2025 WEC Bahrain 8H Qualifying Results
November 7, 2025
Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Paul-Loup Chatin delivered a strategic WEC Fuji 6 Hours win marking Alpine‘s first Hypercar victory in over three years, as the #81 TF Sport Corvette took a dramatic LMGT3 victory decided by a post-race penalty.
This milestone race, marking the 100th WEC event since the championship’s inception in 2012, was characterized by intense competition, strategic gambits, and several twists from start to finish, thrilling the 66,400 strong crowd and global endurance racing fans alike.
As the race began under clear yet brisk Japanese skies, the large field of 18 Hypercars and a full complement of LMGT3 cars launched aggressively.
The #35 Alpine A424—piloted by Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Paul-Loup Chatin—started from ninth on the grid but faced an early penalty for contact with the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID.
Meanwhile, Peugeot’s #93 9X8 driven by Mikkel Jensen alongside teammates Jean-Éric Vergne and Paul di Resta dominated much of the early running, setting a fierce pace and leading the race.
Defending world champion Kévin Estre in the #6 Porsche remained close behind, forming a tight three-way battle for supremacy.
As the race approached its halfway mark, Alpine’s fortunes shifted dramatically due to a well-timed safety car triggered by a collision involving an Aston Martin Hypercar and an LMGT3 car from Heart of Racing, leading to a full course yellow.
As the Hypercars made their final scheduled pit stops, the #35 Alpine chose a time-saving tactic by changing only the left-side tyres unlike Peugeot and Porsche, who opted for a full tyre change.
This undercut literally and figuratively pushed Alpine’s Charles Milesi to the race lead. From there, Milesi delivered a flawless performance to keep his pursuers—Mikkel Jensen’s Peugeot and Kevin Estre’s Porsche—at bay by 7.682 seconds at the checkered flag.
Full 2025 WEC Fuji 6 Hours Hypercar Race Results
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The second Porsche Penske finished fourth in the hands of Mathieu Jaminet and Julien Andlauer, while Stoffel Vandoorne charged up to fifth in the sister Peugeot 9X8, which he shared with Loic Duval and Malthe Jakobsen.
Aston Martin salvaged sixth with its #009 Valkyrie entry piloted by Marco Sorensen and Alex Riberas, followed by the #12 Jota Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh shared by pole winner Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato.
Jota endured a rollercoaster event with strong early performance diminishing after a safety car period caused a loss of a lap for their #38 car, dropping it to 13th by race end.
Toyota Gazoo Racing faced a difficult home race with both their GR010 HYBRID machines failing to convert performance into results.
The #7 car, driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries, exhibited impressive pace—leading the race midway after an aggressive charge through the field.
However, an ill-timed safety car period disrupted their rhythm and caused energy management problems, forcing extra pit stops and consigned the team to an eighth-place finish.
The #8 Toyota suffered early damage when Sébastien Buemi was hit by the Alpine #35 and was further handicapped by a three-minute stop-go penalty for a pit stop infringement, relegating them to 16th by race end.
BMW teams also grappled with reliability issues and incidents that stymied their race pace, while Ferrari struggled with BoP disadvantages and track suitability, with their best result in the 499Ps category being 10th place.
The LMGT3 category was equally intense and emotional, providing its own share of drama.
Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera’s Vista AF Corse’s Ferrari crossed the finish line first after a thrilling race, but their LMGT3 victory was overturned due to a post-race five-second penalty for a pitstop infringement which demoted them to second place.
This penalty elevated the #81 TF Sport Corvette piloted by Tom van Rompuy, Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood to a surprise WEC Fuji 6 Hours win, while The Bend Team WRT’s BMW #31 rounded out the class podium.
