Kobayashi Tops Bahrain FP2 in Toyota 1-2

Kamui Kobayashi led a Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 in the second Free Practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The Japanese driver steered the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to a best lap of 1:46.851, 0.461 seconds clear of stablemate Brendon Hartley at the wheel of the No. 8 sister car.

Alex Lynn completed the top three ahead of the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Will Stevens’ No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 outpacing the Porsche Penske Motorsport machine of Kevin Estre to complete the top five.

After initially running as high as third courtesy of Nico Mueller, the No. 94 Peugeot ended the session in sixth place, with the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche and No. 93 Peugeot seventh and eighth.

The top ten was completed by the No. 5 Porsche and the No. 50 Ferrari 499 driven by Antonio Fuoco.

A flying lap from the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson of Filipe Albuquerque 22 minutes into the session left the Anglo-American squad quickest in LMP2.

Albuquerque’s time of 1:52.850 gave him a gap of 0.325 seconds to early pacesetter Mirko Bortolotti, piloting the No. 63 Prema Racing machine.

Charles Milesi rounded out the top three for Alpine Elf Team, with the second Prema entry of Bent Viscaal in fourth place less then a tenth clear of the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca of Fabio Scherer.

Kessel Racing’s Daniel Serra led the way in GTE-Am by reeling off a 1:58.246 at the wheel of the No. 57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo he shares with Takeshi Kimura and Esteban Masson.

Riccardo Pera slotted into second aboard the No. 86 GR Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19, ahead of Matteo Cairoli.

Cairoli’s co-driver Gunnar Jeanette crashed the No. 56 Project 1-AO Porsche with 30 minutes to go, inflicting rear damage with a spin into the wall at Turn 15.

The incident resulted in a red flag, with the session extended by ten minutes to compensate for the stoppage.

Track action at the Bahrain International Circuit continues with the third and final Free Practice session, which kicks off on Friday at 12 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 2