6 Hours of Imola, Race: Toyota #8 wins its hundredth WEC race. Ferrari #51 second, Toyota #7 third.

Toyota a victory that bodes well, Ferrari in difficulty in traffic

In its hundredth WEC championship race, Toyota celebrates with a convincing victory, repeating its success in Bahrain at the end of 2025. But this time it did so with the brand new TR010 which showed everyone what it’s made of. The Japanese cars combined a very fast race pace with the traditional superlative experience of the Japanese team in strategy management. After just over two hours of racing, the #8 took the lead thanks to intelligent management of tire changes in the pits, making the most of an initial VSC phase. The twin #7 also did well, finishing third after having been second at times, covering the #8’s back from attacks by the Ferrari #51.

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These are the statements from the winners Hartley and Buemi:

Hartley: “It’s fantastic to win with the TR0101 on its debut. The strategy was perfect and we also managed the teamwork well thanks to #7 which helped us defend our first position.”

Buemi: “It’s great to return to victory for me after such a long time. These last drops of rain at the end put us in difficulty because we were in the lead and had to push but be careful not to make mistakes. A great start and I believe we will still be in a position to compete in the next two races.”

Ferrari was only in the game with the #51 which started from pole position and led the race for the first two hours. After that, it had to cede the position to the Toyota #8 which managed to overtake them with fresh tires by taking advantage of a pit stop under VSC. The 499P still had the pace to win but the winding Imola track did not allow Pier Guidi first and Giovinazzi later to overtake the Toyota #7, which had placed itself between them and leader Buemi, to regain the lead of the race. Only the last pit stop brought the #51 back into second position but the gap was now irrecoverable for the red car which finished second, squeezed between the two Toyotas. Giovinazzi at the end of his last stint said it was like racing in Monaco. Another disappointing Imola for the Ferrari #50 which again did not have a clean race, as already last year. A drive-through penalty for an overtake under yellow flags effectively destroyed the race for Fuoco, Nielsen and Molina who finished sixth. The yellow Ferrari #83 finished tenth with evident problems in race pace compared to the competition.

Cadillac disappointment. The American Hypercars that had been competitive last season were never in the game, finishing in the back. The bitter disappointments continue at Peugeot, always at the back of the group and beaten by their Alpine cousins who have already announced their withdrawal at the end of the season. The #35 had an excellent race, at times on the podium and finishing with a solid fourth place.

Honorable mention for the debutant Genesis which managed to bring both cars to the finish line in the first race of its history in the WEC championship. P15 for the #17 which had a regular race while the #19 lost 20 laps in the pits due to a sensor problem but still finished the race.

Race report: first hour

All cars complete two laps behind the safety car as per procedure to warm up the tires and at 13:00 the train of Hypercars and LMGT3s dives towards the Tamburello curves. The sun shines in the sky of Imola but rain is expected during the race. A few meters after the start, Molina in the Ferrari #50 snatches second position from Hartley’s Toyota #8 at the entrance to Tamburello and lines up behind the leading Ferrari #51 driven by Calado who immediately tries to pull away with fast laps, leaving his teammate Molina a few seconds behind, who acts as a bit of a stopper for the Toyota. The yellow Ferrari #83 driven by Hanson is ninth, sandwiched between the two BMWs.

The Ferraris are on different compounds: medium for the #51 and soft for the #50, soft also for the Toyota #8. Hanson engages in a wheel-to-wheel battle at the Tamburello braking point with Magnussen’s BMW amidst the GT lapping traffic but the Dane holds firm and the Ferrari driver has to fall back behind the BMW.

Juncadella in the Genesis has to stop in the pits and return to the garage due to a misfire problem with the power unit on his debutant GMR-001. The Toyotas seem to have good pace but are affected by track traffic. Hartley begins to catch Molina and Conway, seventh, catches Duval’s Peugeot. The Cadillacs do not seem to be able to contend for victory with Stevens fourth in the #12 and Bamber #38 as low as 13th behind the Aston #007.

In the LMGT3 class, the McLaren #10, which started from pole, maintains the lead ahead of the Lexus. The Corvette #34 and Mercedes #61 cars are given 5-second penalties for a starting procedure infringement.

