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Conway Leads Toyota Rebound in Bahrain FP3

Mike Conway quickest in final practice prior to qualifying for 8 Hours of Bahrain…

Photo: James Moy/Toyota

Mike Conway led a Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 in the third and final free practice session prior to qualifying for Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, putting the Japanese manufacturer back atop the time sheets after the opening day dominated by Peugeot.

Conway reeled off a best lap of 1:48.384 in the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to outpace the sister No. 8 entry of Brendon Hartley by 0.364 seconds.

Both of the pace-setting times came early in Friday morning’s 60-minute session at Bahrain International Circuit, with the pair of Peugeot 9X8s unable to continue with the gains it made on Thursday.

Gustavo Menezes was the quickest of the French brand’s LMH cars, although was 1.1 seconds adrift, with the No. 93 Peugeot of Paul Di Resta further behind in fourth.

Hypercar title contender Alpine brought up the rear of the class, with Matthieu Vaxiviere’s 1:50.328 lap time nearly two seconds off the pace from the leading Toyota.

LMP2 was led by the No. 31 WRT Oreca 07 Gibson of Robin Frijns, thanks to a 1:51.792 lap time by the Dutchman, who outpaced the No. 22 United Autosports and Pro-Am class-leading No. 83 AF Corse Orecas.

The No. 23 United entry lost time during the session due to a left-front suspension failure although returned to action in the closing stages.

Porsche again topped the time charts in GTE-Pro, with the No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Gimmi Bruni recording a 1:57.089 lap time.

The championship-leading No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Alessandro Pier Guidi was second, followed by the sister No. 52 Prancing Horse.

Team Project 1’s No. 46 Porsche of Nicolas Leutwiler was quickest in GTE-Am, meanwhile.

Qualifying gets underway at 4:50 p.m. local time (8:50 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Free Practice 3

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

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