Imola to hold 2026 WEC Prologue test in April

Imola will host the Prologue for the 2026 World Endurance Championship next month, in addition to the opening round of the new season.

Earlier this week, it was announced that the Qatar 1812km has been postponed until later in the year due to the conflict in the Middle East. The Losail International Circuit was due to open the 2026 season on  21 March, but the championship will now get underway with the 6 Hours of Imola on the banks of the Santerno on 17-19 April.

In the last few hours, an agreement has also been reached to hold at least one day of collective testing, in order to give everyone an extra chance to shake off the winter rust. A two-day test was originally planned in Qatar on 22-23 March.

The new date chosen for Prologue is Tuesday 14 April, with the drivers in Hypercar and LMGT3 classes taking to the track for three and a half hours in the morning and four and a half hours in the afternoon, for a total of eight hours of running.

Given that the several teams and drivers will be busy with the GT World Challenge Europe events at Paul Ricard and the European Le Mans Series race in Barcelona the previous weekend, the decision to hold the Prologue on Tuesday gives everyone enough time to travel to the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit.

Wednesday will be a rest day, with side events kicking off on Thursday. Track action will resume on Friday with the first two Free Practice sessions, with Qualifying  following on Saturday and the start of the 6-hour race scheduled for Sunday at lunchtime.

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— The Motorsport.com Team