Sorensen Suffers Sizeable Crash, Ferrari Tops Morning Prologue

Aston Martin Valkyrie driver Marco Sorensen suffered a sizeable crash at Tamburello during the first session of the FIA World Endurance Championship Prologue at Imola, while reigning champion Ferrari set the pace.

Sorensen crashed in the No. 009 machine with about 90 minutes of the opening three-and-a-half session to go and, although he was able to get out of the car unaided, he was taken to the medical center for precautionary checks but escaped injury.

However, the Valkyrie suffered damage to the floor and three corners of the car, and it leaves the British manufacturer on the back foot ahead of the WEC season-opener at the Italian circuit this weekend.

There were no such troubles for Ferrari, with the trio of 499P Hypercars setting the pace as the full 35-car WEC field shared the track for the first time this year.

The session started with a wet track following overnight rain but the surface soon began to dry and lap times tumbled by as much as one second per lap during the middle of the session.

Antonio Giovinazzi topped the timesheet with a 1:31.586 in the final few minutes of the session in the factory No. 51 Ferrari 499P to displace long-time table-topper Robert Kubica in the No. 83 AF Corse-operated car, which clocked a 1:31.683.

That was comfortably quicker than the third of the 499Ps, the No. 50 machine of Nicklas Nielsen, who posted a 1:32.568.

Fastest non-Ferrari was the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R of Norman Nato, who managed a 1:32.888 to be 1.3 seconds adrift of Giovinazzi’s ultimate pace.

Rounding out the top five was the best of the Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s, the No. 20 entry of Rene Rast with a 1:32.908, while the second of the Cadillacs, the No. 38 car, was sixth.

Next up were the pair of revised Alpine A424s, with the No. 35 entry of Charles Milesi managing a 1:33.045 to fractionally pip the No. 36 car of new recruit Victor Martins.

Ninth fastest was the best of the Peugeot 9X8s, the No. 94 machine of Malthe Jakobsen on a 1:33.072, while the other Aston Martin Valkyrie completed the top ten with Tom Gamble on a 1:33.075.

It was a low-key start for Toyota’s new TR010 Hybrid, with the best of the Japanese machines being in 11th place, thanks to Nyck de Vries’ 1:33.153 in the No. 7 car.

Genesis Magma Racing enjoyed a largely smooth debut appearance with the best of its GMR-001s, the No. 17 of Pipo Derani, setting a 1:33.968 to be 2.4 seconds off the outright benchmark in 15th place.

The other Hypercar to suffer major trouble during the session was the No. 15 BMW, which required an engine change after completing just 26 laps in the initial running, leaving it languishing at the foot of the timesheet.

Ferrari also set the pace in the LMGT3 ranks, courtesy of a 1:42.875 from Alessio Rovera in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, although the car did come to a stop right at the very end of the session with Francois Heriau at the wheel of the revised car.

However, the times in the class were very evenly matched with the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Finn Gerhsitz less than a tenth adrift on a 1:42.913.

Third fastest was Nicky Catsburg in the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on a 1:42.979, while Dan Harper was only fractionally slower in the best of the WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVOs with a 1:43.081.

Rounding out the top five was the pick of the Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos, the No. 61 of Maxime Martin – who managed a 1:43.120 to be less than three tenths adrift of Rovera’s benchmark.

Aside from Sorensen’s crash, which caused a 17-minute stoppage, there were no major interruptions to the session with just a couple of brief full-course yellows.

A further four-and-a-half hours of testing is due to take place on Tuesday afternoon.

RESULTS: Test Session 1