Toyota Gazoo, Ben Keating Capture WEC Championships at 8 Hours of Bahrain

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."

The Toyota Gazoo Hypercar team put the finishing touches of a championship season with a 1-2 finish in the season ending FIA World Endurance Endurance Championship 8 Hour of Bahrain on Saturday.

The 2021 WEC champion No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Hybrid of driver Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez won on Saturday, while the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing squad of Sebastian Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa finished second and scored enough points to secure the 2022 driver's championship.

The margin of victory was 45.471 seconds.

Meanwhile, American Ben Keating and teammate Marco Sorensen finished fourth in the LMGTE Am class to score enough points to clinch the driver's championship in that class. Henrique Chaves was also in the car this week. Keating becomes the first American to win a class title since the resurrection of WEC in 2012.

Other winners on Saturday were Sean Gelael, Robin Frijns, Rene Rast in LMP2, Ferrari 488 drivers Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco in LMGTE Pro and the Porsche 911 customer team of driver Matteo Cairoli, Mikkel Pedersen and Nicolas Leutwiler in LMGTE Am.

“We achieved a one-two, Séb, Brendon and Ryo won the drivers’ title and we won the manufacturers’ championship so we hit all our targets for this race," said Toyota Gazoo racer and team principal of the overall winning No. 7 Toyota Gazoo entry. "I am really pleased with that. The team did a great job today and all season, as did the drivers. Thanks for all their support, as well as the support from our colleagues in Japan and our partners who have helped us all through the season.

"This year we faced strong competition and we finished with the best possible result. It’s a great feeling to end with a win; Mike and José drove a strong race and the crew performed well as they have done all year. On our car, we missed the drivers’ title but car No. 8 really deserved it, and I am happy for them. All season the team and drivers have worked really hard, with a great team spirit, so I hope everyone can enjoy this moment and celebrate the titles.”

Buemi and Hartley became the first drivers to win three championships in the WEC or the previous World Sportscar Championship. As for Hirakawa, the WEC rookie becomes Japan's third WEC champion.

“It’s amazing to win the World Championship this year," Buemi said. "We maximized all the opportunities and doing the double of Le Mans and the title is an amazing feeling. Special credit to Ryo because he came into the team as a newcomer and he won in his first year. It is not easy to jump into a Hypercar and fight at the front against such strong competition but he has been an amazing teammate."

WEC Champions for 2022

Hypercar

Drivers' Champions

Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, Sebastien Buemi

Manufacturer Champion

Toyota

GT FIA World Endurance Drivers' Champions

Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado

GT FIA Manufacturer's Champion

Ferrari

FIA LMP2 Endurance Trophy

Antonio Felix De Costa, Roberto Gonzalez, William Stevens

FIA LMP2 ProAm Endurance Trophy

Alessio Rovera, Francois Perrodo, Nicklas Nielsen

FIA LMP2 Team Trophy

JOTA

FIA LMP2 ProAm Team Trophy

AF Corse

FIA GT AM Champions

Ben Keating, Marco Sorensen

FIA GT AM Team Trophy

TF Sport