Imola calling: Back in action in the FIA WEC

The FIA World Endurance Championship returns to the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, nestled in the rolling hills of Emilia-Romagna, for only the second time in its history for the 6 Hours of Imola on 20 April 2025. Despite having only raced here once before in the FIA WEC, Proton Competition have plenty of experience in Imola and will be looking to make a mark with their #99 Porsche 963 in the Hypercar class and the #77 (Sousa/Tuck/Barker) and #88 (Gattuso/Levorato/Olsen) Ford Mustang in the LMGT3 category.

The team will also be hoping to make the most of what will be a special occasion for two of the team’s drivers: Stefano Gattuso and Giammarco Levorato. “I can’t wait to race at Imola because it will be my home race,” says Gattuso, driver of the #88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 who hails from the neighbouring province of Lombardy. “In my view, Imola is one of the most beautiful tracks in Europe, so I’m very excited about it.”

Levorato, Gattuso’s teammate in the #88 car, was born just an hour’s drive away and counts the Imola circuit among his favourites: “I have a lot of great memories here,” says the 21-year-old. “I’m looking forward to driving the Ford Mustang LMGT3 through the ups and downs of this amazing track. We didn’t show our true potential in Qatar but we’re ready to show it in this race and for the rest of the championship.”

In the Hypercar class, managing traffic will be the key to success for the #99 Porsche 963 at the tight and twisty Imola circuit. Neel Jani, Nicolas Pino and Nicolás Varrone will certainly be doing their utmost to put the team’s disappointing retirement at the 2024 edition of the race behind them with a good finish this year.

The weekend gets underway on Friday 18 April with two free practice sessions. Qualifying follows on Saturday at 14:30 local time, with the race scheduled to start at 13:00 on Sunday 20 April. Fans can follow all the action live on FIA WEC TV and Eurosport 2.

Three things you probably didn’t know:

• Proton Competition first raced at Imola all the way back in 2004, when Christian and Gerold Ried finished seventh in their #69 Porsche 996 GT3-RS in the FIA GT World Championship.
  
• The first time the team has stood on the top step of the podium in Imola was back in 2016, when Mike Hedlund, Wolf Henzler and Robert Renauer combined to take the LMGTE class victory in the European Le Mans Series’ 4 Hours of Imola.
  
• Although considered by many as a compact circuit, the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is actually only the third shortest on the FIA WEC calendar at 4.909 km. Both Interlagos and Fuji Speedway are shorter.

Schedule
Friday 18 April
11:15 – 12:45 Free Practice 1
16:00 – 17:30 Free Practice 2

Saturday 19 April
10:40 – 11:40 Free Practice 3
14:30 – 15:40 Qualifying

Sunday 20 April
13:00 – 19:00 Race

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Copyright: Proton Competition (Paola Depalmas)