6 Hours of Bahrain
Course: Bahrain International Circuit
BRIGHT BAHRAIN BEGINNING FOR TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing made a constructive start to preparations for the final FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) race of the season with opening practice for the 6 Hours of Bahrain.
With an outside chance of the drivers' World Championship and second place in the manufacturers' standings still to fight for, Toyota approaches the ninth and final race of the season determined to challenge for the win.
Preparations began positively in two 90-minute practice sessions on Thursday. Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi, who are second in the drivers' championship, were the fastest TS050 HYBRID, in fourth place in the #6 car.
The #5 TS050 HYBRID of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima set the sixth fastest time overall on day one at the Bahrain International Circuit, where Toyota has won on two of its four previous WEC visits.
Today's action allowed the team to experience the track in various conditions; first practice began in bright sunshine and ran until sunset while the second session took place in complete darkness.
The race is scheduled to start at 16.00 local time so today's practice provided valuable information about how track conditions evolve as night approaches.
As well as analysing track conditions, both cars also ran through a programme of set-up changes and tyre tests with the target of achieving optimal race performance.
Today's action provided an indication of how the team's competitive level has improved compared to 2015; the TS050 HYBRID set a fastest lap over three seconds faster than the TS040 HYBRID achieved at this stage of last year's Bahrain event.
That improved performance brings increased expectations and the team will fine-tune car set-up in final practice on Friday prior to qualifying as it prepares to fight for an eighth podium, and second win, of the season.
Free practice 1 results
| Pos | N° | Cat | Driver | Car | T | Laps | Total Time | Gap | Gap Prev. | Best lap | Best time | Best speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | LMP1 | Romain DUMAS, Neel JANI, Marc LIEB | Porsche 919 Hybrid | M | 37 | - | - | 4 | 1:42.107 | 190.8 | |
| 2 | 8 | LMP1 | Lucas DI GRASSI, Loïc DUVAL, Oliver JARVIS | Audi R18 | M | 39 | +0.343 | +0.343 | 3 | 1:42.450 | 190.2 | |
| 3 | 7 | LMP1 | Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoît TRÉLUYER | Audi R18 | M | 40 | +0.408 | +0.065 | 3 | 1:42.515 | 190.1 | |
| 4 | 6 | LMP1 | Stéphane SARRAZIN, Mike CONWAY, Kamui KOBAYASHI | Toyota TS050 - Hybrid | M | 36 | +0.758 | +0.350 | 3 | 1:42.865 | 189.4 | |
| 5 | 1 | LMP1 | Timo BERNHARD, Mark WEBBER, Brendon HARTLEY | Porsche 919 Hybrid | M | 35 | +0.848 | +0.090 | 10 | 1:42.955 | 189.2 | |
| 6 | 5 | LMP1 | Anthony DAVIDSON, Sébastien BUEMI, Kazuki NAKAJIMA | Toyota TS050 - Hybrid | M | 36 | +1.397 | +0.549 | 33 | 1:43.504 | 188.2 | |
| 7 | 13 | LMP1 | Mathéo TUSCHER, Dominik KRAIHAMER, Alexandre IMPERATORI | Rebellion R-One - AER | D | 30 | +4.259 | +2.862 | 5 | 1:46.366 | 183.2 | |
| 8 | 4 | LMP1 | Simon TRUMMER, Oliver WEBB, Pierre KAFFER | CLM P1/01 - AER | D | 27 | +6.201 | +1.942 | 5 | 1:48.308 | 179.9 | |
| 9 | 36 | LMP2 | Gustavo MENEZES, Nicolas LAPIERRE, Stéphane RICHELMI | Alpine A460 - Nissan | D | 36 | +8.859 | +2.658 | 4 | 1:50.966 | 175.6 | |