The continuous lapping phase in which the Hypercars are engaged makes every overtake very difficult and the group remains in unchanged positions with the Ferrari duo #51 and #50 leading. To shake things up, the Toyota #7 enters the pits to refuel a little early. The Genesis #19 returns to the race with many laps behind, but the race is understandably a very valuable test for the debuting Korean team. On the next lap, the Aston Martin #007 also stops, which, being “non-hybrid,” always has higher fuel consumption than the rest of the field. Pit stops for Ferrari #50 and Toyota #8 while Calado remains on track. The pit lane is very busy and the Toyota #8 manages to exit ahead of the Ferrari #50. Finally, the leading Ferrari driver also stops, and gradually the entire Hypercar group. After the first hour of racing, Ferrari is first and third with Toyota dividing them.

The first VSC of the race is called due to the Lexus #87 stopping at the Variante Alta, in the grass, due to transmission problems. The Lexus #78 also stopped in the pits for the same problem. The Cadillac #12 enters the pits again under VSC for a tire change. Subsequently, as per procedure, the Safety Car enters due to the prolonged operations to remove the Lexus. The Ferraris refueled without changing tires.

Race report: second and third hour

With 4h and 42 minutes remaining, the Safety Car returns and it’s green flag. At the restart, Conway’s Toyota #7 sticks to Hanson’s Ferrari #83, which has problems bringing its tires up to temperature, but the Englishman holds his position. Molina’s Ferrari #50 is seriously threatened by Stevens’ Cadillac #12, which fitted fresh tires at the pit stop. The Englishman easily overtakes the Spaniard at the Tamburello braking point and takes third position.

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Habsburg’s Alpine, in sixth, also has fresh tires and sets off in pursuit of Hanson’s fifth place in the Ferrari #83. The BMW #20 is penalized with a drive-through for an infringement under VSC. After the second hour of racing, the series of refuelings begins again, inaugurated by Toyota with #7 and #8 in sequence. Then Ferrari #50 and #83 arrive, refuel, change tires and change drivers in favor of Nielsen and Ye. The #50 mounts three medium and one soft on the front left, the #83 opts for medium on the right and soft on the left. The Ferrari #51 also stops, with Pier Guidi getting in while the mechanics refuel and mount fresh medium tires only on the right side. Leader Stevens in the Cadillac #12 also returns. The Toyota #8 takes first position over the #51, not having replaced its tires unlike Ferrari. The Cadillac #12 and Ferrari #50 are penalized with a drive-through for ignoring yellow flags in turn 12.

Cassidy’s Peugeot #93, having just exited the pits, spins off track with cold tires in turn 3 and gets stuck in the gravel. This incident inevitably leads to the race direction deploying a VSC, but the Peugeot is put back on track by the marshals’ crane and manages to resume the race. Taking advantage of the VSC, the Toyota #8 and Ferrari #51 (which changes its left tires) return to change tires, maintaining first and second position. After the first two hours of racing, the leadership has passed to the second-placed Toyota, but virtually in command given that the Cadillac #12 will have to stop in the pits to serve its penalty.

The green flag returns with 3h and 26 minutes remaining and #12 and #50 return for their drive-through.

Pier Guidi’s Ferrari #51 is glued to leader Hirakawa’s Toyota but overtakes, as is known, are not easy at Imola, especially with continuous lapping. Behind them, the Ferrari-Toyota battle continues between Ye’s #83, which is overtaken by the Toyota #7, moving up to fourth place. Pier Guidi looks for every gap to overtake the Toyota but without success; it is probable at this point that Ferrari will have to copy Toyota and seek a strategic overtake because in terms of pace the 499P and the TR010 seem very similar, and in fact the Ferrari pit wall communicates to Pier Guidi that they will extend the stint on these tires.

