Toyota denies Ferrari residence win in WEC Imola opener

Toyota outgunned Ferrari on observe and within the pits to say victory within the World Endurance Championship’s Imola opener on Sunday.

Sébastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley clinched the highest spot within the upgraded #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid, granting the Japanese producer a win on its one hundredth WEC begin.

The pole-sitting #51 Ferrari 499P crewed by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi needed to accept second, whereas Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway accomplished the rostrum within the #7 Toyota.

The race boiled all the way down to a two-horse battle between the 2 producers, with the likes of Alpine, BMW and Peugeot unable to bother the frontrunners for almost all of the day.

Firstly, Calado pulled away cleanly from pole place within the #51 Ferrari, with team-mate Molina making the most of mushy tyres to go Hartley’s Toyota for second.

Ferrari held a 1-2 for about an hour earlier than a sooner service from the Toyota crew allowed Hartley to regain the place he had misplaced to Molina.

Toyota then rolled the cube in direction of the top of the second hour, bringing within the #8 for a driver change with out switching tyres.

This allowed Hirakawa, who took over from Hartley, to imagine the lead of the race, forward of the #51 Ferrari now pushed by Pier Guidi.

The technique performed into Toyota’s fingers when Hypercar debutant Nick Cassidy beached the #93 Peugeot 9X8 on chilly tyres on his out lap, bringing out the VSC and granting the #8 TR010 Hybrid a free pitstop.

Each the lead Toyota and the chasing Ferrari got here into the pits below warning, however Hirakawa returned on observe together with his lead intact – and now additionally on contemporary tyres.

Ferrari responded to Toyota’s techniques by bringing in Pier Guidi early through the subsequent pitstop cycle however did not undercut Hirakawa, who went on to increase his benefit to over 4 seconds.

Within the meantime, the #7 Toyota had labored its method again to 3rd place by extending its tyre life, having dropped as little as seventh within the first stint. 

One other cease with out altering the tyres allowed the #7 Toyota to rejoin forward of Pier Guidi and maintain again the Ferrari driver, serving to Hirakawa cement his place on the entrance within the penultimate hour.

The #51 Ferrari managed to retake second when the #7 Toyota took 4 new tyres at its last pitstop, however by this stage Buemi had constructed a lead of 10 seconds on the entrance of the sphere.

With the rain failing to reach regardless of a looming menace within the last two hours, Buemi took the chequered flag with a profitable margin of 13s. The end result marked Toyota’s second consecutive victory within the WEC, following the #7 automobile’s win in November’s Bahrain finale, and the primary for the #8 crew since 2024.

The #51 Ferrari trio might make no inroads within the last stint and needed to accept second, whereas Kobayashi introduced residence the #7 Toyota in third place.

Regardless of a continuing menace of rain within the second half, the skies cleared within the last hour, permitting the race to run to the end with out drama.

Alpine placed on a powerful efficiency within the Imola season opener, with Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg and Antonio Felix da Costa delivering a clear race to complete fourth within the upgraded #35 A424 LMDh.

René Rast held off a late assault from the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco to finish the highest 5 for the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 he shared with Robin Frijns. That was regardless of Rast choosing up a drive-through penalty halfway by the race for a VSC infringement.

Fuoco and his team-mates Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen have been in rivalry for the rostrum within the first half of the race, however a drive-through penalty for a yellow flag infringement left the #50 Ferrari sixth on the end.

Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen completed seventh within the #15 BMW, rounding off a powerful day for the last-remaining German producer within the WEC.

The #12 Cadillac V-Collection.R briefly moved into the lead of the race within the third hour by not pitting below the Digital Security Automotive, however needed to cede place nearly instantly after the restart to serve a drive-through penalty for a yellow-flag offense.

Whereas the #12 Cadillac completed outdoors the factors, Earl Bamber and Sébastien Buemi claimed eighth within the sister #38 entry, forward of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble in the perfect of the Aston Martin Valkyrie LMHs.

The highest 10 was rounded out by AF Corse’s satellite tv for pc #83 Ferrari pushed by Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye.

Peugeot missed out on a factors end regardless of the #94 9X8 working strongly early on, significantly with Malthe Jakobsen on the wheel.

Genesis made its long-awaited WEC debut at Imola, with Pipo Derani, Andre Lotterer and Mathys Jaubert ending fifteenth in the perfect of the GMR-001s. The sister #19 LMDh was delayed by an early sensor challenge that consigned it to the storage for half an hour.

#69 Staff WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO: Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson, Daniel Harper

Photograph by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Photos through Getty Photos

WRT took prime honours within the LMGT3 class, with Dan Harper, Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson profitable the season opener aboard the #69 BMW M4 GT3.

WEC newcomer Storage 59 appeared sure to transform pole place right into a win because the race entered the ultimate hour, with Antrares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhofer recovering from a gradual first pitstop to retake the lead within the fourth hour. 

