Peugeot 1-2 in FP1; Porsche head Ferrari in LMGTE Pro

The Headlines from FP1 at BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain......

Hypercar 

• Peugeot TotalEnergies take a 1-2 in FP1 as Jean-Eric Vergne and Nico Mueller respectively set the best laps in the No.93 and No.94 all-new 9X8 Hypercars 
• Vergne’s best of 1m50.536s is set in the early phase of the session, while newcomer to Peugeot, Mueller, peaks on a 1m51.413s best 
• Toyota are third as the No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entered GR010-Hybrid Hypercar in hands of Kamui Kobayashi gets to within 0.262s of the second placed Peugeot 
• Alpine ELF Team starts their title challenge week solidly as Nicolas Lapierre places Les Bleues fourth with a 1m51.796s best 
• Joint points leaders with Alpine, the No.8 Toyota crew of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa end the session fifth with Buemi setting the fastest lap on a 1m51.917s lap  

LMGTE Pro 

• No.92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 sets fastest LMGTE Pro time as Michael Christensen laps in a 1m58.025s best 
•  The Dane and his teammate Kevin Estre head into the weekend 11 points adrift of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the LMGTE Pro title chase.  
• AF Corse second and third in FP1 with the No.52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco heading the No.51 Calado and Pier Guidi machine  
• Fuoco sets an early session best of 1m58.261s, while Pier Guidi peaks on a 1m58.398s lap 
• Fourth is the No.91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 as Gimmi Bruni sets best time of 1m58.457 to ensure the Ferraris and Porsches are separated by a mere 0.432s 
• Nick Tandy in the Corvette Racing entered C8.R places fifth in class in car he again shares with Tommy Milner 

LMP2 

• Nicklas Nielsen tops the ultra-competitive LMP2 category for AF Corse 
• The Dane, who is expected to form part of the new Ferrari Hypercar programme in 2023, scorches to a best lap of 1.52.144s 
• That time just pips Charles Milesi’s best by 0.191s as the Richard Mille Racing driver continues his excellent Bahrain form 
• An early session time of 1m52.389s for Will Stevens ensures a strong start for the title leading No.38 Jota Oreca-Gibson that Stevens shares with Antonio Felix da Costa and Roberto Gonzalez 
• That trio leads the LMP2 points table by 28-points heading in to the 2022 WEC finale weekend 

LMGTE Am 

• Ben Barnicoat stars for Team Project 1 in the opening running as he sets the pace with a best lap of 1m59.636s in the No.56 Porsche 911 RSR-19 
• British ace leads the No21 AF Corse run Ferrari as sportscar veteran Toni Vilander gets to within 0.238 seconds of Barnicoat’s best 
• Porsche sandwich Ferrari as the No.86 Gulf Racing 911 RSR-19 driven by Ben Barker rounds out the top three with a quickest tour of 1m59.968s 
• Title leading TF Sport Aston Martin team endure difficult start as car completes fewer laps an ends up as final runner in 37-car field 

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