Toyota wins once again in Italy, but this time Ferrari has to cover its head in ashes for not having realized its competitiveness in a 6 Hours of Imola that was truly uncertain until the end.
The second seasonal round of the FIA World Endurance Championship was resolved only in the final stages and also recorded the success of the WRT BMW in the LMGT3 Class with the first podium conquered by Valentino Rossi.
HYPERCAR: Toyota beats Porsches
Toyota is celebrating on Ferrari's home ground and Maranello's regret lies in the choice to delay the tire change when the rain reached the Enzo and Dino Ferrari in the 4th hour of the race.
The time lost by the 499Ps on the slicks was perfectly seized by the Japanese as a chance to take the lead with the Michelin grooves and Kobayashi/Conway/De Vries achieved their first success of the season with their #7, fighting strenuously against the Porsches.
The official 963s of Team Penske also made the stop at the right time and Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor finished second with the #6, in the wake of the Toyota until the end, but with 5″ to serve as a penalty at the end for an overtaking carried out in Safety Car regime.
The podium is completed by the #5 of their teammates Christensen/Makowiecki/Campbell, while in Maranello a moving effort at the end by Antonio Fuoco is not enough to regain at least the Top3; the 499P #50 also shared by Molina/Nielsen came fourth, with the Calabrian getting rid of the Toyota #8 of Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa at the end, more in the shade than his fellow winners.
A good performance was completed by the BMW #20 of Van Der Linde/Frijns/Rast, at times competing for the podium and then dropping a couple of positions at the end on a dry track, followed by the Ferraris of Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi ( #51) and Ye/Kubica/Shwartzman, the latter eighth and winners of the private team category with their yellow #83 prepared by AF Corse.
The renewed Peugeot 9X8 #93 of Vergne/Muller/Jensen also scored points despite a cold sweat due to a small gearbox problem, and the Cadillac of Lynn/Bamber, decidedly in the shade compared to other outings.
Jota's Porsches remain outside the top ten, however on the podium of the private Hypercar teams with Button/Hanson/Rasmussen (#38) and Nato/Stevens/Ilott (#12), crossing the finish line in 11th and 14th position.
Among them are the Lamborghini SC63 of Iron Lynx which with Kvyat/Bortolotti/Mortara completed the race and brought home other data that will be useful in the future, and the Alpine #35 of Gounon/Milesi/Chatin, saved from a exit to 'Acque Minerali' during the 5th hour.
Peugeot #94 and Alpine #36 finish behind, while Isotta Fraschini manages to see the checkered flag despite suffering from her pace and a few too many mistakes made during the race.
Finally, the Porsche #99 of Proton Competition is knocked out.
#46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin
Photo by: Paolo Belletti
LMGT3: BMW-WRT dominates with joy for Valentino
In the LMGT3 Class, Team WRT took a one-two finish with its BMWs, as often happens, showing off its skill in managing delicate situations in the best possible way.
The winner is the M4 #31 of Leung/Gelael/Farfus thanks above all to the Brazilian's great driving turn, who managed to overtake the twin #46 driven on wet/damp asphalt by Maxime Martin and keeping him behind, until it was a Drive Through arrived to be served for an infringement committed under the Virtual Safety Car regime.
The large margin gained nevertheless allowed the Belgian to get on the podium, the first together with Valentino Rossi and Ahmad Al Harthy in the series, with third the Porsche #92 of Manthey Pure Rxcing in the hands of Malykhin/Sturm/Bachler who has to complain not not much, especially for the extra stop made to allow the Russian to complete the minimum driving time.
A good performance was brought home by the Ferrari 296 #55 designed by Vista AF Corse which Rovera/Mann/Heriau placed fourth thanks to the final overtakings of the usually wild Varese native against the Heart Of Racing Aston Martin #27 of the Riberas/Mancinelli/James trio and the #95 United Autosports McLaren in the hands of Sato/Pino/Caygill.
Behind we find the #82 Corvettes of Juncadella/Baud/Koizumi and #81 of Eastwood/Andrade/Van Rompuy, seventh and eighth respectively.
First points for the Proton Competition thanks to ninth place by Barker/Robichon/Harwick on the #77 Ford Mustang, the Top10 is completed by the #777 Aston Martin of Sorensen/Mateu/Bastard (D'Station Racing).
The Lexus of Akkodis-ASP and the Lamborghini of Iron Lynx-Iron Dames remain empty-handed, with the girls knocked out by an accident at the start.
The McLarens of United Autosports are also in the Top 10, with the #95 eighth and the #59 tenth, interspersed with the Ford Mustang #77 of Proton Competition.
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