Alessio Rovera has extended his Ferrari factory drive with a multi-year contract since officially joining the Maranello manufacturer in 2022.

The Italian driver will continue, having undertaken GT racing duties as an official driver over the past three years.

He most recently claimed victory with AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 crew at Spa-Francorchamps with his teammates Francois Heriau and Simon Mann, their second in the LMGT3 era since the Bahrain season-finale in 2024.

Rovera piloted the 488 GT3 and GT3 cars before the 296 GT3 successor. After the LMGTE era came to a close, the 296 LMGT3 continued the baton in the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2024 and will run in evolution specification from 2026.

“I am truly happy and proud to be able to continue my journey with Ferrari,” said the two-time WEC champion (GTE Am and LMP2 Pro/Am categories).

“Wearing these colours and representing such a prestigious name in international competitions is both an honour and a great responsibility.

“Over the years, we have achieved significant milestones together, and I am motivated to give my all to keep improving and chasing new victories.

“I want to thank Ferrari for their trust and support.

“I look forward to taking on the next challenges together.”

His GT racing efforts expand to the GT World Challenge Europe series in addition to assistance in the development of the triple Le Mans-winning 499P LMH.

Rovera first drove in the FIA WEC in 2021 for AF Corse, winning the GTE Am championship during which he took class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Last month’s running of Le Mans marked his fifth consecutive start at the iconic endurance event, and he finished runner-up in LMGT3.

READ MORE – Antonio Giovinazzi renews Ferrari Hypercar seat with multi-year contract

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Yifei Ye of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P led the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 24 Hours of Le Mans after 20 hours of racing.

Ye led the charge in the privateer-entered #83 Ferrari ahead of the two factory-entered Ferrari 499Ps.

Nicklas Nielsen was 30 seconds behind Ye, in the #50 Ferrari, with James Calado’s #51 Ferrari 15 seconds behind.

Laurens Vanthoor was at the helm of not just the #6 Porsche Penske 963, but Weissach’s remaining hopes of their 20th Le Mans win.

Pole-sitter Alex Lynn ran in fifth position in the #12 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R followed by Nyck de Vries’ #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

Dries Vanthoor, despite a moment locking up into the Mulsanne Corner, ran in seventh place in the #15 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 ahead of the other #20 BMW of Sheldon van der Linde.

Julien Andlauer was ninth for the #5 Porsche Penske as Jenson Button rounded out the top 10 in the #38 JOTA Cadillac, the sole running Cadillacs after the two IMSA cars suffered reliability failures.

Inter Europol Competition, which won their maiden WEC race at the 2023 Centenary Le Mans, has primarily controlled the category, although behind their #43 Oreca 07, the second-placed #48 VDS Panis Racing’s Oreca was under 25 seconds behind with Le Mans rookie Oliver Gray at the wheel.

Iron Lynx-Proton were third in the hands of Matteo Capietto ahead of the #199 AO by TF Sport ‘Spike the Dragon’ Oreca of Dane Cameron.

Renger van der Zande rounded out the top five in the #22 United Autosports Oreca.

Manthey in control, #78 Lexus suffers heartbreak retirement

Manthey were keen to secure a back-to-back LMGT3 victory and held the lead with Ricardo Pera at the wheel.

In second position, Simon Mann kept AF Corse’s chances at bay in second position for the #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 with TF Sport’s #81 driver Rui Andrade in third for the Corvette manufacturer.

Zach Robichon was fourth in the pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo as Jose Maria Lopez was fifth in the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3.

Unfortunately for Finn Gehrsitz in the #78 Lexus, after their strong climb to the race lead at the start, they suffered a late retirement after the young WEC season rookie lost it on entry to the Porsche Curves, making contact with the tyre barrier and nursing the car back to the garage.

READ MORE – Ferrari’s Alessandro Pier Guidi leads Le Mans with five and half hours to go

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Robert Kubica of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar was fastest in the fourth and last practice session for the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Polish driver was at the top of the timesheet during the final 1-hour free practice session, as part of the fourth FIA World Endurance Championship round of 2025.

Behind Kubica and his 3:26.523 lap time, the #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Miguel Molina finished second, having driven a 3:27.456.

Felipe Drugovich’s 3:27.780 earned third place in the #311 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar ahead of another Cadillac, the #38 JOTA machine, in which Jenson Button set a fastest lap of 3:27.893.

