Bahrain WEC: Lopez tops FP2 by over a second

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Bahrain WEC: Lopez tops FP2 by over a second
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Jose Maria Lopez took the top spot for the #7 Toyota in second practice for Saturday's final round of the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain.

The Argentinian posted a 1m42.857s lap to outpace teammate Kazuki Nakajima's 1m44.004s in the sister #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

The gap of just over a second was more than double the 0.54s performance advantage held by the #7 car Lopez shares with Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway under the success handicap system.

The two Toyotas put in their quick laps right at the start of the 90-minute Friday morning session: Lopez recorded his time on his first flying lap and Nakajima on his fourth.

Racing Team Nederland headed the LMP2 times in the second of the trio of free practice sessions ahead of qualifying on Friday evening.

Nyck de Vries recorded a 1m49.601s right at the start of the session in the team's TDS Racing-run Oreca 07 to end up more than a second and a half quicker than the Signatech Alpine Oreca.

A 1m50.302s from Pierre Ragues put Signatech Alpine a tenth ahead of United Autosports driver Phil Hanson's 1m50.407s.

Will Stevens took fourth in class with a 1m50.854s aboard the JOTA Sport-run Jackie Chan DC racing Oreca.

Ferrari jumped to the front of the GTE Pro order after bringing up the rear in the first period of free practice on Thursday.

Miguel Molina topped the class times with a 1m57.193s in the #71 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, which put him just over two tenths up on Porsche driver Gianmaria Bruni on a 1m57.442s.

The second Ferrari was a further four tenths back in Daniel Serra's hands with a 1m57.801s.

Aston Martin, which was quickest in class on Thursday, took fourth with a 1m57.900s from COVID-stricken Alex Lynn's stand-in Richard Westbrook in the best of its Vantage GTEs.

The second Porsche 911 RSR took fifth in Kevin Estre's hands ahead of Nicki Thiim's #95 Aston.

GTE Am was led by the Dempsey Proton Porsche in which series debutante Jaxon Evans posted a 1m57.773s. The fastest of the Project 1 Porsche 911 RSRs was second with a 1m58.889s from Jeroen Bleekemolen.

FP2 results:

Cla # Drivers Car Class Laps Time Gap
1 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 40 1'42.857  
2 8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 34 1'44.004 1.147
3 29 Oreca 07 LMP2 38 1'48.601 5.744
4 36 Alpine A470 LMP2 41 1'50.302 7.445
5 22 Oreca 07 LMP2 30 1'50.407 7.550
6 37 Oreca 07 LMP2 41 1'50.854 7.997
7 38 Oreca 07 LMP2 41 1'51.153 8.296
8 47 Dallara P217 LMP2 31 1'51.688 8.831
9 71 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 34 1'57.193 14.336
10 91 Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE PRO 35 1'57.422 14.565
11 88 United Arab Emirates Khaled Al Qubaisi
Jaxon Evans
Marco Holzer
Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 40 1'57.773 14.916
12 51 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE PRO 36 1'57.801 14.944
13 57 Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 37 1'57.889 15.032
14 97 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE PRO 40 1'57.900 15.043
15 92 Porsche 911 RSR - 19 LMGTE PRO 36 1'58.030 15.173
16 56 Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 36 1'58.205 15.348
17 54 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 35 1'58.475 15.618
18 95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE PRO 37 1'59.070 16.213
19 62 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 38 1'59.095 16.238
20 77 Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 32 1'59.408 16.551
21 98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 40 1'59.504 16.647
22 86 Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE AM 31 1'59.689 16.832
23 90 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE AM 38 1'59.696 16.839
24 83 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE AM 35 2'00.418 17.561

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About this article

Series
Event
Sub-event FP2
Teams Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC
Author Gary Watkins