Ryan Briscoe has completed the ByKolles-run Vanwall Hypercar team driver line-up for the final race on the 2023 World Endurance Championship season in Bahrain.

With Joao Paulo de Oliveira’s clash with the Super GT season finale in Motegi, one day after the WEC race, Vanwall has announced Ryan Briscoe to take his place.

The Australian-American driver has already competed in three WEC rounds this year – including the Centenary Le Mans – as part of Glickenhaus’ Hypercar efforts, having driven for them since their debut in 2021.

After the entry list for the 8 Hours of Bahrain was announced last month, Briscoe will join regulars Esteban Guerrieri and Tristan Vautier in the #4 Vanwall Vandervell 680.

Briscoe said: “I’m pleased to be joining the team for the final round of the 2023 World Endurance Championship.

“I’d like to thank Dr Colin Kolles for the opportunity and look forward to my first laps in the Vandervell 680.”

Vanwall Team Principal Dr. Colin Kolles added: “Ryan is an excellent driver with a lot of experience in Prototype Racing cars.

“With Esteban, Tristan and Ryan we have a strong line up for the last event of the 2023 FIA WEC season.”

After retiring thrice this season, the #4 Hypercar team are looking to surpass their best race finish of eighth undertaken at the 1000 Miles of Sebring opener.

At the most recent race in Fuji, they finished 11th out of 12 Hypercar entries.

The final round of the 2023 schedule will take place on 4 November, concluding the Vanwall’s first Hypercar season.

D’station Racing has selected Liam Talbot to replace Satoshi Hoshino at the World Endurance Championship 2023 season finale which will be the 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The Australian FIA bronze-rated driver will take over from Team Owner Hoshino to compete in the eight-hour Bahrain race.

In his WEC debut, Talbot will join Casper Stevenson and Tomonobu Fujii in the #777 Aston Martin Vantage GTE for the final race, both in the 2023 season and for the GTE category.

In an official statement, the team described the reason as “unavoidable schedule conflicts” for Hoshino, which has led them to select Talbot.

His sportscar campaigns this year have been in the Asian Le Mans Series, 24 Hours of Spa, and the GT World Challenge Australia, all of which were competed in Mercedes-AMG GT3 machinery. He currently leads the latter series’ championship, and took a Pro-Am win at the 12 Hours of Bathurst in February.

D’station Racing sit at the bottom in the standings with just four points, having endured a demanding WEC campaign this year.

The seventh and final race of the 2023 FIA WEC season will take place on 4 November in just over two weeks time.

The provisional entry list for the final race on the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship calendar, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, features 36 competitors across three categories.

Round 7 on the 2023 schedule will be the 8 Hours of Bahrain on 4 November, which will conclude this year’s season.

It will also be the final race in which the WEC’s LMP2 category will participate in the championship, aside from future 24 Hours of Le Mans races.

Furthermore, the same applies to the GTE class, which will be replaced by LMGT3 next year, based on the widely-renowned FIA GT3-specification formula.

A total list of 36 entries are expected to compete at the Bahrain International Circuit, across three categories: Hypercar, LMP2 and GTE-Am.

Hypercar: 12 entries

Cadillac Racing have their single #2 V Series.R LMDh, with drivers Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook sitting fifth in the standings.

Vanwall has only named Esteban Guerrieri and Tristan Vautier in their line-up, with one more driver to-be-confirmed due to Joao Paulo de Oliveira’s clash with Super GT in Motegi.

Porsche Penske will have their #5 and #6 963 LMDh cars, aiming for another fighting chance against the Toyota team after challenging them and finishing on their first WEC podium at Fuji Speedway, whilst the #5 sibling car are looking for redemption after they suffered a power-steering failure.

Toyota GAZOO Racing claimed the Hypercar Manufacturers’ Championship last time out on home soil, their third consecutive since the Hypercar era began in 2021, adding onto their dominant form when the LMP1 class ended.

The #8 GR010 Hybrid crew who finished second at Le Mans lead the Drivers’ standings on 133 points, ahead of the #7 crew who are on 118 points.

JOTA continue their efforts with the Porsche 963 with Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens, and Yifei Ye.

Ferrari AF Corse will bring their two 499P LMHs to the venue for the first time, as the Le Mans-winning #51 crew sit third in the Drivers’ standings on 102 points, and the #50 closely trails them on 97 points.

