Peugeot takes pole position at Imola!

Müller and Long quickest in LM GTE

The first 20-minute qualifying session for the Imola 6 Hours began at 14h00 with 14 LM GTE Pros and 8 GTE Ams taking part. The no. 55 BMW M3 n°55 and the no. 63 Porsche 911 RSR n°63 set the quickest times in their respective categories .

Frédéric Makowiecki ( no. 59 Luxury Racing Ferrari F458 Italia) was the first to set a benchmark time in LM GTE Pro before being beaten by Jörg Müller (no. 55 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 n°55). The second Bavarian car of Dirk Werner (no. 56 BMW Motorsport BMW M3) quickly jumped up to third.

Local hero, Giancarlo Fisichella (no. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia) did not manage to match these times and took fifth while BMW Motorsport continued to improve. The former F1 driver finished in seventh place.

The final flying laps did not modify the hierarchy and Jörg Müller held on to the fastest time in the session from his team-mate, Dirk Werner. The order behind the two BMW M3s was Jaime Melo (no. 71 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia ), Frédéric Makowiecki (no. 59 Luxury Racing Ferrari F458 Italia) and Rob Bell (no. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia) . The 3 Ferraris were separated by less than 3/10s!

En LM GTE Am, Porsche dominated the session from the start with Nicolas Armindo (no. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 RSR), then Patrick Long (no. 63 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR). The American improved his time without being challenged by his rivals and finished in the middle of the LM GTE Pros. Italian Marco Cioci (no. 61 AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT) set the second-best time in front of Michele Rugolo (no. 57 Krohn Racing Ferrari F430 GT).

Peugeot takes pole position at Imola!

The duel continues between Peugeot and Audi. The 2 Peugeot 908s and the 2 Audi R18 TDIs will line up on either side of the grid for the Imola 6 Hours. Anthony Davidson (no. 7 Peugeot 908) bagged pole ahead of Marcel Fässler (no. 1 Audi R18 TDI), Stéphane Sarrazin (no. 8 Peugeot 908 n°8) and Allan McNish (no. 2 Audi R18 TDI n°2).

Marcel Fässler, the 2011 Le Mans winner topped the time sheets in the first half of the session in front of Anthony Davidson, Allan McNish and Stéphane Sarrazin. With 4 drivers chasing pole the pace increased in the last 10 minutes. Davidson was the first to crack the 1m 32s barrier with a lap in 1m 31.736s, a time that remained unbeaten.

Behind the 4 diesels, Guillaume Moreau (no. 15 Oak Racing Oak Pescarolo – Judd) emerged victorious in a tough battle in the petrol-engined brigade from Neel Jani (no. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60-Toyota coupe) and the sister car, no. 13, of Andrea Belicchi.

The Oreca chassis dominated in the LM P2 category with Mathias Beche (no. 46 TDS Racing) setting the fastest time from Dominik Kraihamer (no. 45 Boutsen Energy Racing). On his final flyer, Danny Watts (Strakka Racing) snatched third place in his HPD ARX – 01d from Soheil Ayari (no. 26 Signatech Nissan n°26) preventing an Oreca triple.
Genoa Racing came out on top in the Formula Le Mans battle. Elton Julian was less than 2/10s quicker than Nicolas Marroc (JMB Racing). Patrick Simon (Pegasus Racing) completed the top three.