Ferrari finishes 1-2-3 as Aston Martin suffers large shunt

Ferrari dominated the official Prologue check for the 2026 World Endurance Championship at Imola, locking out the highest three spots within the Hypercar class.

Antonio Fuoco set a finest time of 1m31.177s within the manufacturing unit #50 Ferrari 499P simply half-hour into the beginning of the afternoon session, beating Antonio Giovinazzi’s morning benchmark by 4 tenths of a second.

Robert Kubica went second-quickest within the satellite tv for pc #83 AF Corse entry, whereas Giovinazzi made it three 499Ps on the high of the order.

The three Ferraris had additionally led the way in which within the morning session and have been in a position to consolidate their place on the entrance earlier than mild rain hit Imola simply an hour after observe motion resumed within the afternoon. A second bout of rain rendered any enhancements unattainable, even because the observe steadily started to dry out late within the day.

BMW emerged as Ferrari’s closest rival within the prologue, with Robin Frijns ending up half a second down in fourth within the #20 M Hybrid V8. Ferrari had been sitting a full second away from its rivals within the morning session earlier than the #20 BMW closed the hole to the entrance.

Alpine regarded aggressive on either side of the lunch break, with Jules Gounon and Charles Milesi ending up simply 4 thousandths of a second adrift in fifth and sixth respectively.

Solely six vehicles have been in a position to lap within the 1m31s bracket, with Loic Duval in the perfect of the Peugeot 9X8 LMHs falling a tenth in need of that mark in seventh place.

#20 BMW M Crew WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Rene Rast, Robin Frijns

Picture by: FIA WEC / DPPI

The #15 BMW accomplished simply 26 laps within the morning session because the manufacturing unit WRT crew carried out an engine change, however the crew was in a position to ship the automobile again out on observe within the afternoon, with Kevin Magnussen occurring to set the eight-fastest time of the day.

It was a low-key day for Toyota with its rebranded and heavily-revised TR010, with Sebastien Buemi main the cost for the Japanese producer within the #8 automobile and the sister #7 entry ending up eleventh. The 2 Toyota LMH prototypes have been separated by the #93 Peugeot.

Norman Nato put Cadillac fourth within the opening session of the day, however the two Jota-entered manufacturing unit vehicles completed exterior the highest 10 within the rain-hit afternoon session.

Newcomer Genesis propped up the timesheets within the prologue, with the 2 GMR-001s ending 2.5s off the tempo set by the main Ferrari.

The one-day Imola check was punctuated by three separate purple flags, with the primary and the largest interruption attributable to Marco Sorensen struggling a heavy crash within the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie. The V12-powered LMH sustained heavy harm within the incident and couldn’t be repaired in the course of the day.

A second purple flag adopted within the afternoon because of what the FIA described because the “challenge with {the electrical} community, whereas the session was once more interrupted when Jose Maria Lopez spun the #87 Lexus RC F GT3 at Acque Minerali.

A number of full-course yellows have been deployed in the course of the day, together with for particles at Variante Alta and a stoppage for Sean Gelael within the #32 BMW M4 GT3.

Aston Martin leads in LMGT3

#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3: Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi

#27 Coronary heart of Racing Crew Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3: Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi

Picture by: Federico Basile / AG Picture

Whereas Aston Martin’s day was compromised by a crash for one among its hypercars, the British producer loved far more success within the LMGT3 class.

Mattia Drudi posted a time of 1m42.698s aboard the #27 Vantage GT3, edging out the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera by simply half a tenth. Rovera had accomplished an ideal morning for Ferrari throughout the 2 courses, however finally needed to accept second spot behind Drudi’s Aston.

Thomas Fleming completed third-quickest within the #10 Storage 59 McLaren 720S GT3, adopted by the 2 TF Sport Corvettes of Charlie Eastwood and Jonny Edgar. Finn Gershitz’s morning lap of 1m42.913s within the #58 McLaren was ok for sixth place, whereas Parker Thompson ended up seventh within the #69 BMW.

The highest 10 in school was accomplished by the #61 Mercedes-AMG GT3, the #32 BMW and the #27 Ferrari.

