Antonio Giovinazzi scored back-to-back Imola pole positions this afternoon, as the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P driver triumphed in a thrilling Hyperpole session ahead of tomorrow’s FIA World Endurance Championship season opener.
Giovinazzi was the final driver to take the chequered flag in the 10-minute Hypercar Hyperpole session, with his 1:30.127 good enough to vault from third to first and claim pole position by just 0.011 seconds.
Moments earlier, Toyota Racing appeared to have stolen an upset pole, as Ryo Hirakawa jumped to the top of the times in the #8 TR010 Hybrid with a 1:30.138.
Hirakawa displaced Antonio Fuoco, who in turn had only just beaten Giovinazzi’s initial effort, with the #50 Ferrari having to eventually settle for third, 0.040 seconds off pole. Malthe Jakobsen was fourth in the #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8, 0.072 seconds back from Giovinazzi’s time.
Norman Nato, on qualifying duty with Cadillac Hertz Team Jota for the first time, placed the #12 V-Series.R an impressive fifth, ahead of the #7 Toyota, #35 Alpine Endurance Team A424, #83 Ferrari and pair of BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8s.
With just 0.674 seconds covering the top 10, this afternoon set a new record for the closest top 10 of the Hyperpole era, surpassing the 0.688-second spread of Fuji 2024.
Of those that missed out on Hyperpole, likely the most disappointed will be Jules Gounon, who came up 0.038 seconds shy of progressing in the #36 Alpine.
The Frenchman qualified 11th, ahead of the #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie, #38 Cadillac, #009 Aston Martin and #93 Peugeot.
Genesis Magma Racing rounded out the Hypercar field, with the #19 GMR-001 of Mathieu Jaminet heading the sister #17 entry of André Lotterer. Jaminet was only 1.170 seconds of Fuoco’s qualifying-topping 1:30.088, in a promising first showing from the Korean marque.
And in LMGT3, Garage 59 scored a sensational pole position on its FIA WEC debut, after rookie Tom Fleming set a 1:41.181 in Hyperpole aboard the #10 McLaren LMGT3 Evo.
The Briton went fastest on his first flying lap, with a 1:41.555, before improving further on his next lap as he recorded his eventual pole-winning time.
“It’s a great feeling,” Fleming told FIA WEC TV. “Garage 59 have done an outstanding job, all throughout the winter. McLaren and themselves have worked extremely hard to give us the best possible car, and I definitely pulled the pin during qualifying and put a couple of laps together.”
Behind, four different drivers enjoyed spells on the provisional front row, as they all tried, but ultimately failed, to challenge Fleming.
The best of them, 0.226 seconds down, was the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3 of Hadrien David, ahead of the sister #87 Lexus of Clemens Schmid, who compromised two of his timed laps with a run through the gravel at Rivazza.
Team WRT’s pair of BMW M4 LMGT3 Evos came next, headed by the #69 of Parker Thompson, with the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 completing the top six.
Racing Team Turkey by TF’s Peter Dempsey comfortably led qualifying in the #34 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, but co-driver Salih Yoluç was unable to repeat this form in Hyperpole. The Turkish driver went off on his final flying lap, bringing out the red flags and consigning the #34 Corvette to 10th on the grid.
Below the cutline, late improvements from the #87 Leuxs of Petru Umbrarescu and, critically, the #10 McLaren of Antares Au, meant that Yasser Shahin fell to 11th as the chequered flag was waving aboard the #92 Manthey The Bend Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) LMGT3.
The Australian was only 0.015 seconds behind teammate James Cottingham, but this tiny margin proved to be critical.
Heart of Racing, meanwhile, was the only outfit not to place either car into Hyperpole. Ian James qualified 12th in the #27 Aston Martin Vantage, with Gray Newell set to start from 15th on his FIA WEC debut tomorrow.
Garage 59’s Alexander West had a challenging session in the #58 McLaren, with contact with Dempsey on his out lap and later a spin, both at Rivazza 1, hampering him on his way to 16th.
More to follow…
The 2026 FIA World Endurance championship begins tomorrow with the 6 Hours of Imola, which is set to start at 13:00 CEST.
Image courtesy of Andrew Lofthouse