Wurz-Lapierre set early pace for Toyota at BIC

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) made motorsport history today as the Six Hours of Bahrain weekend got underway in Sakhir. “the Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” is hosting the first-ever regional event in the prestigious FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Toyota Racing tandem Alexander Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre set the pace in the meeting’s first Free Practice held in the late afternoon. The test officially kicked off action in round six of the 2012 WEC season. The Six Hours of Bahrain is backed by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB). The EDB is a proud supporter of BIC and the international events it hosts, which act as a catalyst for attracting investment to the Kingdom. Competing in the LMP1 category, Wurz and Lapierre clocked a best lap of 1 minute 47.727 seconds in their Toyota TS030 Hybrid race car to go fastest in the 90-minute practice session. The Japanese manufacturers registered 36 laps of track time. They were a shade quicker than their German rivals from Audi, whose pair of R18 e-tron Quattro Hybrids followed as the second and third fastest. Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish were 0.993 seconds off the pace in 44 laps of work. Their Audi teammates Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer were 1.454 seconds behind the leaders while completing 23 laps. Quickest in the LMP2 category were Oak Racing, driven by the trio of Bertrand Baguette, Dominik Kraihamer and Alex Brundle. Driving a Morgan-Nissan challenger, Oak had a best lap of 1:54.082 early in their 40-lap session. Pecom Racing team, comprising Luis Perez Companc, Nicolas Minassian and Pierre Kaffer, were ranked second. They steered their Oreca 03-Nissan to a best time 0.360 seconds slower than Oak while running for 36 laps. Third in the LMP2 class were Starworks Motorsports in an HPD ARX 03b-Honda. Vicente Potolicchio, Tom Kimber-Smith and Stephane Sarrazin trailed their group leaders by 0.532 seconds in 30 laps of action. In the LMGTE Pro class, AF Corse tandem Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander set the quickest time of 2:02.239 in their Ferrari F458 Italia. They were out on track for a total of 33 laps. Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz of Team Felbermayr-Proton steered their Porsche 911 RSR (997) to second in their class. Their best time was 0.197 seconds off the pace of AF Corse as they finished the session with 28 laps completed. The Aston Martin Racing tandem of Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner were third overall. They finished with 29 laps and were 0.310s seconds behind in their Aston Martin Vantage V8. In the LMGTE Am category, the AF Corse-Waltrip trio of Robert Kauffman, Rui Aguas and Brian Vickers were the quickest. They registered a top mark of 2:04.077 in their Ferrari F458 Italia while completing 27 laps. A pair of Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C6-ZR1 challengers followed. Jean-Philippe Belloc, Christophe Bourret and Pascal Gibon were 1.197 seconds behind first place and 31 laps to their name; while Larbre teammates Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Fernando Rees were 1.763 seconds off while completing the Free Practice with 34 laps. A second 90-minute Free Practice for all WEC competitors took place late Thursday night, while another 60-minute session is to be held on Friday (September 28) starting at 10.50am. Later on Friday, Qualifying for the LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am classes takes place from 4pm to 4.20pm, to be followed by Qualifying in the LMP1 and LMP2 categories from 4.30pm to 4.50pm. The main event on Saturday (Saturday 29), the Six Hours of Bahrain, roars into action at 4pm. BIC 2,000CC CHALLENGERS CONDUCT SHAKEDOWN Participants in round one of the 2012/2013 BIC 2,000cc Challenge conducted a shakedown today. Salah Salahuddin driving a Honda CIVIC Hatchback was the only driver able to set a lap time of 2 minutes 33.679 seconds during the test. The field will be back on the track on Friday (September 28) for a practice at 10am. Qualifying follows at 12.10pm, before race one takes place at 3.10pm. Other drivers that will be competing in the meeting are Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (Honda CIVIC), Stephen Kellogg (Honda CIVIC), Tim Birkin (Honda Integra), Abdulrahman Ghuloom (Honda CIVIC), Alex Longden (BMW 3 Series), Ahmed Kuzbar (Ford Focus 2.0), Hussain Karimi (Honda CRX) and Raed Himmo (Honda CRX). OPEN TRACK ATTRACTS MIX OF TOP LUXURY PERFORMANCE CARS Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) hosted a unique Open Track activity today. The event, held leading up to the start of action in the Six Hours of Bahrain, attracted a good number of luxury performance cars. They included a Lamborghini SV Superveloce, a Ferrari F430, a Ferrari 360 Challenge, a Lotus race car, a Porsche 911 Turbo and a Porsche GT3 RS 4.0, to name a few. Guests also enjoyed the thrilling on-track experience in one of BIC’s lightning-quick, open top Caterhams; while a few others driving top-of-the-line sports bikes also took part. Each of the participants got a chance to race around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix track in blistering speed. FANS TO ENJOY OPEN PADDOCK EXPERIENCE The FIA World Endurance Championship allows fans unique access to its events held around the world. This is true even to the Six Hours of Bahrain, where those attending the weekend of fun and entertainment can enjoy an Open Paddock. The Open Paddock gives fans the chance to freely walk around the usually restricted Paddock Area and see everything that goes on behind the scenes. Spectators will be able to get up close to team buildings and watch the WEC teams hard at work in their respective garages, and maybe even bump into one of their favourite WEC drivers. FRIDAY PIT WALK TO GIVE FANS A LOOK INTO TEAM GARAGES Fans attending the first open day of the Six Hours of Bahrain on Friday (September 28) will be able to enjoy a Pit Walk. This is scheduled to be held from 1.50pm to 2.50pm, and the activity is open to all ticket holders. Fans will be able to access the pit lane from a gate in the vending area. This entrance will be closed 10 minutes before the end of the Pit Walk, so fans wishing to take part in the experience are advised to be at the pit entrance ahead of time to avoid disappointment. The Pit Walk gives fans a chance to stroll down the pit lane at leisure and see the teams at work in their garages from up close. Another Pit Walk is scheduled to take place on Saturday, starting at 2pm. FANS TO MEET WEC DRIVERS IN SATURDAY AUTOGRAPH SESSION The World Endurance Championship’s roster of talented drivers will be meeting fans in an Autograph Session on Saturday. The activity will be held during the Saturday (September 29) Pit Walk, which will be taking place between 2pm and 2.45pm. The drivers will be available to sign autographs and take photos with fans from 2.05pm to 2.35pm. The championship’s most popular names will be on hand, including Alexander Wurz of Toyota Racing, Allan McNish of Audi and Karun Chandhok of JRM, to name a few. FABULOUS PRIZES TO BE WON IN RACE DAY RAFFLE Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), in cooperation with telecommunications giants Batelco, will be conducting an exciting raffle draw on Race Day Saturday (September 29). A wide array of fabulous prizes will be up for grabs, including tickets to next year’s Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, a third-generation iPad, an iPhone 4S and a Samsung Galaxy S3. Vouchers to BIC’s exciting Passenger Rides will also be up for the taking. These experiences include rides in a three-seater Dragster down BIC’s world-class quarter-mile drag strip, and a ride in a Land Rover LR4 along the circuit’s popular off-road course. All ticket-holders with Batelco mobile accounts will be able to participate in the draw. To enter, users must first SMS their ticket serial numbers to 92255. All entries will be included in a database, and on the day of the draw, the winning serial numbers will be randomly chosen. Two draws will take place on Saturday during the Six Hours of Bahrain race: the first at 4.15pm and the other at 9.30pm. Winners must be seated along BIC’s Main Grandstand at the time of each draw in order to be identified by BIC staff and in order to collect their prizes. Tickets to the Six Hours of Bahrain can be bought at the gate. For more information, visit the official BIC website, www.bahraingp.com, or call the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.