14/04/2026

Ferrari finishes 1-2-3 as Aston Martin suffers big shunt

Ferrari dominated the official Prologue test for the 2026 World Endurance Championship at Imola, locking out the top three spots in the Hypercar class.

Antonio Fuoco set a best time of 1m31.177s in the factory #50 Ferrari 499P just 30 minutes into the start of the afternoon session, beating Antonio Giovinazzi’s morning benchmark by four tenths of a second.

Robert Kubica went second-quickest in the satellite #83 AF Corse entry, while Giovinazzi made it three 499Ps at the top of the order.

The three Ferraris had also led the way in the morning session and were able to consolidate their position at the front before light rain hit Imola just an hour after track action resumed in the afternoon. A second bout of rain rendered any improvements impossible, even as the track gradually began to dry out late in the day.

BMW emerged as Ferrari’s closest rival in the prologue, with Robin Frijns ending up half a second down in fourth in the #20 M Hybrid V8. Ferrari had been sitting a full second clear of its rivals in the morning session before the #20 BMW closed the gap to the front.

Alpine looked competitive on both sides of the lunch break, with Jules Gounon and Charles Milesi ending up just four thousandths of a second adrift in fifth and sixth respectively.

Only six cars were able to lap in the 1m31s bracket, with Loic Duval in the best of the Peugeot 9X8 LMHs falling a tenth short of that mark in seventh place.

#20 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Rene Rast, Robin Frijns

Photo by: FIA WEC / DPPI

The #15 BMW completed just 26 laps in the morning session as the factory WRT team performed an engine change, but the crew was able to send the car back out on track in the afternoon, with Kevin Magnussen going on to set the eight-fastest time of the day.

It was a low-key day for Toyota with its rebranded and heavily-revised TR010, with Sebastien Buemi leading the charge for the Japanese manufacturer in the #8 car and the sister #7 entry ending up 11th. The two Toyota LMH prototypes were separated by the #93 Peugeot.

Norman Nato put Cadillac fourth in the opening session of the day, but the two Jota-entered factory cars finished outside the top 10 in the rain-hit afternoon session.

Newcomer Genesis propped up the timesheets in the prologue, with the two GMR-001s ending 2.5s off the pace set by the leading Ferrari.

The one-day Imola test was punctuated by three separate red flags, with the first and the biggest interruption caused by Marco Sorensen suffering a heavy crash in the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie. The V12-powered LMH sustained heavy damage in the incident and could not be repaired during the day.

A second red flag followed in the afternoon due to what the FIA described as the «issue with the electrical network, while the session was again interrupted when Jose Maria Lopez spun the #87 Lexus RC F GT3 at Acque Minerali.

Several full-course yellows were deployed during the day, including for debris at Variante Alta and a stoppage for Sean Gelael in the #32 BMW M4 GT3.

Aston Martin leads in LMGT3

#27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3: Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, Mattia Drudi

Photo by: Federico Basile / AG Photo

While Aston Martin’s day was compromised by a crash for one of its hypercars, the British manufacturer enjoyed much more success in the LMGT3 class.

Mattia Drudi posted a time of 1m42.698s aboard the #27 Vantage GT3, edging out the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Alessio Rovera by just half a tenth. Rovera had completed a perfect morning for Ferrari across the two classes, but eventually had to settle for second spot behind Drudi’s Aston.

Thomas Fleming finished third-quickest in the #10 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3, followed by the two TF Sport Corvettes of Charlie Eastwood and Jonny Edgar. Finn Gershitz’s morning lap of 1m42.913s in the #58 McLaren was good enough for sixth place, while Parker Thompson ended up seventh in the #69 BMW.

The top 10 in class was completed by the #61 Mercedes-AMG GT3, the #32 BMW and the #27 Ferrari.

