The 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans winners, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López, retained their World Endurance Championship Drivers’ crown by finishing in second place at the Bapco 8 Hours of Bahrain.
Kamui Kobayashi becomes the first Japanese driver to take the World Endurance Championship title twice, while José María López is the second Argentinian to win five FIA world championships, following in the footsteps of the great Juan Manuel Fangio.
The #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid trio paid tribute to Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 sister car who brought the curtain down on his FIA WEC career in style with a 17th victory in his 59th and final race. Nakajima won the 24 Hours of Le Mans on three occasions and was World Endurance Champion with Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso in 2018-2019.

Mike Conway: It feels really good to join the club of double World Champions. To win the title two times in a row is an amazing feeling, and finally getting Le Mans this year really does top off the season. I'm proud to achieve this with Kamui and José who have done an amazing job all year, just like everyone on our crew. We were pushed as hard as ever by car #8 so well done to them today. It's always a pleasure to race with them and it's going to be strange not to have Kazuki behind the wheel of that car. It's been great fun working with him.

Kamui Kobayashi: It's hard to compare the two World Championship wins but it feels great to win again with Mike and José. Thanks to everyone who helped us achieve this, particularly the big support we get from Japan. Car #8 did a great job this year and were always very difficult to beat. It has been a really close competition, but very fair. We respect each other and fight properly. Behind the scenes there is a lot of good teamwork to maximise the team performance. Kazuki did a brilliant job here in Bahrain; he stayed motivated and concentrated. I grew up with him in racing I am very happy he finished his WEC career with a win.

José María López: I want to congratulate the whole team, car #8, and everyone back in Higashi-Fuji and Cologne where there are many people working behind the scenes. I couldn't do this without them, and without Mike and Kamui. I honestly feel very humble because I am so lucky to be part of this group and achieve championships and wins together. It's a great privilege so thank you to everyone who has been involved. We're going to miss Kazuki a lot; he is such a great guy and a fantastic driver. Séb, Kazuki and Brendon have been so competitive this season and they pushed us hard. They deserved the win today.