02.11.2023 - 19h00
Bahrain FP2: Toyota takes another 1-2 while Albuquerque leads the way again in LMP2
Below are the main headlines from the second free practice session at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain.
Hypercar
- No.7 Toyota Gazoo run GR010 Hybrid Hypercar of Kamui Kobayashi sets the pace in second free practice session in fully dry session in Bahrain
- He sets a fastest lap of event so far with a flying quali sim lap of 1m46.851s
- That time is 0.4s clear of the sister No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing car with Brendon Hartley claiming its fastest time on 1m47.312s.
- Toyota elect to do an early qualifying sim lap before settling in to long pace runs to evaluate tyres choices.
- Leading the chase to Toyota is the No.2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R Hypercar as Alex Lynn places third.
- Hertz Team JOTA continues strong pace so far with Will Stevens heading the Porsche 963 ranks in fourth position.
- Fuji podium visitors, No.6 Porsche Penske, place fifth as Kevin Estre sets best lap.
- No.94 Peugeot completes the top six as ‘The Lion’ starts to find its roar with time set by Nico Mueller, who returns to team after missing Fuji due to a shoulder injury.
- Proton Competition are seventh ahead of the No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies entry, No.5 Porsche Penske 963 and No.50 Ferrari AF Corse entry.
- No.51 Ferrari AF Corse places 11th ahead of the final Hypercar runner, the Floyd Vanwall Hypercar.
LMP2
- No.22 United Autosports entry again heads LMP2 category as Filipe Albuquerque again tops the timing screens with a 1m52.850s
- Portuguese ace enjoys a 0.3s gap over the No.63 Prema Oreca-Gibson with Mirko Bortolotti setting time for Italian team.
- No.36 Alpine ELF Team entry is third as Charles Milesi peaks on a best tour of 1m53.180. Top three in LMP2 covered by a mere 0.3s
- No.9 Prema, Inter Europol Competition and No.23 United Autosports entries complete LMP2 top six.
- No.41 title leading Team WRT car ends session in eight position just behind the Vector Sport Oreca-Gibson.
LMGTE AM
- Kessel Racing hit the front in LMGTE Am as Daniel Serra goes one better than FP1 with a fastest time of 1m58.246s
- GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR takes a late time to get second position as Riccardo Pera laps just 0.087s off Serra’s best.
- Project 1 AO Racing Porsche is third as Matteo Cairoli laps just 0.092s off Serra’s best meaning the top three are covered by less than 0.1s!
- But ‘Rexy’ causes only red flag of session when Gunnar Jeanette suffers an incident at the exit of the final corner with 30-mins of session remaining. The resulting stoppage caused session to be extended by 10mins.
- No.60 Iron Lynx Porsche takes fourth as Alessio Picariello sets best time.
- Quickest car in FP1 the D’Station Aston Martin continues strong pace in fifth position with Casper Stevenson claiming the best lap on 1m59.129s.