Toyota scores 50th WEC win in 100th race in Ferrari’s back yard

Text & Images: Rick Kiewiet

Toyota couldn’t wish for a better debut for its brand new TR010 Hybrid at the 6 Hours of Imola. The no. #8 of Sébastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley defeated the pole-sitting Ferrari 499P in a strategic race to open the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season. The result, achieved in front of 92,175 spectators, came on Toyota’s 100th WEC start and delivered the Japanese manufacturer its 50th victory in the series.

James Calado led away from pole in the #51 Ferrari, with the #50 Ferrari of Miguel Molina briefly moving past Hartley’s Toyota for second on soft rubber. That advantage proved short-lived — a faster pit stop allowed Hartley to reclaim the position before Toyota made its decisive early move, bringing the #8 in at the end of the second hour for a driver change without switching tyres. Hirakawa rejoined ahead of Pier Guidi and immediately began building a margin.

Timing then worked in Toyota’s favour. Nick Cassidy beached the #93 Peugeot on cold tyres at Tamburello, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. The #8 pitted under the caution for four fresh tyres at no material cost to its race position. Ferrari attempted to counter by bringing Pier Guidi in early during the next cycle but failed to undercut Hirakawa, who extended his lead beyond four seconds. Through the middle phase, the #7 Toyota worked its way back into contention by running long on tyres, eventually jumping ahead of Pier Guidi without a tyre change to hold the Ferrari at bay and give Buemi room to extend his advantage beyond ten seconds.

When the #7 finally took fresh rubber at its final stop, Giovinazzi was released — but the damage was done. Despite a persistent rain threat that never materialised, Buemi brought the #8 home 13.4 seconds clear of the #51 Ferrari. Kobayashi, Conway and de Vries completed the podium in the #7.

Fourth went to the #35 Alpine A424 of Milesi, Habsburg and Da Costa, ahead of the #20 BMW of Rast and Frijns in fifth — the latter despite a drive-through penalty for a VSC infringement. The #50 Ferrari of Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen had been in podium contention early but a yellow flag penalty dropped the car to sixth. Marciello and Magnussen were seventh in the #15 BMW, with the #38 Cadillac, #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie and #83 AF Corse Ferrari completing the top ten. Peugeot left pointless, the #94 fading to 12th and the #93 losing two laps to Cassidy’s early excursion. Genesis made a promising debut, the #17 GMR-001 running in the top ten through the second half before finishing 15th.

The LMGT3 battle appeared to be heading toward a fairy-tale debut victory for Garage 59, until the final half-hour unravelled it entirely. The #10 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhöfer had started from pole and made the decisive move for the class lead early in the penultimate hour, when Fleming passed the #33 TF Sport Corvette at Tamburello after a lengthy duel. With Kirchhöfer then running comfortably at the front on fresher rubber, victory looked assured — until the McLaren slowed with an electrical failure on the start-finish straight with 35 minutes remaining.

That handed the lead to Dan Harper in the #69 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with Harper immediately finding the #33 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg on his tail. Catsburg, who had taken over from Jonny Edgar at the penultimate stops, cut a six-second deficit to under two seconds in the closing stages but could not find a way through, Harper holding on by just 0.265 seconds at the flag. The car was shared with Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson, giving WRT its second LMGT3 class win. Edgar, McDonald and Catsburg took second for TF Sport.

Third went to the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R of Yasser Shahin, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera — a strong recovery after an early drive-through penalty for an unsafe release. The sister #91 Porsche finished fourth, with the #32 WRT BMW fifth. The Garage 59 McLaren eventually returned to the circuit for the final lap, classified 13th in class. Both Akkodis ASP Lexus entries retired early with what appeared to be related transmission problems, the #87 stopping on circuit to trigger the first safety car of the race.