Toyota GAZOO Racing Back on The Podium

An emotional result saw Alex Wurz stand on the podium in his last-ever race, claiming third place in the #2 TS040 Hybrid he shares with Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway.

As well as being the team's first podium since the opening round of the season at Silverstone, that result also marked Alex's 12th podium for Toyota in 28 races, including five victories.

Another very reliable race for the TS040 Hybrid saw the team profit in the Bahrain heat whilst some of its rivals encountered problems, and the #1 of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima finished a strong fourth.

The race began in bright sunshine as Sébastien established the #1 in fifth while Alex, taking the start in the #2 for his last-ever race, was sixth. Both cars moved up a place when the #17 Porsche pitted for nine minutes of repairs half an hour into the race.

More drama came after two-and-a-half hours, when Kazuki had contact with an LMP2 car which required a front end change and dropped the #1 behind its sister car.

As half distance approached, the second-placed #8 Audi needed 15 minutes of repairs which lifted the #2 into the podium positions, followed closely by the fourth-placed #1.

Despite a busy track and plenty of incidents, both TS040 Hybrids kept up a strong pace, with the #1 putting increasing pressure on its sister car for third as all drivers took their turn fighting for a strong result to end the season.

The two Toyotas established themselves in a clear third and fourth, closing out the final two hours with consistent lap times and crossing the line together, separated by only 1.177secs in a race won by the #18 Porsche.

A tense six hours eventually saw the #17 Porsche of Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard earn the drivers' World Championship title, succeeding Anthony and Sébastien who took the 2014 crown in Bahrain 12 months ago.

Toyota finish the year third in the manufacturers' World Championship. Anthony and Sébastien are fifth, on exactly the same points as the #2 crew but ahead courtesy of more fourth places. Kazuki is seventh having missed the Spa race due to injury.

Today's race brought the curtain down on the TS040 Hybrid era. It competed in 16 races over two seasons, winning five times as part of 14 podium finishes, most of which came during its double World Championship-winning season in 2014.

It will be succeeded by an all-new car for 2016 which will start testing early next year prior to its first public appearance during the Prologue test at Paul Ricard in March.