History beckons for Porsche Penske in WEC finale

The FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain this weekend see’s the Porsche Penske team on the cusp of an historic championship double across IMSA and WEC.

After more than 11,000km of racing over four continents, the 8 Hours of Bahrain will close out the second season of the combined and more manufacturer heavy LMH and LMDh Hypercar class in the revitalised WEC top flight. 

The 5.4km track in the middle of the desert will go from the light and into the dark with 18 hypercars and 18 LMGTE cars vying for position through 15 turns with an average of 54 gear changes per lap, with around about 60% of full-throttle time.

The #6 team led by Kevin Estre has taken two wins in 2024, the most of any single machine in a tightly matched season between Toyota, Ferrari, and Porsche

After Porsche Penske captured the IMSA GTP championship at the Petit Le Mans in Atlanta, it will now attempt to become the first team in the top flight (top class) of Sportscar racing to capture both the WEC and IMSA titles across one season.

The #6 963 LMDh machine driven by André Lotterer/Kévin Estre/Laurens Vanthoor has taken a season high two wins and three podiums this season, and will enter race day in Bahrain with a 35 point advantage on the nearest challengers with 39 on offer in the final.

“Considering the championship standings, one might think everything is wrapped up, but that’s definitely not the case!” Said Vanthoor. 

“It looks promising, but with one-and-a-half times as many points awarded in Bahrain (due to the race’s longer distance), it’s still wide open.

“Last year, we weren’t particularly strong in Bahrain, but we’ve understood exactly why that was. We have an incredibly exciting weekend ahead of us, and winning the championship would be an absolute dream come true for everyone in the team.”

Consistency had been the key for Porsche in 2024, a squad that showed much promise across both IMSA and WEC in 2023, but needed to iron out mechanical inconsistencies in an incredibly complex racing machine.

Across two Free Practice sessions, Peugeot and BMW have topped the time sheets, with Aussie Matt Campbell’s #5 Porsche in P2 across both stints

Porsche will also be aiming for the WEC manufacturers title, and is poised to knock off the dominant Toyota, who’s head start and first two campaigns against some smaller fledgling outfits have seen them take out the last five crowns (LMP1 2018-19, 2019-20, and Hypercar 2021-2023).

But it’s tighter in this title fight, with Toyota only 10 points behind, whilst back-to-back Le Mans champions, Ferrari, are also in the fight, just 17 points back.

It’s not just in the Hypercars and GTP realms that Porsche have dominated, their machinery has also captured the IMSA GT Daytona Pro title with an AO Racing run Porsche 911 GT3 R, and has already won the maiden LMGT3 title via the Manthey PureRxcing 911.

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