6 Hours of Imola – Race: Ferrari #51 played a perfect score
The #51 Ferrari, which started from pole position, easily won the 6 Hours of Imola. The sister car wrecked its comeback in the last quarter of an hour. In GT3, the WRT BMWs were the talk of the town... in a negative way.
A crazy end to the race. Ferrari and Toyota delivered an intense battle. The Ferrari #50, which started from last place, managed to climb into the top half of the standings and fought against the #8. Antonio Fuoco and Sébastien Buemi engaged in an incredible duel. With 40 minutes to go, the battle took a turn for the worse. After a mistake, the Ferrari driver launched another attack at Tamburello. Antonio Fuoco went straight off and incurred a puncture in the process. This action thwarted the massive comeback effort of the #50.
Throughout these 6 Hours of Imola, Ferrari dominated the race, but at times, competitors came to disrupt the plans of the prancing horse cars. The BMWs showed an enormous pace, and Toyota, which was not expected to contend for the podium, eventually rose to the occasion. The Porsches, particularly the #6, also surprised.
Read also: 6 Hours of Imola – H+1: Ferrari already distances the competition
The race was overall very clean. Accidents were very rare. Early in the race, a collision occurred between the Iron Dames and the Corvette #33. The Porsche #85 was penalized for this incident. Later, the BMW #31 pushed the Aston Martin #27 from Heart of Racing into the wall. Finally, the most avoidable accident occurred during the takeover of the GT3 category. Valentino Rossi, in the BMW #46, sent the leading Ferrari #21 off track. The Vista AF Corse car had to retire.
Read also: 6 Hours of Imola – H+2: The smooth ride continues for Ferrari
The various team strategies, caused by incidents throughout the 6 hours, kept the suspense for all positions until the final lap. In the last ten minutes, it was still almost impossible to predict the final podium of this second round of the season. But in the end, it was the Ferrari #51, which was the favorite, that crossed the line first.
In the game of strategies, the Ferrari #83 managed to get back in the race after losing some ground. It secured a respectable fourth place. The BMW #20, which started from way back on the grid, managed to clinch an almost unexpected second place. The #15 was more expected to achieve this result.
Also read: 6 Hours of Imola – H+3: The French forces awaken
Among the French, Alpine executed an excellent strategy to secure substantial points, the first of the season. The Dieppe brand, thanks to car #36, finished the race in third position. Mick Schumacher perfectly managed the end of the race to deliver Philippe Sinault’s team its best result since Fuji 2024. Unfortunately, the other car ruined its race with an error in the early moments and an off-track excursion shortly after.
Peugeot placed its #93 in ninth place, the sister car finished outside the top 10.
See also: 6 Hours of Imola – H+4: Porsche has provisionally taken the lead
In GT3, the battle for victory lasted until the checkered flag. The Porsche #92 seemed to be heading towards victory. But the BMW #46 was on a rampage. The WRT car managed to return to the forefront despite its drive-through. A performance that clearly demonstrates the superiority of the BMWs at Imola.
A Peugeot that duplicated itself offered some respite to the Manthey team car. Richard Lietz managed the pressure from the menacing BMW until the end. Porsche claimed its first victory of the season in WEC.
Also noteworthy is the very impressive performance of the Lexus cars from Akkodis, which secured third and fourth positions.
See also: 6 Hours of Imola – H+5: Ferrari stays on course, BMW No. 46 struggles
The Aston Martins continued their learning process. Even though they finished in last place in the Hypercar race, there are improvements. For one, they completed the race, which hadn’t happened in Qatar. In terms of pace, they got closer to the pack.
