WEC Bahrain: Aston Martin leads at halfway mark,…

Aston Martin led Toyota at the halfway point of the World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain, while Ferrari put itself in a strong position to sweep both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles.

Toyota had been the dominant marque in the opening half of the Bahrain 8 Hours, with Nyck de Vries leading a 1-2 for the Japanese marque ahead of Brendon Hartley following the third round of pitstops.

However, the race was reset in the fourth hour when the retiring Jenson Button nudged the #54 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Thomas Flohr into the barriers exiting Turn 3, while trying to defend position from the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde.

⚠️ Safety car

HUGE G-force crash for #54 Vista AF Corse but great to see Thomas Flohr get out unaided.

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Almost the entire field pitted under the resulting caution, mostly to top up fuel, wiping out the advantage the two Toyotas had built at the front.

At the restart, Hartley grabbed the outright lead in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, but both he and Conway came under serious pressure from Alex Riberas in the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Having likely taken on fresh tyres during the pits, Riberas first hunted down Conway for second before passing Hartley at the Esses to grab the lead with 10 minutes left in the fourth hour.

The #009 Aston he shares with Marco Sorensen and Roman de Angelis pulled out a lead of more than five seconds by the end of the hour, as the two Toyotas settled into second and third positions.

Race start (Photo by: AG Photo - Daniele Paglino)

The points-leading #51 Ferrari 499P ran fourth with Alessandro Pier Guidi at the wheel, cementing the crew’s chances of sealing the drivers’ title. Pier Guidi’s team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi charged from seventh on the grid to move up to second in the middle of the second hour, even challenging Conway for the lead, before dropping behind the #8 Toyota and the lead Aston.

Ross Gunn holds fifth spot in the #007 Valkyrie after electing to stay out during the FCY, ahead of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Yifei Ye and the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R of Alex Lynn,

Charles Milesi and Mick Schumacher held eighth and ninth positions in the two Alpine A424s while Dries Vanthoor completed the top 10 in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8.

The points-contending #6 Porsche 963 Hybrid had slowly carved its way inside the top 10, but a late pitstop at the end of the fourth hour dropped Matt Campbell to 15th.

Button's #38 Cadillac was hit with a 30-second stop/go penalty for causing the collision with Flohr's Ferrari.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi (Photo by: Shameem Fahath / Motorsport Network)

In LMGT3, Lexus came out on top in a close duel with Mercedes to lead the final round of the season.

Although the pole-sitting #78 Lexus RC F GT3 remains in the pits due to electrical issues, ASP’s other car driven by Jose Maria Lopez held a narrow lead over the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes AMG GT3 of Maxime Martin.

A charging second stint from Ryan Hardwick propelled the championship-leading #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R from the back row of the grid into third position.

The #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 that is battling with the Porsche for the championship sat sixth, behind the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and the #33 TF Sport Chevrolet Z06 GT3.R.