run.
Giedo van der Garde was fourth, and second in the Pro/Am sub-class behind Nato, aboard the Racing Team Nederland Oreca run by TDS with a 1m50.149s on his second run.
The WRT entry that took P2 honours in the six-hour Bahrain race last weekend was only seventh in Ferdinand Habsburg's hands.
Porsche driver Kevin Estre took his fifth GTE Pro pole of the season despite a strong challenge from Ferrari and losing his first lap time to a track limits violation.
The Frenchman's 1m56.041s, slightly quicker than his deleted lap, in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 gave him a margin of less than two tenths over James Calado in the fastest of the AF Corse-run Ferrari 488 GTEs, which have received a Balance of Performance boost for this race.
Pole for the Porsche means that Estre and full-season teammate Neel Jani have drawn level on points with Ferrari pairing Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Estre and Jani are joined for this weekend's eight-hour race by Michael Christensen, who drove with them at the Portimao and Le Mans 24 Hours rounds.
Calado's 1m56.201s was four tenths up on third-placed Gianmaria Bruni's Porsche. The Italian lost his first two lap times as a result of going off track and posted his legitimate time of 1m56.541s after the chequered flag had fallen.
Daniel Serra brought up the rear of the GTE Pro pack in the second Ferrari with a time of 1m56.603s.
Ferrari came out on top in GTE Am after its cars received a similar power increase to the Pro cars under the latest BoP.
Roberto Lacorte took the top spot with a 1m58.712s aboard the AF Corse-run Cetilar Racing entry by just four hundredths from Francois Perrodo in the championship-leading AF car.
The WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain will be streamed live on Motorsport.tv. Click here for more information.
Qualifying results (Hypercar and LMP2):
Qualifying results (GTE Pro and Am):
Cla | # | Drivers | Car | Class | Avg Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 92 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 1'56.041 | |
2 | 51 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'56.201 | 0.160 |
3 | 91 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE PRO | 1'56.541 | 0.500 |
4 | 52 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE PRO | 1'56.603 | 0.562 |
5 | 47 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'58.712 | 2.671 |
6 | 83 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'58.759 | 2.718 |
7 | 85 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'58.958 | 2.917 |
8 | 56 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'58.989 | 2.948 |
9 | 33 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 1'59.087 | 3.046 |
10 | 98 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 1'59.096 | 3.055 |
11 | 88 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'59.359 | 3.318 |
12 | 54 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 1'59.492 | 3.451 |
13 | 77 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 1'59.936 | 3.895 |
14 | 57 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'00.301 | 4.260 |
15 | 777 | |
Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE AM | 2'00.364 | 4.323 |
16 | 86 | |
Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | LMGTE AM | 2'01.282 | 5.241 |
17 | 60 | |
Ferrari 488 GTE EVO | LMGTE AM | 2'01.941 | 5.900 |
View full results |
Related video

SRO to jointly run Asian Le Mans Series with ACO
WEC stewards reject Ferrari's BoP protest in Bahrain

Latest news
Team 18's coin toss chassis allocation
Supercars squad Team 18 used a combination of a coin toss and a ping pong ball lottery to allocate its new chassis to drivers Scott Pye and Mark Winterbottom.
BRT not fazed by Ford aero questions
Blanchard Racing Team isn't fazed about the unresolved Ford aero package ahead of its maiden Gen3 Supercars test at Winton tomorrow.
Australian GP releases more race day tickets
The Australian Grand Prix Corporation has announced a final limited release of race day tickets.
Tickford unveils first 2023 livery
Tickford Racing has unveiled its first livery ahead of the 2023 season with the covers coming off Brad Vaughan's Super2 entry.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Motorsport.com writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022.
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, are arguably the greatest sportscars of all time.
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad.
The history lessons Peugeot should have learned on its return
The Peugeot 9X8 will make its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at Monza this weekend. The French manufacturer has gone radical and will be hoping it doesn’t need to overhaul its contender, as it did with its first Le Mans challenger…
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.