WEC Imola Prologue – Full outcomes:

Pos	Drivers	Crew	Class	Finest Time	Hole	Prev Hole
1	A. Fuoco / M. Molina / N. Nielsen	Ferrari AF Corse	Hypercar	1:31.177	—	—
2	Y. Ye / R. Kubica / P. Hanson	AF Corse	Hypercar	1:31.303	+0.126	0.126
3	A. Pier Guidi / J. Calado / A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari AF Corse	Hypercar	1:31.375	+0.198	0.072
4	R. Frijns / R. Rast	BMW M Crew WRT	Hypercar	1:31.709	+0.532	0.334
5	F. Makowiecki / J. Gounon / V. Martins	Alpine Endurance Crew	Hypercar	1:31.872	+0.695	0.163
6	A. Félix da Costa / C. Milesi / F. Habsburg	Alpine Endurance Crew	Hypercar	1:31.876	+0.699	0.004
7	L. Duval / M. Jakobsen / T. Pourchaire	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Hypercar	1:32.106	+0.929	0.230
8	Ok. Magnussen / R. Marciello	BMW M Crew WRT	Hypercar	1:32.204	+1.027	0.098
9	S. Buemi / B. Hartley / R. Hirakawa	Toyota Racing	Hypercar	1:32.409	+1.232	0.205
10	P. Di Resta / S. Vandoorne / N. Cassidy	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Hypercar	1:32.468	+1.291	0.059
11	M. Conway / Ok. Kobayashi / N. De Vries	Toyota Racing	Hypercar	1:32.487	+1.310	0.019
12	H. Tincknell / T. Gamble	Aston Martin Thor Crew	Hypercar	1:32.593	+1.416	0.106
13	E. Bamber / S. Bourdais	Cadillac Hertz Crew Jota	Hypercar	1:32.613	+1.436	0.020
14	W. Stevens / N. Nato	Cadillac Hertz Crew Jota	Hypercar	1:32.888	+1.711	0.275
15	M. Jaminet / P. Chatin / D. Juncadella	Genesis Magma Racing	Hypercar	1:33.618	+2.441	0.730
16	A. Lotterer / L. Derani / M. Jaubert	Genesis Magma Racing	Hypercar	1:33.707	+2.530	0.089
17	A. Riberas / M. Sørensen	Aston Martin Thor Crew	Hypercar	1:33.710	+2.533	0.003
18	I. James / Z. Robichon / M. Drudi	Coronary heart of Racing Crew	LMGT3	1:42.698	+11.521	8.988
19	F. Hériaud / S. Mann / A. Rovera	Vista AF Corse	LMGT3	1:42.749	+11.572	0.051
20	A. Au / T. Fleming / M. Kirchhöfer	Storage 59	LMGT3	1:42.814	+11.637	0.065
21	P. Dempsey / S. Yoluç / C. Eastwood	Racing Crew Turkey TF	LMGT3	1:42.826	+11.649	0.012
22	B. McDonald / J. Edgar / N. Catsburg	TF Sport	LMGT3	1:42.876	+11.699	0.050
23	A. West / F. Gehrsitz / B. Goethe	Storage 59	LMGT3	1:42.913	+11.736	0.037
24	A. McIntosh / P. Thompson / D. Harper	Crew WRT	LMGT3	1:42.959	+11.782	0.046
25	M. Berry / R. Andrade / M. Martin	Iron Lynx	LMGT3	1:43.051	+11.874	0.092
26	D. Leung / S. Gelael / A. Farfus	Crew WRT	LMGT3	1:43.078	+11.901	0.027
27	T. Flohr / F. Castellacci / D. Rigon	Vista AF Corse	LMGT3	1:43.142	+11.965	0.064
28	G. Newell / Ok. Pauwels / J. Adam	Coronary heart of Racing Crew	LMGT3	1:43.224	+12.047	0.082
29	T. Van Rompuy / H. David / E. Masson	Akkodis ASP Crew	LMGT3	1:43.247	+12.070	0.023
30	J. Zelger / M. Cressoni / L. Hødenius	Iron Lynx	LMGT3	1:43.289	+12.112	0.042
31	Y. Shahin / R. Pera / R. Lietz	Manthey	LMGT3	1:43.312	+12.135	0.023
32	P. Umbrărescu / C. Schmid / J. López	Akkodis ASP Crew	LMGT3	1:43.465	+12.288	0.153
33	J. Cottingham / T. Boguslavskiy / A. Güven	Manthey DK Engineering	LMGT3	1:43.611	+12.434	0.146
34	E. Powell / B. Tuck / S. Priaulx	Proton Competitors	LMGT3	1:43.627	+12.450	0.016
35	S. Gattuso / G. Levorato / L. Sargeant	Proton Competitors	LMGT3	1:44.414	+13.237	0.787