No.50 Ferrari takes home pole for WEC 6 Hours of Monza
Antonio Fuoco has given the No.50 Ferrari a home pole position for the World Endurance Championship (WEC) finale at Monza. He was less than a tenth quicker than Mathieu Jaminet in the No.19 Genesis, who was in turn less than a tenth quicker than the No.38 Cadillac of Earl Bamber in what was a damp session.
As it happened
Qualifying
12 minutes on the clock to decide the top 10 who would go and fight it out for pole, identical to the LMGT3 sessions that preceded the Hypercars. This one, however, had free driver choice, so it was two fully pro sessions.
Unlike the GTs, which got straight to business on the damp track, the slicks on the Hypercars would take much longer to heat up. That showed, with cars still weaving around after five minutes of the session elapsed.
Once they stopped weaving though, the laps came thick and fast. Charles Milesi went top in the No.35 Alpine briefly, before the rest of the pack, led by the No.50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, and then the No.20 BMW of Sheldon van der Linde.
Down in the drop zone at this stage was the No.17 Genesis, No.15 BMW, No.38 Cadillac, No.51 Ferrari, No.007 Aston Martin and both Toyotas, with the No.7 in last place with three and a half minutes remaining in the session.
Antonio Giovinazzi went second in the No.51, making it a Ferrari 1-2-3 at the top, but more crucially getting out of the drop zone. Both Genesis cars soon moved up to second and third though, with the No.38 Cadillac also improving into the top 10.
Ryo Hirakawa in the No.8 Toyota finally managed to get out of the elimination zone, going eighth place with 90 seconds to do. Theo Pourchaire imprvoed from the bottom to third place, which knocked both BMWs out.
Both Alpines were in the drop zone, and improved to seventh and eighth, which put the No.93 Peugeot and the No.8 Toyota back into 11th and 12th.
The clock ticked to 0, and the first car across the line was Kamui Kobayashi in the No.7 Toyota, who couldn't do enough to get into the top 10, neither could the No.007 Aston Martin. Van der Linde in the No.20 BMW shot up the order to sixth, knocking the No.009 Aston Martin out.
The No.93 Peugeot of Nick Cassidy went 10th, putting the No.35 Alpine out. Behind that, no one else could improve, so the Hyperpole field was decided.
Knocked out was the No.35 Alpine in 11th, ahead of the No.009 Aston Martin, No.17 Genesis, No.007 Aston Martin, the No.8 and No.7 Toyotas and the No.15 BMW rounding out the field. Both cars involved in the championship fight will start 15th and 16th respectively.
Fuoco topped the session in the No.50, ahead of Mathieu Jaminet in the No.19 Genesis. Then came the No.83 and No.51 Ferraris.
Hyperpole
17 became 10, with 10 minutes on the clock to decide pole position for the 6 Hours of Monza. The track was declared dry for Hyperpole, but it was still slippery in places and wet off-line.
With four mintues remaining, the weaving eventually calmed down and the laps began to come in. Earl Bamber was top in the No.38 Cadillac on a 1:36.6, ahead of the two factory Ferraris and the sister No.12.
Fuoco went straight into the 1:34s though, but Bamber hit back with a 1:34.1 of his own. Pourchaire in the No.94 Peugeot split the two in second place, with the Ferraris 3-4-5, No.83 ahead of No.50 and No.51.
Victor Martins went fourth splitting them, before Jaminet went sixth place in the No.19. Fuoco then found a 1:33.5 to go top, but Bamber managed to be just 0.026 of a second faster, with Pourchaire going just 0.05 futher behind in third. That trio was three tenths ahead of Martins, and the other two Ferraris.
Jaminet went quicker than the lot though, going 0.081 ahead of Bamber in the Genesis No.19. Fuoco improved to a tenth quicker than that though, with Bamber unable to improve on his final lap. Giovinazzi went fourth in the No.51 with Pourchaire in fifth.
Jaminet and Fuoco were able to get an extra lap though, so it was down to those two to fight it out. Jaminet was up in the middle sector, but he backed off in the final sector and came into the pits, handing Fuoco and Ferrari pole position.
Fuoco's No.50 took pole by 0.096s, ahead of Jaminet in the No.19 Genesis, Bamber in the No.38 and Giovinazzi in the No.51. The No.94 Peugeot was fifth, with the No.36 Alpine sixth. Then came the No.12 Cadillac, No.83 Ferrari, No.93 Peugeot and the No.20 BMW rounding out the top 10.
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