Mike Conway and teammates Kamui Kobayashi and José María López took a hard-earned win in Bahrain, their second win of the season in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, to help crown TOYOTA GAZOO Racing as Hypercar Manufacturers’ World Champions.
Starting the weekend off strong by achieving P3 in qualifying, the #7 car started on the second row of the grid.
The race began with José María López taking the first stint, in firm contention for the lead.
Just six seconds covered the top three when the opening pit stops arrived after an hour, during which José María López overtook the #93 for second and closed to the rear of the #8.
When a technical problem hit the #93 after two hours, a full course yellow allowed the team to swap drivers handing it over to Mike.
Mike took the lead early in the fourth hour and pushed hard to build a gap and a half distance holding that gap all the way till the next pit stop where Kamui Kobayashi took the wheel.
Kamui Kobayashi gradually extended his advantage to 15 seconds by the end of the fifth hour, doubling the #7 car’s lead over the next hour before José María López took over with just two hours remaining.
With just 45 minutes to go Mike took over the cockpit of the #7 GR010 HYBRID and increased the gap between him and 2nd allowing him to take the chequered flag in 1st place, with a 45.471secs clear of 2nd place.
As the curtains close on a thrilling Hypercar season, Mike Conway signs off the 2022 season in the #7 GR010 HYBRID achieving 3rd in the championship with two victories and five podiums from six races.
A successful season for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing sees the team claim their fifth world title double from 10 years of WEC competition.
For Mike, his 3rd place in the championship standings sees him finish inside the top-three places for the fourth consecutive season, having claimed World Championship titles in 2019/20 and 2021.
MIKE'S RACE REVIEW
“It feels great to win the race and be part of a one-two for the team. Congratulations to Kamui, José and the whole #7 crew who did a stellar job here, and also to car #8 on the championship, they had a really consistent, strong year so fully deserve it. Our race went very well and it was a close fight for a lot of the eight hours. Car #8 kept us on our toes as always until Kamui pulled out a good gap which made it more comfortable. Everyone on our car executed really well today, with a nice clean race, good pit stops and the right strategy. It’s fantastic to win the manufacturers’ title again; thanks to everyone in Japan, Cologne and all the other people who have made this happen.”
