TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is preparing for the final round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), which will take place at the Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday, November 8. This marks the 14th time that Bahrain has hosted a WEC event, concluding a season that included seven rounds across four continents and totaled 64 hours of racing.
The team aims to finish a challenging season with a strong result. In their most recent race at Fuji Speedway, drivers Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries in car #7 were contenders for a podium position before facing setbacks. They are now focused on achieving their first podium finish of the year in Bahrain.
Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa, who drive car #8, won last year’s race in Bahrain. This season they hope to recover from an early incident at Fuji that impacted their performance when their car was hit by another Hypercar.
Last year’s event at the Bahrain International Circuit saw TOYOTA GAZOO Racing secure its sixth consecutive manufacturers’ World Championship title with its tenth victory in Bahrain. The circuit measures 5.412 kilometers and has been favorable for the GR010 HYBRID cars in recent years. However, retirement of car #7 last year ended a streak of four consecutive one-two finishes for the team in Hypercar class.
Track activities begin Thursday with two free practice sessions—one during daylight and one at night. Qualifying is scheduled for Friday afternoon local time to determine starting positions for Saturday’s race.
Following the main event, the annual WEC Rookie Test will be held on Sunday. Ben Barnicoat and Sacha Fenestraz will participate by driving a GR010 HYBRID as part of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s effort to support new drivers. Barnicoat previously took part in this test in 2024 and is an IMSA champion with Lexus RC F GT3 experience; Fenestraz currently competes in Super Formula and holds fifth place in this season’s Super GT standings with TGR Team SARD.
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7) said: “It’s been a challenging year for the whole team, but we want to end it with a positive result in Bahrain. We have some great memories of races there and our car has worked well on this track in the past. We’ll see if that’s the case again this year, but we will be pushing until the final laps to stand on the podium again.”
Mike Conway (Driver, car #7) commented: “It was great at Fuji to be in the podium fight at one stage; that’s where we want to be racing. Unfortunately, circumstances didn’t help us, and we couldn’t finish on the podium, but we will take encouragement from that experience going into Bahrain. It’s the last race of the year so obviously we all want to end it on a positive note.”
Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7) stated: “I enjoy racing in Bahrain; it’s a fun circuit. This is our last chance this season to finish on the podium and we’re all motivated to do that. We know it will not be easy, and we will need to execute a perfect race, but we’re ready for the challenge. The competition in Hypercar will be tough as always and I’m looking forward to it.”
Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8) said: “Bahrain is a special place for me and for the team, and I very much enjoy racing there. We’ve had so much success at this track in the past, but last year was particularly memorable. To fight back to win the race and the World Championship was an amazing feeling. I know it will be difficult to repeat that victory this year, but we will all fight hard to finish the season strongly.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8) added: “Fuji didn’t go our way, and we expect a big fight in Bahrain as well because it’s the end of the season and there’s a lot to fight for in the World Championship. The competition will be intense again but we’re looking forward to it. We need to focus on keeping it clean maximizing what we have and hopefully we can come away with a good result.”
Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8) remarked: “Everyone in the team has worked so hard this year but it’s been difficult and results have not been what we wanted So let’s push one last time to get a good result I like racing in Bahrain And our car has gone well there so I hope this will be case again next week Of course competition is very strong And podium will not be easy But we keep fighting.”
