The third and final Free Practice session for the 6 Hours of Bahrain, Round 9 of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship, saw Porsche set the fastest lap time once again. However this time it was the no1 919 at the top of the timing sheets.  2015 World Champion Timo Bernhard set the best time of 1m40.318, four tenths ahead of the no8 Audi R18.  Oliver Jarvis had set the best time in the Audi early in the session but then slowed with a few minutes left of the clock with a mechanical issue.

The two championship contenders were 5th and 6th at the end of the 60-minute session with the no2 Porsche ahead of the no6 Toyota, which was just 0.9 seconds behind the no1 Porsche.

There was little change from the previous two practice sessions as the no26 G-Drive Racing Oreca and the no36 Signatech Alpine vied for the top spot in LMP2.  At the chequered flag it was the G-Drive Oreca that finished at the top of the timing sheets, with Rene Rast posting a 1m50.531 lap, just over a second faster than Stephane Richelmi in the championship winning Alpine-Nissan.

After two sessions where Aston Martin dominated the LMGTE Pro class, the no51 AF Corse Ferrari finished Free Practice 3 ahead of the no97 Aston Martin by 0.269 seconds.  Gianmaria Bruni’s lap of 1m59.038 was 0.5 seconds quicker than the third placed no67 Ford GT.

Ferrari also topped the session in the LMGTE Am category with the championship leading no83 AF Corse Ferrari of Emmanuel Collard finishing with a 2m00.701 lap, 0.6 seconds ahead of the no86 Gulf Racing Porsche and 0.765 ahead of the only rivals for the title in the no98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage.

Qualifying for the final round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship will take place at 17h00 this afternoon with the LMGTE competitors out on track first, followed by the LMP1 cars at 17h30.