Laurens Vanthoor took fifth in the #6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar (3:27.919), followed by Norman Nato’s #12 JOTA Cadillac (3:27.991) and Antonio Giovinazzi’s #51 AF Corse Ferrari (3:28.149).

Julien Andlauer’s 3:28.331 put the #5 Porsche Penske in eighth as #8 Toyota GR010 driver Ryo Hirakawa took ninth (3:28.332), and Charles Milesi rounded out the top 10 for the #35 Alpine A424 (3:28.346).

Panis Racing heads LMP2, Lopez for Akkodis in LMGT3

Esteban Masson set the pace in the LMP2 category, which is entirely of Oreca 07 machinery, with his 3:38.302 for the #48 VDS Panis Racing team.

Ben Hanley followed in the #23 United Autosports car with a 3:38.312, as the #29 TDS Racing team took third with Clement Novolak’s 3:38.930.

Mathieu Vaxiviere’s 3:38.975 in the #193 AF Corse car secured fourth place whilst Rene Binder finished in fifth after his 3:39.092 lap time for the #11 Proton Competition team.

Luca Ghiotto took sixth for the #34 Inter Europol Competition outfit (03:39.132). Andre Lotterer’s 3:39.199 put the #18 IDEC Sport team in seventh, followed by Colin Braun of the #24 Nielsen Racing team (03:39.825), Maceo Capietto’s #9 Iron Lynx – Proton car (03:40.268), and Pietro Fittipaldi’s #22 United Autosports car in 10th (03:40.365).

Lose Maria Lopez’s 3:55.057 lap time set the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 as the quickest LMGT3 car, having beaten Eduardo Barrichello of the #10 Racing Spirit of LeMan’s 3:56.225.

Daniel Sera finished third with a 3:56.513 in the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3 with the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Ben Tuck rounding out the top five (3:57.284).

See here for the full results. READ MORE – Mathieu Jaminet tops Le Mans FP3 for Porsche Penske

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Robert Kubica of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P was the quickest driver following the first track action in the 24 Hours of Le Mans test day.

The first on-track action as part of the 93rd running of the event commenced as part of the fourth FIA World Endurance Championship round.

Two key interruptions took place within the first half of the three-hour session. Firstly, debris on the left-hand side at the first chicane initiated a brief full-course yellow to remove it.

Then, an incident by #34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 LMP2 driver Luca Ghiotto set the majority of the first half under safety car.

Ghiotto, the 30-year-old Italian, inflicted front-left suspension damage on his car after losing it in the middle of the Porsche Curves.

Amid the incident clear-up, it allowed utilising the full safety car procedure, deploying three (SC A, B, C) at the different sectors before merging the three groups onto SC A and commencing a pass-around so that drivers could restart respectively in their group of same-class cars.

The latter half of the session ran far smoother, allowing teams to gain useful mileage at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Privateer Ferrari at the top

In the Hypercar category, Robert Kubica was the quickest after setting a lap time of 3:27.010 at the wheel of the #83 Ferrari.

The #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid machine completed 39 laps in total, the fastest of which was a 3:28.000 by Brendon Hartley out of 34 laps in total by their line-up.

Earl Bamber took third in the #38 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R with a 3:28.491, the quickest out of 35 driven by their drivers.

AF Corse’s #51 Ferrari finished in fourth place after Antonio Giovinazzi drove a 3:28.843, the fastest in the 36 laps racked up by the 2023 Centenary Le Mans winners.

Jack Aitken rounded out the top five in the #311 Whelen Cadillac (3:28.923), having driven in the first two hours before travelling to Zandvoort for DTM’s Race 2.

RLR M Sport fastest in LMP2, both Lexus in LMGT3 top-three

In the all-Oreca 07 LMP2 category, the #16 RLR M Sport topped the field with a 3:36.593 time from Patrick Pilet.

CLX – Pure Rxcing’s #37 machine followed in second place (3:36.853) by Tom Blomqvist, as Inter Europol’s other #43 machine claimed third (3:36.927) with credit to Tom Dillmann.

Job van Uitert secured fourth in the category for the #28 IDEC Sport machine with a 3:36.975, and Clement Novolak rounded out the top five in the LMP2 class for the #29 TDS Racing team (3:37.243)

In LMGT3, Jose Maria Lopez was quickest in the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3 with his 3:57.109 lap time.

