QUALIFYING: Pourchaire Claims Pole in Thrilling Wet Qualifying at Imola
With the track still wet from the earlier rain but it was starting to dry out, the teams all elected to use Goodyear wets with the no18 IDEC Sport with Daniel Juncadella at the wheel setting the early pace.However, the times started to tumble as the track dried, with Pourchaire going to the top of the times with a 1m46.163 before being pushed down the order by the no9 Iron Lynx-Proton of Maceo Capietto and no18 IDEC Sport in quick succession.
On the next lap Pourchaire crossed the line in 1m44.476 and then improved again to a 1m44.129.
With three minutes left on the clock the no37 CLX Motorsport Oreca, with Tristan Vautier at the wheel, went off at T7 and the red flags were deployed to recover the car from the gravel.
The session resumed for one final lap and with a visible dry line the times were going to be quicker than the current provisional pole.
The no22 United Autosports Oreca was the first across the line in a 1m41.412 but was quickly pushed off the top in quick succession by Capietto in the no9 Iron Lynx-Proton, Filipe Albuquerque in the no24 Nielsen Racing and the no34 Inter Europol Competition of Luca Ghiotto. But all eyes were on the no25 Algarve Pro Racing and Pourchaire crossed the line in 1m37.919, 0.971s ahead of the rest.
The no25 Algarve Pro Racing will be joined by the no34 Inter Europol Competition, with the no9 Iron Lynx-Proton and no43 Inter Europol Competition filling row 2. Row three is filled by the no30 Duqueine Team and the no24 Nielsen Racing.
LMP2 Pro/Am: Giorgio Roda Blitzes Delayed Qualifying Session
After a 65-minute delay due to heavy rain flooding the track, the LMP2 Pro/Am session got underway with heavy spray being kicked up from the Goodyear Eagle wet tyres.Giorgio Roda has been the driver to beat in qualifying and once again proved to be up to the challenge in the difficult conditions.
The no77 Proton Competition Oreca-Gibson set an initial provisional pole position time of 1m53.136, over three seconds faster than the nearest rival, the no3 DKR Engineering of Giorgios Kolovos.
On the next lap Roda lowered the time by a big margin when the Italian crossed the line in the no77 Oreca in 1m50.254, leaving the rest of the field to squabble over the minor placings on the class grid for tomorrow’s 4 Hours of Imola.
However, Roda wasn’t done and with 4 minutes left on the clock he posted a 1m47.528s, 2.9 seconds ahead of the no99 AO by TF Oreca of 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 Pro/Am winner PJ Hyett.
With two minutes left the no27 Nielsen Racing Oreca driven by Tony Wells, spun off into the gravel at T11/T12 and the session was red flagged.
The no77 Proton Competition and no99 AO by TF will start on the front row of the LMP2 Pro/Am grid with the no3 DKR Engineering and no27 Nielsen Racing on row 2.
LMP3: Three from Three for CLX Motorsport as Storm Hits Imola
The no17 CLX Motorsport Liger will start from pole position for tomorrow’s 4 Hours of Imola with Theodor Jensen setting one fast lap before heavy rain stopped all further improvements.
Jensen’s lap of 1m45.844 was 0.755s faster than the rest of the field, with the no11 Eurointernational finishing on the front row after Ian Aguilera posted a 1m46.599. The no68 M Racing Ligier will head Row 2, 0.49s ahead of the no4 DKR Engineering Ginetta, which finished the session in 4thplace with a 1m47.765.
LMGT3: Iron Lynx Take Pole for Home Race
The no63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG will start the 4 Hours of Imola at the front of the LMGT3 field with Martin Berry claiming pole for the second time in three races.
With rain clouds threatening, the 15-minute session got underway with the no59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin of Clement Mateu taking pole position with the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 of Takeshi Kimura keeping in close contact.
On the third lap the no63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG popped to the top of the timing screens after Martin Berry posted a 1m43.799, with Celia Martin in the no85 Iron Dames Porsche going up to second place before being bumped down to third by the no59 Aston Martin.
With just over 6 minutes left on the clock the no50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari driven by Custodio Toledo went off into the gravel at Turn 9 and the red flag had to bring the session to a halt as the car was deep in the gravel.
The car was recovered and the session resumed.Clement Mateu and Celia Martin both improved their times before the chequered flag but they both stayed in second and third respectively, with the no63 Mercedes-AMG taking pole.
Results are HERE
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