| 10 | 45 | LMP2 | Julien CANAL, Roberto GONZALEZ, Roberto MERHI | Oreca 05 - Nissan | D | 37 | +9.048 | +0.189 | 4 | 1:51.155 | 175.3 | |
| 11 | 26 | LMP2 | Roman RUSINOV, René RAST, Alex BRUNDLE | Oreca 05 - Nissan | D | 39 | +9.106 | +0.058 | 4 | 1:51.213 | 175.2 | |
| 12 | 43 | LMP2 | Ricardo GONZALEZ, Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, Bruno SENNA | LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan | D | 33 | +9.474 | +0.368 | 3 | 1:51.581 | 174.6 | |
| 13 | 30 | LMP2 | Tom DILLMANN, Giedo VAN DER GARDE, Sean GELAEL | LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan | D | 39 | +9.524 | +0.050 | 4 | 1:51.631 | 174.5 | |
| 14 | 37 | LMP2 | Vitaly PETROV, Kirill LADYGIN, Victor SHAITAR | BR01 - Nissan | D | 31 | +9.778 | +0.254 | 2 | 1:51.885 | 174.1 | |
| 15 | 35 | LMP2 | David CHENG, Ho-Pin TUNG, Paul Loup CHATIN | Alpine A460 - Nissan | D | 39 | +9.973 | +0.195 | 4 | 1:52.080 | 173.8 | |
| 16 | 44 | LMP2 | Matthew RAO, Richard BRADLEY, Alex LYNN | Oreca 05 - Nissan | D | 31 | +10.399 | +0.426 | 5 | 1:52.506 | 173.2 | |
| 17 | 27 | LMP2 | Nicolas MINASSIAN, Maurizio MEDIANI, Mikhail ALESHIN | BR01 - Nissan | D | 32 | +10.541 | +0.142 | 5 | 1:52.648 | 173.0 | |
| 18 | 31 | LMP2 | Ryan DALZIEL, Luis Felipe DERANI, Christopher CUMMING | LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan | D | 34 | +10.543 | +0.002 | 2 | 1:52.650 | 173.0 | |
| 19 | 97 | LMGTE Pro | Jonathan ADAM, Darren TURNER, | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | D | 39 | +16.628 | +6.085 | 4 | 1:58.735 | 164.1 | |
| 20 | 95 | LMGTE Pro | Nicki THIIM, Marco SØRENSEN, | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | D | 36 | +17.016 | +0.388 | 4 | 1:59.123 | 163.6 | |
| 21 | 77 | LMGTE Pro | Richard LIETZ, Michael CHRISTENSEN, | Porsche 911 RSR (2016) | M | 30 | +17.313 | +0.297 | 2 | 1:59.420 | 163.1 | |
| 22 | 71 | LMGTE Pro | Davide RIGON, Sam BIRD, | Ferrari 488 GTE | M | 37 | +17.392 | +0.079 | 6 | 1:59.499 | 163.0 | |
| 23 | 67 | LMGTE Pro | Andy PRIAULX, Harry TINCKNELL, | Ford GT | M | 40 | +17.665 | +0.273 | 24 | 1:59.772 | 162.7 | |
| 24 | 51 | LMGTE Pro | Gianmaria BRUNI, James CALADO, | Ferrari 488 GTE | M | 31 | +17.753 | +0.088 | 3 | 1:59.860 | 162.5 | |
| 25 | 66 | LMGTE Pro | Stefan MÜCKE, Olivier PLA, | Ford GT | M | 37 | +18.264 | +0.511 | 12 | 2:00.371 | 161.9 | |
| 26 | 83 | LMGTE Am | François PERRODO, Emmanuel COLLARD, Rui AGUAS | Ferrari F458 Italia | M | 33 | +19.443 | +1.179 | 5 | 2:01.550 | 160.3 | |
| 27 | 98 | LMGTE Am | Paul DALLA LANA, Pedro LAMY, Mathias LAUDA | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | M | 30 | +19.445 | +0.002 | 4 | 2:01.552 | 160.3 | |
| 28 | 50 | LMGTE Am | Pierre RAGUES, Ricky TAYLOR, Romain BRANDELA | Chevrolet Corvette C7-Z06 | M | 35 | +19.704 | +0.259 | 29 | 2:01.811 | 159.9 | |
| 29 | 86 | LMGTE Am | Michael WAINWRIGHT, Adam CARROLL, Benjamin BARKER | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 35 | +20.088 | +0.384 | 35 | 2:02.195 | 159.4 | |
| 30 | 88 | LMGTE Am | Khaled AL QUBAISI, David HEINEMEIER HANSSON, Patrick LONG | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 36 | +20.130 | +0.042 | 25 | 2:02.237 | 159.4 | |
| 31 | 78 | LMGTE Am | Christian RIED, Wolf HENZLER, Joël CAMATHIAS | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 36 | +20.389 | +0.259 | 30 | 2:02.496 | 159.1 |
GET THE COMPLETE RACE RESULTS AND CHRONO
Free practice 2 results