The #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 finished second with a 3:57.378 by Alessio Rovera, followed in third by the other #78 Lexus (3:57.807) by Jack Hawksworth.

Kessel Racing’s #57 Ferrari was in fourth (3:58.018), owing to Casper Stevensen.

Riccardo Agostini rounded out the top five in LMGT3 with his 3:58.213 in the #150 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari.

See here for full results. Test day running continues with another 180-minute session from 15:30 local time.

READ MORE – ‘Ticking off Le Mans’ – Grove father-son duo gear up for ultimate challenge

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Alessio Rovera took LMGT3 victory at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps for AF Corse Ferrari whilst battling the challenges of dirty air.

“Basically, I went in the car in P10 (took over the driving) with the four new tyres,” said the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 driver in the post-race press conference.

“I knew that this was the time to push to try to recover as many positions as possible, and so I tried to go full attack, but trying to manage it is worth the task because I took the double stint.

“The car was really good.

“It’s always difficult to overtake with our car because the dirty air is always difficult, so I got three track limits [warnings].

“And in the second stint with the double-stinted tyres, my job was to keep the car between the two lines. It was quite difficult.”

“Imola was not ideal,” added one of Rovera’s co-drivers, Simon Mann, who was hit by Rossi’s BMW at the last round.

“So to have the result we have today feels really nice, especially for the whole team who worked really hard, and it wasn’t an easy race.

“… But I think we executed the tyre strategy quite well, so yeah, it’s a great result after the disappointment of Imola.”

Rovera extended the gap in the final stint on the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 driver, Dennis Olsen, who was more attentive to the other #54 AF Corse Ferrari behind him in their second and third-placed battle.

He pushed in the final run to the checkered flag and earned a 40-second gap on the #88, thus marking a comfortable threshold to claim victory after the team were denied the potential at Imola.

READ MORE: Alessio Rovera delivers Ferrari LMGT3 victory at WEC 6H Spa

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AF Corse’s #21 driver Alessio Rovera secured LMGT3 victory at the FIA World Endurance Championship’s thrilling 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

Ferrari secured a double victory across both the Hypercar and LMGT3 categories, following a marvellous drive with all Maranello machinery achieving a step onto their respective class podiums.

AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 crew of Rovera and his teammates Simon Mann and Francois Heriau claimed the win after 137 laps of intense racing.

Proton Competition split the two Ferraris in second place, albeit at a small two-second margin, after Dennis Olsen and his #88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 co-drivers, Stefano Gattuso and Giammarco Levorato, completed the job.

The #54 AF Corse Ferrari crew of Davide Rigon rounded off the podium with his team-mates, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr.

Proton’s #77 Ford crew claimed fourth position after Ben Barker brought home a double top-five finish for the team along with his co-drivers Ben Tuck and Bernardo Soasa.

Heart of Racing took fifth position with the #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo drivers Mattia Drudi, Zach Robichon and team principal Ian James.

The other Aston Martin, the #10 Racing Spirit of LeMan, finished behind them with Valentin Hasse Clot, Eduardo Barrichello and Derek Deboer.

Imola winners Manthey claimed seventh place with their #92 Porsche 911 LMGT3.R drivers Richard Lietz, Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick.

The pole-sitting Akkodis ASP #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 were unable to retain pole position in the end, as Finn Gehristz, Yuchi Nakayama and Arnold Robin finished eighth.

Team WRT’s #46 BMW M4 GT3 Evo trio of Kelvin van der Linde, Valentino Rossi and Ahmad Al Harthy were ninth as the Iron Dames #85 Porsche rounded out the top-10 finishers, with Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey and Celia Martin.

Akkodis controls LMGT3 lead as WRT charges forward

At lights out, Robin in the pole-sitting #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus commanded the lead whilst Deboer in the #10 Racing Spirit of LeMan Aston Martin was unable to keep second position as he fell down to sixth position.

Both Proton Competition Ford Mustangs followed up one place for second and third place, whilst Al Harthy of the #46 WRT BMW conducted a strong start after he climbed from ninth to fifth.

Robin retained his lead for the course of his stint, but he had the #88 Proton Ford driver of Stefano Gattuso behind him, albeit at a gap increased to 10 seconds.

Al Harthy wrestled his way past the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Francois Heriau into fourth place.

