Fuoco puts Ferrari ahead in third Bahrain WEC practice

An early 1m49.725s flyer from Antonio Fuoco in the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P was enough for the Italian brand to top the timing screens in the final practice session in Bahrain ahead of qualifying for the season finale.

Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 7 Toyota GR010 ended up setting a 1m49.7s, too, but would finish up just shy of Fuoco’s benchmark and slot in second. A second 499P completed the top three in the running order – the No. 83 privately entered car from AF Corse, with a lap three tenths off.

None of the times from Hypercar came close to bettering the 1m49.042s from Marco Sorensen, which was the best lap in yesterday’s combined times. Notably, the No. 20 BMW’s FP2-topping time from Sheldon van der Linde was deleted last night for a yellow flag violation, so Sorensen’s best from the second session stands as the fastest time ahead of the battle for pole this afternoon.

While the lap times didn’t tumble in the midday heat, it was a useful data-gathering exercise for the teams. There was a lot of experimentation going on in terms of tire choice, with a number of cars spotted running on full sets of both Michelin Medium and Hards. The top three were lapping with split sets, with the two leading 499Ps running with Hards on the left and Mediums on the right, while the No. 7 Toyota lapped with three Hards and a single right-front Medium.

The No. 009 Aston Martin ended up fourth with the No. 12 JOTA Cadillac fifth.

After missing Free Practice 2 with a loom issue, the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche returned to the track in the final session and ended up a respectable eighth in the times. 

In LMGT3, Iron Lynx had its moment in the sun with its No. 61 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3. Bronze-rated Martin Berry completed a 2m03.158s in a qualifying simulation to go almost four tenths clear on the field. Like Hypercar, though, the best time from the session wasn’t the fastest of the weekend so far. Finn Gehrsitz’s 2m02.613s remains the lap to beat in Hyperpole.

The pair of AKKODIS ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3s took second and third. Vista AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari and the No. 81 TF Sport Corvette secured fourth and fifth respectively, as the top nine cars in the session all lapped within a second.

FP3 had to be red-flagged and extended by nine minutes after the first significant on-track incident of the event so far. Celia Martin had an off at the exit of Turn 2, putting the Iron Dames Porsche nose-first into the barriers. The damage wasn't too severe, though, and the Frenchwoman was able to return to the pit lane under her own power.

The final qualifying sessions of the season are set to get underway at 4:00pm local time.

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