Bahrain FP1: Buemi sets pace for Toyota at Bahrain International Circuit
The No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar claims top spot in the first 90-minute free practice session for round five of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship – the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain.
Porsche place 1-2 in LMGTE Pro, while JOTA take first and third in LMP2 and Matteo Cairoli stars in LMGTE Am for No. 56 Project 1 Porsche.
Below are the main headlines from FP1.
Hypercar
- Toyota Gazoo Racing run Toyota GR010 lead the field as No.8 car of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima sets pace
- Buemi’s early lap of 1m50.571s is 0.4s clear of sister No.7 car
- Jose-Maria Lopez peaks on a 1m50.972s to ensure a Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 in Hypercar and overall
- Alpine Elf Matmut entry driven by Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Andre Negrao places third
- A 1m51.098s best by Lapierre is just 0.126s off second placed Toyota as close battle is predicted throughout the weekend
— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC (@TGR_WEC) October 28, 2021
LMGTE Pro
- No.91 Porsche GT Team entry fastest in LMGTE Pro as Richard Lietz posts a 1m57.983 best in the 911 RSR-19 he shares with Gianmaria Bruni
- Porsche takes 1-2 in category as No.92 is 0.8s in arrears
- Kevin Estre sets best lap as points leading car works through tyre programme which is poised to be critical factor for Saturday afternoons race
- AF Corse Ferrari squad places third and fourth as points leading No.51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi head sister car of Miguel Molina and Daniel Serra
#WEC - Green flags for the 90-minute @FIAWEC #6HBahrain Free Practice 1. The two #Porsche #911RSR leave the garage for some laps @BAH_Int_Circuit. @RichardLietz (No. 91) and @kevinestre (No. 92) behind the wheel pic.twitter.com/fHuGvKQAGA
— Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) October 28, 2021
LMP2
- Antonio Felix da Costa claims the best time in super-competitive LMP2 category for JOTA
- The Portimao-winning No.38 Oreca-Gibson sets a time of 1m51.083s to be just 0.1s faster than Real Team entry and third overall
- Loic Duval turns in a 1m51.212s lap as Real Team look to build on strong Pro/Am category results in 2021 so far
- JOTA cars place first and third as Sean Gelael sets a 1m51.529s best for points leading N0.28 car
Driver change practice 🤙 @ the #6HBahrain @JotaSport #JotaSport38 @afelixdacosta #TeamWork pic.twitter.com/4Qa8uON5z0
— Roberto González Valdes (@RobGonzalezV) October 28, 2021
LMGTE Am
- Matteo Cairoli scorches to the top in LMGTE Am as his early session 1m58.177s is a huge 0.7s in front
- Epic time by the Italian ace splits the top two Porsches in Pro class!
- The No. 56 Project 1 Porsche driver leads the No. 88 and No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing cars to ensure a clean sweep of the top three for Porsche
- TF Sport fourth as Dylan Pereira lead the Porsche chase
The first practice session of the weekend is in the books in @BAH_Int_Circuit and the fastest car from each class is...@TGReurope #8@PorscheRaces #91@JotaSport #38@Project1_93 #56@RealteamRacing #70#WEC #6HBahrain pic.twitter.com/MzPvbnFXsO
— WEC (@FIAWEC) October 28, 2021
FP2 kicks off at 08h00 local time tomorrow morning ahead of qualifying in the late afternoon.
Click HERE for the free Bacpo 6 Hours of Bahrain event programme.
