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INTERNATIONAL WRAP – WEC BAHRAIN & AUSSIES OVERSEAS

Toyota Gazoo Racing's TS050-Hybrid on track in Bahrain - Photo: LAT

By Bruce Williams

Toyota Gazoo Racing's TS050-Hybrid on track in Bahrain - Photo: LAT

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s TS050-Hybrid on track in Bahrain – Photo: LAT

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP – BAHRAIN

Toyota have won the final race of the 2017 World Endurance Championship in Bahrain.

The trio of Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, and Kazuki Nakajima took out a comfortable win in the No. 8 Toyota TS050 during the 6 hours of Bahrain after their rivals ran into issues.

The championship winning Porsche (No. 2) of Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard was the first to strike issues, having to make unscheduled pitstop in the first hour of the race to remove a bollard that got stuck in its bodywork. They did recover to finish second, a lap off the pace of the winning Toyota in Porsche’s final race in WEC.

Both Porsche and Toyota’s other LMP1 cars ran into issues when they made contact with GT Class cars while lapping them later in the race. The No. 1 Porsche collided with the GTE AM class Gulf Racing Porsche of Australian Nick Foster, but recovered to finished third, even after receiving a penalty for the contact.

The No. 7 collided with the GTE Pro class No.92 Porsche 911 RSR which put the Porsche out of the race and caused the Toyota to lose three laps while stopped for repairs.

Toyota also confirmed their entry in the WEC 2018/19 “Super-Season” after the completion of the Bahrain race.

AUSSIES OVERSEAS

MRF CHALLENGE

Two young Aussies, Dylan Young and Harri Jones, were in action during the opening round of the MRF Challenge in Bahrain.

Young started off his weekend with a podium in the first race, while Jones retired after contact.

The next three races weren’t ideal for the Aussies, Young stalled on the grid in the second race, dropping to last on the opening lap. He recovered to to finish seventh, following that up with a sixth in the third race and a DNF in the final race.

Jones finished with personal best of tenth in the third race.

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