| Pos | N° | Cat | Driver | Car | T | Laps | Total Time | Gap | Gap Prev. | Best lap | Best time | Best speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | LMP1 | Romain DUMAS, Neel JANI, Marc LIEB | Porsche 919 Hybrid | M | 41 | - | - | 7 | 1:39.817 | 195.2 | |
| 2 | 1 | LMP1 | Timo BERNHARD, Mark WEBBER, Brendon HARTLEY | Porsche 919 Hybrid | M | 41 | +0.455 | +0.455 | 7 | 1:40.272 | 194.3 | |
| 3 | 8 | LMP1 | Lucas DI GRASSI, Loïc DUVAL, Oliver JARVIS | Audi R18 | M | 45 | +0.583 | +0.128 | 2 | 1:40.400 | 194.1 | |
| 4 | 6 | LMP1 | Stéphane SARRAZIN, Mike CONWAY, Kamui KOBAYASHI | Toyota TS050 - Hybrid | M | 38 | +0.786 | +0.203 | 2 | 1:40.603 | 193.7 | |
| 5 | 7 | LMP1 | Marcel FÄSSLER, André LOTTERER, Benoît TRÉLUYER | Audi R18 | M | 48 | +1.203 | +0.417 | 10 | 1:41.020 | 192.9 | |
| 6 | 5 | LMP1 | Anthony DAVIDSON, Sébastien BUEMI, Kazuki NAKAJIMA | Toyota TS050 - Hybrid | M | 42 | +3.042 | +1.839 | 16 | 1:42.859 | 189.4 | |
| 7 | 13 | LMP1 | Mathéo TUSCHER, Dominik KRAIHAMER, Alexandre IMPERATORI | Rebellion R-One - AER | D | 31 | +7.361 | +4.319 | 8 | 1:47.178 | 181.8 | |
| 8 | 4 | LMP1 | Simon TRUMMER, Oliver WEBB, Pierre KAFFER | CLM P1/01 - AER | D | 32 | +7.755 | +0.394 | 13 | 1:47.572 | 181.1 | |
| 9 | 26 | LMP2 | Roman RUSINOV, René RAST, Alex BRUNDLE | Oreca 05 - Nissan | D | 37 | +10.239 | +2.484 | 8 | 1:50.056 | 177.0 | |
| 10 | 36 | LMP2 | Gustavo MENEZES, Nicolas LAPIERRE, Stéphane RICHELMI | Alpine A460 - Nissan | D | 37 | +10.627 | +0.388 | 4 | 1:50.444 | 176.4 | |
| 11 | 44 | LMP2 | Matthew RAO, Richard BRADLEY, Alex LYNN | Oreca 05 - Nissan | D | 40 | +11.206 | +0.579 | 16 | 1:51.023 | 175.5 | |
| 12 | 43 | LMP2 | Ricardo GONZALEZ, Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, Bruno SENNA | LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan | D | 31 | +11.480 | +0.274 | 5 | 1:51.297 | 175.1 | |
| 13 | 30 | LMP2 | Tom DILLMANN, Giedo VAN DER GARDE, Sean GELAEL | LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan | D | 39 | +11.602 | +0.122 | 7 | 1:51.419 | 174.9 | |
| 14 | 31 | LMP2 | Ryan DALZIEL, Luis Felipe DERANI, Christopher CUMMING | LIGIER JS P2 - Nissan | D | 38 | +11.696 | +0.094 | 7 | 1:51.513 | 174.7 | |
| 15 | 45 | LMP2 | Julien CANAL, Roberto GONZALEZ, Roberto MERHI | Oreca 05 - Nissan | D | 33 | +12.012 | +0.316 | 8 | 1:51.829 | 174.2 | |
| 16 | 27 | LMP2 | Nicolas MINASSIAN, Maurizio MEDIANI, Mikhail ALESHIN | BR01 - Nissan | D | 35 | +12.542 | +0.530 | 9 | 1:52.359 | 173.4 | |
| 17 | 35 | LMP2 | David CHENG, Ho-Pin TUNG, Paul Loup CHATIN | Alpine A460 - Nissan | D | 40 | +12.720 | +0.178 | 19 | 1:52.537 | 173.1 | |
| 18 | 37 | LMP2 | Vitaly PETROV, Kirill LADYGIN, Victor SHAITAR | BR01 - Nissan | D | 36 | +13.093 | +0.373 | 6 | 1:52.910 | 172.6 | |
| 19 | 95 | LMGTE Pro | Nicki THIIM, Marco SØRENSEN, | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | D | 38 | +17.409 | +4.316 | 10 | 1:57.226 | 166.2 | |
| 20 | 97 | LMGTE Pro | Jonathan ADAM, Darren TURNER, | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | D | 40 | +17.416 | +0.007 | 14 | 1:57.233 | 166.2 | |
| 21 | 67 | LMGTE Pro | Andy PRIAULX, Harry TINCKNELL, | Ford GT | M | 40 | +19.351 | +1.935 | 13 | 1:59.168 | 163.5 | |
| 22 | 71 | LMGTE Pro | Davide RIGON, Sam BIRD, | Ferrari 488 GTE | M | 40 | +19.414 | +0.063 | 16 | 1:59.231 | 163.4 | |
| 23 | 51 | LMGTE Pro | Gianmaria BRUNI, James CALADO, | Ferrari 488 GTE | M | 36 | +19.498 | +0.084 | 17 | 1:59.315 | 163.3 | |
| 24 | 98 | LMGTE Am | Paul DALLA LANA, Pedro LAMY, Mathias LAUDA | Aston Martin Vantage V8 | M | 38 | +19.643 | +0.145 | 17 | 1:59.460 | 163.1 | |
