Outgoing champions outshine title protagonists in Bahrain qualifying

The result replicated that achieved by the Japanese marque last year – a day before it achieved its seventh Manufacturers’ crown in the series. There might be no chance of another Toyota title 12 months on following a disappointing campaign at the international pinnacle of the discipline, but the brand has put itself in pole position to salvage its season with a podium finish if not better in tomorrow’s race. 

It was Kamui Kobayashi who posted the fastest lap behind the wheel of the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar that he shares with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, stopping the clocks 0.151secs quicker than Brendon Hartley in the #8 sister car. That represented the Japanese star’s 18th career pole – second on the all-time list – and on Saturday, he will seek to similarly add an 18th victory to his glittering CV.

“The car felt great, the lap was great and the team did a great job,” Kobayashi enthused. “It’s no secret that we’ve had a really tough season; we’ve struggled a lot and still haven’t finished on the podium yet this year, but we’ve had a lot of success with the GR010 overall and tomorrow is its last race before we update it for 2026, so we will be pushing hard to come away with a win.”

To do that, the #7 trio will need to see off last year’s Bahrain winner – the #8 Toyota crewed by Hartley, Sébastien Buemi and Ryō Hirakawa – as well as a dual Team Peugeot TotalEnergies threat, with the pair of 9X8 Hypercars set to line up directly behind in third and fourth following an excellent effort by both Malthe Jakobsen and Jean-Éric Vergne, the latter making his final appearance in FIA WEC this weekend prior to taking a season’s sabbatical.

Alex Lynn – pole-sitter for three of the four most recent races arriving in Sakhir – took fifth place in the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R he shares with Will Stevens and Norman Nato, as the trio cling on to their faint chances of stealing the spoils from under the noses of championship leaders Ferrari.

Behind Marco Sørensen’s sixth-placed Aston Martin Valkyrie, Antonio Giovinazzi secured seventh spot in the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P. Together with team-mates James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, the Italian is aiming to lift the laurels in the Drivers’ World Championship battle in Bahrain, with the trio entering the final race holding a 13-point advantage at the summit of the standings over the privately-run #83 AF Corse entry.

Robert Kubica put that car 12th in the pecking order, but far worse fortune befell the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963. Defending world champion Kévin Estre locked up heading into Turn One on his first flying lap, setting the tone for a frustrating session that ultimately left the red-and-white German prototype 18th and last on the grid – an early blow to the Frenchman and team-mate Laurens Vanthoor’s bid to turn the tables on their Ferrari rivals in the chase for the crown.

Tomorrow’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain will get underway at 14:00 local time (12:00 CET).

Results are HERE