Dakar News: Giovinazzi Claims Pole for Ferrari in WEC Thriller at COTA
(Austin, USA – WEC 2023) Ferrari driver Antonio Giovinazzi secured the Italian marque’s second World Endurance Championship (WEC) pole position of the season ahead of the Lone Star Le Mans race at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) on Sunday.
Giovinazzi clocked a blistering lap time of 1m50.390s in the Hyperpole session, leading the field by nearly three-tenths of a second in the formidable Ferrari 499P Hypercar. This performance continued Ferrari’s strong pace shown throughout the weekend, with Giovinazzi’s team-mate Robert Kubica joining him on the front row after a late improvement.
“We showed from FP1 that we have a fast car and I did two good laps in qualifying — I am very happy with that,” said a delighted Giovinazzi. “Our race pace also seems pretty good, so let’s finish the job tomorrow.”
The battle for the top positions was intense, with the Alpine A424 LMDh of Charles Milesi and the Cadillac V-Series.R of Alex Lynn rounding out the top four. Ferrari’s other entry, piloted by Antonio Fuoco, had to settle for fifth, unable to match the pace of its sister car.
In the highly competitive LMGT3 class, Ian James and the Heart of Racing Aston Martin squad secured their first pole position since joining the WEC last year, edging out the Iron Dames Lamborghini of Sarah Bovy.
The green flag for the Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race will drop at 13:00 local time on Sunday, and the #51 Ferrari driven by Giovinazzi will be aiming to translate its qualifying performance into a victory that could further boost Ferrari’s WEC title challenge.
Remember to follow all the latest updates from the thrilling WEC 2023 season, including the upcoming races at Spa and Le Mans, by keeping an eye on our dedicated Dakar News coverage.
🔗 Source