Audi Takes Easy Win in Bahrain After Toyota Retires

The Six Hours of Bahrain was not easy on anyone. Even after the sun had gone down the ambient temperature was 32.4°C (90°F), and the dust on the track caused a significant number of electrical problems.

The winning #1 Audi had a very easy day though. It had no problems throughout the day and raced a very clean race. If Toyota had not had their problems, though, it seems unlikely that the car would have taken the overall win. 

Things were not easy for all the Audis though. The #2 Audi that was just converted into an Audi R18 E-Tron QuattroAudi R18 e-tron quattroGermany, 2012 > present8 photos
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 from an Audi R18 ultraGermany, 2012 > present11 photos
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had multiple electrical gremlins. The car's headlights stopped working three separate times during the race and each time necessitated a new nose for the car. The #2 Audi also had a tire puncture about two hours into the race that forced it to come in early for a pit stop. Those guys had a very rough day, but still managed to finish second. 

The Toyota TS030Toyota TS030 HYBRIDJapan, 2012 > present5 photos
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 attacked on the race's first corner and moved into second place, and by the end of the first hour the car was in first. It stayed there for about two hours until the car's side number illumination stopped working. That forced it to lose 4 laps in the pits while they were repaired, and it re-entered in sixth place. The Toyota raced up through the ranks for the next hours until it made contact with the #21 Strakka and retired with about 90 minutes left of the race. The Toyota was in third when the crash happened. The Strakka had minor damage and a tire puncture but was able to keep racing. 

The #21 Strakka Racing (TOOLTIP|VERSION|49209|HPD ARX-03a} took third place in the LMP1 class, which is a great performance from a privateer team. 

Lighting was a major problem throughout the race. The #49 Pecom Racing Oreca 03-NissanOreca Oreca 03 NissanFrance, 2011 > present2 photos
 car had to change its side lights. The #41 Greaves {TOOLTIP|VERSION|49223|Zytek Z11SN Nissan also had a headlight stop working about an two hours into the race. 

There was a single safety car period that lasted roughly 10 minutes about five hours into the race. It was caused by debris on the track when the #41 Greaves Zytek spun into the wall. It was able to return to the pit with frontend damage and continue racing.

In the LMP2 class, the #49 Pecom Racing took a relatively easy win. It was two laps ahead of the #23 Signatech Racing Oreca 03-Nissan, and third place in class was the #44 Starworks Motorsports HPD-ARX 03bHonda HPD ARX 03bJapan, 2012 > present2 photos
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.

In GTE-Pro, there was another close race between the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 458Ferrari 458 Italia GTCItaly, 2011 > present5 photos
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and the #97 Aston Martin Vantage V8Aston Martin Vantage GTEUnited Kingdom, 2012 > present4 photos
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. The Aston Martin led at times during the race, but the Ferrari took the win in the end by about a minute. The #77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSRPorsche 911 GT3 RSRGermany, 2012 > present6 photos
was third. 

In GTE-Am, the #88 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche GT3 RSRPorsche 911 GT3 RSRGermany, 2011 > present10 photos
won the class. The #61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari was second, and the #57 Krohn Racing Ferrari was third in class.

The next race will be the Six Hours of Fuji at the Fuji Speedway in two weeks.