Antonio Felix Da Costa impressed on his first test in the Alpine A424 Hypercar as he topped a field filled with WEC rookies and veterans in the 2025 Bahrain Rookie Test.
The 2022 LMP2 champion showed brilliant pace in the afternoon session. The Portuguese driver was faster than Frenchman Frederic Makowiecki who helped pilot the number 36 Alpine to 12th place in the season finale yesterday. Promising pace from Alpine’s new signing who will be running a dual campaign in Formula E in 2026.
Hypercar Results:
Peugeot showed promising pace with rookie Nick Cassidy setting the third fastest time overall behind the Alpine pair. The Kiwi was the fastest rookie of the day too, setting a time of 1m49.376s in the #93 9X8 machine.
Danish driver Marco Sorensen was the fourth fastest driver in the number nine Aston Martin. He completed only five laps throughout the day. He shared the car with Italian Mattia Drudi who clocked 97 laps to end the season.
Lilou Wadoux had an impressive day completing 55 laps in the title winning #51 Ferrari alongside four time World Champion teammate James Colado. Wadoux managed to set the fifth fastest time of the day, just under a tenth of a second clear of Colado.
Belgian driver Charles Weerts delivered a strong debut outing in the BMW Hypercar. After 51 laps, he set a time quick enough for seventh position. Just a second adrift of Da Costa’s table topping time.
Antonio Fuoco in the #50 Ferrari, Nick Cassidy again in the #94 Peugeot and Brendon Hartley in the #8 Toyota rounded out the top 10 fastest times of the day.
Kelvin Van Der Linde had a good debut in the BMW M Hybrid V8. Completed 41 laps and finishing the day in 16th position, faster than his brother Sheldon.
Robert De Haan and Dorian Boccolaci piloted the only Porsche 963’s in the field. The Proton Competition car completed 68 laps with former Formula 2 driver Boccolaci setting the 19th fastest time.
GT3 Class:
Lexus continued to show that their car is clearly well suited to the Bahrain International Circuit. Hadrien David set the fastest lap time after their win on Saturday. The #87 car did hit trouble in the morning session as the Lexus caught alight coming out of the final turn causing a red flag.
Young GT ace Thomas Flemming finished in second position in the championship winning Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3.
The two time World Endurance Champion Jose Maria Lopez was the third fastest driver in the GT3 class, also in the #87 Lexus.
Former Formula 1 talent Logan Sargent had the fifth fastest time of the day. The ex Williams driver completed 57 laps in the morning session behind the wheel of the #77 Proton Ford Mustang.
Main Image Credit: WEC