Toyota set the bar with a one-two on the opening day of practice for the World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain.
Kazuki Nakajima submitted the fastest time outright behind the wheel of the #8 TS050 Hybrid, after Mike Conway put the Japanese manufacturer's sister car on top during FP1.
The #8 crew of Nakajima, Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi are aiming to record their third consecutive victory of the season this weekend, following their wins at Fuji and Shanghai.
Nakajima delivered his table-topping run of 1:40.095s at the start of FP2, out-pacing Jose Maria Lopez by half a second.
Lopez's effort was quicker than Conway's earlier marker, as times tumbled in the cooler evening conditions.
Porsche finished third and fourth in both sessions, with the 919 Hybrids running six and nine tenths off the pace by the end of the day.
Recently confirmed world champions Earl Bamber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard ran third quickest, ahead of the sister 919 driven by Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer and Nick Tandy.
The opening session was delayed by 45 minutes when Harry Tincknell's Ford GT leaked fluid around the 3.4-mile circuit, prompting race officials to extend the session by half an hour.
RESULT: 6 Hours of Bahrain FP1
RESULT: 6 Hours of Bahrain FP2
Vaillante Rebellion claimed first and second in the LMP2 timesheets, with Bruno Senna setting the class pace during the twilight session.
Senna's time of 1:47.664s bridged the sister car's best attempt by half a second, while the championship-chasing Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA sat third in the hands of Thomas Laurent.
Senna and Julien Canal moved to the top of the LMP2 standings with victory in China two weeks ago, overturning the long-standing advantage held by the Le Mans-winning Jackie Chan crew.
Laurent, Oliver Jarvis and Ho-Pin Tung need to win or finish two places ahead of the Rebellion crew in Bahrain to secure the title.
In GTE-Pro, Aston Martin staged a one-two of its own as the British marque's pair of Vantages topped the order ahead of their final race appearance in the category.
Darren Turner's 1:57.014s benchmark led Marco Sorensen by four tenths, as the pair of AF Corse-run Ferrari 488s filled out the next two positions.
AMR trailed Ferrari's championship leaders James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the opening session, but overturned the advantage during FP2.
Thursday's fastest GTE-Am lap came courtesy of Matt Griffin in the Clearwater Racing Ferrari.
Qualifying for the 6 Hours of Bahrain takes place tomorrow (Friday, November 17th) at 17:00 local/14:00 UK time.






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