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Toyota Tops Free Practice 1 in Bahrain

Toyota TS040 Hybrids sweep opening practice in Bahrain…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

Toyota has shown the early pace in Bahrain, as the pair of TS040 Hybrids topped the time sheets in Free Practice 1 for Saturday’s FIA WEC Six Hours of Bahrain.

The No. 8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi was quickest in the opening 90-minute session, with a best lap of 1:45.447.

It was 0.058 seconds quicker than the sister No. 7 entry, driven by Alex Wurz, with the No. 20 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Mark Webber completing the top-three overall and in LMP1-H.

Both of the Audis turned laps in the session following tub changes, including the No. 1 entry of Lucas Di Grassi, Loic Duval and Tom Kristensen, which was fourth on the time sheets, while the No. 2 Audi was fifth.

The No. 13 Rebellion R-One Toyota of Fabio Leimer paced the LMP1-L class with a best time of 1:49.732, edging out the sister entry by two-tenths.

The Lotus CLM P1/01 AER stopped on track to bring out an early red flag. Gearbox problems were reported for the LMP1-L entry.

G-Drive Racing led the way in LMP2, with Olivier Pla reeling off a quick lap of 1:51.807 in the Russian-backed Ligier JS P2 Nissan.

Aston Martin Racing, meanwhile, was quickest in both GTE-Pro and GTE-Am, with the Nos. 97 (Darren Turner) and 98 (Pedro Lamy) cars atop the time sheets in their respective categories.

The second and final Free Practice session of the day is on tap for 7:30 p.m. local.

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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