Just 25 minutes into the session, Kobayashi recorded an astonishing time of 1 minute 46.851 seconds in the No. 7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID, beating the FP1 top time by more than 3 seconds.
Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 Toyota also showed a significant jump compared to the afternoon, but by the time the checkered flag waved 90 minutes later, Kobayashi was the only driver to break the 1 minute 47 second barrier. The difference between the two LMH machines widened to 0.461 seconds. of running.
Cadillac emerged as Toyota’s closest rival in second practice thanks to an early effort from Alex Lynn of 1 minute 47.690 seconds, but in a session that saw the entire hypercar world split by five seconds. However, he was still nearly nine-tenths off his pace.
Jota led the Porsche, with Will Stevens setting the fourth-fastest time in the team’s #38 963 LMDh, but the Factory Penskes were ahead thanks to Laurens Vanthoor’s time of 1:48.427. He was not far behind in 5th place. Car No. 6.
WEC returner Nico Müller set a lap of 1 minute 48.470 seconds in the No. 94 9X8, pushing Peugeot into 6th place, while Proton dropped from 3rd to 7th after dawn, although customer Porsche However, he was just over two seconds behind the pace of the No. 7 Toyota. .
Proton split the two Peugeot factory cars, with Paul di Resta finishing eighth in the team’s No. 93 entry ahead of Michael Christensen’s No. 5 Porsche.
Ferrari had another subdued session in Bahrain, with both LMH cars finishing more than 3.5 seconds behind, with Antonio Fuoco in the #50 499P being Ferrari’s best runner.
Vanwall supported a 12-car hypercar field.
In LMP2, Filipe Albuquerque once again set the fastest time in the No. 22 United Autosport Oreca 07, leading the No. 63 Prema driven by Mirko Bortolotti.
The two drivers were at the top of their class with a difference of 0.325 seconds, with Charles Milesi in the No. 36 Alpine taking third place with a further 0.005 seconds difference.
In GTE Am, Daniel Serra took the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE to the top by completing one lap around the Bahrain International Circuit in 1 minute 58.246 seconds.
Matteo Cairoli took an early lead in the #56 Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR-19, but ultimately fell back to third place in the final standings behind Ricardo Pera in a similar Porsche entered by GR Racing. Did.
Cairolo’s teammate Gunnar Janet crashed at the final corner before the hour mark, drawing the only red flag of the session.
The car did not return to the track for the remainder of practice.