Manama: Porsche Team sealed the front row yesterday evening for the 2015 FIA WEC Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain.
Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley steered their no. 17 Porsche 919 Hybird to the leading grid position with a stellar qualifying run at a floodlit Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.
Bernhard and Hartley edged out Porsche teammates Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas who followed in second place in their no. 18 Hybrid.
It was the fifth pole in as many races for the overall leaders, who are also number one in the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) class.
They now look ahead to the ultimate task in the WEC finale, set to take place today starting at 3pm. Bernhard and Hartley will be sharing the duties in their car with third driver Mark Webber.
Elsewhere yesterday, ART Grand Prix showed its prowess with wins in both GP2 and GP3 while securing the season’s team championship in both series.
Stoffel Vandoorne raced to an impressive win in the GP2 feature race while Marvin Kirchhofer claimed his own victory in the GP3 feature.
Jeffrey Schmidt was also triumphant in race one of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, while Alessio Picariello doubled in the MRF Challenge.
In WEC qualifying, each team must designate two drivers to take part in the session. Each crew must each set at least one timed lap during qualifying. The average of the two best lap times (the best from each driver) will serve as the reference time for establishing the grid.
Bernhard and Hartley managed to clock the best average lap time of one minute 39.736 seconds to secure pole position.
Lieb and Dumas, who feature Neel Jani as their third driver, clocked an average lap of 1:40.100.
Audi Sport Team Joest qualified in row two, with the no. 7 R18 e-tron quattro driven by Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer taking third position. Lotterer and Fassler set an average lap of 1:41.303 in yesterday’s qualifying.
Oliver Jarvis, Loic Duval and Lucas di Grassi followed in their no. 8 challenger. Jarvis and Duval clocked an average of 1:41.407.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s pair of TS 040 – Hybrids qualified in row three, followed by Rebellion Racing’s duo of R-One – AER cars in row four. Team Bykolles qualified in ninth position as the last LMP1 entrant.
In the LMP2 class, the Signatech Alpine 450-b Nissan of Paul Loup Chatin, Tom Dilmann and Nelson Panciatici took pole position with a best average lap of 1:49.993.
In the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE Pro) category, it was the AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia of Gianmaria Bruni and Tony Vilander to claim pole. They had an average lap time of 1:58.347 to top their class.
The Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) division was led by Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda in the Aston Martin Vantage V8.
Earlier in the day during practice three, Hartley helped Porsche climb to the top of the timesheet with a best lap of 1:40.917.
Stoffel Vandoorne continued his winning ways in the 2015 GP2 Series season to lead an impressive one-two for ART Grand Prix in the weekend’s feature race.
Nobuharu Matsushita of Japan was the runner-up but a big gap of 13.526secs split the pair of ART drivers.
The result earned Vandoorne his sixth victory of the current GP2 campaign and it also secured the team title for the GP2 outfit.
In third place was Russian Time’s Mitch Evans from New Zealand, who was 17.617secs adrift. Finishing in fourth was Raffaele Marciello of Trident, and in fifth Sergey Sirotkin of Rapax. Pole man Pierre Gasly was sixth, Rio Haryanto of Campos seventh and Alex Lynn of Dams eighth.
Race two is scheduled to be held today over 23 laps. It begins at 10.50am.
Marvin Kirchhofer of ART Grand Prix took the chequered flag in weekend’s first race of the GP3 Series.
The German completed the 20-lap sprint in a total time of 37 minutes 11.554 seconds. Kirchhofer has now made history as the winner of the first-ever GP3 race held in Bahrain.
Finishing in second place was Emil Bernstorff of Arden International. The Briton was 1.546secs behind the winner. Kirchhofer’s ART teammate Esteban Ocon, who started from pole, had to settle for third place after completing the race 2.756secs back.
With Kirchhofer and Ocon in the top three, ART earned enough points to seal the teams championship in Bahrain today.
