James Moy Photography/Getty Images
Ferrari sweeps Imola 6 Hours front row as Rossi tops LMGT3
Ferrari has locked out the front row for tomorrow's FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Imola, with Antonio Giovinazzi setting three purple sectors en route to a 1m28.920s in the No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499p. It was a stunning time from the Italian, half a second quicker than the sister car's pole time a year ago, to go two for two in Hypercar Hyperpole in 2025.
"It's a fantastic feeling, the second pole after Qatar," Giovinazzi said. "I tried to put it all together. I was really scared about the track limits -- they cancelled two of my laps. But in the end, I was able to put together a good lap. The ideal lap is always difficult to do, but it felt really nice. Here, it isn't easy to overtake, so starting from pole will help a lot."
The privately entered No. 83 AF Corse 499P ended up second fastest, though Robert Kubica was nowhere close, almost eight tenths off.
It may have been an even better result for Ferrari had the No. 50 not had its fastest qualifying time deleted for track limits, which cost Antonio Fuoco a spot in the shootout.
Best of the rest was the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8, which ended up third with Dries Vanthoor's 1m29.885s. The two Toyotas were next in fourth and fifth, ahead of the first Alpine - the No. 36 - and the No. 93 Peugeot.
Cadillac showed pace in practice, but Alex Lynn struggled to find raw speed in the Hyperpole session aboard the repaired No. 12 V-Series.R. He will start ninth behind the No. 35 Alpine and ahead of the fastest Porsche 963, the No. 6 of Kevin Estre.
Looking down the list of cars that didn't make it into Hyperpole, there were a few key surprises. The No. 5 Porsche will start 12th, Julien Andlauer was unable to string together a good-enough lap. The No. 38 Cadillac will start 15th after Sebastien Bourdais ended up over two seconds off the quickest time in the first part of qualifying.
The biggest drama, though, came in the Ferrari garage, after Fuoco ended up dropping from third to dead last after the session due to a track limits violation at the exit of Turn 15. His fastest lap was therefore a 1m46.400s.
That change saw the No. 93 Peugeot of Jean-Eric Vergne sneak into the shootout. Fuoco and his teammates, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, have a lot of work to do tomorrow to climb the order and fight at the front.
If the Ferrari heroics weren't enough for the Tifosi, Rossi gave them even more with his WRT BMW. James Moy Photography/Getty Images
Valentino Rossi claim his first FIA WEC pole position for Team WRT and the LMGT3 class No. 46 BMW M4 crew. The Italian, in front of his adoring fans, set a rapid 1m42.355s to take the top spot in the closing moments, improving on a previous best that was deleted for track limits. It was pure joy, not only for Rossi, but also for BMW, which now has its first-ever pole position in the WEC to celebrate too.
"The track limits are a nightmare," Rossi explained. "I am very good with track limits, I can do them a lot! After practice, I said we should concentrate on this because this weekend the car is top -- we have good speed, and the tires work well. We are able to keep a good grip. We just have to pay attention because there are a lot of places where, if you push hard, you will [exceed] track limits.
"I had a lot of pressure too because Ahmad [Al Harthy, co-driver] did such a good lap in qualifying. But I was able to improve, and it's a fantastic achievement here in front of all the fans. We hope to fight for the win -- and we hope for a dry race.”
Rossi's best tour was three-tenths faster than his competitors in Hyperpole and denied AKKODIS ASP a first pole for Lexus. Clemens Schmid came closest in the No. 87 RC F LMGT3 and set a purple first sector on his final fast lap before it too was cancelled for a track limits violation.
Zach Robichon also couldn't eclipse Rossi's lap on his final effort for Heart of Racing, putting the No. 27 Vantage third with a 1m42.703s. Simon Mann pushed hard for Vista AF Corse and took fourth, demoting the second Lexus, driven by Finn Gehrsitz in Hyperpole, to fifth.
The remaining spaces in the top 10 were taken by the No. 88 Proton Ford, No. 92 Manthey Porsche, the two United McLarens and No. 81 TF Sport Corvette.
Just outside the top 10, Thomas Flohr could only muster 11th in the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296. He was pushed out of the shootout by a late James Cottingham flyer in the No. 59 United Autosports McLaren that ended up ninth and a fraction slower than the sister car after Sebastien Baud's run in Hyperpole.
The Bend Team WRT also didn't make the cut, with the No. 31 BMW taking 12th on the grid. Yasser Shahin struggled to match the pace of the team's other bronze driver, Ahmad Al Harthy, who set the best time in qualifying, 1.6s faster.
Ben Keating in the Qatar-winning No. 33 TF Sport Corvette ended up a lowly 16th. The Texan, who is new to the circuit, made a slight error on his final lap and was unable to find the improvements necessary to make Hyperpole in his Z06 GT3.R, which is carrying a large chunk of success ballast.
Tomorrow's race is set to get underway at 1pm local time.
Stephen Kilbey
UK-based Stephen Kilbey is RACER.com's FIA World Endurance Championship correspondent, and is also Deputy Editor of Dailysportscar.com He has a first-class honours degree in Sports Journalism and is a previous winner of the UK Guild of Motoring Writers Sir William Lyons Award.
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