Peugeot Sport are looking for a strong result in Bahrain, after last year claiming fifth and a DNF, with their two 9X8 LMHs.

The other Porsche customer WEC team are Proton Competition, who are targeting a more fruitful third race after they claimed ninth in Fuji, which was the first classified finish after the DNF at Monza.

LMP2: 11 entries

The LMP2 grid of Oreca 07-Gibsons has proved a worthy display of racing over the years in the WEC, and this will be their final known appearance in the championship at Bahrain.

As per usual, four teams will be represented with two cars each: Alpine Elf Team, Prema Racing, Team WRT, and United Autosports.

The #41 WRT crew leads the Drivers’/Teams’ standings on 133 points, after successfully furthering their championship lead in Fuji with a win.

Inter Europol Competition drivers Jakub Śmiechowski, Fabio Scherer and Albert Costa won the Centenary Le Mans in June, and after only finishing ninth (2 points) at Fuji, are still the main rivals to the #41 for the championship title(s).

Alpine, Prema and WRT intend to continue their WEC efforts next year in the Hypercar category with the Alpine A424, BMW M Hybrid V8, and Lamborghini SC63 LMDh cars.

Read more on Alpine and Team WRT

Until then in Bahrain, a close fight awaits in the ultra competitive LMP2 class, featuring some of the WEC’s most capable and talented drivers.

Mirko Bortolotti, driving the #63 Prema, missed the two previous races amidst his ongoing DTM campaign where he has maintained a prominent role as a championship title protagonist, and will conclude his 2023 DTM efforts next month at the Hockenheimring.

Tom Blomqvist returns in the #23 United Autosport Oreca after his clash with Indycar’s season finale.

LMGTE Am: 13 entries

The final race of the season will also be the last time GTE cars will race in anger and competition, after the confirmation of LMGT3 earlier in the year.

The #33 Corvette Racing team have dominated the field this year, securing the Teams’ Title earlier at Monza, and finished second at Fuji Speedway.

They are expected to show strong form in Bahrain, at the very least with Ben Keating’s qualifying pace putting themselves in strong qualifying positions.

Two drivers have yet to be confirmed in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, a car which will likely see its final outing as the 296 GT3 will take over representing Ferraris across international GT commitments.

The Iron Dames #85 Porsche 911 RSR-19 has yet to claim a win after Sarah Bovy has claimed multiple pole positions this season.

Since claiming their first European Le Mans Series GTE win in 2022, their aims remain high for their final race with the Porsche GTE car.

One other (bronze-rated) driver is yet to be confirmed in the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE line-up, as Team Owner Satoshi Hoshino will miss the race due to a Super GT clash.

The imminent driver will join regulars Casper Stevenson and Tomonobu Fujii.

The Japanese team have struggled this season, obtaining four championship points across three points-scoring instances, which confided them to the bottom of the standings, so Bahrain will present an optimistic push for a top-five GTE-Am finish.

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez have won the 8 Hours of Bahrain in the #7 Toyota GR010, with their teammates in the #8 Toyota GR010 finishing second and, therefore, taking the drivers’ world championship.

Sebastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley needed to finish ahead of their championship challengers in the #36 Alpine to win the championship. In the end, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Nicolas Lapierre, and Andre Negrao could only manage third, three laps behind the winning Toyota.

Buemi led the race from pole early on, but team orders a few hours into the race saw the lead swap to the #7 as Conway was faster than Hartley, who was in the #8 Toyota at the time. The #7 Toyota crew subsequently pulled away, finishing the race with an almost 50 second gap.

With the #36 Alpine third, the #94 Peugeot of Nico Muller, Gustavo Menezes and Loic Duval finished fourth, six laps off Kobayashi. The other Peugeot, #93, driven by Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul di Resta and Mikkel Jensen, failed to finish after technical gremlins hit the car with a couple of hours to go.

Peugeot promised much early on, with di Resta keeping up with the leading #8 Toyota in the first hour. However, the Scot then had to stop the car on track at the turn 1-2 complex. He got it going and back to the pits, where it briefly spent time in the garage. 

At the same time, Muller had to stop the #94 on track. The Swiss power cycled it and, like di Resta, got it going. While both ran without problems for a while, the #93 eventually retired as a result of its problems, with the #94 finishing fourth.

