Today, the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola hosted the opening day of the Italian weekend of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. The track programme featured two free practice sessions with the Ferrari 499Ps, allowing the teams to begin preparations for Sunday’s 6 Hours of Imola. The Ferrari 499Ps led the standings in both rounds, with Antonio Fuoco recording the day’s best time during Free Practice 2.
Free Practice 1. During the 90-minute morning session, with an air temperature of 16.8°C and the tarmac at 29.4°C, AF Corse team’s 499P number 83 posted the best time of 1:31.347 (recorded by Prancing Horse official driver Yifei Ye) after completing ten laps.
The first official Ferrari, the 499P number 50 driven by Fuoco, Molina, and Nielsen, finished second, just 0.156 seconds behind the leader, thanks to the benchmark time set by the Italian driver. At the chequered flag, the other Ferrari – AF Corse 499P, car number 51, crewed by Pier Guidi, Calado, and Giovinazzi, recorded the fifth fastest overall time, trailing by 0.718 seconds with Giovinazzi setting their best time. The official Prancing Horse Hypercars completed a total of 40 laps.
Free Practice 2. The Ferrari - AF Corse team also received positive feedback in the afternoon session, which lasted one hour and 30 minutes. The session ended with the 499P number 50 in first position, thanks to Fuoco’s time of 1:30.957. The “sister” car, number 51, finished ninth, with Calado stopping the clock at 1:32.627. The Ferrari number 83 came third, 374 thousandths of a second behind the leaders. Maranello official driver Robert Shwartzman set the benchmark time for the AF Corse crew.
The programme. On Saturday, 20 April, following Free Practice 3 from 11.10 a.m. to 12.10 p.m., the Hypercars will return to the track at 3.05 p.m. for Qualifying. The ten fastest cars will then proceed to the Hyperpole at 3.45 p.m., which decides the starting grid for the first five rows of the 6 Hours of Imola. The race kicks off on Sunday, 21 April, at 1 p.m. (all times are local).