TOYOTA GAZOO Racing achieved its best qualifying performance of the year, securing the pole position and dominating the front row of the grid for Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, the final round of the 2025 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, held at the Sakhir circuit.
The team has an exceptional record in Bahrain, having won the last eight races, and is determined to end a challenging season with a return to the podium. The qualifying session showed significant improvement thanks to the joint effort of the team and its drivers.
Kamui Kobayashi secured the team’s first pole position of 2025 with a lap of 1:46.826 in the #7 GR010 HYBRID, which he shares with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries. Brendon Hartley was just 0.151 seconds behind in the #8 GR010 HYBRID, which he drives alongside Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa, completing the one-two finish.
“I’m very happy to be on pole again. It’s the result of great work and a big effort from the team. We’ve had a tough season so far, so I’m very proud that we’ve been able to turn it around and achieve a one-two today. Everyone worked very hard for this, but tomorrow is another day and we know it won’t be easy. Our goal is to win. We’re well-prepared and it should be an exciting race,” says Kamui Kobayashi.
“A very good qualifying session for the whole team. We’re very satisfied with the performance. I did a clean lap, despite making a few small mistakes and being a bit conservative in some sections. Kamui was incredible and overtook me to take pole position. I was desperate to get it, but congratulations to him. I’m happy to start from the front row, which gives me the best chance possible to finish on the podium,” says Brendon Hartley.
The 8 Hours of Bahrain are scheduled for Saturday, starting at 8am, with live coverage on YouTube.
