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Hartley Starts Fourth, Bamber Faces Fight in WEC Imola Showdown

by Jayden Aben
April 20, 2025
in WEC
0

Brendon Hartley will start Sunday’s 6 Hours of Imola from the second row after his #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid teammate, Ryo Hirakawa, set the fourth-fastest time in FIA World Endurance Championship qualifying.

Hirakawa handled Hyperpole duties for the Toyota Gazoo Racing crew, clocking a best lap of 1:28.920 — just over a second off pole — in the ten-minute shootout. The result puts Hartley and Hirakawa in a strong position heading into round two of the WEC season.

“It was a solid result with fourth and fifth, and I’m happy with our performance. Starting from the front gives us a good shot for tomorrow,” said Hirakawa.

The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Hypercar of Brendon Hartley, Ryō Hirakawa and Sébastien Buemi will be starting on the second row. Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Hartley, looking to help Toyota bounce back after a challenging start to the season in Qatar, added:

“Even if the result in Qatar was not what we normally aim for, the execution from the whole team to score strong points despite the challenging circumstances shows what we’re capable of. If we can repeat that performance in Imola, we’ll be there or thereabouts at the chequered flag, scoring more big points to help us challenge for both world titles [drivers and manufacturers].”

Meanwhile, fellow Kiwi Earl Bamber had a disrupted lead-up to qualifying with the Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA squad.

The #38 Cadillac of Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Jenson Button. Image: JOTA

In final practice, Bamber’s teammate Sébastien Bourdais spun at the Tamburello Chicane, bringing out a Full-Course Yellow. While the car avoided major damage, the incident disrupted the team’s rhythm heading into qualifying.

Bourdais went on to qualify the #38 Cadillac V-Series.R 15th overall in the Hypercar field. He’ll share driving duties in Sunday’s six-hour race with Bamber and Jenson Button, as the team embarks on its maiden WEC campaign with Cadillac machinery.

Despite the setbacks, both New Zealanders remain optimistic heading into race day at the iconic Imola circuit.

The 6 Hours of Imola takes place late Sunday evening NZT, with live coverage available on Sky Sport and WEC TV.

Hypercar Qualifying Results:

Pos#DriversCarTimeGap
151Alessandro Pier Guidi
James Calado
Antonio Giovinazzi
Ferrari 499P1m28.920s–
283Robert Kubica
Ye Yifei
Philip Hanson
Ferrari 499P1m29.678s0.758s
315Dries Vanthoor
Raffaele Marciello
Kevin Magnussen
BMW M Hybrid V81m29.885s0.965s
48Sebastien Buemi
Brendon Hartley
Ryo Hirakawa
Toyota GR010 – Hybrid1m30.042s1.122s
57Mike Conway
Kamui Kobayashi
Nyck de Vries
Toyota GR010 – Hybrid1m30.043s1.123s
636Jules Gounon
Frédéric Makowiecki
Mick Schumacher
Alpine A4241m30.190s1.270s
793Paul di Resta
Mikkel Jensen
Jean-Eric Vergne
Peugeot 9X81m30.301s1.381s
835Paul Loup Chatin
Ferdinand Habsburg
Charles Milesi
Alpine A4241m30.305s1.385s
912Alex Lynn
Norman Nato
Will Stevens
Cadillac V-Series.R1m30.448s1m528s
106Kevin Estre
Laurens Vanthoor
Matthew Campbell
Porsche 9631m30.815s1.895s
1538Earl Bamber
Sébastien Bourdais
Jenson Button
Cadillac V-Series.R1m31.925s3.005s

Header Image: Toyota Gazoo Racing

Tags: 6 Hours of ImolaBrendon HartleyEarl BamberHertz Team JotaJenson ButtonToyota Gazoo RacingWorld Endurance Championship

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