Alex Malykin secured the pole position in the LMGT3 category for the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Imola. Driving the #92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R, Malykin dominated the session with a time of 1:42.365. Ian James of The Heart of Racing team came in second, trailing Malykin by just under seven tenths of a second. Ahmad Al Harthy, representing Team WRT, took the third spot onboard the #46 BMW M4 GT3.
The session began with all 18 cars in the class vying for a spot in the top 10 to advance to Hyperpole. As the bronze-rated drivers warmed up their tires, the lap times started to drop rapidly. Yasser Shahin initially set the fastest lap in the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3R, but was soon surpassed by Ian James in the #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. However, Al Harthy and Sarah Bovy of Iron Dames also set impressive lap times.
Eventually, it was Malykin in the #92 Manthey Porsche who claimed the pole position with a time of 1:42.734, the fastest lap of the first session. Bovy finished in second place, nearly two tenths behind, followed by Shahin in third. The two AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s, driven by Francois Heriau (#55) and Thomas Flohr (#54), secured the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Unfortunately, Qatar polesitter Tom Van Rompuy missed out on Hyperpole by less than two tenths of a second, finishing in 11th place in the #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3R. Other drivers who did not advance to Hyperpole included Clement Mateu in the #777 D’Station Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, Hiroshi Koizumi in the sister #82 TF Sport Corvette, Ryan Hardwick representing Proton, Josh Caygill of United Autosport, Arnold Robin from Akkodis ASP, Takeshi Kimura (teammate of Robin), and Claudio Schiavoni piloting the Iron Lynx Lamborghini.
In the Hyperpole session, Malykhin immediately set the fastest lap, securing his pole position with a time of 1:42.365. None of the other drivers were able to match his pace during the remaining 10 minutes. Ian James finished in second place, followed by Darren Leung of Team WRT in third. Sarah Bovy, driving the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, settled for fifth place in the session.