WEC Imola 6 Hours: Toyota ambush Ferrari on their home turf, setting the stage for huge season

The No. 8 Toyota driven by Ryo Hirakawa, Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi secured victory after taking the lead through an alternative tyre strategy and controlling the race to the finish. The result marked Toyota’s 50th win in 100 starts in WEC since 2012.

The car dropped to P3 at the start but moved into contention as the team opted to triple stint its starting set of medium tyres, gaining track position over the No. 50 Ferrari and later the pole sitting No. 51.

Track position proved decisive at Imola, where overtaking is difficult. A safety car following a gravel incident for Peugeot’s Nick Cassidy allowed Toyota to fit a fresh set of tyres while retaining the lead, as Ferrari split its strategy at the same stop.

Toyota extended its advantage by using the No. 7 sister car to disrupt Ferrari’s race. By leaving it out on ageing tyres for more than 100 laps, the team executed an undercut that briefly gave it a one-two position.

Kamui Kobayashi then held off Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi during the fifth hour before switching to soft tyres in cooler conditions and light rain, dropping to third place where the car finished.

Giovinazzi, who put Ferrari on pole with a stellar last miinute effort during Hyperpole on Saturday, closed the gap in the final stint but remained unable to catch Buemi, finishing 13 seconds behind, with the No. 7 Toyota a further 27 seconds back.

After a tense race, Hartley said: “It feels so good to win on the TR010’s debut. Strategy was on point, we managed the tyres well and the sister car helped us.”

His teammate Hirakawa added: “We got a new car, it’s our 100th race, and we made history.”

Alpine finished fourth with its No. 35 car, while BMW Team WRT took fifth after running an alternative tyre strategy.

Ferrari’s No. 50, which had challenged early for the lead, dropped to sixth after receiving a drive through penalty for a yellow flag infringement in the third hour. Cadillac’s No. 12 suffered a similar penalty and finished 13th.

Genesis Magma Racing completed its race debut with both cars reaching the finish, the No. 17 placing 15th, while the No. 19 lost time early and finished well down the order.

In the LMGT3 category, BMW Team WRT took victory after a late problem for the leading No. 10 McLaren from Garage 59, which had led much of the race before an electrical issue forced it into the garage in the closing stages.

The setback handed BMW the lead, with the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette finishing second, just 0.265 seconds behind, and the No. 92 Manthey Porsche third.

Both Lexus entries from AKKODIS ASP retired early after separate issues, leaving the team without points.