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Bahrain WEC: Neel Jani sets the pace in free practice for Porsche

Porsche ended up fastest after the first two sessions of free practice ahead of Saturday's penultimate round of the World Endurance Championship in Bahrain

Neel Jani set the fastest lap of the day during the final 90-minute session held under the cover of darkness with a 1m43.375s aboard the #14 Porsche 919 Hybrid.

That eclipsed Anthony Davidson's best of 1m44.233s in the #8 Toyota TS040 HYBRID by more than eight tenths of a second.

Mark Webber was third in the second Porsche a further two tenths back on 1m44.457s.

The best Audi, the #1 car in the hands of Lucas di Grassi, was fourth on 1m45.380s.

The top four LMP1 cars had been separated by just over a tenth in the opening session, with Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota heading team-mate Alex Wurz, Webber and di Grassi.

Both Audi R18 e-tron quattros have been built up around fresh monocoques for this weekend after the two cars were found to have cracked tubs when they arrived in Bahrain from the previous WEC round in Shanghai.

The #2 car, driven by championship challengers Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, was built up around the spare chassis carried by the Audi Sport Team Joest squad, while the #1 entry was rebuilt around a tub that arrived at the circuit at 3am on Thursday morning.

The LMP2 times were headed by the G-Drive Racing Ligier-Nissan JSP2 driven by Olivier Pla.

His best of 1m51.681s put him three tenths up on the AF Corse-run SMP Racing ORECA-Nissan 03R in the hands of Kirill Ladygin, who set his time in the first session.

Top GTE car was Nicki Thiim in the Aston Martin that heads the GTE Am standings.

The Dane's 1m58.440s put him three tenths up on fellow Aston driver Stefan Mucke, who recorded his time of 1m59.087s in the lead GTE Pro Aston in morning practice.

Gianmaria Bruni was quickest in GTE Pro in the dark on a 1m59.410s.

PRACTICE ONE

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time
1 LMP1 A.Davidson, S.Buemi Toyota Racing Toyota 1m45.447s
2 LMP1 A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway Toyota Racing Toyota 1m45.505s
3 LMP1 T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley Porsche Team Porsche 1m45.510s
4 LMP1 L.di Grassi, L.Duval, T.Kristensen Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m45.557s
5 LMP1 M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m46.283s
6 LMP1 R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb Porsche Team Porsche 1m46.356s
7 LMP1 D.Kraihamer, A.Belicchi, F.Leimer Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Toyota 1m49.732s
8 LMP1 N.Prost, N.Heidfeld, M.Beche Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Toyota 1m49.977s
9 LMP1 P.Kaffer, S.Trummer, N.Berthon Lotus Lotus/AER 1m51.682s
10 LMP2 R.Rusinov, O.Pla, J.Canal G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 1m51.807s
11 LMP2 K.Ladygin, V.Shaytar, A.Ladygin SMP Racing ORECA/Nissan 1m51.948s
12 LMP2 S.Zlobin, N.Minassian, M.Mediani SMP Racing ORECA/Nissan 1m52.668s
13 LMP2 M.Howson, R.Bradley, A.Imperatori KCMG ORECA/Nissan 1m53.295s
14 LMP2 M.Patterson, K.Ihara, D.Cheng Oak Racing Morgan/Judd 1m55.391s
15 GTE Pro D.Turner, S.Mucke Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m59.087s
16 GTE Am P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, C.Nygaard Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m59.717s
17 GTE Am K.Poulsen, D.H.Hansson, N.Thiim Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 2m00.056s
18 GTE Pro D.Rigon, J.Calado AF Corse Ferrari 2m00.090s
19 GTE Pro F.Makowiecki, P.Pilet Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 2m00.108s
20 GTE Pro J.Bergmeister, R.Lietz Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 2m00.199s
21 GTE Pro A.MacDowall, F.Rees, A.Al Faisal Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 2m00.292s
22 GTE Pro G.Bruni, T.Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 2m00.741s
23 GTE Am C.Ried, K.Bachler, K.Al Qubaisi Proton Competition Porsche 2m00.903s
24 GTE Am G.Roda, P.Ruberti, M.Cressoni 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari 2m01.091s
25 GTE Am A.Talkanitsa Jr., A.P.Guidi, J.Segal AF Corse Ferrari 2m01.595s
26 GTE Am S.Wyatt, M.Rugolo, A.Bertolini AF Corse Ferrari 2m02.086s
27 GTE Am F.Perrodo, E.Collard, M.Vaxiviere Prospeed Competition Porsche 2m02.212s

PRACTICE TWO

Pos Class Driver Team Car Time
1 LMP1 R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb Porsche Team Porsche 1m43.375s
2 LMP1 A.Davidson, S.Buemi Toyota Racing Toyota 1m44.233s
3 LMP1 T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley Porsche Team Porsche 1m44.457s
4 LMP1 L.di Grassi, L.Duval, T.Kristensen Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m45.380s
5 LMP1 M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi 1m45.536s
6 LMP1 A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway Toyota Racing Toyota 1m45.895s
7 LMP1 N.Prost, N.Heidfeld, M.Beche Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Toyota 1m49.162s
8 LMP1 D.Kraihamer, A.Belicchi, F.Leimer Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Toyota 1m50.043s
9 LMP2 R.Rusinov, O.Pla, J.Canal G-Drive Racing Ligier/Nissan 1m51.581s
10 LMP2 K.Ladygin, V.Shaytar, A.Ladygin SMP Racing ORECA/Nissan 1m52.351s
11 LMP2 M.Howson, R.Bradley, A.Imperatori KCMG ORECA/Nissan 1m52.639s
12 LMP1 P.Kaffer, S.Trummer, N.Berthon Lotus Lotus/AER 1m53.271s
13 LMP2 S.Zlobin, N.Minassian, M.Mediani SMP Racing ORECA/Nissan 1m54.045s
14 LMP2 M.Patterson, K.Ihara, D.Cheng Oak Racing Morgan/Judd 1m54.784s
15 GTE Am K.Poulsen, D.H.Hansson, N.Thiim Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m58.440s
16 GTE Pro G.Bruni, T.Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 1m59.410s
17 GTE Pro J.Bergmeister, R.Lietz Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 1m59.704s
18 GTE Am C.Ried, K.Bachler, K.Al Qubaisi Proton Competition Porsche 1m59.867s
19 GTE Pro F.Makowiecki, P.Pilet Porsche Team Manthey Porsche 1m59.873s
20 GTE Pro D.Turner, S.Mucke Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m59.900s
21 GTE Pro A.MacDowall, F.Rees, A.Al Faisal Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 1m59.955s
22 GTE Am F.Perrodo, E.Collard, M.Vaxiviere Prospeed Competition Porsche 2m00.248s
23 GTE Am A.Talkanitsa Jr., A.P.Guidi, J.Segal AF Corse Ferrari 2m00.295s
24 GTE Pro D.Rigon, J.Calado AF Corse Ferrari 2m00.735s
25 GTE Am P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, C.Nygaard Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin 2m00.937s
26 GTE Am S.Wyatt, M.Rugolo, A.Bertolini AF Corse Ferrari 2m01.458s
27 GTE Am G.Roda, P.Ruberti, M.Cressoni 8 Star Motorsports Ferrari 2m01.929s



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