Reigning world champion Ferrari maintained its dominance during the afternoon session of today’s pre-season Prologue group test on home soil at Imola (14 April) – although the lap times suggest the Italian marque’s rivals are hunting it down...
After defending Drivers’ title-holder Antonio Giovinazzi had set the pace in the morning, Antonio Fuoco supplanted his namesake at the summit of the standings later on, going four tenths-of-a-second quicker to claim early bragging rights ahead of this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship curtain-raising contest around the iconic Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (17-19 April).
Fuoco wound up just 0.126secs ahead of Robert Kubica, who lapped second-quickest again at the wheel of last season’s 24 Hours of Le Mans-winning #83 AF Corse 499P, as Giovinazzi similarly improved to remain within two tenths of the outright benchmark in third.
Unlike in the morning, however – when Ferrari had a margin of more than a second over its nearest competitor – during the afternoon, the opposition closed in. Fifth earlier on, the #20 BMW led the pursuit, this time with Robin Frijns inside the cockpit as the German prototype cut its deficit to the fastest scarlet machine from 1.322secs to just 0.532secs. Alpine Endurance Team’s twin A424s were close behind and evenly-matched in fifth and sixth.
Series newcomer Genesis Magma Racing added a further 204 laps to its locker over the course of the four-and-a-half hours of running, with the GMR-001 Hypercar shaving 0.350secs off its initial effort in the hands of Mathieu Jaminet. Following Marco Sørensen’s morning crash, the #009 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie did not take to the track in the day’s second session.
In LMGT3, home hero Mattia Drudi fired Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Vantage to the head of the order, but there was little to choose between the leading protagonists – setting the scene for another compelling campaign of competition in the fiercely-disputed class.
Countryman – and morning pace-setter – Alessio Rovera was second in VISTA AF Corse’s Ferrari 296, with Tom Fleming third for Garage 59 (McLaren) ahead of TF Sport’s pair of Corvettes; Charlie Eastwood narrowly pipped stablemate Jonny Edgar to fourth place, as the front-running quintet ended up blanketed by a tiny 0.178secs.
The on-track action continues with free practice on Friday, 17 April. Qualifying – and the all-important Hyperpole top ten shootout – starts at 14:30 CEST on Saturday, 18 April, with the six-hour race getting underway at 13:00 CEST on Sunday, 19 April.
Hypercar
1. Antonio Fuoco Ferrari AF Corse 1m31.177s
2. Robert Kubica AF Corse +0.126s
3. Antonio Giovinazzi Ferrari AF Corse +0.198s
4. Robin Frijns BMW M Team WRT +0.532s
5. Jules Gounon Alpine Endurance Team +0.695s
6. Charles Milesi Alpine Endurance Team +0.699s
7. Malthe Jakobsen Team Peugeot TotalEnergies +0.929s
8. Kevin Magnussen BMW M Team WRT +1.027s
9. Sébastien Buemi TOYOTA RACING +1.232s
10. Stoffel Vandoorne Team Peugeot TotalEnergies +1.291s
LMGT3
1. Mattia Drudi Heart of Racing Team 1m42.698s
2. Alessio Rovera VISTA AF Corse +0.051s
3. Tom Fleming Garage 59 +0.116s
4. Charlie Eastwood Racing Team Turkey by TF +0.128s
5. Jonny Edgar TF Sport +0.178s
6. Parker Thompson Team WRT +0.261s
7. Maxime Martin Iron Lynx +0.353s
8. Augusto Farfus Team WRT +0.380s
9. Finn Gehrsitz Garage 59 +0.400s
10. Davide Rigon VISTA AF Corse +0.444s
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