6 Hours of Imola – Qualifying: Antonio Fuoco leads a Ferrari hat-trick

GT3

It started slowly. The LMGT3 drivers began this qualifying session with lap times around 1 minute 47. Before the gas pedals were pushed. The BMW #46 from Team WRT was the first to set an interesting time at 1:43.664. Sarah Bovy, at the wheel of the Iron Dames Lamborghini, was close behind, just 79 thousandths away.

The Belgian became the first driver to go under the 1 minute 43 mark in this session (1:42’924”). She was only beaten by the Porsche number 92 from Manthey PureRxcing (1:42’734”). The times were not improved at the end of this session.

The surprise comes from the two Corvettes that failed to make it through to the Hyperpole, despite dominating the first two free practice sessions. Also, the Aston Martin 777 of D’Station Racing failed to secure 12th place.

Qualified for the Hyperpole: The two Porsches from Mantgey Racing, the Lamborghini of the Iron Dames, the two BMWs from Team WRT, the Ferrari AF Corse number 54 and 55, the Ford Mustang of Proton Competition, the Aston Martin number 27 from Heart of Racing, and the McLaren number 59 from United Autosport.

The ten fastest cars in the first session struggled to go even faster. Only the Porsche number 92 from Manthey PureRacing improved its own time (1:42’365”). Aliaksandr Malykhin left the competition nearly seven-tenths behind. The Belarusian driver secured the first pole position of the day.

During this session, the cars suffered a lot in the second sector, which is very demanding on the tires.

Hypercar

Here too, it started at a slow pace. However, Porsche wanted to showcase the performance of the Hypercars from the very first flying lap. The five cars from the German manufacturer were leading the pack. Car #38 ahead of #6, ahead of #99. Kamui Kobayashi, driving Toyota car number 7, set things straight by clocking a 1:33’839”.

Antonio Fuoco, aboard his Ferrari number 50, could have achieved the best time of this first session, but his time was canceled for exceeding track limits. In the Ferrari AF Corse, Robert Schartzman unfortunately also took such action.

On a new attempt, the Italian on board the official prancing horse car impressed everyone with an amazing time of 1:30’196”. Only the Porsche number 5 was able to get close to this time (1:30’221”), before the BMW number 15 driven by Dries Vanthoor caused a red flag due to a track exit. The Belgian was able to restart without damaging his car.

The qualifiers for the Hyperpole: Ferrari #50, Porsche #5, Toyota #8 and #7, Ferrari #83, Ferrari #51, Porsche #99, BMW #20, Porsche #12, and Porsche #6.

Porsche put the horses at the beginning of the Hyperpole. The Italian manufacturer was leading the rankings after the first lap launched. But Toyota quickly responded, through Brendon Hartley. The driver of car number 8 then overdid it and spun later in that session.

Discreet until now, the Ferraris have shown themselves. In a good way. The cars of the Italian firm have shown all their performance. On board number 50, Antonio Fuoco gave his Hypercar the best with a stunning time (1:29’735”). The Italian is also the first man to go under the minute 30.

He then drove the point home by improving his time, by three tenths (1:29’466”). The number 50 is followed by the Ferrari AF Corse number 83, the other official car concludes a triple for the Scuderia on their home turf.