The provisional entry list for the FIA WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain has been released. It features 36 cars across the three categories and a handful of changes from the last time out at Fuji Speedway.
In terms of teams and cars, the list is identical to the last race, with 12 Hypercar, 11 LMP2 and 13 GTE Am entries. The only changes come in the list of drivers.
In Hypercar, there is a TBC at Vanwall Racing, in the seat filled at Fuji by João Paulo de Oliveira.
Elsewhere at Peugeot Nico Muller is listed back aboard the #94 9X8, alongside Loic Duval and departing Gustavo Menezes. In Japan Stoffel Vandoorne, Peugeot’s reserve driver, stood in for Müller, who suffered a collarbone injury which prevented him from racing. Vandoorne has since been named a full-season driver at Peugeot for 2024, in place of Menezes.
However, it is not clear whether or not Müller will be fully fit for the finale. Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie suggested at Fuji that it will be a late call closer to the race weekend depending on the progress Müller makes in his recovery.
“At the moment the news is good, but we will have to judge at the last minute,” he told the media. “At the moment he is recovering very well. For now, the plan is for him to be in Bahrain, we think he will be.”
In LMP2, Prema’s #63 line-up has been tweaked, with Mirko Bortolotti returning to the team for the first time since Le Mans. Since the 24 Hours, fellow Lamborghini LMDh driver Andrea Caldarelli and Swiss racer Mathias Beche have made starts in the #63.
Meyer Shank IMSA regular and future IndyCar driver Tom Blomqvist is also back in the category, aboard the #23 United Autosports ORECA after Ben Hanley filled in last time out.
And finally, in GTE there are three TBCs. Two are in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari, where Simon Mann is the only driver listed. Hiroshi Koizumi and Kei Cozzolino joined the team for their home race earlier this month.
The final gap is at D’Station Racing, where Satoshi Hoshino look set to miss the finale. Silver-ranked Casper Stevenson and Gold-rated Tomonobu Fujii are still listed.
The 2023 8 Hours of Bahrain is set to take place on November 4th.
