WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain
FIA World Endurance Championship
The WEC has established itself as one of the premier championships under the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the leading global series for endurance racing. It attracts countless stars in motorsport, and it continues to grow in popularity every year, with races taking place in eight countries across four continents.
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Juncadella sets overall fastest lap time for Cadillac Racing in WEC Rookie Test at BIC
Juncadella sets overall fastest lap time for Cadillac Racing in WEC Rookie Test at BIC
Daniel Juncadella set the fastest lap today in the 2024 World Endurance Championship (WEC) Rookie Test, held just a day after an epic WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain, powered by Bapco Energies at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
The single-day event is the traditional season-ending test session of the WEC season, which gives up-and-coming young drivers an opportunity to sample a WEC contender.
A total of 28 cars, including 13 Hypercars and 15 LMGT3 contenders, were in action on the 5.412-kilometre BIC track today, with different drivers stepping into the cockpits for varying periods of running.
The test was divided into two separate sessions – the first held over two hours in the morning followed by the second over three hours in the afternoon.
Juncadella posted the best overall time of the day during the morning test. He had a quickest lap of one minute 49.566 in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar of Cadillac Racing.
Max Hesse of BMW M Team WRT, behind the wheel of the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8, followed on the timesheet 0.480s behind, while Arthur Leclerc of Ferrari AF Corse in the #50 Ferrari 499P was third quickest 0.816s off Juncadela’s pace.
All three of the morning’s top times were the fastest for the day.
In the afternoon session, Jules Gounon steered his Alpine Endurance Team’s #36 Alpine A424 to a best lap of 1:50.405. Leclerc was once again in a leading position as he followed just 0.055s behind the pace-setter, while Esteban Masson of Toyota Gazoo Racing came third 0.110s from the leader in the #7 GR010-Hybrid.
MotoGP legend Valtino Rossi, testing with BMW M Team WRT, was classified fourth overall in their #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, going 0.172s back. Earlier in the morning, he was ranked sixth-best.
Meanwhile, amongst the LMGT3 runners today, the best time of the day came from Ben Barnicoat in the Akkodis ASP Team’s #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 with a lap of 2:01.772. Sean Galael of United Autosports in their #95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo followed while Mahaveer Raghunathan of Vista AF Corse came third.
During the morning runs, Tom Gamble, also of United Autosports and again in their #95 McLaren, set the session’s fastest mark in class of 2:02.587. Aurelien Panis of Akkodis ASP Team in their #78 Lexus was second while ranked driving the #55 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 was Raghunathan.
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