Peugeot’s Hypercar team followed up its head-turning Free Practice 1 performance yesterday with another session-topping time in FP3 in Bahrain this afternoon.
The No. 93 9X8 ended up on top ahead of the final WEC qualifying session of the season with a 1m49.443s, set in hot, sunny conditions by Jean-Eric Vergne. The sister car also lapped quickly, with Paul di Resta putting the No. 94 fourth with a 1m50.028s.
It will be fascinating to see whether or not Peugeot’s work during practice, which featured 90 minutes of running on used tires in Free Practice 2 last night, translates into a strong performance in tomorrow’s race.
“It’s obviously just practice; we were quick in FP1 too,” Peugeot driver Mikkel Jensen said. “It’s all about when you use new tires as tire deg is brutal. It’s all setup work for the race, that’s what we’re focused on.”
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Second was taken by the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, after Yifei Ye’s 1m49.662s. Third — sitting between the No. 83 and No. 94 — was the No. 63 Lamborghini SC63, with a hot lap of 1m50.014s.
The two Alpines were fifth and sixth, 1.1s and 1.7s off Vergne’s time respectively. Further down the order, Ferrari’s title-contending No. 50 499P hit trouble and completed just seven laps during the hour.
The car spent much of the session in the garage receiving attention from mechanics after the team discovered an electrical issue related to a cable in the front motor. Its best time was a 1m:51.162s, still good enough for seventh in class.
In LMGT3, after AKKODIS ASP topped the times in both sessions yesterday, it was the championship-winning Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche that finished the session with the best lap as the Bronze drivers prepared for qualifying.
Alex Malykhin was the only driver to complete a sub-2m04s time in the No. 92, with a 2m03.897s that will surely serve as a confidence boost.
Arnold Robin was only marginally slower though in the No. 78 ASP Lexus, which continues to show real promise during the early stages of the event. The Frenchman reeled off a 2m04.041s to go second.
The No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari ended up third, with the Heart of Racing Aston Martin fourth and the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette fifth.
Qualifying is next, at 4pm local time.