Antonio Giovinazzi is leading the pack in the #51 Ferrari 499P after two hours of racing at the Six Hours of Imola. His teammate Nicklas Nielsen is trailing behind in the #50 car, making it a Ferrari one-two. The leading group of Hypercars in the FIA World Endurance Championship made pit stops during the first hour, causing Nielsen to fall back to sixth place initially. Giovinazzi took advantage of the situation and benefited from the battle for second place between Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche 963 and Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid. Nielsen managed to improve his position to fourth, while Rene Rast in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 put pressure on Frederic Makowiecki in the #5 Porsche. Jean-Karl Bernay in the #11 Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C pitted just before Rast, handing over to Carl Wattana Bennett. Although the Isotta Fraschini Tipo6-C is not in contention for the top spots, Bennett’s spin on fresh tires and subsequent off-track excursion served as a warning to the race leaders after their pit stops. The top contenders, including Conway, Nielsen, and Kubica in the #83 AF Corse 499P, made their pit stops shortly after Bennett’s incident. Nielsen managed to overtake the #7 Toyota in the pit lane, with Conway switching places with teammate Nyck de Vries. Despite a slow pit stop, Giovinazzi emerged in front of his Ferrari teammate to maintain the lead. The #12 Jota Porsche driven by Will Stevens and the #38 Phil Hanson car opted for a longer stint, just as they did in the first part of the race. The Penske Porsches, however, lost ground during the pit stop cycle, with Andre Lotter taking over the #6 car but being overtaken by the #7 Toyota. Michael Christensen also found himself behind a Toyota, with Ryo Hirakawa leading the #5 Porsche. After two hours of racing, Giovinazzi has a nearly six-second advantage over Nielsen, much to the delight of the Tifosi fans in Emilia-Romagna. De Vries is in third place, seven seconds behind the two Ferraris, with Lotterer in fourth in the #6 Porsche. Hirakawa is in fifth place, followed by Christensen in the #5 Porsche. Kubica, who was initially running at the front of the pack, is now in seventh place, while Callum Ilott in the #12 Jota Porsche occupies eighth place. Robin Frijns in the #20 BMW and Oliver Rasmussen in the #38 Jota Porsche complete the top ten. The #15 BMW, which was involved in a multi-car incident on the first lap, has managed to get back on track with Marco Wittmann behind the wheel. In the LMGT3 category, an interesting battle is taking place among the top three. The #92 Manthey Porsche 911 driven by Joel Strum has been competing closely with the second-placed #55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 driven by Francois Heriau, but Strum has started to gain a slight advantage. Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi in the #46 WRT BMW M4 is being encouraged over the team radio to chase after the Ferrari. Unfortunately, the #85 Iron Dames car, which encountered electrical issues after being involved in a collision with the #91 Porsche driven by Yasser Shahin on the opening lap, has been forced to retire.
Gasly and Ocon engaged in yet another intense battle at the Red Bull Ring. During the Austrian Grand Prix, Gasly admitted that he had no control over his...
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