Antonio Giovinazzi has redeemed himself from his last appearance in Austin with a Formula 1 car taking pole position at the WEC Lone Star Le Mans. The #51 Ferrari was fastest in the sixth round of the season and will start tomorrow from pole position with the #83 AF Corse just behind. Miguel Molina’s #50 Ferrari will start in fifth place, but with its main rivals, the #6 Porsche and the #8 Toyota, well behind.
Austin hosts the sixth round of the WEC season and a very important one in choosing the final title contenders. The American track returns to the World Endurance Championship after a four-year absence, caused in part by the pandemic. The last visit was just before Covid-19 hit the planet, in February 2020.
Austin was set to have one less Hypercar in qualifying, given that Isotta Fraschini announced last week that it was withdrawing from the remainder of the season due to budget problems. The number of manufacturers in the Championship, in its premier class, is now down to eight, although all of them are keen to shine on the popular Texas circuit.
The classification was led by Ferrari, with both of its works cars advancing to the HyperPole without any problems. The AF Corse, with Robert Kubica at the wheel, was also up there, together with the Cadillac. The big surprise was the elimination of the Porsche #6, with Kévin Estre classified fourteenth. The Toyota #8 that won by more than a minute in Brazil was also knocked out in a completely unexpected way.
Both BMWs made it into the top ten and entered the fight for pole, as did the #35 Alpine. The #36, in which Mick Schumacher qualified, finished thirteenth, three tenths of a second off the ‘Top 10’ that the French firm has so long struggled to achieve. Bruno Famin, who has now left his role as team boss in Formula 1, was present in Austin to keep a close eye on the Resistencia team.
In the HyperPole, Alpine had a bit of a scare with Charles Milesi. A great lap by the young Frenchman put the French firm in first place for a few minutes, but it was all a matter of waiting for Ferrari. Giovinazzi, at the wheel of the #51, only needed one lap to clearly beat that time.
Giovinazzi set a 1’50″390, which would have earned him pole position. The Italian redeemed himself for what happened in his last appearance in Austin, where he had an accident in Free Practice 1 of the Formula 1 United States GP with Haas. That was his last session in the top category, but he made the most of the experience he has from having raced there previously to set the best time.
Another Austin racer, Kubica, put AF Corse in second place, with Alex Lynn third in the Cadillac. Milesi’s lap earned Alpine fourth place, with the #50 Ferrari in fifth, just ahead of the #5 Porsche. The two BMWs were seventh and eighth, ahead of the #7 Toyota, and the #12 Jota, which narrowly made it into the HyperPole, was tenth.
In LMGT3, Àlex Riberas’ #27 Aston Martin took pole position, with Ian James at the wheel. In this category, with classifications reserved for bronze drivers or better known as gentleman drivers, the local driver was the fastest. This is the first time they will start at the front, beating the Iron Dames by a tenth and a half seconds. The class leaders, the #92 Porsche, will start tomorrow in fourth place.
