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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Toyota tops practice times in first-ever WEC wet session at BIC
Toyota Gazoo Racing were fastest this morning in the third Free Practice session at Bahrain International Circuit in what was the first-ever wet session of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Sakhir.
The trio of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakijima and Brendon Hartley steered their no. 8 TS050 Hybrid to a fastest lap of one minute 44.285 seconds.
It was the first time Toyota set the pace this weekend in the WEC’s three practices held ahead of Saturday’s big eight-hour race.
Continuing their hot pace from Thursday but finishing a narrow 0.104 seconds behind the leaders were the Team LNT trio of Charles Robertson, Ben Hanley and Jordan King. They were behind the wheel of their no. 5 AER-powered Ginetta G60-LT-P1.
The top two were both competing in the top-tier LMP1 class.
They were followed on the overall timesheet by three LMP2 outfits, led by United Autosports’ Philip Hanson, Felipe Albuquerque and Paul Di Resta. They drive their no. 22 Gibson-powered Oreca 07 to a fastest lap that was just 1.685s behind Toyota.
Jackie Chan DC Racing’s Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Will Stevens followed in their no. 37 Oreca 07 1.874s behind; while JOTA team members Anthony Davidson, Rodolfo Gonzalez and Antonio Felix Da Costa rounded out the top five in their no. 38 Oreca 07 2.482s back.
Leading the LMGTE Pro class was the no. 71 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of AF Corse’s Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina with a best lap of 1:56.095; while Gulf Racing’s no. 86 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Michael Wainwright, Andrew Watson and Benjamin Barker topped the LMGTE Am category with a lap time of 1:57.221.
Following WEC’s third practice of the weekend, the 31-car field now heads to Qualifying starting at 4.40pm later today.