WEC Imola Prologue — Full results:

Pos	Drivers	Team	Category	Best Time	Gap	Prev Gap
1	A. Fuoco / M. Molina / N. Nielsen	Ferrari AF Corse	Hypercar	1:31.177	—	—
2	Y. Ye / R. Kubica / P. Hanson	AF Corse	Hypercar	1:31.303	+0.126	0.126
3	A. Pier Guidi / J. Calado / A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari AF Corse	Hypercar	1:31.375	+0.198	0.072
4	R. Frijns / R. Rast	BMW M Team WRT	Hypercar	1:31.709	+0.532	0.334
5	F. Makowiecki / J. Gounon / V. Martins	Alpine Endurance Team	Hypercar	1:31.872	+0.695	0.163
6	A. Félix da Costa / C. Milesi / F. Habsburg	Alpine Endurance Team	Hypercar	1:31.876	+0.699	0.004
7	L. Duval / M. Jakobsen / T. Pourchaire	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Hypercar	1:32.106	+0.929	0.230
8	K. Magnussen / R. Marciello	BMW M Team WRT	Hypercar	1:32.204	+1.027	0.098
9	S. Buemi / B. Hartley / R. Hirakawa	Toyota Racing	Hypercar	1:32.409	+1.232	0.205
10	P. Di Resta / S. Vandoorne / N. Cassidy	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Hypercar	1:32.468	+1.291	0.059
11	M. Conway / K. Kobayashi / N. De Vries	Toyota Racing	Hypercar	1:32.487	+1.310	0.019
12	H. Tincknell / T. Gamble	Aston Martin Thor Team	Hypercar	1:32.593	+1.416	0.106
13	E. Bamber / S. Bourdais	Cadillac Hertz Team Jota	Hypercar	1:32.613	+1.436	0.020
14	W. Stevens / N. Nato	Cadillac Hertz Team Jota	Hypercar	1:32.888	+1.711	0.275
15	M. Jaminet / P. Chatin / D. Juncadella	Genesis Magma Racing	Hypercar	1:33.618	+2.441	0.730
16	A. Lotterer / L. Derani / M. Jaubert	Genesis Magma Racing	Hypercar	1:33.707	+2.530	0.089
17	A. Riberas / M. Sørensen	Aston Martin Thor Team	Hypercar	1:33.710	+2.533	0.003
18	I. James / Z. Robichon / M. Drudi	Heart of Racing Team	LMGT3	1:42.698	+11.521	8.988
19	F. Hériaud / S. Mann / A. Rovera	Vista AF Corse	LMGT3	1:42.749	+11.572	0.051
20	A. Au / T. Fleming / M. Kirchhöfer	Garage 59	LMGT3	1:42.814	+11.637	0.065
21	P. Dempsey / S. Yoluç / C. Eastwood	Racing Team Turkey TF	LMGT3	1:42.826	+11.649	0.012
22	B. McDonald / J. Edgar / N. Catsburg	TF Sport	LMGT3	1:42.876	+11.699	0.050
23	A. West / F. Gehrsitz / B. Goethe	Garage 59	LMGT3	1:42.913	+11.736	0.037
24	A. McIntosh / P. Thompson / D. Harper	Team WRT	LMGT3	1:42.959	+11.782	0.046
25	M. Berry / R. Andrade / M. Martin	Iron Lynx	LMGT3	1:43.051	+11.874	0.092
26	D. Leung / S. Gelael / A. Farfus	Team WRT	LMGT3	1:43.078	+11.901	0.027
27	T. Flohr / F. Castellacci / D. Rigon	Vista AF Corse	LMGT3	1:43.142	+11.965	0.064
28	G. Newell / K. Pauwels / J. Adam	Heart of Racing Team	LMGT3	1:43.224	+12.047	0.082
29	T. Van Rompuy / H. David / E. Masson	Akkodis ASP Team	LMGT3	1:43.247	+12.070	0.023
30	J. Zelger / M. Cressoni / L. Hødenius	Iron Lynx	LMGT3	1:43.289	+12.112	0.042
31	Y. Shahin / R. Pera / R. Lietz	Manthey	LMGT3	1:43.312	+12.135	0.023
32	P. Umbrărescu / C. Schmid / J. López	Akkodis ASP Team	LMGT3	1:43.465	+12.288	0.153
33	J. Cottingham / T. Boguslavskiy / A. Güven	Manthey DK Engineering	LMGT3	1:43.611	+12.434	0.146
34	E. Powell / B. Tuck / S. Priaulx	Proton Competition	LMGT3	1:43.627	+12.450	0.016
35	S. Gattuso / G. Levorato / L. Sargeant	Proton Competition	LMGT3	1:44.414	+13.237	0.787