Hypercar: Leader after 2 Hours – #51 Ferrari AF Corse
Ferrari led the 6 Hours of Imola during the opening two hours, as reigning world champion James Calado ensured that the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar capitalised upon team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi’s excellent pole position on Saturday afternoon
Miguel Molina in the #50 Ferrari made the most of starting on a set of soft Michelin rubber to move ahead the front row-starting #8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley at the start, as Ferrari ran 1-2 to the delight of the massive 92,175-strong crowd
But Hartley was able to jump the Ferrari at the first scheduled stop, as the Toyota crew got the Kiwi out ahead of Molina to run second behind the leading #51 Ferrari, which held an advantage of three seconds as the third hour arrived
Behind the top three runs the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry, as Will Stevens drove two solid stints to keep in touch with the leaders prior to hunting down third-placed Molina after he took a set of fresh Michelins under Virtual Safety Car; the Brit made a textbook move into Tamburello after 90 minutes of racing to grab third position and then close in a little on Hartley’s Toyota
Making it three Ferraris inside the top five positions is the yellow #83 AF Corse 499P started by Phil Hanson; the British ace had to defend expertly in the second hour as he came under significant pressure from a rapid Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid Hypercar
But Conway’s pace dropped off towards the end of the stint, and the Toyota lost out to the #35 Alpine driven by Ferdinand Habsburg, which snatched sixth position
Completing the top ten after two hours of racing are the #20 and #15 BMWs, pursued by the #94 Peugeot
René Rast in the #20 BMW was handed a drive-through penalty just before the third hour arrived for a Virtual Safety Car infraction
The new Genesis Magma Racing squad runs 16th and 17th, as the Korean manufacturer continues to accrue important data in its maiden FIA WEC race; the #19 GMR-001 Hypercar lost 22 laps after being forced to pit in the first hour with a technical problem that was eventually cured by the team
LMGT3: Leader after 2 Hours – #69 Team WRT BMW
Hong Kong’s Antares Au led away from pole position in the #10 Garage 59 McLaren, as the 18-car LMGT3 grid blasted the 2026 campaign in to life at Imola.
Anthony McIntosh in the #69 Team WRT BMW made strong progress in the early exchanges, going on to split the Akkodis ASP Team Lexus pair to run second in the opening stint
McIntosh then closed on the leading Garage 59 McLaren and put significant pressure on Au just prior to the first scheduled pit-stops
Stefano Gattuso, driving the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang, was also a man on the move as he rose from ninth on the LMGT3 grid to third in the first stint
There was disaster for Akkodis, however, as both of its Lexus entries hit problems at the start of the second hour. First, the #78 car (Tom Van Rompuy) pitted and was wheeled back into the garage stuck in gear; very shortly afterwards, the sister #87 car (with Petru Umbrărescu aboard) stopped on the run to the Variante Alta chicane with a terminal technical issue
Umbrărescu’s stoppage triggered the only safety car of the race so far after 65 minutes of racing; the #78 Lexus was able to return to the track, but lost 18 laps as a result of its problems
On the resumption of racing, Gattuso grittily forged his way into the lead but came under significant pressure from McIntosh; a thrilling battle played out, with the pair jousting spectacularly before the BMW made a defining move at the first Rivazza corner
McIntosh was then able to pull away from the Mustang and establish a 3.6-second gap at the front of the LMGT3 field
Au stayed a solid third for Garage 59 ahead of the pair of TF Sport-run Corvettes, with the #34 Racing Team Turkey entry of Salih Yoluç leading the Blake McDonald-piloted #33 car
Completing the current top six in LMGT3 is the #32 Team WRT BMW, as Darren Leung kept in touch with the leading bunch before getting ready to hand over to team-mate Sean Gelael
The early exchanges saw significant time lost by Yasser Shahin in the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R entry, after he ran wide at Tamburello and spun; there was further pain for the Porsche as it was subsequently hit with a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release during the first scheduled pit-stops
All of FIA WEC. All of endurance racing’s greatest battles. Watch live and on demand with FIAWEC+ – the official streaming platform of the FIA World Endurance Championship, wherever you are, whenever you want, including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Stream FIA WEC live with FIAWEC+.
