WEC Imola 6 Hours: Forza Ferrari! Reds are unstoppable at home

Monday, 21 April 2025 at 07:12

Ferrari AF Corse has tightened its grip on the 2025 World Endurance Championship (WEC). James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi drove the No. 51 Ferrari 499P to a hugely popular and thrilling victory in the 6 Hours of Imola on Sunday.

A triumphant result on home soil for the Italian manufacturer. It marked Ferrari’s second win from the opening two rounds of the 2025 FIA WEC season, ahead of the No. 20 WRT BMW Hybrid V8 of René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde, and the No. 36 Alpine A424 shared by Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon and Mick Schumacher.

The yellow No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson finished fourth, followed by the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, which served a drive-through penalty for speeding under yellow flags.

BMW’s second car — the No. 15 driven by Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Laurens Vanthoor — completed the Hypercar top six, ahead of the No. 7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway.

The P2-placed BMW recovered after sustaining bodywork damage

The No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 of Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell followed, with the Peugeot and Cadillac entries completing the top ten.

Ferrari’s win was built on strategy as much as speed. The No. 51 led the early stages from the No. 83 sister car and the No. 15 BMW before the first safety car was deployed just before half-distance.

A full safety car and two Virtual Safety Cars added further complexity, with differing strategies splitting the field. Ferrari ultimately emerged victorious after a tense tactical battle with BMW, Alpine, Toyota and Porsche.

The second-placed BMW recovered after sustaining bodywork damage in contact with the No. 7 Toyota. Meanwhile, the No. 50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen — which had started from the back of the grid — also suffered damage following a clash with the No. 8 Toyota, halting its comeback drive. The results for both BMW and Alpine matched their best WEC finishes to date.

Porsche denies Rossi and van der Linde in LMGT3

Following pole position for the #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO, Valentino Rossi’s team carried strong pace into the race. Ahmad Al-Harthy opened with a commanding stint, and Rossi extended the lead before contact with Simon Mann’s #21 Ferrari at Rivazza resulted in a stop-and-go penalty.

The penalty dropped the BMW to eighth, but Kelvin van der Linde mounted a stunning recovery drive, reeling in the race-leading #91 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 in the closing laps. Despite intense pressure, factory Porsche driver Richard Lietz defended masterfully to secure Manthey’s first LMGT3 win of the season after a disappointing outing in Qatar.

Rossi and van der Linde were forced to settle for second place — the Italian’s second successive runner-up finish at his home race. Akkodis ASP Team completed the podium and claimed fourth as well, securing a breakthrough result for Lexus in WEC competition.

The result sees Manthey bounce back strongly in the LMGT3 standings, while Team WRT will look to regroup after letting another potential win slip away.

Round three of the 2025 FIA WEC campaign – the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium – will take place on 8-10 May.