After topping the times in Free Practice 1, Toyota Gazoo Racing continued to set the pace by finishing 1-2 in the evening Free Practice 2 session at the Bahrain International Circuit. The best lap this time from the team’s TS050 HYBRID entries was a 1m40.095s, set by Kazuki Nakajima in the No. 8. It was over two seconds quicker than the quickest lap from the first practice session earlier in the day, which was a 1m42.313s by Mike Conway.

Second in the running was the No. 7 Toyota, which topped FP1, this time Jose Maria Lopez was the best of the car’s trio, the Argentine reeling off a 1m40.693. The best of the Porsches was again third, the No. 2 ending up 0.678 off the top time with a 1m40.773s. The No. 1 was fourth, a further tenth adrift.

In LMP2 it was a Vaillante Rebellion 1-2, the Anglo-Swiss team’s championship-leading No. 31 ORECA finishing the day atop the screens this time with a 1m47.664s set by Bruno Senna. The Brazillian’s time was six tenths faster than the team’s other ORECA 07 Gibson, which had its best lap completed by fellow countryman Nelson Piquet Jr., who was quickest in the class in FP1.

The No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing example completed the leading trio with a 1m49.022s, ahead of the Signatech Alpine A470 of American Gustavo Menezes, who is still in with a chance at the title this weekend. The French car ended Thursday’s running fourth after running quickest early in the session while Andre Negrao was in the car.

Down in GTE Pro, Aston Martin Racing made it yet another 1-2 stranglehold at the head of the times, its Le Mans-winning No. 97 Vantage GTE leading the No. 95 ‘Dane Train’, Jonny Adam proving to be the fastest driver in the factory class. Best of the rest was AF Corse’s No. 71 Ferrari in third, marginally faster than the sister No. 51 488 GTE which ended up fourth. The No. 67 Ford completed the top five.

The fastest of the pack in GTE Am was the Clearwater Racing Ferrari, which finished the day’s running with a 1m59.773s set by Matt Griffin, the only GTE Am time of the day under the two-minute barrier. The Spirit of Race Ferrari was eventually second, with the Aston Martin Racing Vantage third.

Dempsey Proton’s Porsche meanwhile, after topping the opening session of the weekend, ended up last in GTE Am during FP2, just under a second off the pace.

Unlike Free Practice 1, which was delayed by a lengthy red flag period due to the No. 67 Ford having an oil leak, the second session of the weekend ran without any notable incidents.

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UP NEXT: Tomorrow’s action for the WEC runners begins at 11:20am local time with Free Practice 3 at the Bahrain International Circuit.