Robert Kubica (POL) / Robert Shwartzman (ISR) / Yifei Ye (CHN) #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P.
26-27.02.2024. FIA World Endurance Championship, Official Prologue, Doha, Qatar.
– www.xpbimages.com, EMail: [email protected] © Yifei Ye achieved the fastest time in the first practice session for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s second round of 2024, the 6 Hours of Imola.
The driver from Ferrari, competing in the customer AF Corse-run #83 Ferrari 499P, recorded a time of 1:31.347 to secure the top spot, with a lead of over half a second ahead of his closest competitor, Antonio Fuoco in the factory #50 Ferrari.
Mikkel Jensen, driving the #93 Peugeot 9X8, came in third place, as Peugeot starts to familiarize themselves with the new 9X8 at Imola. However, Jensen was more than half a second behind Fuoco, making it a dominant session for the Ferraris.
There was a short pause in the session when Jensen’s Peugeot teammate, Jean-Eric Vergne, came to a halt just after turn 4, Tamburello. Although the Frenchman managed to get the car moving again, race control had already called for a temporary stoppage, which was lifted a few minutes later as Vergne made his way back to the pits.
Lamborghini’s Mirko Bortolotti finished in fourth place, while Alessandro Pier Guidi, Fuoco’s teammate from Ferrari, claimed fifth. Harry Tincknell, driving the customer #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963, secured sixth place, followed by Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche in seventh. Kevin Estre was the next driver in line, competing in the sister #6 Porsche, while the two Toyotas, led by Nyck de Vries in the #7, took ninth and tenth place, with Sebastien Buemi from #8 Toyota rounding off the top 10.
In the LMGT3 category, Daniel Juncadella set the fastest time in the #82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R, clocking in at 1:42.113. His teammate, Charlie Eastwood, came in second place, making it a Corvette 1-2, but was more than six tenths of a second behind his Spanish counterpart.
Davide Rigon, driving the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, achieved the third fastest time, while Maxime Martin finished fourth in the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. Alessio Rovera completed the top 5, competing in the sister #55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.
The second practice session, FP2, will commence at 5:15pm local time.