The two Porsche 963s fielded by Porsche Penske Motorsport will take up the 6-hour race in Imola from the middle of the top Hypercar category. In qualifying on the Italian Grand Prix circuit, the two Frenchmen Kévin Estre and Julien Andlauer finished eighth and twelfth. Estre then finished tenth in the Hyperpole session. In the LMGT class, the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Manthey 1st Phorm secured seventh place on the grid.

The battle for the starting order for the 6-hour race of the FIA World Endurance Championship took place in Imola in sunny conditions and temperatures of just over 20 degrees Celsius. World champion Estre in the No. 6 Porsche 963 set the eighth fastest time in the first section of the two-part time race. This made it into the final hyperpole of the top ten. The Frenchman finished the ten-minute session in tenth place. In the race, Estre shares the 503 kW (684 hp) hybrid prototype with Belgian Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell from Australia.

Teammate Andlauer was unlucky with the number 5 sister car in the hard-fought qualifying: The Frenchman missed out on a place in the Hyperpole by 0.068 seconds. Together with his compatriot Mathieu Jaminet and Michael Christensen from Denmark, the 25-year-old will start the second race of the FIA WEC season from twelfth place.

"To have reached the top 10 with just one race car is not exactly a desired result for us," Urs Kuratle sums up. The Head of Factory Motorsport LMDh adds: "In the Hyperpole, Kévin Estre then had a small slide in the first corner on his fastest lap. Something like that can happen. So we start from positions ten and twelve. In a race over six hours, a lot is still possible. Our team works excellently. We want to move forward on Sunday."

"Kévin Estre and Julien Andlauer did a good job and each made the most of our current opportunities," said Jonathan Diuguid, Executive Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. We are a bit too slow at the moment compared to the competition. There is some homework on our table. We now have to deliver a squeaky clean performance on race day to move forward – we want to score as many world championship points as possible here."

The Proton Competition customer team tackles the six-hour competition on Easter Sunday from 14th place. In qualifying, Nico Varrone drove the No. 99 Porsche 963. In the race, the Argentine shares the work with the Swiss Neel Jani and Nico Pino from Chile.

LMGT3 class: Best Porsche 911 GT3 R in seventh place on the grid

In the LMGT3 class, the Manthey 1st Phorm team delivered a solid performance. American Ryan Hardwick finished eighth in qualifying, bringing the No. 92 car into the Hyperpole session. For the final shootout, local hero Riccardo Pera took over the Porsche 911 GT3 R with up to 416 kW (565 hp). The Italian set the seventh-fastest lap time in the Hyperpole. The identical nine-eleven from Iron Dames starts from 14th place. France's Célia Martin missed out on a place in the top 10 by just 0.137 seconds at the wheel of the No. 85 car.

Round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season kicks off on Sunday, 20 April at 13:00 local time (CEST) and will run for six hours.

Curbs in focus: Flying cars and unwanted power peaks

The Grand Prix circuit in Imola, which opened in 1952, is considered an old-school race track: small run-off zones, deep gravel beds and high kerbs are hardly forgiving of mistakes. The so-called "Kerbs" in particular pose major challenges for drivers and engineers alike. The tried-and-tested motorsport approach of "the shortest is the fastest" only applies to a limited extent here: in addition to the loads on tyres and suspension components, the maximum power specified by the regulations serves as a limiting factor.

"As soon as the driven rear axle lifts off when driving over a curb, the wheels continue to turn freely. This is not critical. It becomes difficult the moment the wheels come into contact with the road again," explains Stefan Moser, Technical Director LMDh. "The tyres suddenly have grip, which leads to torque peaks and vibrations in the drivetrain. This generates high deflections, measured by the obligatory torque sensor on the drive shafts.‟ The regulations limit the maximum power output of the Hypercar and LMGT3 cars. These values, measured at the drive axle, are monitored live during operation. If the prescribed limit is exceeded, penalties may be imposed.

"We have to use electronic control to ensure that the torque on the drive shafts remains within the legal framework at all times," Moser describes. A tricky task, especially since the rule guardians also monitor the differential. Only very rarely do both rear wheels touch down at the same time after jumping over a curb. The result: one wheel regains grip earlier than the other. The power peaks are therefore one-sided. "This makes the challenge even greater from a technical point of view. We're always learning more and more in this regard," says the Porsche Motorsport engineer.

Drivers' comments after qualifying

Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #5): "A lot of cars are in a tight time corridor. A tenth of a second can make up five positions or even more. In such a close battle, there's always the question of how much you push yourself to the limit without going over the track limits. After my first attempt, I wanted to push a little more. But at this point, the rear tires were already degrading a bit, and I also ran into other vehicles. We'll give everything from twelfth on the grid to make up a lot of positions."

Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): "We made it into the Hyperpole. That was a bit better than on the first WEC race weekend in Qatar. Nevertheless, compared to others, we lack performance. That's disappointing. Tenth place does not offer us an ideal starting position. We have to deliver a flawless race, take all the chances that come our way and score as many world championship points as possible."

Nico Varrone (Porsche 963 #99): "We didn't do any tests here in Imola. Therefore, we had to use the free practice sessions to get on the right track in terms of setup. We managed to do that despite a few setbacks. Qualifying went quite well: We're not far away from the Porsche Penske Motorsport works cars. We want to pick up points tomorrow."

Célia Martin (Porsche 911 GT3 R #85): "I'm not completely satisfied, but I'm not totally dissatisfied either. The cars in our class were all very close together. I might have had to go closer to the limit a little earlier. Unfortunately, overtaking on this narrow track is very difficult. But I see it as a positive thing that I'm in the middle of it as a newcomer. Now let's take a look at the race. Things can go much better on Sunday."

Riccardo Pera (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): "Qualifying was okay, our Porsche 911 GT3 R felt very good. I gave it my all. Not much more was within reach. Seventh place is significantly better than last time in Qatar. I wish for a race without big dramas. Then let's see what comes out of it after six hours. I'm in good spirits."

Results Qualifying

Hypercar class:
1st Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi (ITA/GBR/ITA), Ferrari #51, 1:28.920s
2nd Kubica/Ye/Hanson (POL/CHN/GBR), Ferrari #83, 1:29.678s 3rd
D. Vanthoor/Marciello/Magnussen (BEL/ITA/DNK), BMW #15, 1:29.885s
10th Campbell/Estre/Vanthoor (AUS/FRAU/BEL), Porsche 963 #6, 1:30.815s
12th Andlauer/Christensen/Jaminet (FRAU/DNK/FRA), Porsche 963 #5, 1:30.862 minutes
14 Jani/Pino/Varrone (SUI/CHL/ARG), Porsche 963 #99, 1:31.382 minutes

LMGT3 class:

1. Al Harthy/Rossi/van der Linde (OMA/ITA/RSA), BMW #46, 1:42.355 minutes
2. Umbrarescu/Schmid/Lopez (ROM/AUT/ARG), Lexus #87, 1:42.661 minutes
3. James/Robichon/Drudi (USA/CDN/ITA), Aston Martin #27, 1:42.703 minutes
7. Hardwick/Lietz/Pera (USA/AUT/ITA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 1:43.376 minutes
14. Frey/Gatting/Martin (SUI/DNK/FRA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #85, 1:44.440 minutes

All results and championship standings at https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com.