Tag: Bahrain 8H

Kobayashi keeps Toyota ahead in second Bahrain WEC practice

Kamui Kobayashi continued to set the pace during practice during the second session this evening at the Bahrain International Circuit. The Japanese driver put the No. 7 atop the timing screens with a 1m48.851s, putting him over four-tenths clear of …

Kamui Kobayashi continued to set the pace during practice during the second session this evening at the Bahrain International Circuit. The Japanese driver put the No. 7 atop the timing screens with a 1m48.851s, putting him over four-tenths clear of the sister No. 8 Toyota which slotted in second.

Cadillac Racing’s V-Series.R was the only other Hypercar to get within a second of the No. 7 during the extended session, which ran for an additional 10 minutes to make up for the time lost to the adverse weather conditions in Free Practice 1. Its best time was a 1m47.690s from Alex Lynn.

The weather wasn’t a factor in FP2, with the cars getting plenty of mileage in under the floodlights ahead of FP3 and qualifying tomorrow.

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Hertz Team JOTA’s Porsche ended up fourth, ahead of the quickest of the Penske 963s, the No. 6. It was another quiet outing for Ferrari AF Corse, its 499Ps faster than only the Vanwall, 3.7 and 3.9 seconds off the best time from Kobayashi.

In LMP2 United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA set the fastest time again, with Filipe Albuquerque improving on his FP1 flyer with a 1m52.850s, three-tenths up on the No. 63 PREMA and No. 36 Alpine ORECAs that slotted in second and third in the class.

GTE Am was the only class that saw its order shuffled significantly from Free Practice 1 earlier in the day. This time it was the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari that would finish with the best hot lap, Daniel Serra setting a 1m58.246s.

An unfortunate early exit for “Rexy.” Stephen Kilbey photo

GR Racing’s Porsche took second with the No. 56 Project 1 AO Porsche third. Unfortunately for the “Rexy” liveried No. 56, its day ended early when Gunnar Jeanette backed the car into the wall on the run to pit-in with 27 minutes remaining.

While Jeanette was unharmed in the incident, the team believes chassis damage to the left-rear corner is beyond immediate repair. And in this, the last race week for GTE in the WEC, there are no spare chassis available. The car may make the “farewell GTE” photocall this evening, at least.

Track action continues Friday with Free Practice 3 at 12pm local time.

RESULTS

Kobayashi leads first Bahrain WEC practice for Toyota

The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID topped the first practice session of the 8 Hours of Bahrain weekend, with a 1m49.856s from Kamui Kobayashi. The time was set after a lengthy red-flag stoppage and before heavy rain towards the end of the …

The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID topped the first practice session of the 8 Hours of Bahrain weekend, with a 1m49.856s from Kamui Kobayashi. The time was set after a lengthy red-flag stoppage and before heavy rain towards the end of the running.

The red-flag period was caused by strong winds trackside, light rain and banners being blown onto the track at Turn 1. It lasted 45 minutes and came after the front-running Hypercars had completed a handful of laps. This led to race control extending the session by 45 minutes, to 2:30pm local time.

When the track went green again, the entire field headed straight back out to make the most of the extended session, but that was interrupted again by heavy rain with around 30 minutes remaining. Initially, when the rain arrived, only a handful of cars braved the conditions, with both Toyotas, the No. 51 Ferrari and No. 5 Penske Porsche among the first cars to head back out on wet tires.

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The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari, meanwhile, stopped out on track with WEC newcomer Franck Dezoteux at the wheel shortly after the rain started coming down.

Up front, with no improvements in the closing minutes due to the weather, the No. 8 Toyota ended up second, with a 1m9.960s set by Sebastien Buemi. The No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 came closest to the Toyotas after Gianmaria Bruni completed a 1m50.290s tour of the circuit shortly after the red flag. The No. 6 and No. 5 Penske 963s completed the top five.

Ferrari AF Corse’s 499Ps ended up eighth and ninth, slower than the No. 38 JOTA and No. 2 Cadillac that finished up sixth and seventh.

In LMP2 it was United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA that ran fastest after Filipe Albuquerque reeled off a 1m54.100s, half a second quicker than the rest of the field. The No. 10 Vector ORECA ended up second, with the No. 31 WRT ORECA third.

D’Station Racing’s No. 777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE set the pace in GTE Am, after Tomonobu Fujii managed a 1m59.516s. The No. 57 Kessel Ferrari slotted in second, while the GR Racing Porsche took third making it three manufacturers in the top three.

Free Practice 2 is set to get underway at 5:30pm local time.

RESULTS