The season is set to kick off at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, celebrated for its ‘old-school’ nature. The 4.909km anticlockwise layout sees Hypercar drivers hit top speeds approaching 315km/h, change gear 42 times per tour and travel with a fully open throttle for two-thirds of the lap. Its bumpy surface and combination of straights and slow corners place the emphasis on high downforce, good traction, strong chassis compliance and a car capable of efficiently riding the kerbs, while its narrow design makes traffic management a challenge and its minimal run-off punish every error.

Imola is the fifth track to herald the beginning of an FIA WEC campaign, with the upcoming event marking the championship’s first European curtain-raiser since 2021.

The four subsequent season-openers have been won by four different manufacturers – Alpine, Toyota, Porsche and Ferrari.

The 99 drivers on the grid across the Hypercar and LMGT3 categories this weekend include 11 previous winners at Imola and 15 series rookies, with ex-Formula 1 racer Logan Sargeant at Proton Competition and 2022 FIA Formula 3 Champion Victor Martins with Alpine Endurance Team among them.

And to the great delight of the passionate Italian fans – the ever-loyal and enthusiastic tifosi – there are more Ferraris in the 35-strong field than any other brand.

PRANCING HORSE AIMING TO BOLT OUT OF STABLE
Located barely an hour down the road from its Maranello base, Imola is very much Ferrari’s local circuit on the calendar and witnessed a top-three lockout in qualifying for the 499P Hypercar two years ago. Twelve months later, the #51 entry converted pole position into a victory.

After Antonio Giovinazzi stopped the clocks an impressive three-quarters of a second faster than anybody else in Hyperpole, the Italian, together with stablemates James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, went on to dominate the race, leading for more than 80 per cent of the total distance.

Ferrari enters the new season aiming to retain its world championship title for the first time since 2022 – then in LMGTE Pro – and can take great encouragement from its prior form, with no other manufacturer having won as many curtain-raising contests across all classes combined.

In terms of overall FIA WEC records, Toyota, however, remains the brand to beat. The automotive giant prevailed in Italy in 2024 and heads into action with a heavily updated TR010 Hybrid as it bids to banish the memory of a disappointing 2025 campaign that yielded just a single success.

Experience is certainly on Toyota’s side. Imola will be its 100th race in the series, with the Japanese carmaker the fourth to reach such a momentous milestone, alongside Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche – and it is chasing an extraordinary 50th triumph. Brendon Hartley and Kamui Kobayashi are the only two competitors to have participated in all Hypercar rounds to date, while the marque’s unaltered sextet of drivers counts more than 400 world championship outings between them.

GERMAN GIANTS AND NEW CHALLENGERS SET TO CLASH
BMW and reigning champion Porsche have shared the LMGT3 spoils in the past two editions of the 6 Hours of Imola. The former registered its first FIA WEC victory at the track in 2024 courtesy of a commanding one-two result, before Porsche turned the tables last year, pipping its German rival to the chequered flag by the margin of a mere 0.316 seconds – at the time, the tightest-ever finish in the category and still the seventh-closest across any division in the championship’s history. Imola is additionally the only circuit where either marque has achieved a pole position in the class.

Augusto Farfus and Darren Leung – two-thirds of Team WRT’s #32 BMW entry – both claimed their maiden win at Imola, and the Emilia-Romagna venue similarly holds happy memories for Lexus, which sped to its breakthrough podium there last season, a result that opened the floodgates for two subsequent triumphs.

KEY INFO
Following Tuesday’s Prologue, the traditional pre-season test, the action in the curtain-raiser is set to kick off with free practice on Friday, 17 April. Qualifying – and the all-important Hyperpole top-ten shootout – starts at 14:30 CEST on Saturday, 18 April, with the six-hour race getting underway at 13:00 CEST on Sunday, 19 April.

Click here for all information on the 6 Hours of Imola, including the full event timetable and entry list.