- In Bahrain Qualifying, The Heart of Racing's Ross Gunn was fastest in the first round of qualifying with a lap at 112.842 mph. It was just the latest display of the Aston Martin Valkyrie's improvement in recent form.
However, when it came time for Hyperpole, Toyota Gazoo Racing's Kamui Kobayashi won the
overall pole for the BAPCO Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain with a lap at 113.332 mph. The lap was .151 seconds faster than teammate Brendon Hartley. Peugeot TotalEnergies' Malthe Jakobsen qualified third with teammate Jean-Eric Vergne right behind him. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA's Alex Lynn was fifth.
Points leader Antonio Giovinazzi qualified seventh in his Ferrari 499P. Giovinazzi, James
Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi have a 13-point lead in the standings at the moment.
Iron Lynx's Martin Berry was fastest in the first round for LMGT3 cars. However, when it came time for Hyperpole, Akkodis ASP Team's Finn Gehrsitz came to play in his Lexus.
Gehrsitz was the
first driver to dip into the 121-second bracket in class all weekend. Eventually, he improved to a lap at 99.513 mph. That lap held up to win the class pole.
Gehrsitz ended up .326 seconds faster than Iron Lynx's Lorcan Hanafin. Teammate Lin Hodenius was third, then Clemens Schmid in the second Lexus. Team WRT's Timur Boguslavkiy was fifth in the best of the BMWs.
Points leaders Manthey 1st Phorm had a terrible time with qualifying. Ryan Hardwick was 17th quickest in the first round of qualifying. As a result, the No. 92 Porsche will start 35th overall.
Iron Lynx's Martin Berry was fastest in the first round for LMGT3 cars. However, when it
came time for Hyperpole, Akkodis ASP Team's Finn Gehrsitz came to play in his Lexus.
Gehrsitz was the first driver to dip into the 121-second bracket in class all weekend. Eventually, he improved to a lap at 99.513 mph. That lap held up to win the class pole.
Gehrsitz ended up .326 seconds faster than Iron Lynx's Lorcan Hanafin. Teammate Lin Hodenius was third, then Clemens Schmid in the second Lexus. Team WRT's Timur Boguslavkiy was fifth in the best of the BMWs.
- In Free Practice No. 2 Thursday afternoon, The Heart of Racing's Marco Sorensen was once again fastest in his Aston Martin
Valkyrie, this time with a lap at 111.029 mph. The lap was .159 seconds faster than Peugeot TotalEnergies' Jean-Eric Vergne. Toyota Gazoo Racing's Kamui Kobayashi was third, then Porsche Penske Motorsport's Julien Andlauer. Ferrari AF Corse's Antonio Giovinazzi was fifth.
BMW M Team WRT's Sheldon van der Linde actually set a lap that was more than a quarter of a second
faster than Sorensen early in the session. However, it was deleted due to failing to respect double yellow flags.
Akkodis ASP Team's Finn Gehrsitz was fastest in LMGT3 with a lap at 98.740 mph in his Lexus. The lap was .408 seconds faster than the Iron Dames' Rahel Frey in her Porsche. Daniel Juncadella in the TF Sport Corvette was third, followed by The Heart of
Racing's Mattia Drudi and Iron Lynx's Lorcan Hanafin.
In the final practice early this morning, Ferrari AF Corse's Antonio Fuoco was fastest overall with a lap at 110.338 mph. The lap was just .012 seconds faster than Kobayashi. AF Corse's Robert Kubica was third in his customer Ferrari, then Sorensen. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA's Alex Lynn was
fifth.
Iron Lynx's Martin Berry was fastest in LMGT3 with a lap at 98.303 mph in his Mercedes. That lap was .376 seconds faster than Akkodis ASP Team's Arnold Robin. Teammate Petru Umbrarescu was third, then Vista AF Corse's Simon Mann in his Ferrari. Rui Andrade was fifth.
The
final session was interrupted early on due to a crash for Iron Dames' Ceila Martin exiting turn 2. Martin was ok, but the session ended up being extended for
nine minutes due to barrier repairs. The team was able to make repairs on the Porsche.
- At the World Finals Thursday night, Kubota High Limit Sprint Car Series champion Rico Abreu scored the pole by winning the Dash. He then led flag-to-flag to win the 25-lap feature.
David Gravel challenged late, but was forced to settle for second. It was still good enough for him to clinch the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championship.
Corey Day was third, followed by Buddy Kofoid. Parker Price Miller was fifth.
- In the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series, Nick Hoffman took the lead from pole sitter Brandon Overton and led early. However, Brandon Sheppard was able to run him down and take the lead on lap 14.
Sheppard was able to maintain a decent advantage. Meanwhile, a caution due to issues for
Jonathan Davenport brought Hudson O'Neal into the mix. O'Neal was able to move himself up to second by the final lap, then made a strong move to the inside to drive past to take the win.
O'Neal won by a tenth of a second over Sheppard. Drake Troutman was third, then Hoffman and Chris Madden.
In the points, Bobby Pierce still leads by 108 points after a 12th-place finish over Hoffman. Ryan Gustin is third, then Tim McCreadie and Dennis Erb Jr.
- The Super DIRTcar Series 30-lap feature saw Matt Sheppard lead flag-to-flag to take his victory of the year and his sixth at the World Finals. The margin
of victory was 3.202 seconds over Alex Payne, then Mat Williamson, Tim Fuller and Erick Rudolph.
In the points, Williamson's lead over Alex Yankowski, who finished sixth, is up to 115 points. Payne is third, then Sheppard and Rudolph.
