WEC 6 hours of Imola Italy
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First Practice
In the LMGT3 class, the No. 31 WRT BMW led the way with a 1m43.330s courtesy of Augusto Farfus. The No. 78 Lexus, carrying on AKKODIS ASP’s fast form from Qatar, ended up second after lapping quickly in wet and dry conditions. Super-sub Esteban Masson set the car’s best time, a 1m43.423s.
Kelvin van der Linde claimed third in the No. 46 BMW, adding to the strong start to the weekend for WRT with a 1m43.453s. The top five was completed by the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari and No. 87 Lexus, which completed flying laps within half a second.
Last Place Down in 17th and 18th, TF Sport’s Corvettes were 1.5s and 1.8s off, with the Qatar winning No. 33 which is carrying the maximum amount of success ballast as a result of its Round 1 performance the slowest car.
In the LMGT3 class, the No. 31 WRT BMW led the way with a 1m43.330s courtesy of Augusto Farfus. The No. 78 Lexus, carrying on AKKODIS ASP’s fast form from Qatar, ended up second after lapping quickly in wet and dry conditions. Super-sub Esteban Masson set the car’s best time, a 1m43.423s.
Kelvin van der Linde claimed third in the No. 46 BMW, adding to the strong start to the weekend for WRT with a 1m43.453s. The top five was completed by the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari and No. 87 Lexus, which completed flying laps within half a second.
Last Place Down in 17th and 18th, TF Sport’s Corvettes were 1.5s and 1.8s off, with the Qatar winning No. 33 which is carrying the maximum amount of success ballast as a result of its Round 1 performance the slowest car.
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Second Practice
In LMGT3, AKKODIS ASP flexed its muscles, its pair of Lexus RC F LMGT3s sitting 1-2 atop the times in the class.
The No. 87 set a 1m42.944s with Jose Maria Lopez at the wheel and was the only car in the category to set a lap under 1m43s.
The team’s sister No. 78’s best time was a 1m43.063s to go second.
The best of the rest was WRT’s No. 46 BMW M4 in third, following a 1m43.186s from Kelvin van der Linde.
Vista AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari 296 ended up fourth fastest, and the No. 77 Proton Competition Mustang completed the top five.
The 18-car field was separated by 1.7s.
Like Free Practice 1, the session ran without interruption. Free Practice 3 is set to get underway at 10:40am Saturday.
In LMGT3, AKKODIS ASP flexed its muscles, its pair of Lexus RC F LMGT3s sitting 1-2 atop the times in the class.
The No. 87 set a 1m42.944s with Jose Maria Lopez at the wheel and was the only car in the category to set a lap under 1m43s.
The team’s sister No. 78’s best time was a 1m43.063s to go second.
The best of the rest was WRT’s No. 46 BMW M4 in third, following a 1m43.186s from Kelvin van der Linde.
Vista AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari 296 ended up fourth fastest, and the No. 77 Proton Competition Mustang completed the top five.
The 18-car field was separated by 1.7s.
Like Free Practice 1, the session ran without interruption. Free Practice 3 is set to get underway at 10:40am Saturday.
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Do not expect the UK Corvette to do well in this 6 hour race unless others break or crash out due to
fricking BoP wacking the Corvette with a lot of added weight to slow it down due to how well it did last race :-(
Qualify, Corvettes almost last place
Valentino Rossi secured his first WEC pole position by beating Akkodis ASP Team’s Clemens Schmid in Hyperpole.
The Italian steered the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 to a best lap of 1:42.355, allowing him to remain clear of Schmid’s No. 87 Lexus RC F GT3 by a margin of 0.306 seconds.
It marks Rossi’s first pole position in WEC in his second season in the championship, with BMW also capturing its first WEC pole as a result.
Zach Robichon qualified third for Heart of Racing Team, joined on the second row by the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Simon Mann.
Finn Gehrsitz completed the top five in class aboard the No. 78 Lexus ahead of the No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 piloted by Giammarco Levorato
Riccardo Pera, the only Porsche driver to break through into Hyperpole, took seventh, with the pair of United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos eighth and ninth
Rui Andrade rounded out the top ten for TF Sport.
While Rossi topped Hyperpole, his Bronze-rated co-driver Ahmad Al Harthy dominated the opening segment of LMGT3 qualifying as the No. 46 BMW remained unbeaten at the top of the session.
The Omani’s best effort of 1:42.731 proved to be 0.767 seconds faster than the next best car in the class, which was the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari of Francois Heriau.
