The Kingdom of Bahrain, the official title since 2002, is an island country lying in the Persian Gulf. Most of the country’s revenue comes from the oil that was discovered here in 1932 but the small archipelago of 33 islands has been diversifying its economy in anticipation of diminishing stocks of the black gold. The construction of the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir is just one such diversification project.

Bahrain also lies on the Pearl Route. Here, fresh water flows into the Persian Gulf and mixes with the seawater to form an ideal natural habitat for oysters producing pearls with a unique colour and lustre.

Contrasting sharply with this marine environment, Bahrain has a largely desert landscape where sandstorms are often violent. Sand on the Sakhir racetrack makes tyre grip somewhat random. Drivers must also deal with the fact that the 6 Hours of Bahrain end after nightfall. Unlike Le Mans, however, where parts of the circuit are in darkness, the whole of the Bahrain track is illuminated by powerful floodlights.

As the 2016 season heads into its concluding round, seven titles are still to be decided, including the FIA World Endurance Drivers’ Championship. With Porsche already having claimed the Manufacturers’ title, their trio of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb have a 17-point lead in the Drivers’ standings and are well placed to follow suit.

Meanwhile, Alpine and their three drivers are certain to claim the FIA Endurance Trophies for LM P2 Teams and Drivers. This being the case, a few teams are using the Bahrain race to tweak their driver line-ups. René Rast returns to G-Drive Racing’s Oreca 05 and Julien Canal – three-times class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – will take the wheel of Manor’s #45 Oreca 05. Tom Dillmann, who performed remarkably well for Alpine in the final two races of the 2015 season, has been offered a seat in the #30 Ligier JS P2 by Extreme Speed Motorsports.

Everything is still up for grabs in LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am. Ferrari holds a ten-point lead over Aston Martin in the race for the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Manufacturers, while the British outfit has just a two-point advantage in the FIA Endurance Trophy for LM GTE Pro Teams classification. The chasing Ford GTs have however gained weight in the latest Balance of Performance review. In LM GTE Am, AF Corse already has one hand on the trophy. The Italian team leads the classification by 25 points with just 26 points left to win.

The 6 Hours of Bahrain will start at 16:00 local time on Saturday 19 November (13:00 UTC).

Entry list

Timetable

Photo (credit: John Rourke – AdrenalMedia.com/FIA WEC): The green flag starts the warm-up lap at the 2015 6 Hours of Bahrain.