Buemi's Impossible Comeback | 8 Hours of Bahrain 2024 FIA WEC

Look to me. Oh, there's the spin! There's the race leader, Sebastien Buemi. Yeah, Buemi facing the wrong way in Turn 2 and 3. Donuts it round, but surely... Oh, that's the BMW, so they were 6th and 7th. Top 6 positions lost for Sebastien Buemi. Now, my guess is this has got something to do with traffic. Was he hit from behind? He was. He was. It was the Corvette. Oh, dear, oh, dear. And there's damage, I think, to the rear of that Toyota as well. A little bit of damage. The 82 car that hit him, Hiroshi Kuzumi. This is from riding on board with Buemi and that's the hit. Not Buemi's fault at all there. Soon to be together on track as the number 8 car goes through that pit stop to put Sebastien Buemi aboard the surviving Toyota. There is the 83. I think it's actually the opposite, Martin. The number 8 is on the attack. That's why we went to them. So he's on fresher tyres now. Finally on the same tyres as everybody else, it seems, at this stage in the race. And, yeah, now Buemi absolutely flying like he was at the start of this race a long time ago. Yeah, when they were in the lead from pole position. So here comes the Toyota past the BMW. That's number 8 moving up to 4th. Sebastien Buemi got by. Dries Van Toor. Yeah, great recovery from Buemi here, isn't it? So he narrowly avoided that half spin of Malaysie. Confirmed. I'm not sure if it'll be quicker or not, but any level of cuts is available. So smaller cuts are available, but only if you think you can go faster with it. Get in there, Seb. It comes down to this. It comes down to this. What is that? Four car lengths, 45 minutes, two cars, two mighty teams, two manufacturers. Will Roger Penske win the World Championship for the first time? Will Porsche win it for God knows how many World Championships they've won? Or will Toyota snatch it at the very last? Astonishing finish to the World Endurance Championship. And just so it's clear in my mind was Buemi's message, if I pass him, we win. If he stays in front, they win. Exactly. And again, Anthony, as a driver, OK, you're free to do whatever you want. You can stop cutting, you can stop lifting and coasting if it'll get you past him. But you must beat him. We're going to see fireworks here. Has got to drive through. Here comes the Toyota. He's got 40 minutes to make up a tenth of a second. He's going to look to the inside here. He's close enough. And that's why it was covered off by Campbell. Was it enough, though? It seems to be at the moment. Buemi's going to think about doing the switchback. But once again, Campbell parks the car. This is some great driving here from the Porsche No. 5 driver. And already thinking about defending on the inside towards Turn 4 as well. You'll see him, yep, just drift over. Buemi knows it. So once again, you go to the outside. Does he try to go around the outside? No, that gravel chap's waiting for you these days, boys, on the exit of Turn 4. I tell you what, if Campbell is still in front in 40 minutes, that will be one hell of a defence. No. 6 comes down the pit lane. And here it is, down the inside into Turn 8. Buemi makes a late lunge. There is contact between the two cars. I think Campbell tried his best to keep turning in there. And Buemi had his right to be on the inside. Campbell did absolutely everything he could do to the point there was contact. But it was Buemi's corner. A nice lunge down the inside. What's happened here? This is the No. 8 car of Sebastian Buemi. And Matt Campbell goes right by him. Now, did the team say there was contact, maybe you ought to give the place back? Or has Buemi got a problem? Well, this is live, so... He's back in front again. Live shots. But what was that replay all about? Yeah, maybe did he let him through because he felt or the team felt that it was a bit harsh? And if he did, when did he pass him again? Seb, we need to give the place back. Give the place back to car 5 and to pass him again. We need to give the place back. There you go. That's why we saw him giving the place back into the same corner where he made that last-minute lunge. But where did he get back past him again? That's what I'd like to know because he's had to do that hard work all over again. So, yeah, I think that was probably the right decision if you were being safer than safe. But for me, it was hard racing. But the stewards have a different camera angle to what we saw, I'm sure. And maybe they felt that it was a little bit more on Sebastian's side in terms of where the contact came from. There are the graphics at the bottom of your screen. Toyota 190 points to Porsche's 188. How close do you want it? That's it. Toyota, taking the lead, have overturned Porsche's year-long championship lead. Sebastian Buemi led from pole position, earned by Brendan Hartley. And Sebastian Buemi was tagged off by a recalcitrant 82 Corvette early in the race. And they have come right back to lead into the closing stages. Okay, Seb, gap is 17.0. Energy margin is 8.5 megajoules, so no problems. And six laps to go. Great job. It really has been a great... He's put in some phenomenal performances. And I've witnessed that firsthand as his teammate in the past. But today, wow, today, he hasn't given up. That's so impressive with Buemi today. At times in the race, it looked like all hope was lost. We said it. I'm sure we said it at some point. That's it. It's all done for Toyota. And he's fought back to the lead of this race. And with it has come the manufacturer's title. Final lap. Final corners of the season. And it is Toyota who are going to claim their eighth consecutive win. Their ninth out of 13 races here in Bahrain. And they take the manufacturer's title. Unbelievable scenes. Unbelievable. The number eight Toyota wins in Bahrain. Toyota continue with that streak of success. And they are the manufacturer's champions.