Notably,
cars to not make the cut for Hyperpole included the No. 31 The Bend Team WRT BMW of Yasser Shahin,
as well as the championship-leading No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The 6 Hours of Imola starts Sunday at 1 p.m. CEST (7 a.m. EST).
fricking BoP wacking the Corvette with a lot of added weight to slow it down due to how well it did last race :-(
Qualify, Corvettes almost last place
Valentino Rossi secured his first WEC pole position by beating Akkodis ASP Team’s Clemens Schmid in Hyperpole.
The Italian steered the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 to a best lap of 1:42.355, allowing him to remain clear of Schmid’s No. 87 Lexus RC F GT3 by a margin of 0.306 seconds.
It marks Rossi’s first pole position in WEC in his second season in the championship, with BMW also capturing its first WEC pole as a result.
Zach Robichon qualified third for Heart of Racing Team, joined on the second row by the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Simon Mann.
Finn Gehrsitz completed the top five in class aboard the No. 78 Lexus ahead of the No. 88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 piloted by Giammarco Levorato
Riccardo Pera, the only Porsche driver to break through into Hyperpole, took seventh, with the pair of United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos eighth and ninth
Rui Andrade rounded out the top ten for TF Sport.
While Rossi topped Hyperpole, his Bronze-rated co-driver Ahmad Al Harthy dominated the opening segment of LMGT3 qualifying as the No. 46 BMW remained unbeaten at the top of the session.
The Omani’s best effort of 1:42.731 proved to be 0.767 seconds faster than the next best car in the class, which was the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari of Francois Heriau.
Notably,
cars to not make the cut for Hyperpole included the No. 31 The Bend Team WRT BMW of Yasser Shahin,
as well as the championship-leading No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The 6 Hours of Imola starts Sunday at 1 p.m. CEST (7 a.m. EST).
teamzr1
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TF Sport aims to give the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R program a second straight victory in the FIA World Endurance Championship this weekend as the LMGT3 field moves to Italy for Sunday’s Six Hours of Imola.
Almost two full months have passed since TF Sport’s opening-round triumph in the 1812Km of Qatar to kick off the championship. Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating teammates in the No. 33 Corvette won in dramatic fashion and as a result arrive at Imola with the class championship lead.
On the other side of the TF Sport garage, the No. 81 Corvette trio of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy hope to turn their fortunes around in another highly competitive race between 18 entries and nine manufacturers.
This is the second straight season at Imola for the Corvette program. At the end of last year, the results were positive: TF Sport was one of two teams in the class to have both entries finish in the top-10, and Chevrolet was one of two manufacturers to have multiple entries finish eighth or better.
Prior to 2024, Corvette Racing and the FIA WEC competed at Autodromo Nazionale Monza for two years. The program scored a landmark GTE Pro victory in 2022 and clinched the 2023 GTE Am championship at the circuit with Keating as one of the drivers.
The Six Hours of Monza is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. CET on Sunday.
Full live-streaming coverage of Free Practice 3, qualifying and the race will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will stream audio coverage of Saturday’s final practice and qualifying, plus Sunday’s race.
TF SPORT PRE-EVENT QUOTES
DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“It should be an exciting weekend after an unexpected win in Qatar. We are hoping to be competitive in Imola. It’s a historic track and I really love the place. After such a good start, we can be confident that we can have a strong opportunity to fight a top result. Let’s see how the weather plays out.
It was quite chaotic with some rain through the race. That could play a role in the outcome. Whatever the situation is, we will be ready for it. Hopefully we can have a strong start to the week in practice and work our way forward from there.”
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I've been to Imola quite a lot, and it was always a track I like. I'm looking forward to going back. It's hard to say how we will go there. In Qatar we didn't expect the result we got, which was a brilliant one. The track is not easy, and it's quite hard to overtake. In Qatar it was similar. We did a good job of making up positions on strategy.
Not all the spots we made up were on-track. We did a good job of avoiding mistakes, didn't have any penalties, which is one of the biggest reasons we won there. If we can do something similar this weekend, we'll be in a great position."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I am looking forward to racing the Corvette at Imola even though I have pretty low expectations. I am excited because I have never driven at Imola, and there is always a special challenge of learning a new track so quickly and trying to be competitive after two practice sessions.
"The good news is that we won the first race for WEC. The tough news is that we will have a double-whammy of ‘success handicap’ from winning that first race and leading the championship. We didn't have a superfast car in the first race, just great execution. We have the possibility to do it again, but it will be much more challenging. Having said that, I expect that Imola would be a good track for the Corvette."
