The driver from Caerano with Ferrari finishes third in the qualifications of Lontani Fisichella, Nasr and Montoya, now the obstacle is Kubica
/ LE MANS (from)
To hell and back, all in four hours. Let’s start with the good news: Giorgio Sernagiotto and all of Cetilar racing will play for pole position tonight after finishing yesterday’s qualifying in third place. And now let’s go to the heart attack ones: the tour they pulled out at the last moment, when in the press room they gave them all for dead. Four times canceled for abusing the track limits, two from mid-table and one from a masterpiece, by Antonio Fuoco. The matter is even closer to the height of the undertaking if we consider that towards the end of free practice the Ferrari 488 Gte evo of Cetilar racing had been hit in full by a prototype that had thrown it out, heavily damaging the rear. .
After the stints of Lacorte and Sernagiotto, it was the turn of Fuoco to be rammed. The damage was such that the race management had decided to suspend the session: the Ferrari had been loaded onto the trolley and taken out, because having it move on its wheels was not really the case. Work on the Cetilar garage began as soon as the car was unloaded from the wrecker. For a few long minutes, the mere fact of taking part in these qualifications was a result that no one could confirm. When the mechanics’ work had been able to reassure how the crash had saved the engine and gearbox, the reserves were dissolved: the # 47 Ferrari could begin the assault on Le Mans.
The start had not been a Valkyrie ride. The first four laps had been canceled because Cetilar’s Ferrari had ended up outside the limits of the track, still exiting at the Porsche Curves. There were 8 minutes left when Fuoco scored the first half: he was a 15th, good to place himself but absolutely useless to play for pole position tonight. Another round and the story did not change: twelfth. Hopes were failing: the available time was decreasing more and more, the traffic did not want to decrease. A miracle was needed, and the miracle has arrived. Fuoco, when the checkered flag had been on display for two minutes, has succeeded in the unthinkable: his time means third place in the Gt Am class, the first occupied by a Ferrari after the Porsches.
His 3’49 “102, just two thousandths from second place and half a second from first, is worth the team a ticket for tonight’s hyperpole, when between 21 and 21.30 the best six of each class will try to score the best time: “Antonio and the whole team were extraordinary. Great!”, Sernagiotto’s hot jubilation. Cetilar will have to deal with three Porsches (including that of Andlauer and Cairoli), a Ferrari and an Aston Martin. There will be no Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella, eliminated last night after paying 7 tenths to Fuoco. In the noblest positions, in addition to the relentless fight for pole in the hypercars (Toyota is favorite, but Alpine at home and Glickenhaus will be hard to die), in Lmp2 the battle will also see Robert Kubica among the protagonists, third in class last night . Outside the hyperpole instead the old acquaintance of the old Cetilar Villorba Corse, Felipe Nasr (here with Risi Competizioni), and Juan Pablo Montoya, just ahead of Nasr with the Oreca # 21. –