Jakobsen Quickest Rookie in Bahrain Test

Photo: MPS Agency

Malthe Jakobsen was the quickest rookie in Sunday’s FIA World Endurance Championship post-season test at Bahrain International Circuit.

The newly crowned European Le Mans Series LMP3 champion, in his WEC Hypercar class debut, reeled off a best time of 1:50.222 in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8.

Jakobsen’s time in the three-hour afternoon session was three-tenths quicker than his best lap from the morning for drivers either new to the series or the category.

ABB FIA Formula E World Championship driver Maximillian Guenther and two-time FIA WTCR champion Yann Ehrlacher, who serves as a Peugeot sim driver, also got seat time in the pair of Peugeots but were slower than the 19-year-old Dane.

Guenther posted a best lap of 1:51.665 in the No. 93 Peugeot, with Ehrlacher at a 1:51.777 in the sister Peugeot, both times which came in the morning.

WEC-nominated Hypercar test driver Lilou Wadoux completed 33 laps in the morning session in the world championship-winning No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. Wadoux recorded a best lap of 1:50.953.

The No. 7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez posted the quickest overall time of the day with a 1:48.812 lap, ahead of Peugeot’s Nico Mueller, Matthieu Vaxiviere of Alpine and Peugeot driver Mikkel Jensen.

Australian Garnet Patterson was fastest of the rookies in LMP2, having set a 1:53.036 lap time in the No. 23 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson.

Patterson edged out Formula 2 driver Olli Caldwell and fellow junior open-wheel driver Frederick Lubin, who tested for Richard Mille Racing Team and Vector Sport, respectively.

Doriane Pin turned 31 laps in the LMP2 championship-winning No. 38 JOTA Oreca, reeling off a best time that was within two-tenths of Patterson.

Pin edged out F2 front-runner Marcus Armstrong, who tested the Signatech-run Richard Mille Oreca, by 0.050 seconds.

Newly crowned Lamborghini World Finals Pro champion Nelson Piquet Jr. was quickest in the class in the No. 22 United entry, ahead of Ferrari factory driver Antonio Fuoco, who claimed his first GTE-Pro class win in Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain.

GTE-Pro was paced by the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of WEC-nominated driver Lorenzo Colombo, although the Italian was just 0.001 seconds quicker than Axcil Jefferies in the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Silver-rated Jefferies impressed at the wheel of the Pratt Miller-run Corvette, ending up quicker than Nick Tandy, who drove the car to a second place class finish yesterday.

Nico Varrone and Ben Keating also got seat time in the Corvette, which will contest the GTE-Am class next year.

Maxime Oosten was the quickest rookie in GTE-Am in the No. 46 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19, meanwhile, in a class that saw a number of drivers, including Finn Gehrsitz, Indy Dontje, Patrick Gallagher and Ryan Hardwick, turn laps in various machinery.

A total of five hours of run time was on offer over the course of the day, split between a two-hour morning session and three hours of testing in the afternoon.

Two early session red flags halted proceedings in the afternoon, both for the No. 45 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca stopping on track, while a stoppage for the No. 23 United Oreca of Yasser Shahin came in the first session.

RESULTS: WEC 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