Rookie test blasts off in Bahrain and Wadoux makes history
Lilou Wadoux became the first female Hypercar driver as rookies get out in action in Bahrain test.
Lilou Wadoux became the first female Hypercar driver, at the wheel of No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, when the WEC Rookie Test began in Bahrain this morning.
Wadoux, the official WEC Hypercar rookie following a stellar LMP2 season, completed 33 laps in the two-hour morning session with a best lap of 1m50.953, the fourth fastest of a session which was interrupted early on by a short red flag period.
The fastest time of the morning, 1m48.812s, set was by Jose Maria Lopez one day after he won the BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain in the No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
Hypercar rookies Yann Ehrlacher and Malthe Jakobsen joined Nico Müller at the wheel of No.94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 and went second fastest, 0.788s behind.
There were further new faces for Peugeot in the No.93 car as Max Günther shared the wheel with Mikkel Jensen, and they ended the morning third fastest
The Bahrain race-winning No.52 AF Corse Ferrari features official LM GTE Pro rookie Lorenzo Colombo for this test and it went fastest in class with a 1m58.621s effort.
Newcomer Axcil Jefferies recorded the second quickest time in the No.64 Corvette C8.R he is sharing with Ben Keating and Nicolas Varrone.
In LMP2, a bumper 11-car field is on track for the test and the morning session was headed by ex-Formula 1 pilot Nelson Piquet Jr for United Autosports USA with a lap of 1m51.922.
Fresh from winning the LM GTE race yesterday, Antonio Fuoco was second quickest in LMP2, and fastest of the Pro-Am cars, just 0.394s adrift in the AF Corse run Oreca 07 - Gibson No.83.
European Le Mans Series race winner Doriane Pin, the official LMP2 rookie, gots her first laps alongside Oliver Rasmussen as the No.38 Jota ended up eighth.
Vector Sport had Formula Regional Asia racer Freddie Lubin in action with the British racer saying that he “did about 30 laps [32], mostly on old tyres and low fuel. I’m very happy with the car which is a bit different to the ELMS set up [I’ve previously experienced] with regards to the downforce, and the guys from Vector Sport have put down a really good package.
“We seemed to come up to speed quite fast so the afternoon is, I think, going to be quite straight forward with a similar run plan. Ryan [Cullen] is going to do some base line runs for me and then we will see how close I can get.
Yet another new face in the WEC paddock, Maxime Oosten, set the standard in LMGTE with lap of 2m00.749s for Team Project 1.
Official LMGTE Am rookie Finn Gehrsitz, in the No.777 D’ Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR was fourth quickest.