Credit: XPB Images
Ryo Hirakawa and the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid continue to lead comfortably in the 8 Hours of Bahrain, with approximately two hours of running left to go.
Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota ensures the Japanese marque is holding onto a very comfortable 1-2 as the race winds down to the closing hours.
The #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche piloted by Antonio Gelix Da Costa had been on odds for a podium finish, but an unsafe rejoin for the Portugues driver in the 963 at Turn 2 landed them with a drive-through penalty, dropping them out of podium contention for the time being.
This allowed the two Ferraris to vault the Jota Porsche, with Niklas Nielsen in the #50 499P assuming third and Antonio Govinazzi in the #51 Ferrari taking fourth.
Despite the drive-through, the #38 Porsche of Da Costa still leads the way for the Stuttgart marque and after rejoining behind Giovanazzi after serving his penalty, caught and passed the #51 Ferrari to reclaim fourth place.
Da Costa then set about charging after Neilsen to reclaim his podium spot and as the sixth hour wound down, the pair were nose to tail.
With Da Costa continuing to harry Nielsen to no avail, fifth-placed Giovinazzi started to close in on the pair as well, with pit stops soon to occur.
Andre Lotterer sits in sixth in the #6 Porsche after six-hours run, ahead of Nico Muller in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 and Michael Christensen in the #5 Porsche.
There has been drama in LMP2, with leading contender Bent Viscaal in the #9 Prema Oreca 07 tagged by a front-running member of the GTE Am pack, namely the #98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin of Daniel Mancinelli at Turn 1, vaulting his prototype machine into a spin before recovering back to race speed.
The #98 machine was subsequently handed a drive-through penalty, denting its chances to compete for GTE Am victory.
With six hours of the race run, the #9 Prema is still in the hunt, with Juan Manuel Correa sitting in second behind leader Ferdinand Habsburg in the #31 WRT entry – Daniil Kvyat completes the LMP2 top-three in the second #63 Prema Oreca 07 – Gibson.
In GTE Am, the #60 Iron Lynx Porsche 911 RSR – 19 car came in to retire, after leading the category – due to the fact that Bronze driver Claudio Schiavoni was unwell and unable to drive, in contradiction to category rules.
This handed the advantage to the #85 Iron Dames Porsche of Rahel Frey who assumed the GTE Am lead with just over two hours and twenty minutes left to run.
Second in GTE Am, and behind Frey, is held by the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage of Tomonobu Fuji, with Charlie Eastwood third in the #25 ORT By TF Aston, with offset pit strategies at play.
Keyword: Hirakawa leading Toyota 1-2 after six hours in Bahrain