Race report: fourth and fifth hour

Pier Guidi returns to the pits to refuel with 2h and 40 minutes remaining, attempting an undercut on the still-leading Toyota #8. Da Costa’s Alpine #35 moves up to second place. De Vries’ Toyota #7, third until that moment, also enters the pits, while Hirakawa’s Toyota #8 tries to use the last drops of fuel to maintain the margin over the Ferrari, returning one lap after the Ferrari #51. The Japanese car manages to hold the lead but the Ferrari comes up behind it like lightning without finding the burst to overtake, remaining less than a second behind Hirakawa. The sky is cloudy but the expected rain has not yet appeared and does not seem to be coming. In the first four positions there are only Toyota and Ferrari in this sequence #8 #51 #7 #83. The Ferrari #50 is in twelfth position, after the drive-through that destroyed its race, and for several laps tries to overtake the surprising debutant Genesis which maintains eleventh position without difficulty. Clouds arrive over the Imola track where rain is expected after 5:00 PM according to updated weather forecasts, so the final phase of the race could be wet.

In LMGT3 there is a wheel-to-wheel battle between the McLaren #10 of poleman Fleming and the Corvette #33 of Edgar who, with less than two hours remaining, begin to overtake and re-overtake each other in a breathtaking sequence.

With 1h and 50 minutes remaining, the sequence of pit stops begins again. A delicate moment because rain is expected within 5 minutes. The Peugeot #94 starts the sequence but all eyes are on the Toyota #8 which leads by 5 seconds over the Ferrari #51 with residual energy dropping below 10% for both. The #83 stops, followed by the #51 where Pier Guidi hands the wheel to Giovinazzi for the final driving stint, while Kubica gets into the yellow Ferrari. On the #51, 4 soft tires were fitted, only fuel for the #83. The Toyota #7 returns to refuel and Kobayashi gets into the TR010. Leader Hirakawa also returns, handing over the driving to Buemi. Finally, the Ferrari #50 returns to refuel and change tires and let Fuoco take the wheel. After the sequence of refuelings, Toyota occupies the first two positions with Ferrari third, fifth, and eighth.

A few drops of rain begin to fall on the Imola track and umbrellas open in the stands.
Giovinazzi in the #51 is right behind Kobayashi’s Toyota #7 while the asphalt is still substantially dry. Kubica is struggling with his tires and has to cede position first to Milesi in the Alpine and then to René Rast in the BMW. Kobayashi, meanwhile, is pushing hard and progressively closing in on his teammate Buemi, the race leader, while at the same time pulling away from Giovinazzi who cannot keep up with the Japanese driver. The rain is falling but it is light and the asphalt remains dry for now.
The leading trio has closed up with Buemi leading, followed five seconds behind by Kobayashi and Giovinazzi glued to the Japanese, but unable to find space to attempt an overtake on the winding Imola track. The Apulian driver tries on the outside of Piratella with a difficult maneuver that fails and is not helped by the GT traffic to be lapped. The battle between #51 and #7 obviously favors the leading Toyota #8 which pulls almost 7 seconds ahead of Kobayashi. We are awaiting the last round of pit stops which should allow #51 to regain a position since Toyota #7 should replace its tires while #51 will not if it manages not to deteriorate them too much.

Race report: final hour

Kubica returns for his pit stop, refueling and tire change. Kobayashi and Giovinazzi return together. Antonio does not change tires while Kobayashi does, as expected. This is the move that allows the #51 to regain second place. Leader Buemi also pits, refuels without changing tires, returning still in the lead with Giovinazzi following him by 15 seconds with 45 minutes remaining in the race. It should be noted that Kobayashi, even with new tires, cannot keep up with Giovinazzi who has used tires. The Italian is 12 seconds behind leader Buemi with 30 minutes remaining. Plot twist in LMGT3 with the leader McLaren #10 of Kirchhofer slowing down due to an apparent electrical problem and retiring while the leadership passes to Harper’s BMW #69.

Last half hour of the race under light rain and clouds. Buemi maintains a 15-second lead over Giovinazzi and there seem to be no chances of victory for the Ferrari #51. Fuoco’s Ferrari #50 has much more pace than Rast’s BMW #20 and follows him like a shadow, but for him too the Imola track offers no space for an overtake and he has to settle for sixth place. The race thus ends with the red-dressed Toyota winning the first race of the season, ahead of the Ferrari #51 and the Toyota #8 completing the Japanese success. In LMGT3, victory goes to Harper’s BMW #66 of team WRT

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