This Sunday was held in Sakhir the test of the young riders and rookies scheduled for the WEC and the ASO. After the end of the World Endurance (WEC) with the title for Webber, Bernhard and Hartley, the teams returned to action to evaluate new pilots in all categories. Among the manufacturers in LMP1, Toyota went up in his TS040 Sam Bird and Alex Lynn. Audi opted for giving a chance to Richie Stanaway and Porsche placed in the 919 Hybrid at the young Mitch Evans and Juan Pablo Montoya. The colombian became the star of the day.
Juan Pablo Montoya completed 55 laps at the wheel of the 919 Hybrid of World Champions. His best time was in 1:40.86, being the fastest of the day during the simulation of the classification programmed by Porsche. For its part, in the long run in terms of race, Juan Pablo Montoya managed to stop the clock in 1:44.46, being a second slower than Mitch Evans. The young pilot in this respect was more consistent and got rolling at times in 1.7 seconds of the fastest lap marked in the race for Neel Jani.
After the test, Montoya was delighted: “The car is incredible. It is currently the race car world’s most advanced. Is a ‘toy of the devil’. I’ve driven all sorts of cars and this gives you a lot of fun”. The colombian added in this line: “Has a lot of power and very stable, it invites you to go back for more. That is what I found most impressive. The car is so good that you don’t realize the speed at which you’re going. I very much enjoyed the test in Bahrain. I have come to have fun, it was great, but there are no plans for the future“.
Among the rest of the participants, many familiar faces, with
several former drivers of GP2 and present in other categories. Signatech Alpine
got with your A450b the fastest time in LMP2. In this
prototype climbed Matthew Rao and Paul-Loup Chatin. The best time
registered this vehicle was a time of 1:52.026. In the team AF Racing
had the opportunity to fly the south american Memo Rojas and Julian Leal,
as well as the French Nicolas Minassian. Finally, the team Strakka tested on
its Zytek the performance of Tio Ellinas and Lewis Williamson.
In the category GTE Pro, Porsche put on track two 919 RSR. In the first they went up Philipp Eng -double champion of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup and the Porsche Carrera Cup German – and Nick Catsburg, pilot of lada in the WTCC. Both repeated in the second unit with Heinemeier Hanss. Aston Martin tested a large number of pilots. Darren Turner, Jonathan Adam and Marco Sorensen worked in the first Vantage V8.Were also present with the british brand other riders such as Devon Modell, Daniel Lloyd, Ross Gun or Matthew Bell.
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