The Ferrari 499Ps are back in the spotlight as they gear up for the second act of the 2024 World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Imola, set to take place over the weekend of 21 April. The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari hosts an FIA WEC race for the first time in history.
Fifty days after the season opener in Qatar, where the Ferrari – AF Corse team clinched a sixth and twelfth place with the number 50 and 51 cars respectively, the official 499Ps will tackle the Italian track for the 6 Hours of Imola, aiming to secure valuable points for the Drivers' and Manufacturers' world championship standings. This is the aim of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, sharing the Hypercar that sports the number 50 on its livery, along with world championship protagonists Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi, driving the sister car numbered 51.
For the Prancing Horse Hypercars, as expected, this event marks their inaugural official race on the ups and downs of the renowned circuit, situated just under 90 kilometres from Maranello, and bearing the name “Enzo and Dino Ferrari” since 1988.
Also gracing the stage of the Italian event of the World Endurance Championship will be AF Corse’s 499P number 83, decked out in Giallo Modena livery, with the Maranello manufacturer’s official drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman behind the wheel, accompanied by Robert Kubica. The crew finished in fourth place overall in the 1812 Km race in Qatar and took second place in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams, the standings reserved for independent teams.
The weekend’s programme gets underway from Friday 19 April with the first two free practice sessions, each 90 minutes long, from 12 p.m. and 5.15 p.m.; on Saturday 20, there will be a 60-minute Free Practice 3 from 11.10 a.m., followed by Qualifying, scheduled from 3.05 p.m.: the best ten cars will then access the Hyperpole from 3.45 p.m., which will determine the first five rows of the starting grid. The 6 Hours of Imola will kick off on Sunday 21 April at 1 p.m. (times indicated are local).