Toyota 1-2 in FP3; Bruni Tops LMGTE Pro for Porsche

Headlines from FP3 at BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain......

Hypercar 

• Toyota Gazoo Racing sit 1-2 at top of timing screens in final 60-minute session at Bahrain International Circuit
• Mike Conway sets the fastest lap of the meeting so far by completing a 1m48.384s quickest lap in the No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing entered Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar
• Brendon Hartley places the No.8 Toyota second in car he shares with Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa

• Peugeot TotalEnergies had topped the first two FP sessions yesterday but have to settle for third and fourth this morning
• No.94 Peugeot in hands of Gustavo Menezes is fastest of the uniquely designed 9X8s on a 1m49.535s
• Paul di Resta is again fastest in the No.93 car and laps in a 1m50.279s best
• Alpine ELF Team are fifth as Mathieu Vaxiviere sets an early session best of 1m50.328s

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 longshot 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

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