Will the Porsche be the reference at Imola after the sensational hat-trick obtained in Imola? It is difficult to predict what will happen this weekend in Emilia-Romagna, an area that welcomes the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Porsche for an encore in Italy?
The official Porsche Penske Motorsport cars, the two private units of Hertz JOTA and the single 963 of Proton Competition have the chance to confirm themselves again in front of everyone, a result that would confirm the excellent work done in Weissach in recent months.
A significant test was carried out by Porsche on the banks of the Santerno last 10 and 11 March, an important test in order to prepare for the second weekend of the year. The opportunity to confirm itself cannot be ruled out, the five Teutonic cars have shown in the World Championship as well as in North America that they have the pace to constantly remain with the best.
The 963 is undoubtedly the car that has improved the most together with Cadillac from its debut to today. In just over 12 months of action, less than two years in any case even if we consider the various tests in view of the first homologation, the prototype which is based on the Multimatic chassis has caught up with Toyota and Ferrari, a constant rise which has begun to show their fruits in view of the 6h of Imola.
Kevin Estre: “Managing slow cars will be crucial”
The French official Porsche driver, winner in Qatar for the first time in his career in the premier class of the FIA WEC, expressed his opinion on the eve of the interesting weekend in Imola.
Free practice went well, but we still don’t know where we are in the group. We cannot make comparisons with Qatar, the differences are infinite compared to Imola. Personally I like the ‘old style’ tracks, I don’t like racing in a place where you have no references although I must admit that I enjoyed driving at Lusail.
Traffic will be a variable to take into consideration for the event on the banks of the Santerno.
The traffic is comparable to what you find in Milan at 5 in the afternoon. It will be difficult to manage the slow cars, a test we did in March made us understand some important information. In Qatar we were lucky, in a single weekend I had more problems than a single season. Many riders are new to this type of competition, I believe that the same difficulty will be here in Imola.
Le Mans is approaching, Porsche is waiting for revenge after last season’s defeat. The Teutonic prototype showed its potential by simultaneously imposing itself in the FIA WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
We will have an endurance test at Paul Ricard before Le Mans after the 6h of Spa. We recently rode in Aragon, we are preparing ourselves as well as everyone. The car has not changed particularly compared to 2023, there have certainly been improvements as you have seen between WEC and IMSA.
From Imola – Luca Pellegrini
