Ferrari and McLaren will start from Hyperpole for the 6 Hours of Imola after delivering outstanding performances across the two qualifying sessions that determined the grid in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Under the scorching sun at the Imola circuit, drivers pushed to the limit in a high-intensity fight for pole position.
Tom Fleming opened the action by dominating the LMGT3 category, while in the Hypercar class it was Antonio Giovinazzi who stole the spotlight, emerging victorious in a breathtaking duel against his rivals.
Hypercar
The 10-minute Hyperpole session dedicated to the Hypercar class kept fans on the edge of their seats, producing a rare spectacle in which the first two rows of the grid were separated by just 0.073 seconds.
Giovinazzi proved unstoppable behind the wheel of the Ferrari 499P #51, setting a benchmark lap of 1:30.127 that beat the Toyota #8 of an impressive Ryo Hirakawa by just 0.011 seconds. The result confirms that the Toyota GR010 Hybrid has returned to being a serious contender over a single lap.
Antonio Fuoco, who briefly held provisional pole during the session, eventually secured third place with the Ferrari #50, just 0.040 seconds behind his teammate, followed by an equally strong performance from Malthe Jakobsen in the Peugeot #94.
Nearly three tenths off the pace in fifth place was Norman Nato in the Cadillac-Jota #12, closely followed by the Toyota #7 of Nyck de Vries. Charles Milesi claimed seventh with the Alpine #35, despite a scare during qualifying when he ran off track at Tamburello.
Robert Kubica was left frustrated with eighth place in the AF Corse Ferrari #83, while over four tenths behind were the BMW #20 and #15 cars driven by Robin Frijns and Kevin Magnussen, completing the top ten.
In the earlier qualifying session, where some teams opted for medium tyres—such as Toyota and Cadillac—it had been Antonio Fuoco who set the pace with a 1:30.088, ahead of Kubica. The top ten was covered by just half a second, leaving the Alpine #36 of Jules Gounon narrowly outside in 11th by only 0.038 seconds. Also missing out were the Aston Martins of Harry Tincknell and Marco Sørensen, in 12th and 14th respectively, separated by a disappointing Earl Bamber in the Cadillac-Jota #38.
It was also a difficult session for Stoffel Vandoorne, who could do no better than 15th in the Peugeot #93. Bringing up the rear were the Genesis entries of Mathieu Jaminet and André Lotterer, with the Frenchman losing 1.1 seconds on medium tyres and the German 2.1 seconds on soft compounds.
LMGT3
It was a third Hyperpole of the season for McLaren in the championship and the first for Garage 59, thanks to an excellent performance from Tom Fleming. Driving the 720S #10, he set a 1:41.181 lap to edge out the Lexus-ASP #78 and #87 of Hadrien David and Clemens Schmid during the session reserved for Silver-rated drivers.
The starting grid will also feature the BMW-WRT entries in the top five, with Parker Thompson and Sean Gelael at the wheel. Gelael, however, was unable to improve his time after running off track at Rivazza.
Rui Andrade secured sixth place for the Mercedes-Iron Lynx #61, while Simon Mann was one second behind in the Ferrari-AF Corse #21, followed by the Porsche-Manthey #91 and Giammarco Levorato in the Ford-Proton Competition #88.
Salih Yoluç completed the top ten in the Corvette-TF Sport #34, after ending up in the gravel at Piratella in the closing moments of the session. The incident triggered a red flag, preventing several drivers from completing their final flying laps.
In the qualifying session reserved for Bronze-rated drivers, the fastest time had been set by Peter Dempsey in the Corvette #34 with a 1:41.642, comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.
Just 0.012 seconds outside the top ten was Yasser Shahin in the Porsche-Manthey #92, narrowly beaten by his teammate James Cottingham in the #91 car. Shahin will therefore start 11th alongside the Aston Martin-HoR #27 of Ian James, followed by the Ford-Proton Competition #77 of Eric Powell and the Corvette-TF Sport #33 of Blake McDonald.
It was also a disappointing outcome for the Aston Martin-HoR #23 of Gray Newell, who will start 15th, ahead of Alexander West in the McLaren-Garage 59 #58—who spun during his final attempt—Johannes Zelger in the Mercedes-Iron Lynx #79, and Thomas Flohr in the Ferrari-AF Corse #54.
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