Alpine’s Da Costa Paces Bahrain Rookie Test

Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI

Antonio Felix da Costa led the way in Sunday’s FIA World Endurance Championship end-of-season rookie test at Bahrain International Circuit.

Alpine Endurance Team’s new recruit posted a chart-topping 1:49.214 lap time in the afternoon session aboard the No. 36 Alpine A424 to edge out teammate Fred Makowiecki by 0.159 seconds.

The Frenchman recorded the time, as part of his maximum five-lap installation lap process, in the morning session, which was halted by a fire for the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 of Tom van Rompuy.

Van Rompuy’s Lexus ground to a halt near the start/finish line and was reportedly engulfed in flames, although the Bronze-rated Belgian escaped without injury, per a WEC spokesperson.

Nick Cassidy, in the No. 93 Peugeot 9X8, recorded the third-quickest time overall, and second of the afternoon session, marking his first officially timed session in a Hypercar ahead of his full season campaign with the French manufacturer.

While Marco Sorensen was fourth in the No. 009 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie, it was Lilou Wadoux that was another notable ‘rookie’ that set the fastest time in the world championship-winning No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P.

Charles Weerts, meanwhile, was the quickest rookie in the No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8, with a lap that was less than one-second from da Costa’s benchmark.

Fellow Hypercar rookie Kelvin van der Linde was one second further behind.

The WEC’s nominated Hypercar rookie, Ollie Gray, meanwhile, turned a best lap of 1:50.599 in the No. 50 Ferrari.

Other notable rookies taking part in the test in Hypercar included Porsche Asia-Pacific Selected Driver Dorian Boccolacci, who was in the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche 963, as well as Toyota SUPER GT driver Sacha Fenestraz, aboard the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid along with Ben Barnicoat, who got his second outing in the Hypercar.

Fellow IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Ricky Taylor and Jack Aitken took turns in the pair of Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R on dedicated testing runs.

Former French F4 champion Hadrien David topped the time charts in LMGT3 in the No. 87 Lexus, thanks to a 2:01.801 lap time also set in the afternoon session.

The Frenchman edged out the WEC-nominated Tom Fleming, who sampled the class championship-winning No. 92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R, and ended up second quickest.

Nicola Lacorte ended up the third-quickest rookie in class, aboard the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

Ex-Formula 1 driver Logan Sargeant, meanwhile, was fourth in the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3, with Matias Zagazeta in the No. 21 Ferrari completing the top-five out of the rookies in the class.

Parker Thompson, in his debut at Bahrain International Circuit, was sixth in No. 69 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, meanwhile, ahead of other notables including GT World Challenge America powered by AWS driver Eric Powell, in the No. 88 Proton Mustang GT3.

The second session also featured a red flag, although it was only for a brief period due to an incident for Zagazeta.

RESULTS: Bahrain Rookie Test

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John