Night may have fallen on the Kingdom of Bahrain, but not the temperature! As the night practice session came to an end, the reading of 31oC outside air temperature must surely have been hotter in the pits, but the second free practice saw Audi keep their cool and react positively to Toyota’s performance in the first session.
The two Audi R18 e-tron quattros have re-taken the upper hand after being behind in the first session. The No.1 car of Le Mans winners André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer was hoisted to the top of the time sheets with a lap of 1:47.403, set by the French driver, more than three tenths of a second quicker than that set by Alex Wurz in this afternoon’s practice. Hot on their heels was the sister No.2 Audi of Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, the Dane having ended up three tenths back from the No.1. Toyota Racing’s Toyota TS030 Hybrid, driven by Alexander Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre, couldn’t improve upon a time of 1:48.350, set the Frenchman.
In contrast, there was no change at the head of the LMP1 Privateer teams. Danny Watts and his team mates Jonny Kane and Nick Leventis stayed ahead with their No.21 Strakka Racing HPD Honda with a best lap of 1:48.780. The classification was reversed for the two following positions as JRM’s No.22 HPD ARX 03a outperformed - thanks to Karun Chandhok and his henchmen David Brabham and Peter Dumbreck - the No.12 Rebellion Lola-Toyota. Neel Jani was behind the wheel of this last car, setting his best time on the last lap of the session.
In LMP2 there was also no change of leader, the No.35 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan keeping first place even if, this time, it was Dominik Kraihamer who came through with a quick lap of 1:53.434, even faster than that set by his team mate Alex Brundle in the first session. On the other hand, the placings changed a little for the next two positions, Stéphane Sarrazin in the No.44 Starworks HPD-Honda, which stopped by the side of the track after the chequered flag, coming between the two OAK Racing Morgan-Nissans. The No.24 OAK car of Matthieu Lahaye finished third, less than two tenths away from his team mate and class leader.
Unsurprisingly, the gaps are critical between the LMGTE Pro competitors. Darren Turner, quickest in the No.97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 with a 2:01.849, finished ahead of his nearest rival Richard Lietz in the No.77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche by five tenths, the latter in front of Giancarlo Fisichella’s No.51 AF Corse Ferrari by more than a second.
Finally, the hierarchy has been completely turned upside down in the LMGTE Am class with the No.88 of Team Felbermayr-Proton on top, thanks to Paolo Ruberti’s time of 2:04.725. The Porsche headed the No.57 Krohn Racing Ferrari of Michele Rugolo by less than a tenth, demoting the No.61 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari to third, placed there once again thanks to Rui Aguas.
After a night’s sleep, the drivers will take to the track again tomorrow, Friday, for the third and final one-hour free practice session from 1050-1150 hours. The qualifying sessions then follow on, from 1600-1620 hours for the LMGTE Pro and Am categories, and from 1630-1650 hours for the LMP1 and LMP2 classes.
CLICK HERE for the results from Free Practice
Fiona Miller
Photo: SAKHIR (BAHRAIN), BAHRAIN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF BAHRAIN, THURSDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 2012, FREE PRACTICE 2. The No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro went to the top of the time sheets in night practice.
