The unanswered questions that define WEC 2021's controversial ending

OPINION: The deeply unsatisfying ending to a brilliant World Endurance Championship GTE Pro battle in Bahrain had Ferrari provisionally heading back from the desert as the victor. But Porsche plans to appeal the outcome, which rests on a number of confusing elements that have yet to be satisfactorily explained.

Gary Watkins Nov 9, 2021, 5:22 PM

That wasn't the way for two prestigious World Endurance Championship titles to be settled. The GTE Pro battle between Ferrari and Porsche at the Bahrain 8 Hours last weekend was a corker that deserved to be decided in a straight fight on track. Right now the drivers' and manufacturers' championships seem to be have been determined not out in the heat of the desert night but in an air-conditioned office.

The important question about the messy business last Saturday night was which office: race control or the stewards' room? Porsche contended that the decision to make Ferrari driver Alessandro Pier Guidi give back the position after pushing its #92 entry driven by Michael Christensen out of the lead wasn't based on the correct procedures.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 32nd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 75 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Autoweek, Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.