Aston Martin’s Alex Riberas lead the 8 Hours of Bahrain at the half way mark,after taking the lead on new tyres after a safety car period, but he was forced to relinquish it after receiving a drive through penalty for a procedural error.
The Spaniard, in the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie, went from fifth to first in a matter of laps after a restart, taking the lead from #8 Toyota’s Sebastien Buemi on lap 113 of the race. The Valkyrie was on new rubber after stopping under the virtual safety car, while others opted to refuel only when they stopped while the race was neutralised.
He built up an 11 second lead over Buemi in under 10 laps, but then received the penalty for a procedural error under VSC.
Riberas rejoined the race fifth, behind teammate Ross Gunn in the sister #007 Valkyrie, with the #009 driver losing 28 seconds due to the penalty.
So, Buemi now leads for Toyota, with Nyck de Vries second in the #8 Toyota. The two have been near or at the head of the field for the whole race, with the GR010 having an advantage on most of the field due to the fact it is easy on its tyres.
Read our 2 hour update for a full overview of the opening portion of the race.
Alessandro Pier Guidi is fourth in the #51 Ferrari, 7 seconds off Buemi. Him and his teammates James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi look set to take the drivers’ world championship title.
Gunn was fourth but recently pitted, elevating Riberas up, 16 seconds off Buemi and very much in the hunt for a win or podium.
Fifth is Yifei Ye in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, with Alex Lynn sixth in the #12 Cadillac. Seventh and eighth are the two Alpines, Charles Milesi in the #35 car ahead of Mick Schumacher in the #36 machine.
Lexus lead in LMGT3
In LMGT3, the #87 ASP Lexus continues to lead, as it has done for most of the race. Jose Maria Lopez has been at the wheel for the last two stints, but Clemens Schmid recently replaced the Argentinian in the car at the last pitstop.
Second is Lin Hodenius in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, just a couple of seconds behind Schmid, who has recently replaced Maxime Martin at the wheel. Third is Richard Lietz in the #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche.
Discussion about this post