12.11.2022 - 16h09
No.7 Toyota Races to the Front; Ferrari Exerts Authority in LMGTE Pro
Headlines from 4 Hours of racing at BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain......
Headlines from 4 Hours of racing at BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain......
Hypercar – Led by No.7 Toyota
- Toyota Gazoo Racing continues to run 1-2 as the clock ticks to four hours of action at the Bahrain International Circuit
- But the order changes after 3hrs 10mins as Mike Conway in No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid makes a move on Brendon Hartley driven No.8 car to take over in the lead
- The No.7 heads the No.8 by a mere 2.7s at the halfway point of the race
- Peugeot TotalEnergies places third with its No.94 entry mostly driven by Nico Mueller in his first race for the team
- But Mueller’s stint starts badly when he stops briefly on track under Full Course Yellow, before a systems reset sees him return to the race
- Trouble later strike though as Loic Duval stops again on track before making it back to the pits for more work to be carried out
- That allows Alpine ELF Team with Nicolas Lapierre in the cockpit up in to fourth place after Andre Negrao had completed much of fourth hour
- But title protagonists are disappointed with pace compared to Toyotas and they sit 80-seconds behind their rivals
- Delayed No.93 Peugeot 9X8 is fifth as repairs are carried after on-track stoppage in third hour
- Jean-Eric Vergne fights on, although two laps adrift of the leaders
- LMGTE Pro – Led by No.51 AF Corse Ferrari
- Ferrari exerts authority in LMGTE Pro as No.51 AF Corse 488 GTE Evo leads sister No.52 car by 15-seconds
- Alessandro Pier Guidi completes third and fourth hours in control with a gap that stays consistently around the 22-second mark over Miguel Molina in the No.52 car
- Porsche’s pace starts to fade in the mid-race phase and the No.92 car of Michael Christensen slip behind the Corvette which exploits fresher tyres
- Nick Tandy stabilises third as Corvette appears to improve its pace in slightly cooler conditions
- Porsches fall away as Christensen places fourth in No.92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 ahead of Richard Lietz in No.91 911 RSR-19
LMP2 – Led by No.31 Team WRT
- No.31 WRT Oreca-Gibson pushes to the front as Rene Rast grabs lead from Phil Hanson in third hour
- Rast the hands over to Sean Gelael who completes his second stint of the race before he hands over to Robin Frijns
- Frijns enjoys a slender seven second lead over the No.22 United Autosports USA entry driven by Oliver Jarvis
- United Autosports USA place second and third as the No.23 with William Owen in cockpit holds off Will Stevens in No.38 Jota Oreca-Gibson
- Prema Orlen Team still in fourth position and acts as sandwich between the Jota entries with No.28 in fifth in hands of Oliver Rasmussen
- Pro/Am leaders are AF Corse as Nicklas Nielsen gets back aboard of chrome liveried car that also places ninth in LMP2 category
LMGTE Am - Led by No.85 Iron Dames Ferrari
- Iron Dames continue impressive first half of race with Rahel Frey and then Sarah Bovy completing impeccable stints to extend lead to 40-seconds in No.85 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo
- At half-distance Bovy leads the Northwest AMR entry driven by Paul Dalla Lana
- Aston Martins place second and third as Henrique Chaves aboard TF Sport entry is just three seconds behind Dalla Lana
- Previous leaders in LMGTE Am, the No.54 AF Corse Ferrari, drops to fourth place after taking a penalty for a full course yellow speeding offense
- Best Porsche is the No.56 Team Project 1 car driven by Ben Barnicoat as fifth hour arrives
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