However the #10 McLaren 720S GT3 stopped twice on observe with 35 minutes to go resulting from an alternator downside whereas comfortably working within the lead, granting the victory to the BMW.

The #69 BMW had jumped from fourth on the grid to second early, earlier than taking the lead within the second hour when McIntosh pulled off an excellent go over the #88 Proton Ford Mustang GT3 of Stefano Gattuso at Rivazza.

Fixed modifications in positions throughout subsequent pit cease cycles dropped it down the order, however an important overtake over the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Jonny Edgar within the fifth hour in the end secured the win.

Edgar, Blake McDonald and Nicky Catsburg ultimately completed second, whereas the rostrum was accomplished by the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 of Richard Lietz, Riccardo Perra and Yasir Shahin. 

The #92 Porsche was given a drive-through penalty early within the race for an unsafe launch, however recovered strongly within the last two hours. The sister #91 automobile shared by Ayhancan Guven, Timur Boguslavskiy and James Cottingham additionally made late strides to complete fourth, forward of the #32 BMW of Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael and Darren Leung.

ASP Lexus triggered the primary security automobile look of the race, with the #87 RC F GT3 stopping on observe with a technical downside at the beginning of the second hour. The workforce’s different automobile had entered the storage simply prior with mechanical problems with its personal.

Pictures from Imola – Sunday

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

Imola – Sunday, in pictures

1

8

Toyota GR010 – Hybrid
213

 
 
 
 

2

FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR

51

Ferrari 499P
213

13.352
 
 
 

3

7

Toyota GR010 – Hybrid
213

14.483
 
 
 

4

Alpine Endurance Staff HYPERCAR

35

Alpine A424
213

 
 
 
 

5

BMW M Staff WRT HYPERCAR

20

BMW M Hybrid V8
213

 
 
 
 

6

FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR

50

Ferrari 499P
213

 
 
 
 

7

BMW M Staff WRT HYPERCAR

15

BMW M Hybrid V8
213

0.247
 
 
 

8

Cadillac Hertz Staff JOTA HYPERCAR

38

Cadillac V-Collection.R
213

 
 
 
 

9

Aston Martin THOR Staff HYPERCAR

007

Aston Martin Valkyrie
212

 
 
 
 

10

83

Ferrari 499P
212

0.438
 
 
 

11

Alpine Endurance Staff HYPERCAR

36

Alpine A424
212

26.272
 
 
 

12

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR

94

Peugeot 9X8
212

16.124
 
 
 

13

Cadillac Hertz Staff JOTA HYPERCAR

12

Cadillac V-Collection.R
212

 
 
 
 

14

Aston Martin THOR Staff HYPERCAR

009

Aston Martin Valkyrie
212

0.713
 
 
 

15

Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR

17

M. Jaubert

Genesis GMR-001
211

 
 
 
 

16

PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR

93

Peugeot 9X8
210

 
 
 
 

17

TEAM WRT LMGT3

69

D. Harper

BMW M4 GT3 Evo
194

 
 
 
 

18

33

B. McDonald

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
194

0.265
 
 
 

19

The Bend Manthey LMGT3

92

Porsche 911 GT3 R
193

 
 
 
 

20

Manthey DK Engineering LMGT3

91

J. Cottingham

Porsche 911 GT3 R
193

13.362
 
 
 

21

TEAM WRT LMGT3

32

BMW M4 GT3 Evo
193

 
 
 
 

22

Vista AF Corse LMGT3

21

Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo
193

4.041
 
 
 

23

Storage 59 LMGT3

58

B. Goethe

McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
193

 
 
 
 

24

88

Ford Mustang GT3
193

3.377
 
 
 

25

Coronary heart of Racing Staff LMGT3

23

G. Newell

Ok. Pauwels

Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
193

 
 
 
 

26

77

S. Priaulx

Ford Mustang GT3
193

 
 
 
 

27

Vista AF Corse LMGT3

54

Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo
192

 
 
 
 

28

IRON LYNX LMGT3

79

J. Zelger

Mercedes AMG GT3
192

7.957
 
 
 

29

Genesis Magma Racing HYPERCAR

19

Genesis GMR-001
170

 
 
 
 

30

Storage 59 LMGT3

10

A. Au

T. Fleming

McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
180

 
 
 
 

31

AKKODIS ASP Staff LMGT3

78

H. David

E. Masson

Lexus RC F GT3
172

 
 
 
 

dnf

IRON LYNX LMGT3

61

Mercedes AMG GT3
172

 
 
Retirement
 

dnf

Racing Staff Turkey by TF LMGT3

34

P. Dempsey

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
172

 
 
Retirement
 

dnf

Coronary heart of Racing Staff LMGT3

27

Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
172

 
 
Retirement
 

dnf

AKKODIS ASP Staff LMGT3

87

R. Umbrarescu

Lexus RC F GT3
172

 
 
Retirement
 

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