TOYOTA GAZOO Racing achieved its first win of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season by securing a one-two finish at the 8 Hours of Bahrain. The team ended a challenging season with this result, extending its winning streak in Bahrain to nine consecutive races.
The #7 GR010 HYBRID, driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries, started from pole position and maintained their lead to take victory. Their teammates Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 GR010 HYBRID overcame a mid-race penalty to finish second, 19.378 seconds behind. This outcome also ensured TOYOTA GAZOO Racing secured second place in the manufacturers’ World Championship.
The race saw both Toyota cars use different pit strategies early on, with Brendon Hartley opting for fuel only while Mike Conway changed tyres. As the race progressed, both teams exchanged positions and navigated challenges such as penalties and safety car periods. Despite a drive-through penalty that dropped the #8 car to ninth place, Ryo Hirakawa fought back into contention before handing over to Brendon Hartley for the final stint.
In the closing stages, a safety car bunched up the field but Nyck de Vries managed the restart and maintained his lead until the finish. The official results are available at https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/.
Kamui Kobayashi commented: “It has been a very tough season, and we had to wait until the last round to enjoy a result like this, and an unexpected second place in the manufacturers’ World Championship. It was not an easy race but a big effort from everyone in the team made this possible. We executed a clean race with no mistakes. We never gave up all season, and winning here is a great reward. Thanks to the whole team – engineers and pit crew here, plus everyone in Cologne and Higashi-Fuji – for their hard work. Thanks also to our Toyota colleagues in Bahrain and the local fans here who have really supported us here.”
Mike Conway said: “It’s an amazing result. Before the race I felt like we had a good chance but to come away with a one-two is incredible and I am so happy for the team. Finishing second in the World Championship is pretty cool as well because we didn’t even think about that coming into the weekend. I am just so happy to get a nice result to finish a tough season. It’s been a perfect way to celebrate my mum’s birthday. She’s here to watch the race, and it’s been nice to share it with her.”
Nyck de Vries added: “It’s obviously fantastic to finish the season with a one-two for the team. It’s a reward for everyone who has worked so hard all year, not just at the track but also back at the factories in Cologne and Higashi-Fuji. Everyone has been pushing hard all year and until now it didn’t work out as we hoped, but we bounced back today. It was a great race, we executed well, made no mistakes and everyone played their part in achieving this win. Car #8 also drove well to fight back up to second place; their strategy worked out well. All in all, I’m very pleased to end the season on top like this.”
Sébastien Buemi stated: “Congratulations to car #7 and the whole team. To finish first and second is a fantastic result and I think everyone deserves to enjoy the moment because we have all worked so hard to get back to the front. Considering the season we had up to now, finishing second in the World Championship is a nice boost for everyone’s morale going into next season, when we hope to come back stronger and fight for the title.”
Brendon Hartley remarked: “I am very happy to finish the season with a one-two. It was our goal today but at some point, it looked like it would be difficult. It had been looking positive in the first half of the race and we were off strategy, meaning we would have new tyres at the end. The fight back after our penalty was phenomenal from all three drivers, along with the flawless pit work and strong strategy. Car #7 did a great job to win, congratulations to them.”
Ryo Hirakawa said: “Congratulations to car #7 for their victory and to the whole team for this result. We did our very best on car #8 to win and we were able to come back after penalty. The safety car helped us a bit, but we showed good performance today. I’m very happy to get second in World Championship as well. It’s a nice surprise and it’s result of pushing until end in every race Next year target is very clear ,and we are looking forward fighting at front like this again.”
The top six finishing order included two Ferrari AF Corse cars following Toyota GAZOO Racing (#51 finished third; #50 fourth), AF Corse (#83) fifth, followed by Cadillac Team JOTA (#12) sixth.
Looking ahead, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will introduce an updated car for 2026 with no changes planned for its driver line-up.