The other #54 Ferrari, Flohr, made brief contact at the bus stop chicane with Manthey’s #92 Porsche 911 LMGT3.R driver, Ryan Harwick, which earned him 10 seconds added to his first pit stop.

Speaking of which Al Harthy jumped two cars during the pit stop sequence and thus gained the lead.

Despite the earlier contact, Hardwick soldiered on, fending off Heriau’s #21 AF Corse Ferrari for third place.

The #10 suffered more woes with a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release during that sequence, as Hardwick eventually turned up the pace for P2 on Gattuso’s #88 Ford and made a clean move into the bus-stop chicane.

WRT falls victim as first drama of the race

A virtual safety car deployed for Yasser Shahin’s stranded #31 WRT BMW. He ran wide onto the gravel after Turn 1 as a result of his broken steering having made contact with Flohr soon before at the bus stop. Simultaneously, the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus of Petru Umbrarescu stopped on the driver’s left side, towards the end of Kemmel Straight.

Most significantly, the leaders under the caution – Al Harthy and Hardwick – were under investigation for pit lane speeding, thus the #46 was later penalised with a drive-through penalty.

Even still, Al Harthy fought for eighth spot with Martin Berry’s #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3.

The Iron Dames Porsche was at the sharp end of the order, as Martin performed a great overtake on James’ #27 Aston Martin into the lead during the third racing hour.

Sean Gelael was at the centre of the next disruption after he, in the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo, was momentarily nudged off in side-by-side contact with Matteo Cairoli, of the #60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, at Les Combes.

Proton splits AF Corse

The race resumed with 2 hours and 35 minutes remaining, with Tuck (#77 Ford) heading a Proton 1-2, especially after Levorato wrestled past Mann’s #21 Ferrari, which was ahead of Castellacci’s #54 Ferrari.

United’s other McLaren was also the centre of the next disruption when Sebastien Baud crashed at Bruxelles, although the #10 Aston of Barrichello squeezed the #59 McLaren onto the grass.

Despite this, the car, having entered the tyre barriers head-first, was recovered by marshals and continued on its way.

Pera led the restart from Olsen, Rossi, Rigon, and the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG of WEC season debutant Lin Hodenius.

Ferrari AF Corse gained 1-2 formation during the penultimate hour, with the #21 AF Corse ahead of the #54 Ferrari.

Towards the end, Olsen played a key role keeping two seconds ahead of Rigon to withhold a Ferrari 1-2 finish.

Rovera pressed on despite his 20-second lead, which extended to 40 at the checkered flag.

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Ferrari has confirmed the #83 499P Hypercar entrant will undergo an engine change after experiencing a mechanical failure in FP3 at Imola.

The yellow #83 privateer-entered Ferrari stopped abruptly during the early stages of the FIA WEC (6H Imola) FP3 session.

Robert Kubica, who previously topped FP1 at the wheel of the #83, pulled over to the driver’s right-hand side at Turn 10 as he suffered a mechanical issue.

Flames spat out the #83’s rear end, very briefly, after having completed four laps before breaking down on his fifth.

Ferrari issued the following statement to the media:

“The Ferrari 499P number 83, after stopping along the Imola circuit, was taken back to the box.

“As a precautionary measure, the engine is going to be replaced.

“The unit will be analysed in Maranello to investigate the causes of the issue.”

Three hours and 30-minutes separates the end of FP3 at 11:40 local time, to the start of Hypercar qualifying (15:10).

AF Corse’s #83 team are still highly keen to participate in the session later today for their home race meeting.

READ MORE: Genesis confirms Hypercar engine start-up amidst livery reveal

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Robert Kubica was the quickest driver in the opening free practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Imola.

Action began for the second race meeting on the 2025 WEC calendar at the iconic Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

All 36 entries took to the narrow and technical Imola Circuit with fairly cool ambient temperatures at 16 degrees Celsius.

Race control declared the track wet at the start of a 90-minute free practice one session.

Ferrari AF Corse started strong on home territory with all three 499P Hypercars in the top-four as one of their 296 LMGT3s was also in the top-four in the other category.

In fact, the top-nine Hypercars covered under 1 second (all 18 under 2.660) whilst the top-10 in LMGT3 was under the same margin.

Peugeot’s #94 9X8 Hypercar ran into issues after they completed only six laps initially.

