The Audi Sport Team has logged a one-two finish in the sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Bahrain, giving Audi five victories from all six events. Using two Audi R18 e-tron Quattro hybrid race cars, the team has two entries topping the six-hour race under hot weather conditions in the desert of Sakhir. The top finisher with a one-lap advantage was an Audi R18 e-tron Quattro driven by Le Mans winners Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer, followed by another Audi R18 e-tron Quattro piloted by Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. The sixth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship started at 4:00 pm local time and ended around six hours later. Fässler, Lotterer and Tréluyer actually started from position two and secured their third victory of the season after Le Mans and Silverstone.
Kristensen and McNish, which started at pole position, also had their chances to claim the top spot in the Bahrain event. McNish successfully defended their lead in the early phase of the race, and got engaged in a fiery battle with the Toyota team, which eventually led the race until stopping for a repair and ultimately retired after a collision.
Kristensen and McNish also suffered some minor setbacks in the race, particularly on lap 25, during which a defective headlight forced the number “2” Audi to have its first unscheduled stop. Their Audi R18 e-tron Quattro also suffered more damages later on. This time, the valve of the left rear tyre forced them to make another unscheduled stop on lap 89. The lighting problems recurred twice, forcing the duo to make further unscheduled stops to change the hood on laps 115 and 117.
