WEC: Toyota tops final practice in Bahrain

AFter sandbagging on the first day of practice like they always do, Toyota finished well clear of its French rival Peugeot in the last on-track session prior to qualifying, locking out the top two spots on the timesheets.

Mike Conway’s time of 1m48.384s, was a full 1.3s quicker than what Peugeot’s Paul di Resta had managed in much cooler conditions in FP2.

It put the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID 0.364s ahead of the sister #8 entry driven by Brendon Hartley.

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Headlines from FP3 at BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain……

LMGTE Pro 

• Porsche fastest again but in FP3 it is the No.91 Porsche GT Team entered 911 RSR that sets the pace
• 2022 Le Mans winner Gimmi Bruni peaks on a 1m57.089s
• Second is the points leading No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo as Alessandro Pier Guidi laps in 1m57.318s
• But James Calado later suffers contact with the No.88 Dempsey Proton Porsche driven by Fred Poordad and suffers a broken wheel. Calado returns to the track after brief repairs.
• Antonio Fuoco is 0.4s shy of the No.51 sister car best as the Italian sets a 1m57.699s
• The title chasing No.92 Porsche GT Team entry of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre places fourth as it aims to chase down Calado and Pier Guidi for a crack at the LMGTE Pro title
• Tommy Milner takes the Corvette Racing entered C8.R to fifth after completing entire session in U.S entered car

LMP2 

• Robin Frijns stars again in LMP2 as he sets a best qualifying simulation lap of 1m51.792s  in Team WRT Oreca-Gibson

• Filipe Albuquerque had set a strong early benchmark time on a 1m51.810 s lap but Frijns’ time is a slender 0.018s quicker
• AF Corse continue strong form to place third as Alessio Rovera sets fastest lap of 1m51.848s and also the best Pro/Am division placed car
• A 1m51.973 lap by Will Stevens in opening minutes of session ensures the LMP2 points leading No.38 Jota car ends session in fourth position
• Vector Sports takes fifth as Sebastien Bourdais puts together an encouraging 1m51.988
• Problems for the No.23 United Autosports USA entry as work is carried out on the Alex Lynn, Josh Pierson and Oliver Jarvis driven car through most of session

LMGTE Am 

• No.46 Team Project 1 again top the LMGTE Am class for second session running as Nicolas Leutwiler laps in a 2m00.079s
• No.54 AF Corse Ferrari second with Francesco Castellacci sets a best lap 0.277s adrift of the Team Project 1’s best
• Christian Ried sets third best lap in the No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche as German team aims for title long shot this weekend
• But No.77 placed under investigation for a potential pit stop infraction
• Team Project 1 also fourth as Ben Barnicoat stops clocks on a 2m00.552s
• TF Sport improve fifth as they work towards managing points advantage at top of LMGTE Am standings tomorrow

Practice 3 Results