The Ferrari 499Ps will line up in the first three positions for the 6 Hours of Imola, thanks to the Maranello manufacturer’s impressive results this afternoon. Antonio Fuoco will start from pole position at the 6 Hours of Imola after a masterful lap in the Ferrari – AF Corse team’s 499P number 50. The Italian driver posted a time of 1:29.466, securing a historic pole at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on its World Endurance Championship debut. Ferrari President John Elkann witnessed this hat trick, destined to go down in endurance racing history, joining in the day’s celebrations at Imola with the drivers and the entire official World Endurance Championship team.
The second and third grid positions of the other 499Ps in the top endurance class complete the spectacle for the Tifosi watching tomorrow’s second event of the FIA WEC 2024. The AF Corse number 83 and the Ferrari – AF Corse team number 51 were driven in qualifying and the Hyperpole by Robert Shwartzman and Alessandro Pier Guidi, respectively. The race will start tomorrow, 21 April, at 1 p.m. (local time).
Qualifying. After setting the benchmark time in the morning’s Free Practice 3, the Ferrari 499P number 50, driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, remained the car to beat during the afternoon’s qualifying session. The 27-year-old Italian, Fuoco, led the session with a time of 1:30.196. The AF Corse Hypercar in Giallo Modena livery, shared by Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye and Robert Kubica will set off four boxes further back, while the number 51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi will start from sixth.
Hyperpole. Outstanding performances ensured that all competing Ferrari Hypercars secured a spot in the final round for the top ten cars. Despite the threatening skies over Imola, the Hyperpole also took place in dry track conditions, with an air temperature 18°C and the tarmac at 22.3°C, which allowed all the 499Ps to continue on Medium tyres.
In Saturday’s most eagerly awaited phase, flawless laps from the drivers enabled Ferrari to achieve a historic hat-trick. Behind poleman Fuoco, who clocked 1:29.466, only Shwartzman and Pier Guidi recorded times under 1 minute and 30 seconds, trailing by 0.419 and 0.487 seconds, respectively.