WEC Preview: 8 Hours of Bahrain
- Aaron Carroll
- 11 minutes ago
- 6 min read
The World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2025 will come to close in Bahrain this weekend, but not after eight hours of racing to decide our champions.
Championship Picture
Hypercar
With points and a half on offer for this longer than usual event, it's all up for grabs. In the drivers standings the No.51 has 115 points, ahead of the sister No.83 on 102. The No.6 Porsche in third (94 points) and the No.12 Cadillac (81 points) also have a mathematical shot at the title.
If the No.51 wins or comes second in the race, they will be champions regardless of where their rivals finish. However, if the No.83 wins, with the No.51 third or lower, the Le Mans winning crew take home the title.
Porsche at the very least need a podium finish, along with the No.51 and No.83 being out of or in the lower regions of the points. Cadillac on the other hand, need to win the race, and hope for some misfortune for the other three contenders.
The same three manufacturers are also fighting for the manufacturers title. Ferrari lead the way on 204 points, with Porsche on 165 and Cadillac on 143. Here, the points are calculated from a manufacturers two best results on the weekend, so the maximum total is 65 (not including the extra point for pole).
Porsche need at least a third and fourth place result, and a Ferrari non-score. However if one of their cars was to win the race, the second can afford to be as 10th, as long as Ferrari do not score any points.
Cadillac are once again the outside shot, needing a 1-2 and fewer than four points for Ferrari, or pole, first and third with a Ferrari non-score and Porsche second and sixth or worse.
LMGT3
Three cars are contesting the title in the GT3 class, the No.92 Porsche, No.21 Ferrari and the No.81 Corvette. The Manthey Porsche leads the way on 105 points, with the Ferrari behind on 94 and the Corvette on 81.
Despite being 11 points back, the Ferrari can seal the title with a win no matter where the Porsche finishes. Once the No.92 doesn't score pole position, and the No.21 wins the race with the Manthey car second, they will tie on points. This brings in the countback rule, and both cars would have two wins. But by virtue of the No.92 not having a second placed finish, the Vista AF Corse crew would be champions.
In any other case though, they need to outscore the 1st Phorm car by 11 points to win, so a minimum finish of sixth is needed.
The Corvette crew at the very least need pole and third, or a finish higher than second to even have a chance to win the title. Even with a podium, they will need some misfortune for their competitors.
The track
The 5.412 km (3.363 mi) Bahrain International Circuit is a track that includes a good mix of slow, medium and high speed corners to challenge the drivers in all aspects, and also a very abrasive surface that really tears apart the tyres.
The laps starts with a long blast down towards turn 1, with Hypercar drivers likely to be approaching this corner at over 300 km/h. It's hard on the brakes down, all the way down to first gear for the sharp right hander. This will likely be the biggest overtaking opportunity come the race on Saturday.
Turn 1 is quickly followed by turns 2 and 3, which is forms a tricky left-right complex in the middle of the traction zone. Getting the power down as early as possible without spinning here is crucial before heading onto another straight.
That straight leads into another heavy braking overtaking opportunity in turn 4. Coming out of the right hander, the track quickly tightens through turns 5, 6 and 7. Each corner is slower than the last in this left-right-left complex. Drivers will quickly swing the car back to the left on the exit of 7, to set up the sharp left-handed turn 8 hairpin. It is possible that we may see a late lunge or two here, especially on lap one.
After a short blast comes two of the trickiest corners on the calendar. Turn 9 is a small left-handed kink in the middle of the braking zone for the sharp left-hand hairpin of turn 10. It is extremely easy to lock up here, especially in the Hypercars which do not have ABS.
Turn 10 leads onto a medium length straight, into the medium-low speed left hander of turn 11. This is another possible overtaking spot, if a driver can get a better run than the car in front out of turn 10.
Traction out of 11 can be somewhat tricky too, as the corners radius opens and then closes again. Turn 12 immediately follows, a high speed right hander that should be flat in qualifying for the Hypercars, but more tricky for the LMGT3s. As soon as the car is straight from the exit of the corner, drivers will be on the brakes for the turn 13 right hander.
This 90 degree turn is important to get right, as it leads onto another long straight. At the end of this straight the drivers will once again be hard on the brakes into turn 14, another 90 degree right-hander that is once again crucial. It leads onto the long main straight, so getting the power down early is detrimental to a good lap time.
A 1:46.7 was the pole time last year in Hypercar, so drivers will be aiming to beat that in qualifying.
Weather
The Bahrain International Circuit rarely experiences rain, and the same can be said for this weekend. Clear skies are expected for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The main problem faced by the teams and drivers will be the temperatures. With highs of over 30 degrees Celsius, tyre management will be crucial during the daylight hours of the race.
Schedule
Unlike the norm for WEC races, the main event will take place on Saturday, meaning practice and qualifying will be split across Thursday and Friday, instead of the usual Friday, Saturday, Sunday routine.
The two 90 minute practice sessions on Thursday get going at 12:15 and 17:00 local time respectively. The second of those sessions will be quite important to the teams, as this will be the only opportunity they get to simulate race pace in those sunset and darkness hours.
The final 60 minutes of practice in FP3 will get going at 12:00 local time, before qualifying at 16:00 local time. The race on Saturday then gets underway at 14:00, running all the way until 22:00.
Fans at the track can also enjoy some action from the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East, which will host two practice sessions, qualifying and two races across the weekend.
Balance of Performance (BoP)
Hypercar
Cadillac have taken the biggest hit in this weekends BoP. The pair of V-Series.R's will be a massive 24 KW of power down on what they were in Fuij, they will also weigh an extra 4 kg and have 10 MJ less of stint energy. The only consolation for the American marque is that above 250 km/h, the Jota drivers will experience a 6.2% power gain, up from a 0.2% gain in Fuji.
The outgoing Porsche 963 will be the heaviest and least powerful however. They'll also have an extra 4 kg of ballast on the cars, along with a 9 KW decrease in power.
Also gaining weight and losing power will be Alpine (+2 kg and -9 KW) and Peugeot (+4 kg and -1 KW). BMW will shed 2 kg, while losing a single KW. The Aston Martin Valkyrie will remain exactly the same as it was in Fuij, while Ferrari (-5 kg and +3 KW) and Toyota (-7 kg and +6 KW) both lose weight and gain power.
LMGT3
In terms of LMGT3, there was just the one power change for any of the nine manufacturers. Mercedes will go up one position on the power curve, meaning they will have a slight bit more power heading down Bahrain's long straights. The AMG LMGT3 remains unchanged in weight.
The big movers in terms of weight are Corvette and McLaren (both with +14 kg) and Porsche (+20 kg). Both Porsche have Corvette have a car competing for the title, so this may hurt their chances. However, the other challenger, Ferrari, will gain an extra 7 kg, making it the heaviest car in the field.
Aston Martin will gain an extra 4 kg, while BMW and Ford lose 8 kg and 5 kg respectively. The Lexus RC F will remain unchanged in both weight and power.
