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Di Resta Leads Bahrain FP1 for Peugeot

Peugeot 9X8 tops opening Free Practice at Bahrain International Circuit…

Photo: MPS Agency

Paul di Resta was quickest in Free Practice 1 for Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, putting Peugeot Sport on top of the time sheets in the season-ending FIA World Endurance Championship event.

The Scot reeled off a best lap of 1:50.837 in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 early in the 90-minute session at Bahrain International Circuit, outpacing the No. 5 Penske Porsche 963 of Fred Makowiecki by 0.049 seconds.

The majority of the times, both in Hypercar and LMGT3 were set in the opening laps of the session, which ran without any red flag, although featured a Full Course Yellow in the final 30 minutes for practice purposes.

Antonio Giovinazzi put the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P third quickest, followed by the sister Peugeot of Jean-Eric Vergne in fourth.

The No. 6 Penske Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor completed the top-five, followed by the lone Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63, which slotted in a respectable sixth quickest time with Daniil Kvyat at the wheel.

Quickest of the Toyota GR010 Hybrids was the No. 8 example of Sebastien Buemi in seventh, ahead of the pair of Team WRT-run BMW M Hybrid V8s and No. 7 Toyota, which completed the top-ten.

Akkodis ASP led the way in LMGT3, thanks to Kelvin van der Linde’s 2:02.079 in the No. 78 Lexus RC F GT3 that was also set early on.

The No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera was second in class on the time sheets, followed by the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini driven by Matteo Cairoli.

Free Practice 2 gets underway at 5:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1

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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