Leclerc Quickest Rookie as Test Wraps Up

Arthur Leclerc ended the day as the quickest rookie during the post-season FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test at Bahrain International Circuit, with Alpine driver Jules Gounon topping the second and final session.

Gounon, piloting the No. 36 Alpine A424 posted a 1:50.405 to go quickest overall, outpacing Leclerc by 0.055 seconds.

The Ferrari development driver put in a late flyer of 1:50.460 aboard the No. 50 Ferrari 499P to become the quickest rookie of the day, improving upon the 1:50.934 that Victor Martins set in the morning session.

During the afternoon session, Martins also set a 1:50.717 to improve upon his own effort and looked on course to end the day as the fastest rookie before Leclerc swooped in the closing minutes.

Mike Conway ended the session third overall aboard the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, while a similarly late flyer from Valentino Rossi put him fourth overall and made him the second-quickest rookie by posting a 1:50.577 behind the wheel of the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8.

Max Hesse completed the overall top five aboard the No. 15 BMW, 0.414 seconds behind Gounon but ahead of a pair of Ferrari 499P in the hands of Yifei Ye and Thomas Neubauer.

In LMGT3, Ben Barnicoat went quickest as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship star reeled off a 2:01.772 behind the wheel of the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3.

Gregoire Saucy went second fastest in the No. 95 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, with the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 third in the hands of former FIA Formula 2 racer Mahaveer Raghunathan.

The three-hour session was interrupted by a pair of red flags, first when Clement Novalak stopped the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 some 45 minutes into the session and then within the final 20 minutes when Matteo de Palo came to a halt at Turn 14 aboard the No. 54 Ferrari.

RESULTS: Test Session 2