WEC – Toyota “in a good position” in Bahrain

Toyota Racing n’a pas vécu la saison 2013 quelle souhaitait. Mais depuis Le Mans, the TS030 Hybrid, equipped with its high-downforce aerodynamic package, has come closer to the Audi R18 e-tron quattro. And if the only victory acquired was in Fuji, at the end of a truncated race, Pascal Vasselon's men arrived in Bahrain, for the final of the WEC, with the firm intention of finishing the season on the top step of the podium. Yesterday, number 8 of the trio Sébastien Buemi-Anthony Davidson-Stéphane Sarrazin set the best time in the second free practice session with a time of 1'44"516, succeeding the sister car at the top of the hierarchy. Nicolas lapierre-Kazuki Nakajima-Alexander Wurz, best time in EL1 in 1'43"192. “Between what we learned today (yesterday. Editor’s note) and what we know from last year, I think we're in a good position, admits Nicolas Lapierre. During the second session we had some long runs, but unfortunately I made a mistake in the last corner. I took too wide and hit the barrier. This cost us a bit of time. »

If the Japanese Kazuki Nakajima insists on the fact that “the race pace seems promising”, his Austrian teammate Alexander Wurz focuses on the conditions. “The weather and track conditions are very interesting, he admits. Between day and night the temperature drops and humidity sets in. This led to quite a few changes to the characteristics of the track. » However, nothing to shake the serenity of Sébastien Buemi. “The team set the best time in both sessions, and I have a good feeling with the car, so I'm happy, explains the Swiss. We prepared well. Compared to Shanghai, it's different. As the meeting takes place over three days, we have more time to improve the car settings for the race. Overall it was a positive day. »

“We prepared for the race and improved the car between the two sessions, rejoices Stéphane Sarrazin. We are delighted with how this turned out. Sébastien set the best time in the second session, which is quite nice for us. But we are still pushing hard to have a good car for the race, taking into consideration the changing conditions that we can observe here. »

Be careful though, the times of FP2, with the two Toyotas and the two Audis grouped in 0”3, showed that the fight for victory would be very intense. Today, the competitors will be on track for the third free practice session between 8:25 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. French time (provided the wind picks up and chases away the clouds of humidity deposited on the track), before meeting again at 13:45 p.m. for qualifying.