2024 6 Hours of Imola

The 2024 6 Hours of Imola will be an endurance sportscar racing event to be held on 21 April 2024, as the second of eight rounds of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. It will be the second running of the event, and the first running of the event as part of the World Endurance Championship.

The layout of the Imola Circuit, where the race will be held.

Background

The event was announced on 9 June 2023, during the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend. The Italian round of the World Endurance Championship was held at Monza in July between 2021 and 2023. To accommodate an additional non-European race, the Italian round was moved from July to April. Since the Monza circuit is currently undergoing upgrade works, the round was moved from Monza to Imola.^[1]

Prior to the race, Peugeot unveiled their updated Peugeot 9X8, including a rear wing and a change in tire size: the front tires having a diameter of 29 centimeters, and the rear tires having a diameter of 34 centimeters, aligning with the rest of the Hypercar field.^[2]

Entry list

Main article: 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship § Entries

The entry list was revealed on 2 April 2024, with 19 entries in the Hypercar category, and 18 entries in the LMGT3 category. In Hypercar, the No. 2 Cadillac Racing entry dropped from three to two drivers: Sébastien Bourdais will not drive for the team in Imola. Furthermore, Ferdinand Habsburg will be replaced by Jules Gounon in the No. 35 Alpine Endurance Team entry, since the former is still recovering from an injury.^[3] All other entered teams and drivers stayed the same as in Qatar.^[4][5]

Schedule

Date	Time (local: CEST)	Event
Friday, 19 April	12:00	Free Practice 1
	17:15	Free Practice 2
Saturday, 20 April	11:10	Free Practice 3
	14:45	Qualifying - LMGT3
	15:05	Hyperpole - LMGT3
	15:25	Qualifying - Hypercar
	15:45	Hyperpole - Hypercar
Sunday, 21 April	13:00	Race
Source:^[6]

Practice

There are three practice sessions scheduled to be held preceding the start of the race on Sunday: two on Friday and one on Saturday. The session on Friday afternoon lasted 90 minutes, The Friday evening session is scheduled for 90 minutes, and the final session on Saturday morning is scheduled for 60 minutes.^[6]

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 12:00 CEST on Friday. Yifei Ye was quickest in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, with a lap time of 1:31.347. Antonio Fuoco ended up second fastest in the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse entry, with Mikkel Jensen in the No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies entry in third.^[7] LMGT3 was led by Daniel Juncadella in the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette, lapping the circuit in 1 minute and 42.113 seconds, with team mate Charlie Eastwood in the No. 81 Corvette second, 0.606s behind. Davide Rigon was third-quickest in the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, 0.858s slower than Juncadella.^[8] The session saw one red flag, after Jean-Éric Vergne's No. 93 Peugeot suddenly stopped on-track.^[9]

Class	No.	Entrant	Driver	Time
Hypercar	83	AF Corse	Yifei Ye	1:31.347
LMGT3	82	TF Sport	Daniel Juncadella	1:42.113
Source:^[10]^[11]

• Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.

Practice 2

The second practice session took place at 17:15 CEST on Friday. Fuoco was quickest in the No. 50 Ferrari with a lap time of 1:30.957. Kévin Estre was second in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry, 0.342s behind. Robert Shwartzman ended up third in the No. 83 Ferrari.^[12] Eastwood was quickest in LMGT3 in the No. 81 Corvette, with a lap of 1:41.986, which was 0.187s faster than Alessio Rovera's lap in the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari. Juncadella was third-quickest in the No. 82 Corvette.^[13]

Class	No.	Entrant	Driver	Time
Hypercar	50	Ferrari AF Corse	Antonio Fuoco	1:30.957
LMGT3	81	TF Sport	Charlie Eastwood	1:41.986
Source:^[14]^[15]

• Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.

Final practice

The second practice session will start at 11:10 CEST on Saturday.

References

1. Mitchell, Rory (9 June 2023). "WEC to visit Imola and Qatar for the first time in 2024". RacingNews365. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
2. Klein, Jamie (25 March 2024). "Peugeot Reveals Updates 9X8 2024 Car". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
3. Euwema, Davey (15 April 2024). "Gounon to Stand In for Habsburg at Imola". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
4. Klein, Jamie (2 April 2024). "Two-Driver Cadillac Lineup Confirmed for Imola". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
5. Kilbey, Stephen (2 April 2024). "37 Cars Set For 6H Imola, Cadillac Down To Two Drivers". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
6. "2024 Imola - FIA World Endurance Championship". fiawec.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
7. Watkins, Gary (19 April 2024). "WEC Imola: Ye fastest to lead Ferrari 1-2 in practice". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
8. Kilbey, Stephen (19 April 2024). "#83 AF Corse Ferrari Tops FP1". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
9. Euwema, Davey (19 April 2024). "Ye Leads Ferrari 1-2 in Imola FP1". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
10. "03_Classification_Free Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
11. "07_FastestLapByDriver_Free Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
12. Euwema, Davey (19 April 2024). "Fuoco Keeps Ferrari On Top in Second Practice". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
13. Kilbey, Stephen (19 April 2024). "Ferrari Stays Top In Imola Practice After Fuoco Flyer". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
14. "03_Classification_Free Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
15. "07_FastestLapByDriver_Free Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). fiawec.alkamelsystems.com. Alkamel Systems. 19 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.