Toyota holds off Porsche to win rain-hit thriller
Mike Conway, Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi won by 7.081s in their #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar over the #6 Penske Porsche Motorsport 963 LMDh of Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre, both crews taking advantage of a timely switch to wets when the previously dominant Ferraris attempted without success to […]
Porsche and Toyota believe Ferrari «out of reach» for WEC Imola race
The two manufacturers that will line up behind the Ferrari top-three block-out on the grid believe the Italian marque will maintain its qualifying advantage in the six-hour race. “We are trying to be optimistic but, on pure pace, we are not there with Ferrari,” said Porsche driver Kevin Estre, who took fourth position aboard the […]
Fuoco explains secret behind «special» WEC Imola pole lap
The Italian explained how completing two warmup laps in the decisive Hyperpole session in his factory #50 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar allowed him to set two laps good enough to earn his first pole position since last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. He improved on his 1m29.735s lap time with a 1m29.466s that put […]
Peugeot ‘scratching their heads’ after poor Imola WEC qualifying in new-look 9X8
Jean-Eric Vergne insisted that he and the Peugeot Sport team left nothing on the table on the way to 15th position in the opening qualifying session, five places off the cut-off for the Hyperpole final. He added that only a small improvement would have been possible without the red flag two minutes before the end […]
BMW’s Vanthoor frustrated by «harsh red flag» call in Imola WEC qualifying
The Belgian was pushing for a place in the Hyperpole session ultimately topped by Antonio Fuoco in a Ferrari top three sweep when he rotated the WRT-run M Hybrid V8 on the exit of the fast Piratella left-hander. Read Also: Having avoided contact with the wall and got going again, Vanthoor felt the session was […]
Ferrari 1-2-3 in dominant qualifying feat
Antonio Fuoco set two laps good enough for pole position aboard the #50 factory 499P Le Mans Hypercar at the head of a block-out by the three Ferraris in the 10-minute Hyperpole session. The Italian jumped to the top of the times with a 1m29.735s before improving to a 1m29.466s right at the end. “I felt […]
Fuoco completes Ferrari’s practice sweep in red-flagged FP3
Having also set the fastest time in Friday’s second practice, Fuoco’s factory Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar carried on where it left off on Saturday morning with a lap of 1m31.272s that was not surpassed before Paul di Resta beached the #94 Peugeot 9X8 LMH in the gravel at the Rivazza left-hander in the final […]
«More time» needed for BMW to emulate Porsche WEC win with LMDh
The triple DTM champion believes that the victory achieved by Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the Qatar 1812km season-opener gives BMW «hope» in the first year of its WEC programme with the M Hybrid V8 run by WRT. But he stressed that following a best result of 10th […]
Why Imola could bring “more chaos” to the WEC
Following a season-opening race in Qatar that ran without interruption from safety cars, there is widespread expectation that Imola’s tight and undulating nature may conspire to produce incidents that the open, flowing nature of the Losail International Circuit helped negate. Imola, which has replaced Monza as the host of Italy’s WEC round for 2024 on […]