In LMP2, #31 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson won, with Robin Frijns, Rene Rast and Sean Gelael at the wheel. The car started eighth in class, climbing up the order through the race to take the win by 50 seconds over the #23 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson of Oliver Jarvis, Joshua Pierson, and Alex Lynn.

Third in class was the #38 Jota Oreca 07-Gibson of Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens and Roberto Gonzalez, which subsequently wins the LMP2 drivers’ championship.

GTE-Pro was, as ever, a hectic race with a nailbiting finish. While the #52 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina won the race, Michael Christiansen and Kevin Estre in the  #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 could only finish third, meaning the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, driven by James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi won the championship.

Calado and Pier Guidi led the race for a substantial amount of time and looked odds-on to take the title. However, with a couple of hours to go, the gearbox began to break down, with horrible grinding noises coming from the car. However, Pier Guidi managed to bring the car home — albeit eight seconds or so a lap off the pace — meaning he and Calado took enough points to take the championship.

The #64 Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner finished second, after a lucky free pit stop during a well-timed full course yellow put them into contention after falling back in the first hour.

The #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz finished fourth, with the championship-winning #51 Ferrari in fifth.

In GTE-Am, Team Project 1 took a 1-2 finish, with #46 TP1 Porsche 911 RSR-19, of Mikkel Pedersen, Matteo Cairoli and Nicolas Leutwiler winning from teammates in the #56 TP1 Porsche 911 RSR-19, Ben Barnicoat, P.J Hyett and Gunnar Jeannette.

Sarah Bovy, Rahal Frey, and Michelle Gatting in the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE EVO finished third, after leading much of the race, but couldn’t hold off the Team Project 1 Porsches late on.

With two hours to go in the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the two Toyotas have 2 laps on the #36 Alpine A480, with the Peugeots continuing to suffer reliability gremlins.

The #93 Peugeot 9X8 was pushed into the garage just minutes ago, with the two cars fourth and fifth in class, five laps off the lead.

Kamui Kobayashi leads the race in the #7 Toyota GR010, with teammate and fellow Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa 35 seconds back in the #8 Toyota GR010.

The #36 Alpine A480 is 2 laps behind, their hopes of championship victory fading rapidly as Matthieu Vaxiviere pedals it around the Middle Eastern track. As it currently stands the #8 Toyota crew of Hirakawa, Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley would win the WEC drivers championship for Hypercars.

In LMP2, Rene Rast leads in the #31 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson, but he may be due a penalty after tipping Alex Brundle, in the #34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07-Gibson, into a spin at turn 8.

#23 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson of Alex Lynn is second, 37 seconds behind Rast. Teammate Will Owen, in the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson, is a further 30 seconds back.

Antonio Fuoco leads GTE-Pro in the #52 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, from teammate James Calado in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO. The two are separated by just two seconds, and are tussling for the lead, as they have done all race.

Nick Tandy is third, driving the #64 Corvette C8.R. The Corvette didn’t have the pace early on, but a lucky free pitstop during a full course yellow period early in the race enabled them to catch up, with Tandy doing brilliantly to hold off the two Porsches.

Speaking of the two Porsches, they are fourth and fifth in class, Gianmaria Bruni in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 leading Kevin Estre in the sister #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19. They had the pace to challenge Ferrari early in theu race, but it seems the cooler temperatures do not suit the Porsche, and they’ve both dropped back even from Tandy’s Corvette.

In GTE-Am, Michelle Gatting leads in the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, 50 seconds to the good over David Pittard in the #98 Northwest Aston Martin Vantage AMR. Third is Matteo Cairoli in the #46 Team Project Porsche 911 RSR-19, eight seconds off Pittard.

Toyota continue to lead the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 8 Hours of Bahrain with half the race still go, with the #36 Alpine A480 third, three laps down.

#7 Toyota GR010’s Mike Conway is 2.5 seconds to the good over his teammate Brendon Hartley, in the #8 Toyota. Hartley initially was leading Conway but let the Briton through under team orders, although he did so reluctantly. Hartley had previously complained of downshift issue, but this appears to have been fixed.

Nicolas Lapierre is third in the #36 Alpine A480, but the car is lacking straight line speed and so is struggling with traffic management compared to the Toyotas and Peugeots. If it finishes like this, the #8 Toyota drivers — Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa — the drivers’ championship.

