WEC Bahrain – Free Practice 2: Rebellion and Aston Martin Shine

The last time the competitors had seen the illuminated stands under the night sky was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams and drivers were happy to revisit this very special atmosphere during the second free practice session at the Sakhir circuit.

The falling of night provided great relief to the engines and the track in an overheated country. The drop in temperatures led to a significant improvement in times, especially in LMP1.

“Last session to prepare for the race,” Rebellion announced on Twitter as a preamble. Indeed, the teams mainly worked for the race before focusing on their speed on Friday.

Under these conditions, Rebellion achieved a superb first run to put the car comfortably in the lead, with a time of 1:42.471, more than two seconds faster than in free practice 1. Although it ran fewer laps, the Ginetta #5 managed to secure second position, 1.411 seconds behind the Swiss team. In contrast, Toyota was relegated to 1.7 seconds behind, much further back than in the first session.

Finally the Ginetta #6, already struggling in the morning, barely ran in this session, completing just ten laps compared to forty-four for the Toyota #7, for example. It was unable to achieve a significant time.

LMP2

After United Autosport in the morning, Jackie Chan DC Racing set the fastest time of the second session at 1:46.147, just ahead of G-Drive Racing. The Russians, far behind in the first session, showed that they are well in the running to play the leading roles.

GTE-Pro

We take the same ones and reverse the order! Left behind during the first practice session, the Aston Martins put on their overalls in the second session. The two British cars finished in front, the first with a time of 1:55.696, more than six-tenths ahead of the first Porsche.

GTE-Am

TF Sport is not in front! It’s a small event, given how impressive the Aston Martin has been for the past three weekends. The beautiful red car still managed to secure third place in the session behind the Porsches of Project 1 and Dempsey-Proton Racing. As titleholders, Project 1 is eager to finally secure a victory this season. The French troublemakers François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard finished eleventh and last.