Two Ferrari 499P in front row but #50 out top 10

WECHyperCar

Apr 19

The Hypercar hyperpole with the 10 prototypes qualified during qualifying session delivered the Six Hours of Imola grid with two Ferrari 499P in front row. Dries Vanthoor’s BMW is third ahead of the two Toyota GR010 Hybrid for a promising tight race tomorrow.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Imola. Ferrari 499P front row

Two Ferrari in first row tomorrow

Antonio Giovinazzi driving the Ferrari 499P #51 did set the quickest time of the weekend so far with a 1:28.920. He is the only one under the 1:30” mark. Robert Kubica clinched first row also as he was second with a 1:29.678 in AF Corse Ferrari #83. Antonio Fuoco’s fastest Qualifying time was deleted for track limits, which prevented him participating to the hyperpole session.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Imola. Ferrari 499P #51 left, #83 AF Corse right.

Antonio Giovinazzi 499P Ferrari - AF Corse #51: “It’s always a special feeling to get into the cockpit of a Ferrari and know that so many tifosi are cheering us on. Securing a second consecutive Hyperpole here at Imola, in such a stunning and passionate setting, makes today even more special. I want to thank the team for the outstanding work and for providing us with a fantastic car. We often talk about the idea of a ‘perfect lap’ – it’s hard to truly achieve it, but today I think we came very close. Starting from the front on this circuit is a big advantage in terms of minimising risk in the early stages of the race – that’s definitely a plus, and tomorrow we’ll give our all in the race with the aim of delivering great joy to our tifosi.” Source: Ferrari

Vanthoor third and last driver under 1:30” mark

As it was during practice, Dries Vanthoor was the best of the rest in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 with a third place, 0.965 seconds from pole.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Imola. BMW M Hybrid V8 #15

Both Toyota follow

Both Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid are fourth and fifth with Ryo Hirakawa (in the #8) just 0.001 second faster than Nyck de Vries in sister #7.

📷© Luc Warnotte at Imola. Both Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid.

Ryo Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “We put everything together in qualifying and achieved a solid result with fourth and fifth, so I am happy with the performance. Our best lap times in Hyperpole were so close, which shows how hard both Nyck and I were pushing. On a tight track like this, where overtaking can be difficult, it is a good benefit to be starting towards the front of the grid and this gives us a better chance for the race. I’m happy with how the weekend has gone so far, now let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “As a team, I think we can be fairly satisfied with qualifying fourth and fifth here. We maximised our package, as you can see from the tiny gap between the two cars. I don’t think we could have done much better than that; we did a strong job to execute a clean qualifying. The gap to the front cars looks quite big over one lap but we will do our best with race pace, tyre management and strategy to challenge for the podium.” Source: Toyota Gazoo Racing