Round four of the FIA World Endurance Championship takes place in Bahrain this coming Saturday and with it, TF Sport chase their third straight win of the season and their third pole position.
Even with an extra 25 kilos of success ballast last time out in Shanghai, TF Sport dominated the event to move to the head of the championship standings, three points clear of AF Corse and 24 ahead of Project 1.
Taking nothing for granted, the team have been busy preparing for the longest race of the season to date – eight hours of competition – with the #90 Aston Martin Vantage GTE prepped and ready to go – albeit now with 45 kilos of success ballast on board.
Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Jonny Adam are all reunited once again and this race holds additional significance, that in eight-hours in length, the victory is worth 38 points rather than the normal 25. Second position is 27, while third is 23.
In addition, Salih and Charlie will have to race for a minimum of 140 minutes, with Platinum driver Jonny, just the 90-minutes. All three can however run for up to 300 minutes – 5 hours – making it strategically an interesting event with various permutations.
TF Sport’s final race of 2019 gets underway Saturday at 15:00 local time, 12:00 GMT.
Tom Ferrier, TF Sport Director
“We head into this race confident of a good showing, even with the additional ballast on board. We need to maximise strategy options to make best of any incidents in the race. The drivers and teams have been flawless in recent races, so we need to continue at this level. The third win on the trot will be difficult, but that’s the aim.”
Jonny Adam
“I’m really excited to head back to Bahrain for the next round in the WEC calendar. It’s one of my favourite circuits and I still believe with 45kg added, we as a team can still deliver a good result. Big points are up for grabs in this eight-hour race, so bring on Bahrain!”
Charlie Eastwood
“I can’t wait to finish off the 2019 season in Bahrain. Success ballast has its negatives; the eight-hour race will be very difficult, but it also means we have been strong. Until now we have been, so fingers crossed for another good result.”
Salih Yoluc
“We are on good form now, and our only wish is to continue to that. Bahrain is obviously a high point race and we are carrying the maximum success ballast possible, so that will make things interesting. But I do have trust in myself and in my team in that we have the quality to overcome this and come away with a good result. Extending the championship lead is the only goal!”