| 25 | 66 | LMGTE Pro | Stefan MÜCKE, Olivier PLA, | Ford GT | M | 30 | +19.841 | +0.198 | 6 | 1:59.658 | 162.8 | |
| 26 | 77 | LMGTE Pro | Richard LIETZ, Michael CHRISTENSEN, | Porsche 911 RSR (2016) | M | 30 | +19.941 | +0.100 | 3 | 1:59.758 | 162.7 | |
| 27 | 50 | LMGTE Am | Pierre RAGUES, Ricky TAYLOR, Romain BRANDELA | Chevrolet Corvette C7-Z06 | M | 38 | +20.762 | +0.821 | 7 | 2:00.579 | 161.6 | |
| 28 | 83 | LMGTE Am | François PERRODO, Emmanuel COLLARD, Rui AGUAS | Ferrari F458 Italia | M | 37 | +22.101 | +1.339 | 7 | 2:01.918 | 159.8 | |
| 29 | 88 | LMGTE Am | Khaled AL QUBAISI, David HEINEMEIER HANSSON, Patrick LONG | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 38 | +22.142 | +0.041 | 18 | 2:01.959 | 159.8 | |
| 30 | 86 | LMGTE Am | Michael WAINWRIGHT, Adam CARROLL, Benjamin BARKER | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 38 | +22.444 | +0.302 | 4 | 2:02.261 | 159.4 | |
| 31 | 78 | LMGTE Am | Christian RIED, Wolf HENZLER, Joël CAMATHIAS | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 32 | +22.533 | +0.089 | 6 | 2:02.350 | 159.2 |
GET THE COMPLETE RACE RESULTS AND CHRONO
TS050 HYBRID #5 (Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima)
Free practice 1: 6th (1min 43.504secs), 36 laps
Free practice 2: 6th (1min 42.859secs), 42 laps
Anthony Davidson
“We worked on the balance of the car and made big changes from first to second practice. We are pretty happy with our progress. Today's main focus was on a good race balance and tyre degradation which is a key factor here. We will look to extract a bit more speed from the car tomorrow but I'm fairly optimistic.”
Sébastien Buemi
“It was a good day for our car and the set-up felt pretty good in the end. We didn't go for absolute lap time because we focused on the race as much as possible; this is what counts. We didn't have any technical issues which is good as this means we have a lot of data to analyse and find the best compromise.”
Kazuki Nakajima
“Tyre degradation is always tricky here so today we worked hard to analyse this. We had two positive sessions to evaluate the car set-up and the tyre situation. We finished up quite happy with the balance so I think we have a good basis for the race. Qualifying is not our focus so we'll see where we are tomorrow.”
TS050 HYBRID #6 (Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi)
Free practice 1: 4th (1min 42.865secs), 36 laps
Free practice 2: 4th (1min 40.603secs), 38 laps
Stéphane Sarrazin
“We had a good day today and I'm pleased with how it went in both sessions. We improved the car a lot during the day and I think Mike, Kamui and me all feel quite confident that we have a strong car here. We will finalise our race set-up tomorrow and get ready for the last event of the season.”
Mike Conway
“It went well today. We have some areas to improve but in terms of our race pace compared to the competition, we look pretty close. We still have more lap time to find and we will work hard before the race to improve, but today has been a good starting point. I think it will be quite a close fight come Saturday.”
Kamui Kobayashi
“The car felt okay today and we had two clean sessions. It's hard to compare the balance because the tyre degradation was high but I'm quite positive. This is only the first day of the weekend so there is plenty of work to do and we will try to improve. Let's see tomorrow.”