MOTORSPORT – ALPINE Endurance Team’s Antonio Felix da Costa set the fastest overall time yesterday in the end-of-season Rookie Test of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), held at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Da Costa powered Alpine’ #36 A424 Hypercar to the top of the combined timesheet with a fastest lap time of one minute 49.214 seconds, which he set in testing’s afternoon session along BIC’s 5.412-kilometre track.
Da Costa had also set the pace in the morning runs, where he posted a best lap of 1:49.373.
Twenty-nine drivers hit the tarmac at BIC yesterday, including 13 in Hypercars and 16 in LMGT3s.
The Rookie Test took place less than 24 hours after the WEC wrapped up its 2025 calendar with this year’s Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain – the eighth and concluding round of the season.
Da Costa registered his best afternoon lap in the day’s cooler test session, held over three hours. Classified 0.162s behind was Peugeot TotalEnergies’ Nick Cassidy in his #93 9X8 Hypercar.
Lilou Wadoux was third-fastest in Ferrari AF Corse’s Hypercar drivers’ title-winning #51 499P 0.712s back, while Charles Weerts in BMW M Team WRT’s #20 M Hybrid V8 was fourth 0.921s adrift.
Brendon Hartley put Toyota Gazoo Racing in the Hypercars’ top five after going 1.265s from da Costa in his #8 GR010 Hybrid.
Amongst the LMGT3 runners, Hadrien David of Akkodis ASP Team was the frontrunner.
He registered a quickest mark of 2:01.801 in his #87 Lexus RC F. Nicola Lacorte in Vista AF Corse’s #54 Ferrari 296 was classified second 0.771s back, while Augusto Farfus in The Bend Team WRT’s #31 BMW M4 followed in third 1.054s adrift.
Mattias Zagazeta in Vista AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari 296 ranked fourth 1.176s from the leader, and Dan Harper of Team WRT placed fifth 1.250s back in his #69 BMW M4.
Meanwhile, in the two-hour morning test, finishing behind da Costa was Mattia Drudi in Aston Martin Thor Team’s #009 Valkyrie, who was 0.265 seconds off the Hypercar leader’s pace.
Wadoux was third 0.606s from first place, while Oliver Gray in the #50 Ferrari AF Corse followed in fourth 0.87s behind. Completing the session’s Hypercar top five runners was Cassidy, who was 1.063s from the top.
In the LMGT3 class, Tom Fleming was the pace-setter for teams’ and drivers’ world champions Manthey 1st Phorm.
He steered his #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R to a quickest time of 2:02.277.
Logan Sargeant followed in Proton Competition’s #77 Ford Mustang 0.440s adrift, while Alexander West of United Autosports came third 0.805s back in his #95 McLaren 720S Evo.
Completing the top five in the morning were Lacorte, who was 1.231s from Fleming, and Jean Baptiste Simmenauer for Iron Lynx, who finished 1.249s back in his #61 Mercedes-AMG.
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