The Italian round of the World Endurance Championship is fast approaching. During the presentation of the 6 Hours of Imola, Antonio Fuoco discussed Ferrari’s expectations for the home race.
On April 4th, the presentation of the first major event of the year took place at the TAG in Bologna, ahead of the Imola circuit. The WEC stage marks a great opportunity for the property, Formula Imola, and the entire city, which will come alive both on and off the track during the weekend. The race, scheduled for April 19th to 21st, will see many drivers representing the Italian flag. Among them is Antonio Fuoco, who is ready to hit the track with the Ferrari 499P at Imola, a circuit he has fond memories of.
Various figures intervened during the Imola race presentation event. One of them was Marco Panieri, the mayor of Imola, who spoke about what the numerous fans attending the race weekend will find. “It will be an integrated event with the city, participatory and inclusive, with a weekend dedicated to promoting excellence and Made in Italy.” The mayor didn’t delve into many other details but promised that clues about what we can expect near the circuit and in the city center will arrive in the coming days.
At the end of the conference, we managed to exchange a few words with one of the Ferrari drivers, Antonio Fuoco, present at TAG as a representative of the brand. The Calabrian driver performed well last year, securing two unexpected and welcomed poles at Sebring and the Le Mans race with the Hyperpole format. After a less than optimal first appointment in Losail, Antonio Fuoco expressed his thoughts on what we might see at Imola, Ferrari’s home race.
“It will certainly be a difficult race, given the characteristics of the track. Managing traffic will be crucial. So it will be a very demanding weekend and a very demanding race.”
So, will it be crucial to secure a good position during Saturday’s qualifying?
“I think it’s a very important point, even though it’s an endurance race. With 19 Hypercars on the track, I think starting at the front will be very important because, as we said before, managing traffic will be very difficult. It’s a very narrow track, where overtaking with GT cars is really difficult, so qualifying will be more important than usual, I think.”
The first race was below expectations. Have you been able to understand what went wrong and slowed you down?
“Yes, Qatar was a bit of a difficult weekend for us, but I think we’ve somewhat understood what happened during the weekend. We had the opportunity to test during this period. Now we’re going to Imola, which is a completely different track from Qatar in terms of track characteristics; so, we hope we’ve understood the points where we were a bit weaker in Qatar and hope to do a good job at Imola and give the fans some excitement.”
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