Genesis qualified last at Imola but "so far, everything is going rather well"

The result was expected, and neither driver is trying to downplay it. Genesis, which is making its debut in the World Championship this year...Endurance, finished his first qualifying session in sixteenth and seventeenth positions. André Lotterer, who nearly lost control of his car on a bump at turn eleven before locking a wheel at turn 18 on a fast lap, summed up the situation succinctly: "We're at the back of the grid. But that's the way it is, so we have to move forward. It hasn't been easy to put in place." Mathieu Jaminet, for his part, mentions balance difficulties and traffic on his two main flying laps, which prevented him from completing a clean lap. "In the end, we are where we expected to be."he simply concedes.

"I think we can be very proud of the team."

But beyond the lap times, the two drivers agree on a point that is clearly more important to them than their grid position: the Genesis worked. For a team making its debut in WECIt was far from a given. Lotterer says it with disarming sincerity: “I think we can be very proud of the team. It’s quite incredible considering how little time we had to prepare. We really have to give credit to everyone on the team for getting the car running smoothly and without any problems—it’s a great achievement. That was our main fear, that it wouldn’t work properly, but so far, everything is going rather well.”

Jaminet agrees, while adding a note of optimism about the performance gap — Genesis number 19 is 1,1 seconds behind, while number 17 is more than 2 seconds behind: "The gap to the front isn't that significant for the very first qualifying session. The car is working well, without any problems, and we can be proud of that." An interesting observation, which suggests that Genesis is not arriving as a mere extra but with the ambition of getting closer to the pack as the season progresses.

"It's the most exciting thing in the world."

Regarding the race itself, Lotterer is keeping his head held high despite the unfavorable starting point: "We are here to begin this adventure and progress from here; let's hope we have a good race." Jaminet, for his part, recalls what makes this program unique in his eyes, with contagious enthusiasm: “Driving these kinds of cars, these Hypercars with low fuel consumption and new tires, is the most exciting thing in the world for a racing driver, even today. I really enjoyed myself, at least for that reason.” For both Genesis cars, the 6 Hours of Imola is just a starting point — literally and figuratively — and they will have the opportunity to show their full potential in the main exercise, the race, which starts this Sunday at 13 p.m.

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