Speaking of Peugeot, they are fourth and fifth having suffered some reliability woes, with both cars having stopped on track at least once through the four hours. Mikkel Jensen in the #93 Pdugeot 9X8 is fourth, with Loic Duval fifth in class in the sister #94, but is 10th overall on account of the car spending time in the garage after stopping on track just before the hour mark.

Robin Frijns leads LMP2 in the #31 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson, with #23 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson’s Will Owen second, 48 seconds off Rast. Third is the #9 Prema Oreca 07-Gibson of Louis Deletraz, with the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson in fourth, although Josh Pierson should take third back once Deletraz pits.

In GTE-Pro, Ferrari leads a 1-2, with Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO seven seconds ahead of his teammate Miguel Molina in the sister #52 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO. Third is the #64 Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy, doing an excellent job of fending off the Porsche attack from Richard Lietz, in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19, and Kevin Estre in the sister #92 Porsche 911-RSR-19.

This would currently hand the championship to #51 Ferrari’s Pier Guidi and teammate James Calado.

Finally, in GTE-Am, Sarah Bovy leads in the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, around 50 seconds to the good over #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO’s Thomas Flohr. 

David Pittard is third in class in the #98 Northwest Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

Porsche-affiliated driver Yifei Ye will race the Jota Sport Porsche 963 Hypercar next year, Porsche has announced at the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Night of Champions.

Ye only started racing sportscars last year, after a junior career in single seaters, but the 22-year-old has proved quick, culminating in being taken on as a Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific driver.

He made his debut at Le Mans last year, coming desperately close to winning the race in the LMP2 class with his WRT teammates Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz, only for the car to fail on the very last lap. But he had proven his talent, winning the European Le Mans Series title for WRT alongside Deletraz and Kubica, before being hired by Porsche.

This year he’s continued in the European Le Mans Series, this time racing for Cool Racing alongside Nicolas Lapierre and Niklas Krütten. While no race wins have come their way, he’s again proven his talent in a prototype, which has led to Porsche placing him in the Hertz-sponsored Jota customer Porsche entry for next year in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

“Just over a year ago I was announced as the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver and now I’ll be joining Hertz Team JOTA for 2023, racing in a Porsche 963,” Ye said.

“It’s a dream come true for me to be able to fight for overall victory at Le Mans in a Porsche.

“With such a successful team in endurance racing, I believe we stand a good chance to fight at the top. I’m very excited for the challenge and I can’t wait to get started.

“A big thanks to Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific and Porsche Motorsport for making it happen.”

Ye’s teammates at Jota in the Porsche 963 have so far not been announced.

2 hours in, Toyota leads the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 8 Hours of Bahrain 1-2, but Peugeot isn’t far behind, although the latter does seem to be having reliability issues.

Sebastien Buemi, driving the #8 Toyota GR010, is around 5 seconds ahead of his teammate Mike Conway in the sister #7 Toyota GR010. Until a few minutes ago, Paul di Resta was a further 18 seconds behind in the #93 Peugeot 9X8, and ran second close behind Buemi until the French squad were jumped by Conway in the first round of pitstops.

However, the Scot had been complaining of slow gearshifts for much of the race, and the car stopped at the turn 1-2 complex just a few minutes ago as of the publishing of this article, with di Resta complaining that the gearbox “has completely broken”. 

Race direction neutralised the race but di Resta has managed to get the car going, and has got the car back to the pits, where the team pushed it intio the garage.

The sister #94 Peugeot 9X8, steered by Gustavo Menezes over the first two hours and now with Peugeot debutant Nico Muller at the wheel, was a further five seconds off di Resta, but now sits third with di Resta fifth. However, Muller has stopped on track under FCY, with the team instructing the Swiss to power cycle the car. He did eventually get it going but this will be a worry for the French team.

Fourth in class is the #36 Alpine A480, currently with Matthieu Vaxiviere behind the wheel, 44 seconds off the lead and struggling with straight line speed, and, therefore, traffic management. As already managed, di Resta is fifth.

This would hand the drivers’ championship to the #8 Toyota crew of Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley.

In LMP2, the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson of Philip Hanson leads by 25 seconds over Rene Rast in the #31 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson. Third in class is the sister #23 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson, with Joshua Pierson at the wheel.

Hanson’s teammate Filipe Albuquerque took the lead at the starty of the race, from the polesitting #41 RealTeam by WRT Oreca 07-Gibson of Ferdinand Habsburg, and so far has not looked back.

