FERRARI STARTS THE WEC SEASON LEADING THE PROLOGUE
The 2026 season of the FIA World Endurance Championship officially began with the traditional Prologue tests at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
Overnight rain left the track wet, and the sky stayed cloudy during the morning session. As the surface slowly dried, teams switched to slick tires and lap times improved during the 3 hours and 30 minutes of running.
The session was interrupted several times. Two Full Course Yellow periods were caused by off-track moments from the Alpine #35 at Tosa and the Mercedes-Iron Lynx #79 at Acque Minerali. Later, a red flag was shown after Marco Sørensen crashed heavily at Tamburello with the Aston Martin #009. Another FCY appeared near the end because of debris at Variante Alta.
In the Hypercar class, Ferrari dominated the morning. Antonio Giovinazzi set the fastest time with the Ferrari #51 in 1:31.586, beating the AF Corse #83 by just 0.097 seconds.
The Ferrari #50 finished third, completing a top-three lockout for the brand. Cadillac cars finished fourth and sixth, with the BMW #20 between them in fifth. Alpine followed close behind, while Peugeot and Aston Martin completed the top ten.
The new Toyota GR010 Hybrids were further back in 11th and 13th place, and the debuting Genesis cars ended 15th and 16th as they focused on gathering data. The BMW #15 only completed 26 laps due to a technical problem that required an engine change.
In the LMGT3 category, Ferrari also led the way. Alessio Rovera set the fastest lap in 1:42.875 with the Ferrari 296 EVO #21 for AF Corse, just 0.038 seconds ahead of the McLaren #58 from Garage 59. The Corvette-TF Sport #33 was third, followed by the BMW-WRT #69 and the Mercedes-Iron Lynx #61. Lexus, Aston Martin, and another Ferrari rounded out a very close top ten.
Prologue afternoon session
Ferrari remained on top in the afternoon session, which lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes. Rain returned at times and the track became wet again, forcing teams to use rain tires and limiting improvements in lap times.
There were a few more Full Course Yellow periods after spins by José MarÃa López in the Lexus #87 and by the Porsche #92. Later, Sean Gelael also went off at Rivazza with the BMW #32, and a red flag appeared briefly due to a communication problem with race control.
In Hypercar, Antonio Fuoco put the Ferrari #50 at the top with a 1:31.177 lap, ahead of the AF Corse #83 and the sister Ferrari #51. The BMW #20 was fourth, followed by two Alpines and the Peugeot #94.
After its engine change, the BMW #15 returned to the track and finished eighth. Toyota managed ninth place with the #8, while the Cadillac entries were only 12th and 14th. The Aston Martin #009 ran only a single check lap after the morning crash.
In LMGT3, Mattia Drudi set the fastest time with the Aston Martin #27 for Heart of Racing in 1:42.698. Rovera’s Ferrari #21 was just 0.051 seconds behind. The McLaren #10 and the Corvette cars from TF Sport completed the top five. BMW, Mercedes, and more McLaren and Ferrari entries followed closely, while the Porsche Manthey cars and the Ford Proton entries were further down the order.
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