2 Seas begin Gulf 12 Hours title defence in style
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahraini-British racing team 2 Seas Motorsport had an impressive start to their title defence in the Gulf 12 Hours yesterday at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi – topping the timesheet in the first open practice test held during the day before going second-fastest in the evening session under lights.
The 2 Seas crew of His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Martin Kodric and Ben Barnicoat their #1 Mercedes AMG GT3 car set the pace in open practice test one to send a stern message to the rest of the field of their intentions.
Teammates John Loggie, Morgan Tillbrook and Casper Stevenson also had a fine showing in fourth place overall in their #66 Mercedes AMG GT3.
The #1 trio was competing in the Pro class, and they had the fastest lap time of one minute 52.049 seconds.
They put in 55 laps of work in the nearly three-hour session, with their best time being set by Kodric on their 14th lap.
The #66 crew clocked their best mark at 1:52.593 after also going for 55 laps in the practice.
They are competing in the Am class.
Finishing behind 2 Seas in the first session were Baron Motorsport from Austria in a Ferrari 488 GT.
They were 0.119 seconds behind. Attempto Racing from Germany driving an Audi R8 came third 0.335s back.
Completing the overall top six were SPS Automotive Performance from Germany in fifth and Kessel Racing from Switzerland in sixth.
Greystone GT from Great Britain was the leader amongst the three competitors in the Gulf 12 Hours’ GT4 class.
Meanwhile, in the weekend’s second open practice test held over three hours, starting at around twilight and ending at night under floodlit conditions, 2 Seas’ #1 car missed out on a first-place by just 0.064s.
They had the fastest lap of 1:51.800 after 70 laps of running, with their best coming on lap 42.
Narrowly taking the top spot was Attempto Racing with the best time of 1:51.736.
VR46 from Switzerland were behind 2 Seas in third 0.292s off the pace, while AF Corse from Italy, SPS Automotive Performance and the second AF Corse GT3 car were fourth through sixth, respectively.
2 Seas’ #66 crew finished in seventh place but were only 0.372s from first.
They completed 76 laps in their session.
The GT4 challengers were paced by Century Motorsport from Great Britain.
Action in the weekend continues today with three free practice sessions of 45 minutes apiece.
Each driver will then get a 15-minute session in qualifying, to determine the grid for tomorrow’s race.
The first part of the 12-hour challenge is scheduled for an 8.40 am start, Bahrain time, while the second six-hour part will begin at 4.33 pm, Bahrain time.
Launched at the beginning of 2012, the Gulf 12 Hours established itself as a benchmark for GT motorsport events in the Gulf region.
The first nine editions took place at Yas Marina between 2010 and 2019.
Bahrain International Circuit hosted a special edition of the Gulf 12 Hours in January of last year.
2 Seas were the winners on their home track, with the trio of HH Shaikh Isa, Kodric and Barnicoat returning to defend their crown.
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