Lynn Goes Quickest for Cadillac in FP3

Photo: MPS Agency

Chip Ganassi Racing was quickest in the third Free Practice session ahead of tomorrow’s 8 Hours of Bahrain, with Alex Lynn putting Cadillac atop the time charts for the first time in a FIA World Endurance Championship session.

Lynn reeled off a best lap of 1:49.512 in his No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R to outpace the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Antonio Fuoco by nearly a half-second.

The Englishman’s time, however, was some three seconds slower than Kamui Kobayashi’s benchmark 1:46.851 set in the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in Friday evening’s Free Practice 2, which was held in considerably cooler conditions.

Additionally, none of the Hypercar teams appeared to go for qualifying simulation runs over the course of the 60-minute session.

The No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 ended up third in Friday’s lone Free Practice session, thanks to Gianmaria Bruni’s 1:50.256 lap time, followed by the No. 51 Ferrari and No. 94 Peugeot 9X8, which completed the top five.

The pair of world championship-leading Toyotas, meanwhile, were down in eighth and ninth, behind the pair of Porsche Penske Motorsport entries, but ahead of the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche and No. 93 Peugeot.

It came despite a spin by Jose Maria Lopez on his out-lap in the No. 7 Toyota.

LMP2 was led by the No. 23 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson of Tom Blomqvist, who reeled off a 1:53.661 to narrowly outpace the No. 9 Prema entry of Bent Viscaal and the Pietro Fittipaldi-driven No. 28 JOTA Oreca, which was third.

The No. 56 Team Project 1 – AO Porsche, nicknamed ‘Rexy’, returned to the track during FP3 to go quickest in the GTE-Am class after Gunnar Jeannette hit the inside wall out of Turn 15 during Thursday’s second session.

Project 1 team principal Axel Funke told Sportscar365 on Friday morning that the upper wishbone took the brunt of the impact, but the chassis was not damaged after checks with Porsche.

The German squad changed the car’s rear suspension components and driveshaft, but the gearbox and engine were both unaffected.

Sportscar365 understands that chassis damage would likely have signalled the end of Project 1’s event due to the lack of a spare on-site at Bahrain International Circuit.

Matteo Cairoli posted a time of 1:58.214 to lead the way in the session, ahead of the No. 83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari.

Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. local time (9:15 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 3

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report

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