WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain
FIA World Endurance Championship
The WEC has established itself as one of the premier championships under the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the leading global series for endurance racing. It attracts countless stars in motorsport, and it continues to grow in popularity every year, with races taking place in eight countries across four continents.
View MoreBIC track temperatures set to rise as action kicks off in Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain
BIC track temperatures set to rise as action kicks off in Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain
- Two practice sessions each for the World Endurance Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East to be held Thursday behind closed doors
- BIC to open its gates to fans on Friday and Saturday, with non-stop racing and loads of off-track family entertainment to enjoy on both days
The stage is set for the start of action on Thursday (2 November) in this year’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”.
BIC will be bringing the curtain down on the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) this weekend, but not before the Spirit of Le Mans comes to life in Sakhir with a packed programme of world-class racing and fun, family entertainment.
Two practice sessions each for the WEC and Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME) kick off Thursday’s on-track sessions, all to be held behind closed doors.
BIC will then open its gates to fans on Friday and Saturday (Editor’s note: 3 and 4 November) for them to watch endurance motorsport’s best teams and drivers go wheel to wheel in their iconic and technologically superior Hybrid cars and sportscars.
Gates are scheduled to be open from 11am to 6.30pm on Friday and from 10.30am to 10.30pm on Saturday.
Tickets cost just BD5.500 for adults and BD2.750 for kids for the two-day weekend programme. They can be bought online at BIC’s official website bahraingp.com, by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17450000, or at the gate. Tickets are priced as one of the most affordable ways to witness a world championship motorsport event.
Hospitality packages are also available for the BIC Spirit of Le Mans Club Experience, where guests can experience exclusive cuisine and incredible views in BIC’s Paddock hospitality. Packages are also available to purchase online or via the BIC Hotline.
Thursday’s action kicks off with the first 45-minute PCCME practice at 11.15am. It will be followed by the WEC’s opening practice starting at 12.15pm, to be held over 90 minutes. The second PCCME practice is then scheduled for a 4.15pm start, and then the WEC runners will go out for their evening practice session at 5.30pm.
This year’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain will be the 12th time the WEC will be racing in Sakhir, and the fifth time the event is taking place in its current eight-hour format.
The WEC’s competing outfits, featuring 36 Hybrids and sportscars from the most iconic brands in all of global motoring, will be racing in three categories, namely the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH), the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and the Le Mans Grand Tour Enduring (LMGTE) Am.
Heading to the season-finale, four of the seven WEC titles in 2023 have already been decided. Toyota Gazoo Racing have sealed the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship, making for their fifth title in a row. Hertz Team Jota have clinched the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams, and Corvette Racing have claimed the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Teams. Furthermore, the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMGTE Am Drivers has been secured by Corvette Racing’s Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nicolas Varrone.
Still up for grabs in Bahrain are the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers Championship title, the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Teams, and the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 Drivers.
Aside from the racing, the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain will also have loads of family entertainment, plus a WEC-exclusive Open Paddock experience—a unique feature which allows fans to enjoy behind-the-scenes access, getting right next to the teams’ garages and possibly see some of the sport’s star drivers in person.
The colourful off-track attractions, to be enjoyed on Friday and Saturday, are available at the BIC vending area, and they include stunt shows, a classic car show, car simulators, roaming performers, kids’ stage shows, and so much more incredible entertainment.
Following the tremendous success of the ground-breaking Green Ticket initiative introduced for last year’s WEC race, BIC and Bapco Energies, in cooperation with the Government of Bahrain, are bringing it back for the 2023 event.
For every WEC ticket sold, a proportion of the revenue, matched by Bapco Energies, will be donated to a fund which will directly support the planting of new Mangroves in Bahrain. This programme supports the national target of quadrupling mangrove coverage across the Kingdom by 2035.
All this and so much more await race-goers at this weekend’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain.