Brendon Hartley has set the fastest time in final practice ahead of Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain in a session that featured a rare spin by Kazuki Nakajima.
Hartley set the benchmark time of 01:43:557 early on in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, a time that would remain untouched throughout the 60-minute session. Team-mate Mike Conway, in the #7 Toyota, was 0.102s slower.
The session featured a rare spin from the championship-leading Toyota, as Kazuki Nakajima looped the car round on the exit of turn 8, almost making contact with its sister car.
Earlier in the session, Sebastien Buemi had had run-in with one of the GTE Pro Porsches at turn one, with the two cars briefly making side-by-side contact in the braking zone. Both cars escaped unscathed.
In LMP2, Jackie Chan DC Racing topped the timing sheets courtesy of a 01:48:598 set by Will Stevens behind the wheel of the #37 ORECA 07-Gibson. Stevens was just under two-tenths quicker than Phil Hanson’s #22 United Autosports ORECA 07-Gibson, while Pierre Ragues put the #36 Alpine A470-Gibson third in class.
Earlier in the session, Ragues’ co-driver Andre Negrao was involved in an incident with Paul Dalla Lana in the #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR, with the two cars making contact at turn 13, sending Dalla Lana into a spin.
JOTA’s #38 ORECA 07-Gibson ended the session in fourth, ahead of Cetilar Racing and Racing Team Nederland. The latter briefly topped the timing sheets early on, but fell down the order following a spin by Frits van Eerd, who spun the #29 ORECA 07-Gibson on his own at turn 8 but was able to continue.
Porsche GT Team proved quickest in GTE Pro, marking the third different manufacturer on top in three separate sessions. The fastest time came courtesy of Michael Christensen, who set a 01:56:790 in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19.
Christensen outpaced compatriot Nicki Thiim by just under a second, with the #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR second ahead of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari.
GTE Am was topped by the #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR in the hands of Ross Gunn, who posted a quickest time of 01:57:947 to outpace Nicklas Nielsen’s #83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. The #77 Dempsey-Proton porsche 911 RSR of Riccardo Pera was third.
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