WEC Imola Prologue: Ferrari dominates with triple top, Fuoco leads Kubica and Giovinazzi. Ferrari dominates the WEC Imola Prologue with a 1-2-3 finish.

WEC Imola prologue: Ferrari 1-2-3, Fuoco leads Kubica and Giovinazzi

The chequered flag has fallen on the Imola Prologue, the only pre-season testing day of the FIA World Endurance Championship, held in conditions heavily affected by a damp track for much of the running. Ferrari can celebrate after placing all three 499P Hypercars at the top of the timesheets, with Antonio Fuoco leading Robert Kubica and Antonio Giovinazzi. In LMGT3, Mattia Drudi put the Aston Martin #27 of The Heart of Racing at the top, ahead of the Ferrari AF Corse #21 driven by Alessio Rovera.

Ferrari leads the way in the prologue

Clouds and rain played a key role during the WEC Prologue at Imola, making both collective test sessions particularly challenging, with the afternoon session effectively neutralised by the arrival of heavier rain. On a track where Ferrari won last year, the Italian manufacturer once again stood out thanks to a 1:31.177 set by Antonio Fuoco in the #50 499P. The driver from Cariati finished ahead of the AF Corse #83 of Robert Kubica, who was second just over a tenth behind the fastest time. Completing a Ferrari 1-2-3 was Antonio Giovinazzi, third with the reigning world champions’ Hypercar.

In the combined classification, the BMW-WRT #20 and the Alpine #36 secured fourth and fifth places, followed by the Alpine #35 in sixth. The new Toyota GR010 completed its first official session, taking the chequered flag in ninth and eleventh positions, occupied by the #8 and #7 respectively. The Japanese LMH cars, both more than one second off the pace, were also beaten by the Peugeot #94 and the BMW-WRT #15.

As for Genesis, the debut of the GMR 001 was not bad in terms of mileage covered by the two crews (204 laps), not far from the distances achieved by other competitors. Naturally, there is still significant work to be done on performance, as the Korean LMDh cars currently occupy the final positions in the standings.

It is also worth noting the incident involving Marco Sørensen during the morning session, which forced Aston Martin-THOR to repair substantial damage following an off-track excursion at Tamburello. There was also an engine change for the BMW-WRT #15 during the morning.

Drudi ahead of Rovera in LMGT3, Porsche Manthey struggling

In the LMGT3 category, as mentioned, Mattia Drudi made the difference in the Aston Martin Vantage #27 of The Heart of Racing, starting the week strongly after celebrating victory in the GTWC at Paul Ricard. Right behind him was Alessio Rovera in the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of AF Corse, followed by the McLaren #10 of Garage 59, a team that, at least based on these tests, appears to be picking up the baton well from United Autosports, now focused on LMDh development.

Both Corvette-TF Sport entries and the BMW-WRT cars secured places inside the top 10, joined by the Mercedes-Iron Lynx #61, while the #79 car ended up in 13th position.

The gaps were extremely tight, with the entire field covered by roughly one second. At the lower end of the classification were the Porsche entries, currently struggling, with the Manthey #92 in 14th place and the #91 in 16th. Bringing up the rear were the Ford Mustang EVO cars run by Proton Competition.