Robin Frijns (NLD) / Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen (AUT) / Charles Milesi (FRA) #31 Team WRT Oreca 07 – Gibson. 30.10.2021. FIA World Endurance Championship, Round 5, Six Hours of Bahrain, Sakhir, Bahrain, Saturday. – www.xpbimages.com, EMail: [email protected] © Copyright: Moy / XPB Images
The #31 Team WRT car piloted by Robin Frijns set the fastest time of opening practice on Friday afternoon for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Frijns 2:05.475 was the quickest time of the 90-minute session and sees an P2 car top a session ahead of the Hypercar class for the first time this season.
Second and third went to United Autosports with Filipe Albuquerque just six-hundredths shy of Frijns time, with team-mate Oliver Jarvis in the sister car a further three-tenths back.
Will Stevens was fourth fastest in his JOTA-run ORECA P2 car, setting a best time of 2:05.967.
In the Hypercar class is was the Glickenhaus of Romain Dumas that was fastest. A 2:06.233 meant he was almost a second shy of Frijns’ time.
The two Toyotas were up next, second and third in class, but only eighth and 13th overall. It was the #7 GR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway that set the pace for the Japanese squad, six-tenths behind the Glickenhaus.
Nicolas Lapierre set a time of 2:07.291 in the grandfathered LMP1 Alpine-Gibson A480.
The session saw two red flags, the first of which came after just a few minutes due to an IT failure in race control. A second red flag came out after the chequered flag fell when Ryo Hirakawa stopped the #8 Toyota on the Kemmel Straight. It was a simulated hybrid failure at the FIA’s request.
Keyword: Frijns tops opening practice for Spa 6 Hours