Giovinazzi prevails in closest Hyperpole top 10 in WEC history

The reigning Hypercar world champions will start the first race of their title defense from pole position in Imola tomorrow, but it was far from a walkover from the No. 51 499P. Antonio Giovinazzi had to dig deep in Hyperpole, putting together a last-gasp flyer to dethrone Ryo Hirakawa’s No. 8 Toyota TR010 and score back-to-back poles for the No. 51 on home soil for the brand.

"It was a lot more difficult than last year," Giovinazzi said. "We knew Toyota were going to be fast. It was so intense, and the car was not as easy to drive in today's conditions as it was last year.

"I had no news on my last lap until I crossed the line. I wasn't sure it was good enough. I had a mistake on my third lap, which would have been better than my last lap, but I had issues in Turn 5/6. I was just good enough to get the pole! This was what we wanted to see: the cars are so close together, and it'll make the race so good to watch."

Giovinazzi’s late push lap saw the No. 51 rise from third to pole, denying Toyota a historic pole ahead of its 100th WEC race and the sister No. 50 499P a spot on the front row in the process.

“We were nervous, because there were a couple of mistakes prior. But it just pulled something out of the bag there, maybe the Tifosi helped him!” exclaimed No. 51 co-driver James Calado.

It was extremely tight at the top of the timing screens – the closest top 10 in the Hyperpole era that started in 2024, with the previous closest top 10 in this period being 0.688s at Fuji 2024 – which bodes well for tomorrow's six hours. And Ferrari’s factory cars and the No. 8 Toyota were not the only contenders, as the No. 94 Peugeot, which was quick out of the gates in the shootout, ended up fourth and seven hundredths off the top spot thanks to Malthe Jakobsen. Even the No. 12 Cadillac showed promise, with Norman Nato putting the sole V-Series.R that made it into the top 10 fifth, with a lap within three tenths of pole.

"Of course, we were aiming for more, but taking everything into consideration, the limited testing, this being our first race weekend back together, and adapting to working without Alex for this race, there was a lot to manage," Nato explained. "It was also my first Hypercar qualifying session in 18 months, so there was a lot to relearn.

"I was a little concerned before qualifying, so to come away with a top five result is very positive. It gives us a good position to start from, and from here we can focus on making progress in the race."

The No. 7 Toyota ended up sixth. The No. 35 Alpine that topped Free Practice 2 and was strong in FP3, could only manage seventh after Charles Milesi’s efforts.

It was a surprise to see Robert Kubica struggle to stick the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P on one of the front two rows. It will start the race eighth ahead of the two WRT BMWs.

Of the seven cars that didn’t make the Hyperpole shootout, the No. 36 Alpine crew will be most disappointed. Jules Gounon pushed for multiple laps but couldn’t find a way to sneak into the top 10, missing out by four hundredths of a second with a package that, on paper, should have been strong enough over a single lap.

The No. 12 Cadillac also missed out, as did both Aston Martin Valkyries, which remain a handful over Imola’s kerbs for the drivers. Genesis Magma Racing’s GMR-001s will start at the back for their WEC debuts. The No. 19 was the faster of the two, with Mathieu Jaminet reeling off a 1m31.258s to go 1.7s off the top time in Qualifying.

In LMGT3, a young Thomas Fleming burst onto the scene with the category’s newest outfit Garage 59, taking pole by two tenths with a blistering 1m41.181s in the No. 10 McLaren.

The GT World Challenge Europe title-winning British team, which has taken over McLaren’s space on the grid from Hypercar-bound United Autosports, has been impressive all week in Italy. And its band of hard-working staff erupted in the garage in Hyperpole when Fleming’s time came in. It served as an immediate reward for their efforts to put the program together on a short call over the off-season.

“It’s a great feeling. Garage 59 and McLaren have worked so hard to give us an extremely good car. I pulled the pin there, and I feel so grateful,” Fleming said.

AKKODIS ASP’s Lexus RC F LMGT3s were also rapid, taking second and third in class thanks to the efforts of Hadrien David, who stuck the No. 78 on the front row and Clemens Schmid, who recovered from a trip through the gravel to set a 1m41.545s and put the No. 87 third.

The two WRT BMWs were next in the order, in fourth and fifth, with the no. 69 of Parker Thompson, two-tenths up on the No. 32 driven by Sean Gelael in Hyperpole.

“This is one of the highest commitment tracks I’ve ever been to,” Thompson told the broadcast. “The BMW was on rails, and the MVP for us was Tony McIntosh (who drove in the first part of LMGT3 qualifying). This is a strong track for us, so hopefully tomorrow goes well.”

The No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, No. 21 Vista AF Corse, No. 91 Manthey Porsche, No. 88 Ford Mustang and No. 34 Team Turkey Corvette (which topped the first stage with Peter Dempsey driving) completed the top 10 respectively.

Some significant cars that missed out on the first LMGT3 Hyperpole of the season, including Yasser Shahin in the No. 92 Manthey Porsche, who will start 11th.

“It’s disappointing to miss out on Hyperpole, but it’s a long race and we’ll be there. We’ve learned that consistency is what counts the most, and we’re in an amazing team and know we can fight,” Shahin said after his run.

It was a tough outing for the two Heart of Racing Aston Martins, as the British marque was the only one in the field to miss out on the shootout.

Ian James ended up 12th in the No. 27 Vantage, a surprise after the car showed pace all week. WEC debutant Gray Newell in the new sister car, meanwhile, ended up 15th.

The race is up next, with Mercedes-AMG F1 driver Kimi Antonelli set to wave the green flag Sunday afternoon to get the season fully underway at 1:00pm local time.

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