6 Hours of Monza: Toyota leads Ferrari by an inch

Jul 8

With 9 cars (5 manufacturers) qualifying with a gap of less than 0.830 seconds, we will certainly have an interesting to watch battle for victory today at the 6 Hours of Monza. Departure at 12:30 p.m.

Hypercars

The qualifying session was very tight between Ferrari #50 and Toyota #7. At the end, it was Kamui Kobayashi with Toyota GR010 Hybrid #7 who clinched the pole point of 0.017 seconds ahead of Antonio Fuoco with Ferrari 499P #50.

With the bonus point for pole position, the team extends its advantage over Ferrari to 19 points in the World Championship with three races remaining.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Toyota GR010 HYBRID #7.

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “Normally for a six-hour race I always say that pole position doesn’t mean anything. But, coming after Le Mans and with the lap times being so close, getting pole today is brilliant. I am very happy. The traffic wasn’t ideal at the beginning, but I managed to get a clear lap. All Hypercars have been so close here, we couldn’t risk any conservative laps, so I was pushing hard. I was happy in the car, although the track temperature was a bit different compared to this morning which was challenging. The race should be even hotter so it will be interesting in terms of tyre strategy. We have worked hard to understand the degradation and find the best solution. We have a great car this weekend and I’m looking forward to the race, especially in front of the Italian fans. It will be a big battle.”

Ferrari again in front row.

Antonio Fuoco with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen will start from front row on board of their Ferrari 499P #50 the 6 Hours of Monza tomorrow.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Ferrari 499P #50.

ANTONIO FUOCO: « It was a very positive qualifying. It was a pity to lose pole position by 17 thousandths of a second, but we’re happy because we did our best to secure another start ahead of everyone after Le Mans. The race? No doubt it will be very demanding, both because of the track conditions and because it will be sweltering. We will need to stay focused and do our best. This round represents something special for Ferrari and an Italian driver like me. Since Friday, we have seen so many fans and felt their affection. It will be great to compete with a crowd like this. »

World Championship leader Brendon Hartley (together with Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa) was very close ending qualifying session in P3 for his fastest lap, 0.102 seconds slower than Kobayashi’s.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Toyota GR010 HYBRID #8.

Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “It was a very tight session with all the Hypercars and, considering that, we can be somewhat happy with third. The car obviously had the pace for pole, as Kamui showed. He did a good lap and put it all together so congratulations to him. It’s also helpful for the World Championship that he took the point away from our rivals. My lap was a bit compromised because I had another car in front of me on my fastest lap and I lost a bit as when I got too close. But a tenth of a second from pole is nothing and I’m sure everyone out there has a story how they lost a little time here or there. To get both cars into the top three is fantastic and a strong team effort.”

Unusual second row

The second row will be unusual because a Peugeot 9X8 will start from that row! Jean-Eric Vergne confirmed the form of the lionesses (fastest of combined free practices) by setting the 4th time of the session with the 9X8 #93. The gap with Kobayashi is a bit bigger: 0.304 seconds.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Peugeot 9X8 #93.

LMP2 first row tomorrow

After setting the fastest lap during FP1 and FP2 Friday, Robert Kubrick confirmed his speed at Monza by setting the fastest lap during qualifying session today. Pietro Fittipaldi with #28 JOTA was second, 0.353 seconds slower. Both will start from front row the LMP2 start tomorrow for the 6 Hours of Monza.

LMGTE AM

Sarah Bovy clinched another pole today at Monza driving the Iron Dames Ferrari 911 RSR-19. With a lap time of 1:47.632, Bovy was 0.426 seconds faster than Ahmad Al Harthy with #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin. This is her second pole this season after Sebring. The Iron Dames will start from pole the LMGTE AM class for the 6 Hours of Monza tomorrow.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Monza. Sarah Bovy with Porsche 911 RSR #85.

SARAH BOVY: « I am super happy and super proud of the team. When you have a great car and are on a track that you like, it’s very nice just to push like that. It was just fantastic to drive the car today. It was more a case of being at the right place, at the right time and I think in that situation today, we were the best. Tomorrow we will be focusing on the race pace, it is always very tight in our class and we want to be consistently fast and avoid mistakes. We have learned a lot since the beginning of the season and I am confident that everybody in the team is ready to give their absolute maximum tomorrow. The race is going to be long, hot and hard. I cannot wait to face the challenge. » Source: Iron Lynx