After Ferrari’s dominant performance in Qualifying today at Imola, which saw its trio of 499Ps lock out the front row and take third spot on the grid, there was plenty of head-scratching in the post-session mixed zone from drivers that failed to make Hyperpole.
The fight for pole in WEC is more competitive than ever with such a deep top class. As a result, the factory teams in particular are having to learn to accept that in a BoP formula like this one, disappointing results are an inevitability. But that doesn’t mean the drivers who failed to make the shootout appeared any less dejected when they faced the media in the aftermath this afternoon.
So what stood out from the timing sheets? First up, Alpine, with its pair of A424s ending up 17th and 18th.
Nicolas Lapierre, who qualified 18th in the #36 with a lap 2.5 seconds off the pole time, was downbeat but at least felt clear on the areas that the car is losing time each lap.
“We have struggled, it’s such a difficult track for us,” he told DSC. “We didn’t think we could get to Hyperpole, though we thought we would be closer than this. We lack a bit of power and riding the kerbs is hard for us. We have to investigate but that’s where we lose the most.”
In Qatar, the A424 proved to be the best of the new cars, with a seventh-place finish from the #35. Yet here in Imola, racing on a circuit that, admittedly is vastly different to the billard table smooth Lusail circuit, it has struggled all week.
What does the team expect from race day? “I think our race pace will be stronger,” Lapierre said. “The issue is that it’s so narrow and hard to overtake. We just have to stay calm, as it will be eventful. We want to get back in the top 10.”
It’s a similar story at Peugeot TotalEnergies, as its brand new 9X8s were forced to settle with 14th and 15th on the grid, after both cars set times two seconds off Fuoco up front. Though it would be unfair to expect the team to turn a corner immediately with the introduction of its new car.
“We are a bit disappointed because we are quite far off with both cars,” said #94 driver Stoffel Vandoorne, who suggests that the BoP for the event is partially to blame. “We didn’t really get any help with the numbers we have to work with in weight and power. We are on the least favourable side of that, which is not helping. The car didn’t feel too bad though, even though we’ve struggled to switch on tyres on during out laps like Ferrari and Porsche.”
It wasn’t all negative though. When asked if the new car – with its wider rear tyres and new aero concept – continues to perform better than the previous 9X8 on bumpy circuits like this one, the Belgian sang its praises.
“The new car is definitely a lot nicer at a track like this, it feels like an actual race car. I don’t know how the old one would have been here, but it wouldn’t have been favourable.”
Cadillac’s Alex Lynn meanwhile, was particularly downbeat in his analysis of Qualifying, telling DSC that his ability to make it into the Hyperpole shootout was not hindered by the red flag with two minutes remaining in Qualifying. Instead, he feels the Ganassi team has simply struggled to find an optimal set-up, despite having testing at the circuit last year.
The stoppage, which came after Dries Vanthoor’s spin, abruptly ended several promising flying laps from drivers on the bubble, though Lynn felt it didn’t ultimately lead to the Cadillac missing out on a shot at pole.
“The red didn’t affect us at all really,” he said. “With a two-second gap to Ferrari, I don’t think there is anywhere in particular we are losing time. I don’t think our long-run pace will be outstandingly different either right now. I think we can score points, that and having a clean race has got to be the goal.”
The frustration is that Cadillac knows it has a strong car. Over in IMSA, Action Express and Ganassi Racing have proven that it is a winner, yet into Year 2 it is still waiting for a true breakout result. Qualifying 12th on the grid will come as a particularly tough pill to swallow for Cadillac’s WEC outfit today too, as overnight the Action Express V-Series.R paced the field in Long Beach GTP Qualifying.
The chasing pack in LMGT3 appear to feel much the same, following Alex Malykhin taking his first WEC pole for Pure Rxcing by more than half a second, driving a Porsche loaded-up success ballast following the team’s win in Qatar.
Manthey and Pure Rxcing appear to be clear favourites once again. Though much of this success is owed to the ability of Malykhin, who is – you have to say unsurprisingly – proving to be the standout Bronze in this field.
Nevertheless, Heart of Racing’s Ian James, who qualified second in the #27 Aston Martin Vantage, remains positive ahead of the race, even though he expected there to be a gap in Qualifying.
“The pace for us was very promising, the car was really good in Hyperpole, it’s consistent and gives me confidence,” he said.
“The biggest challenge for me is trying to gauge where the track limits are. It’s very ambiguous where the limit is here, especially at the 14-15 Chicane. The success ballast we are carrying doesn’t hurt us much in Qualifying with low fuel, but it may do in the race.
“As for Alex, that lap is kind of what I expected. Last weekend he was racing in the Pro class of World Challenge, so he’s probably a bit of an anomaly here, he’s an outlier but we will keep our heads down and race.”
WRT’s Darren Leung, who qualified fourth in the #31 BMW, shared his sentiment. He too wasn’t surprised the Porsche took pole, and feels his team can make progress in the race when tyre life and drive time strategy comes into play.
“It helps when you like the circuit, and this feels like one of the UK’s tight tracks with not a lot of runoff. I’m naughty usually for overdriving on entries, but that kind of works in your favour here,” he said.
“This race will come down to being incident-free and consistent. Fortunately, we are one of the best teams in pit stop time which will help.”
Tyre strategy in particular could be fascinating to monitor tomorrow. Of the teams DSC has polled this weekend opinions are split on whether or not triple stinting the Goodyear rubber to save time on pit lane will be possible.
Multiple teams remain adamant it won’t be an option, with one telling DSC “It can’t be done.” Others are more open to the idea, including Pure Rxcing and WRT.
“The tyres have been good here. I think we’ve tried them over two and a half stints and to be honest, the car and tyre felt good,” Leung teased. “I can’t see why it wouldn’t be possible for some cars…”
Images courtesy of FIA WEC & Peugeot