Italian Luca Ghiotto of Trident followed in fourth place, while Swede Jimmy Eriksson of Koiranen GP was classified fifth. Artur Janosz, Jann Mardenborough and Alfonso Celis Jr rounded out the top eight.
GP3 race two today is slated to begin at 9.05am.
Jeffrey Schmidt of Al Nabooda Racing triumphed in the season-opening race of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, held this evening under the brilliant floodlighting system of BIC.
Schmidt secured the victory after completing the 12-lap sprint in 25 minutes 27.142 seconds in his GT3 Cup car.
The Al Nabooda Racing driver was followed by Ryan Cullen of Cullen Motorsport, who was 3.449 seconds behind. Saeed Al Mehairi of Sky Dive Dubai Falcons was third 3.945secs back.
His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa helped steer Team Bahrain to an impressive seventh place on the final classification. His Highness Shaikh Isa was 24.398secs off of Schmidt’s pace.
Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa in the other Team Bahrain car was classified 12th 40.422secs adrift.
Charlie Frijns had secured pole position for race one after topping qualifying one with a best lap of 2:04.549. He was eventually not classified.
Schmidt will now look to claim a fine double for round one, as he starts the weekend’s second race in pole. He topped qualifying two, also held today, with a best lap of 2:04.610.
Race two is today at 12noon.
Alessio Picariello clinched an impressive double today in the MRF Challenge.
Picariello, from Belgium, clinched a pole-to-flag win in race one, completing the 10 laps in 20:38.123. Nikita Troitcki of Russia finished as the runner-up a 3.707secs behind while Tatiana Calderon of Colombia claimed the final podium place a distant 6.644secs back.
Pietro Fittipaldi, Mattheus Leist, Sean Walkinshaw, Harrison Newey and Dylan Young completed the top eight.
In race two, Picariello triumphed once again to complete a perfect weekend. For this race, he improved his winning time to 20:32.866.
Fittipaldi was the runner-up 5.081secs behind, while Troitcki stepped on the final podium step finishing 5.172secs from first.
Red Bull athlete Abdo Feghali will be thrilling the crowd at the WEC finale as he showcases his drifting skills before the BIC audience.
Last year, a similar stunt was combined with a jump from a helicopter performed by fellow Red Bull athlete Jokke Sommer.
Today, right before the start of the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain, Feghali will entertain the crowd by drifting on the track while the cars are lined up on the grid.
Fans will be able to meet their favourite WEC drivers today in an autograph session scheduled right before the big endurance race.
The meet and greet will be held from 12.50pm to 1.20pm, and it will take place in the WEC Pit Lane.
There will also be a Pit Walk going on, from 12.45pm to 1.35pm.
Fans attending the FIA WEC Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain will have a chance to win valuable prizes in a fantastic raffle on race day.
To have a chance to win, race-goers must be in their seats along BIC’s Main Grandstand between 2.30pm and 4pm. During this time, the winners of the prizes will be announced and several lucky individuals will be going home with a valuable gift.
The list of prizes includes an iPhone 6s 16GB, iPhone 6S 64GB, Note 32GB, Apple iWatch 38mm, Apple iWatch 42mm, Samsung S6 32GB, Sony Xperia Z3 Plus, Huawei P8, HTC E9 Plus, HTC Re Camera, Bitfit HR, Nokia Lumina 640XL, Lenovo Vibe Shot and a Samsung A8.
Aside from these high-tech gadgets, children will also have the opportunity to come away with one of 2,000 gifts!
Fans are advised to remain in their seats along the Main Grandstand so as not to miss out on their chance to win a prize.
Tickets to the FIA WEC Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain can be purchased at the gate and at the BIC stand in Bahrain City Centre, online at www.bahraingp.com or by telephone by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000. Tickets cost just BD10 for the entire weekend of action. All those aged 15 years old and below can get in absolutely free.
For more information on the FIA WEC Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain or other BIC activities, visit bahraingp.com or call +973-17-450000.
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