Later, they returned to the track during the final half hour of the session, accomplishing 19 laps in total compared to 45 by the #93 Peugeot – which came to a halt at Turn 11-12, at the end of the session.

Ferrari quickest in Hypercar, BMW tops LMGT3

Kubica set the outright fastest lap time of 1:32.301 in the privateer-entered #83 Ferrari towards the end of the session.

He was followed by the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco who set the benchmark for the majority of the session with a 1:32.30.

Alex Lynn took third in the #12 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R from a 1:32.331 time.

Ferrari’s other factory car, the #51, went fourth quickest with a 1:32.607 by James Calado; all three #51 drivers set the fourth, fifth and sixth quickest lap-times.

Jenson Button in the JOTA’s sister Cadillac, the #38, rounded out the top-five classification in the Hypercar category with a 1:32.805.

In the LMGT3 category, the #31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO was quickest with a 1:43.330 lap time by Augusto Farfus.

Akkodis ASP’s #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 finished second-quickest owing to Esteban Masson’s time of 1:43.423.

Furthermore, the other #46 WRT BMW took third after Kelvin van der Linde set a 1:43.453 on the time sheet in front of Alessio Rovera of the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 (1:43.542).

Akkodis ASP rounded out the top-five with their #87 Lexus driver and double Toyota WEC LMP1 champion Jose Maria Lopez (1:43.751).

FP2 commences at 16:00 local time or 15:00 UTC.

See here for the full FP1 results – READ MORE: Aston Martin F1 reserve driver set for Formula E debut due to WEC clash

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AF Corse Ferrari driver Alessio Rovera rated his jostle towards the end with TF Sport’s #81 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R towards WEC Bahrain victory.

The winning #55 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 driver credited his enjoyable fight with Charlie Eastwood in the post-race press conference.

He took victory in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season finale three-seconds ahead of the #81 at the chequered flag.

“The fight with the Corvette was really, really nice,” he said.

“A fair fight because we never touched, and yes [it was] perfect for this win because I think we deserved it throughout this year.

“We were really close to two podiums and the guys in the team did an amazing job.

“I think we were a bit faster compared to the Corvette in the first part of the final stint.

“And from me, when obviously they were really, really fast, it was really difficult to beat them behind.

“We managed to do it. These guys did an amazing job to to manage the tyres in the beginning of the race.”

A build-up to a closely matched fight

The lead fight emerged after the final safety car, between the AF Corse Ferraris and the #81 TF Sport Corvette which looked strong from the very first lap.

It was the efforts of #55 co-drivers Francois Heriau – in the opening stints of the race – and Simon Mann whose tyre management enabled Rovera to fight in the end.

AF Corse already claimed victory at Fuji albeit with the #54 Ferrari and so this marked their second consecutive LMGT3 win.

Bahrain’s eight-hour race duration plus humid conditions tested the drivers’ reactions and concentration at a crucial point of the race.

Eastwood drove the #81 to the end and also fended Matteo Cairoli’s #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2.

It was this challenge that momentarily enabled Rovera to focus on the lead, before the #82 TF Sport of Daniel Juncadella overtook Cairoli.

The post Alessio Rovera rates ‘fair fight’ with Corvette towards Bahrain win appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Ferrari AF Corse’s Alessio Rovera claimed LMGT3 victory at the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season finale, the 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The #55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 crew – Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera – finished out on top in the final race of the season.

Manthey’s #92 PureRxing Porsche 911 LMGT3.R concluded their dominant title charge which left them largely unchallenged.

Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler earned the first-ever LMGT3 Drivers’ and Teams’ championship titles as a result of their consistent form across each of the eight rounds.

In spite of the #91’s guaranteed title chances in Bahrain, the race itself was characterised by various exciting battles.

As the green flags fell, the front-running United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVOs held their 1-2 formation.

Behind them, Tom Van Rompuy began his charge from behind the wheel of the #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R.

His first rival was Ian James, team principal of Heart of Racing, whose #27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 Evo he overtook with a move on the inside line at Turn 1.

Hiroshi Koizumi in the #82 TF Sport Corvette incurred a five-second stop and go penalty for hitting the Hypercar race leader Sebastien Buemi into a spin at T1.

Van Rompuy got himself into third after 34-minutes of racing with dive inside at T1 on Heriau.

The #55 AF Corse Ferrari driver fought back all the way to T4, but was not successful in returning the favour.

