Wec in Imola, great Italy: Giovinazzi and Valentino Rossi on pole

Imola, April 19 – The Doctor’s signature. Number 46 on poleValentino Rossi's exploit arrives in Imola aboard his BMW M4 GT3 Evon. 46 of Team Wrt. It is the first time that Vale has qualified ahead of everyone in the second category of the Wec, the endurance world championship in which he made his debut last season. Rossi's lap deserves applause, with an eloquent time of 1'42”355 that is worth the first place on the grid, 306 thousandths ahead of the Lexus RC F GT3 number 87 of Clemens Schmid and the Aston Martin Vantage AMR EVO GT3 number 27 of Zacharie Robichon. Valentino had said yesterday that he was a bit afraid of the rain, and under today's sun he was able to show off his class. Tomorrow, in the 6 Hours, he will be able to repeat himself by going in search of a great result. Then come the stages of Spa and the queen of Le Mans: a great dream of the great champion of two wheels who also dictates the law behind the wheel. With the BMW of Team Wrt things are going well and there is talk of renewing the contract. In the meantime, Valentino is enjoying Imola, where he has already received the embrace of the fans in the preview of the 6 Hours on Thursday and on the day of free practice, yesterday. Last year he came in third and you can bet that a similar placing will never happen to him again. enough. The forecast for tomorrow (start at 13 pm) says rain is possible only in the evening, and the conditions could therefore be favorable for an assault race, without too many unknowns.

Then, after half an hour, the big lap in the most anticipated category, that of the Hypercars, with Antonio Giovinazzi. It's the second pole after the debut in Qatar. "I really didn't expect to celebrate a pole with Valentino, who I supported so much when he was racing on a motorbike", says Giovinazzi, dripping with emotion. "I overcame the risk of the track limit, the team did a fantastic job - says the Apulian rider -. Being in front is important because it's difficult to overtake here, even if the weather is still an unknown". The time of the number 51 Rossa shared with Pier Guidi and Calado, 1'28"920, is a lot. In the front row the other Ferrari 499P, the yellow '83' Af Corse of Kubica, Ye and Hanson whose engine had given up in the morning, detached by 0''758. It was an uphill race for the number 50 Rossa winner in Qatar, which with Fuoco had achieved the third time in the qualifying sessions before the Hyper pole: two track limits exceeded relegated the car also driven by Molina and Nielsen to eighteenth position. But Ferrari, with a front row taken by force in front of, can still dream. BMW and Toyota were detached yesterday by nine tenths and one second and one respectively.