James Calado in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO leads GTE-Pro, with a lead of over 30 seconds from the #64 Corvette C8.R of Tommy Milner. Both got lucky in the second hour of the race, with a full course yellow for debris on track handing both cars a free scheduled pitstop.

Before this, the currently-third #52 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Antonio Fuoco, and both Porsche 911 RSR-19s, #92 of Kevin Estre in fourth and #91 of Gianmaria Bruni, were in a tight battle with Calado, with some excellent racing between all four cars from both manufacturers.

In GTE-Am, the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Francesco Castellaci leads, with a fellow Ferrari, the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Sarah Bovy, in second after starting on pole. 

Third in class is Ben Keating in the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

Brendon Hartley took pole for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s season finale, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, with a late lap of 1:46.800 in the #8 Toyota GR010.

Paul di Resta initially held provisional pole for the #93 Peugeot 9X8 squad, but Hartley pipped the Scot to the post, by 0.810.

Crucially, this gives the #8 Toyota crew an extra point in their championship battle against the #36 Alpine of Andre Negrao, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Nicolas Lapierre. Vaxiviere qualified that car fifth, a second and half off Hartley.

The #7 Toyota of Mike Conway was third, followed by Gustavo Menezes in the #94 Peugeot.

Over in LMP2, #41 RealTeam by WRT Oreca 07-Gibson’s Norman Nato put in a storming late lap of 1:50.330 in the dying seconds to take pole off Will Stevens in the #38 Jota Oreca 07-Gibson, by 0.137 of a second.

Third in class was Filipe Albuquerque in the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson.

Gianmaria Bruni, meanwhile, took the final ever class pole for GTE-Pro, setting a 1:56.143 in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19. Antonio Fuoco took second in the #52 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, 0.276 off Bruni.

The two title contenders were third and fourth, with #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19’s Michael Christensen third and Alessandro Pier Guidi, in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, fourth. However, Pier Guidi spun on his final timed lap, leaving him unable to improve.

Nick Tandy rounded out the class in fifth in the #63 Corvette C8.R.

Finally, in GTE-Am, Sarah Bovy continued a strong run of form for the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, setting a 1:59.186 to take hers and the team’s second WEC pole. Ben Keating, driving the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR, couldn’t quite match Bovy, with the Amnerican over half a second off. Christian Reid was third in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19.

The race starts tomorrow, Saturday 12th November, at 14:00 local time or 11:00 GMT.

The Peugeot 9X8 will lose 12kg of weight for the 8 Hours of Bahrain, in the latest Balance of Performance updates ahead of the FIA World Endurance Championship season finale.

The Toyota GR010, meanwhile, will lose 4kW of power, around 5.3 horsepower, but stays at its current weight. The Peugeot will also lose 1MJ, equating to 1.3HP.

The lone Alpine A480, which is still in the hunt for the championship against the #8 Toyota GR010, will gain 4kW/5.3hp, and will also stay at the same weight.

So, this puts the Peugeot at 1049kg and 515kW (690hp) of power, with the Toyota weighing in at 1053kg and 509kW (682hp). The grandfathered LMP1 Alpine A480 — previously the Rebellion R13 — will weigh 952kg with 407kW (545hp) under the bodywork.

The Alpine drivers, Matheiu Vaxiviere, Nicolas Lappiere and Andre Negrao, are tied on 121 points with the Toyota #8 drivers, Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Kazuki Nakajima. As Bahrain is the last race of the season, if the #36 Alpine can finish ahead of #8 Toyota, they would take the championship, in the car’s final competitive race. 

Bahrain hosts the final race for the GTE-Pro class as well. The BoP has been tweaked for the Ferrari 488 EVO, Porsche 911 RSR-19 and Corvette C8.R accordingly, with the championship still in play between Porsche and Ferrari.

While all cars will remain at their previous weights, the Ferrari will lose 1 litre in fuel capacity, taking it down to 92 litres, while the Corvette will gain a litre, putting it up to 98 litres in total.

Additionally, the Corvette will have its air restrictor diameter reduced by 0.4mm, and the Ferrari’s boost curve has been slightly reduced. The Porsche has received no changes.

The changes for the Ferrari in GTE-Pro also apply in GTE-Am. The Aston Martin Vantage AMR, which only competes in the latter class, will also see its fuel capacity reduced by 2 litres, for a total of 86 litres, and another slightly reduced boost curve.