Sorensen Paces First Bahrain Practice for Aston Martin

Marco Sorensen put Aston Martin to the top of the times in Thursday’s opening practice session for this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain.

The Danish driver posted a best time of 1:49.697 aboard the Heart of Racing Team’s No. 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie early on in the 90-minute session, which proved enough to top the session by almost a second-and-a-half.

Amid hot conditions, all of the best laps were set in the early stages, as Robert Kubica slot into second in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, 1.466 seconds behind Sorensen, ahead of Ross Gunn in the second of the Valkyries, the No. 007 car.

Next up was Paul di Resta in the No. 93 Peugeot 9X8, just over two seconds off the pace.

The championship-leading No. 51 Ferrari was fifth-quickest in the hands of Antonio Giovinazzi, narrowly ahead of the two Toyota GR010 Hybrids, with Sebastien Buemi setting the best time for the Japanese marque aboard the No. 8 car.

Rounding off the top ten were the No. 36 Alpine A424 of Frederic Makowiecki, the No. 50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco and the best of the Porsche Penske Motorsport entries, the No. 5 963 in which Julien Andlauer set the best time.

BMW’s No. 15 M Hybrid V8 propped up the 18-car Hypercar field after a delayed start to the session, ending up 4.4 seconds off the pace.

In LMGT3, Ben Barker set the pace for Proton Competition with a best time of 2:02.681 in the No. 77 Ford Mustang GT3.

The two Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3s were second- and third-fastest, with Jose Maria Lopez in the No. 87 car leading Ben Barnicoat in the No. 78, while the two Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVOs completed the top five in class.

The 90-minute session passed almost entirely without incident, with only a brief full-course yellow test in the closing stages.

Second practice for the 8 Hours of Bahrain is set for 5 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1