Toyota upstages Ferrari to take Imola 6 Hours win

With a combination of speed and strategy, Toyota Racing executed a fairytale 100th FIA WEC race, beating Ferrari on home soil with its new-look TR010 Hypercar at Imola. The No. 8 crew of Ryo Hirakawa, Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi were flawless through the six-hour race, taking the lead with a strategic gamble that played out perfectly and powering to victory – Toyota’s 50th since 2012.

The No. 8 fell to third at the start but persevered, with the pit wall opting to triple-stint the medium tires it started on to gain track position over the No. 50 to first reclaim second, then the No. 51 Ferrari, which changed its right side after a double stint.

With Imola such a difficult circuit to pass on, it proved to be a masterstroke. A safety car called for an off into the gravel by Peugeot’s Nick Cassidy shortly after the third stops allowed Toyota to change a full set and retain the lead when Hartley climbed out, and Hirakawa climbed back in, as the No. 51 pole-sitting Ferrari changed half a set at the same stop.

From there, Toyota wrestled control of the race from Ferrari and used the sister car to further frustrate the Ferrari team. By leaving the No. 7 out on a set of mediums for 104 laps, it gained track position again via an undercut and made it a 1-2. Kamui Kobayashi was then tasked with holding back Antonio Giovinazzi on fresher rubber, which he did in the fifth hour, right till the final round of stops.

When the No. 7 Toyota finally changed onto a set of soft Michelins, with temperatures cooler and light rain showers coming and going, it fell to third, where it would finish. But the damage was done, as Giovinazzi emerged from his final pit stop 16 seconds behind Buemi and was unable to catch and pass the Swiss before the end, finishing 13s adrift and 27s up the road from the No. 7.

“It feels so good to win on the TR010’s debut. It started yesterday with Ryo putting the car on the front row, we didn’t expect it. Strategy was then on point today, we managed the tires well and the sister car got in front of the Ferrari to give us breathing room. Fantastic,” Hartley said.

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

Off the podium, the No. 35 Alpine fought hard to take fourth to kick off the brand’s farewell campaign in Hypercar with the A424. The No. 20 BMW Team WRT M Hybrid V8 completed the top five after a quiet outing spent running on an alternative tire strategy, using one left-front soft and three mediums, for the majority of the race.

The No. 50 Ferrari ended up a disappointing sixth, after looking like a contender early in the race, snatching second from the No. 8 Toyota when on softs at the start. But it, and the No. 12 Cadillac – another car that looked set to fight for a podium finish – both received drive-through penalties just before a safety car for disobeying yellow flags in hour three, which dropped them to the back of the Hypercar train and out of contention. The Ferrari recovered nicely, while the Cadillac failed to score points, finishing 13th.

Further down the order, Genesis Magma Racing’s race debut with the GMR-001 was quiet but highly encouraging. Both cars made the finish, with the No. 17 the better placed of the two in 15th after a metronomic run. It was a tougher debut for the No. 19, which crossed the line 29th overall and 24 laps down after a sensor issue forced its into the garage during the opening hour, but it still managed 189 laps.

And a winning one too, after WRT turned the tables late in the race. Jakob Ebrey/Getty Images

LMGT3 was action-packed and gripping to the end. Team WRT’s Tic-Tac throwback M4 GT3 took an unlikely victory after taking the lead late in the race. Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Dan Harper were strong all day but looked destined to finish second after the final stops.

However, the team was gifted the lead with 35 minutes remaining when an electrical issue struck the No. 10 McLaren of WEC debutant Garage 59, which had been the surprise package of the week. It was heart-wrenching for the British team, which led much of the race off the back of a strong opening stint from Antares Au, then the combination of rapid youngster Tom Fleming and factory ace Marvin Kirchhöfer. The late problem forced the No. 10 into the garage, dropping it to 13th in class.

This promoted WRT to the win, the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette, which climbed the order from 15th on the grid to second and 0.265s off the BMW, and the No. 92 Bend Manthey Porsche into a surprise podium finish in third.

"I couldn't have asked for a better debut!" Harper said. "My teammates made it a lot easier for me, put the car in the right position. And WRT, their strategy is always a strength, so we're very lucky to have them running the cars for us this year.

"My job as the Pro is to close the race out. It definitely wasn't easy, but at certain points, I felt in control."

The Garage 59 McLaren wasn’t the only key LMGT3 car to hit trouble in the race, as both Lexus RC Fs from AKKODIS ASP also had plenty of pace but left with zero points banked. The French team suffered a disastrous 10 minutes, which eliminated both cars from contention in the opening hour.

The No. 78 ended up being pushed back into the garage after failing to fire up after its first stop, then moments later, the No. 87 pulled off the track with a suspected transmission issue.

“I heard a boom, then a crazy vibration, then the engine didn’t speed up,” Umbrarescu told the team over the radio.

The No. 87 retired on the spot, while the No. 78 limped home more than 20 laps down.

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