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I'm ready for Round 2 of the FIA WEC as we go back to Imola. On our side of the garage, we didn’t get the result we hoped in Qatar. The positive is that we had great pace all week. Hopefully we have the same speed with a little more luck this time around. We definitely will be gunning for a win to make it two-for-two for Corvette and TF Sport in this year's championship."
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I'm pretty excited to get going again in Imola. We for sure need to bounce back from our unfortunate DNF in Qatar. The team has done an exceptional job to give us such a competitive car, and the No. 33 winning in Qatar is proof of that. So I’m looking forward to chasing a big result of our own this weekend with Charlie and Tom."
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“This week we go racing again in Imola. I really look forward to achieving a good result, especially after the DNF in Qatar. But for all of us, the win for the No. 33 guys in Qatar really shows that we have a very strong package as a team to chase podiums. So I have high hopes for the next race, I'm ready to fight and can't wait to drive the Corvette Z06 GT3.R again on this iconic track."
Almost two full months have passed since TF Sport’s opening-round triumph in the 1812Km of Qatar to kick off the championship. Daniel Juncadella, Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating teammates in the No. 33 Corvette won in dramatic fashion and as a result arrive at Imola with the class championship lead.
On the other side of the TF Sport garage, the No. 81 Corvette trio of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy hope to turn their fortunes around in another highly competitive race between 18 entries and nine manufacturers.
This is the second straight season at Imola for the Corvette program. At the end of last year, the results were positive: TF Sport was one of two teams in the class to have both entries finish in the top-10, and Chevrolet was one of two manufacturers to have multiple entries finish eighth or better.
Prior to 2024, Corvette Racing and the FIA WEC competed at Autodromo Nazionale Monza for two years. The program scored a landmark GTE Pro victory in 2022 and clinched the 2023 GTE Am championship at the circuit with Keating as one of the drivers.
The Six Hours of Monza is scheduled for 7 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. CET on Sunday.
Full live-streaming coverage of Free Practice 3, qualifying and the race will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will stream audio coverage of Saturday’s final practice and qualifying, plus Sunday’s race.
TF SPORT PRE-EVENT QUOTES
DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“It should be an exciting weekend after an unexpected win in Qatar. We are hoping to be competitive in Imola. It’s a historic track and I really love the place. After such a good start, we can be confident that we can have a strong opportunity to fight a top result. Let’s see how the weather plays out.
It was quite chaotic with some rain through the race. That could play a role in the outcome. Whatever the situation is, we will be ready for it. Hopefully we can have a strong start to the week in practice and work our way forward from there.”
JONNY EDGAR, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I've been to Imola quite a lot, and it was always a track I like. I'm looking forward to going back. It's hard to say how we will go there. In Qatar we didn't expect the result we got, which was a brilliant one. The track is not easy, and it's quite hard to overtake. In Qatar it was similar. We did a good job of making up positions on strategy.
Not all the spots we made up were on-track. We did a good job of avoiding mistakes, didn't have any penalties, which is one of the biggest reasons we won there. If we can do something similar this weekend, we'll be in a great position."
BEN KEATING, NO. 33 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I am looking forward to racing the Corvette at Imola even though I have pretty low expectations. I am excited because I have never driven at Imola, and there is always a special challenge of learning a new track so quickly and trying to be competitive after two practice sessions.
"The good news is that we won the first race for WEC. The tough news is that we will have a double-whammy of ‘success handicap’ from winning that first race and leading the championship. We didn't have a superfast car in the first race, just great execution. We have the possibility to do it again, but it will be much more challenging. Having said that, I expect that Imola would be a good track for the Corvette."
CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I'm ready for Round 2 of the FIA WEC as we go back to Imola. On our side of the garage, we didn’t get the result we hoped in Qatar. The positive is that we had great pace all week. Hopefully we have the same speed with a little more luck this time around. We definitely will be gunning for a win to make it two-for-two for Corvette and TF Sport in this year's championship."
RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
"I'm pretty excited to get going again in Imola. We for sure need to bounce back from our unfortunate DNF in Qatar. The team has done an exceptional job to give us such a competitive car, and the No. 33 winning in Qatar is proof of that. So I’m looking forward to chasing a big result of our own this weekend with Charlie and Tom."
TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“This week we go racing again in Imola. I really look forward to achieving a good result, especially after the DNF in Qatar. But for all of us, the win for the No. 33 guys in Qatar really shows that we have a very strong package as a team to chase podiums. So I have high hopes for the next race, I'm ready to fight and can't wait to drive the Corvette Z06 GT3.R again on this iconic track."