After an incident-filled FP3 for the 6 Hours of Imola which saw damage to the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R after an off-track excursion and the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P returned to the garage with a gearbox issue, qualifying got underway in almost perfect conditions.
The LMGT3 grid saw the quickest time set by Ahmad Al Harthy in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 in which the Omani driver set a 1:42.731 followed by the #21 Visa AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 in which François Heriau set a 1:43.498.
Third quickest in the 10-minute session was the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 in the hands of Arnold Robin which lapped in 1:43.525.
Both the Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3s were off the pace with the #60 car setting a best lap time of 1:46.619 with Claudio Schiavoni behind the wheel and the #61 car .017 seconds behind in the hands of Christian Reid.
(Photo: FIA WEC)
In the Hyperpole session, pole was taken by Valentino Rossi in the #46 Team WRT BMW who lapped in 1:42.355 with the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus joining Team WRT on the front row of the LMGT3 grid with a 1:42.661 set by Clemans Schmid. Third quickest was the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 in which Zach Robichon set a 1:42.703.
The Hypercar qualifying session got underway with the track slightly cooler as the #51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Giovinazzi set the first lap-time under 1:30 with a 1:29.623.
Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 was second quickest with a 1:30.375. after a time under 1:30 set by Antonio Fuoco in the sister #50 car was deleted for track limit infringements.
Ribert Kubica in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, after repairs to what was suggested to be a gearbox issue, also went under 1:30 with a 1:29.993. With a minute remaining the two Toyotas were 7th and 8th on the timing screens with the #7 GR010-Hybrid 7th quickest with a 1:30.477 followed by the sister #8 car with a 1:30.534.
Both the Aston Martin THOR team Valkyries missed out on Hyperpole and finished 16th and 17th on the timing screens with the #007 car setting a 1:31.963 and the #009 car lapping in 1:32.853.
After the chequered flag had fallen, the #50 Ferrari dropped to the bottom of timing screens after Antonio Fuoco’s quickest time was deleted due to a track limit penalty. The move promoted the #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 into Hyperpole.
The #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P set pole with Antonio Giovinazzi setting a 1:29.623 followed by the repaired #83 AF Corse entry in which Robert Kubica lapped in 1:29.993. Dries Vanthoor qualified third quickest in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8. 4th quickest was the #7 Toyota with a 1:30.375 followed by the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota entry with a 1:30.497.
The lights go out for the 6 Hours of Imola at 1300 CEST on Sunday April 20th.
