The official Prologue of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for 2026 held in Imola has been marked by Ferrari’s dominance, occupying the top three positions in the Hypercar class.
Antonio Fuoco registered the best time of the day, an impressive 1m31.177s with the factory team Ferrari 499P number 50, improving upon Antonio Giovinazzi‘s morning mark by four tenths of a second.
In second place, Robert Kubica was the fastest of the satellite drivers, placing with the #83 of AF Corse. Giovinazzi completed the Ferrari sweep on the podium.
The three Ferrari drivers had also been the fastest during the morning session and managed to consolidate their leadership before rain intervened on the track an hour after the action resumed in the afternoon. A second rain halted any further improvements, despite the track gradually drying out.
The BMWs were the closest to Ferrari, with Robin Frijns half a second behind in fourth place with the #20 M Hybrid V8. In the morning session, Ferrari had managed to establish a one-second margin over its rivals.
Alpine proved competitive in both sessions, with Jules Gounon and Charles Milesi finishing fifth and sixth respectively, with only four thousandths of a second separating them.
Only six vehicles managed to post times in the 1m31s range, with Loic Duval taking seventh place with the best Peugeot 9X8 LMH, missing that mark by a tenth.
The BMW number 15 completed only 26 laps in the morning due to an engine change, but in the afternoon, Kevin Magnussen achieved the eighth-best time of the day.
On Toyota’s front, the day was not as bright. The #8 with Sebastien Buemi as the driver was the fastest for the brand, while his teammate, the #7, finished in 11th place.
A notable incident was the serious crash of Marco Sorensen with the #009 Aston Martin, which sustained substantial damage and could not be repaired during the day. Overall, the day in Imola was marked by three red flags resulting from various incidents, including an electrical problem in the afternoon.
Despite the setbacks in the Hypercar class, Aston Martin performed excellently in the LMGT3 category. Mattia Drudi set a time of 1m42.698s with the #27 Vantage GT3, narrowly beating the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera.
The day concluded with times highlighting that only five vehicles managed to place in the top 10 of the LMGT3 category, with a total of competitors fighting to improve their positions.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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