McLarens’ 1-2 formation broken by TF Sport

The seemingly good lead by the two McLarens became under pressure by Van Rompuy’s #81 Corvette.

James Cottingham (#59 McLaren) stuck a move for the lead on teammate and pole-sitter Josh Caygill (#95 McLaren).

Van Rompuy and Heriau’s #55 Ferrari then proceeded past Caygill.

During the second racing hour, the #81 Corvette expanded their lead gap and the action took place behind them.

Nico Pino took over the #95 McLaren and passed Sarah Bovy’s pink Iron Dames #85 Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2.

Heriau also passed her into the final corner, Turn 14.

Thomas Flohr, however, turned up the pace in his #54 AF Corse Ferrari.

He passed both Cottingham and then Pino into third position, as Charlie Eastwood (#81 Corvette) led by nine seconds.

TF Sport’s #81 climbed seven positions since the race start, initiated by Van Rompuy’s strong opening stint.

After Rui Andrade drove a stint, Van Rumpuy got back in to complete the rest of his minimum drive time as a Bronze-graded driver.

Arnold Robin (#78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3) suffered a wheel issue earlier on and later parked up behind the barrier at T3 after only 2 hours and 22 minutes completed due to broken suspension.

At the halfway point, Van Rumpuy held a 15-second lead on Nico Costa’s #59 McLaren.

The gaps spread between competitors, although a fight emerged for third between #54 Ferrari’s Andrea Castellacci and #91 EMA Porsche’s Richard Lietz.

Troubles for Proton’s Ford Mustangs

Ben Barker (#77 Proton Ford Mustang) made contact with the #81 of Van Rumpuy after he was lapped in the fifth racing hour.

A brief full-course-yellow was called to retrieve the stranded piece of debris at T12 which was left-rear bodywork hung off the #77 Ford.

Both Manthey Porsches asserted solid pace as they fought together, but not so to compromise their form.

In the fifth racing hour, Giammaro Levorato’s #88 Proton Ford suffered a terminal reliability issue.

The engine caught fire though Levorato quickly parked up at a marshal’s post. This triggered the first virtual safety car period.

Although, the field was tightened up again and reset TF Sport’s Andrade and his 32-second lead gap just as the gaps settled down.

Two-hours and 12-minutes remained as the race returned to green flag conditions.

Iron Dames’ Sarah Bovy put a move on Andrade’s lead on the outside line at T4, before Alex Riberas (#27 Aston Martin) followed through before taking the lead into T1.

Frey tried to overtake Riberas for the lead on the outside of T1.

This caused her to lose momentum for T2 and she slipped back behind the Ferraris and – now Charlie Eastwood – in the #81 Corvette, on the run down to T4.

Frey and the Dames’ hopes of winning in Bahrain were ended with a drive-through penalty for a VSC infringement.

Esteban Masson stopped on the left-side run-off after T10 after his #87 Lexus retired due to the same issue as the #87.

During the FCY, Zach Robichon’s #77 Ford also stopped on track albeit between T2 and T4, showcasing similar engine issues as the #88.

Tension into the final hour

An hour remained and the race resumed when Eastwood interrupted Ferrari’s 1-2 running.

After Eastwood passed the #54 Ferrari of Davide Rigon, he challenged Rovera’s #55 for lead as the pair fought nose-to-tail.

The #55 and #82 jostled before finally, Eastwood wrestled past at T12 into the lead with 49m remaining.

A drive-through from a full-course-yellow infringement put Rigon out of the lead battle, as the #82 TF Sport quietly climbed back up in the hands of Daniel Juncadella.

After the final pit stops, Rovera found himself at the front of Eastwood, who was busy fending P3 from Matteo Cairoli’s #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini.

Rovera has a five-second gap on Eastwood though both were setting fastest race laps.

After 214 laps, the #55 AF Corse Ferrari team took victory having been unable to convert their pole position last time out at Fuji.

Three-seconds back, the #81 TF Sport Corvette crew of Tom Van Rumpuy, Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood finished in second place.

The sibling #82 TF Sport took the final podium spot owing to drivers Hiroski Koizumi, Sebastien Baud and Daniel Juncadella.

Iron Lynx finished in fourth place with their #60 Lamborghini as Morris Schuring’s #91 Manthey EMA Porsche rounded out the top-five.

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