6 Hours of Imola – H+5: Ferrari stays the course, BMW #46 struggles
Despite a difficult start to the final stint, the #51 Ferrari maintained the lead before creating a gap. In the GT3 category, the Iron Dames moved up the order. BMW #46 was still in a position to win.

The fifth hour began with two penalties for the Ford #77 and the McLaren #95. Both GT3 cars were penalized with a drive-through following an infraction during the virtual safety car procedure.
Leading the race, Ferrari, on its soft tires, couldn’t pull away and even saw its competitors gaining on #51. The raindrops didn’t disrupt anyone. The precipitation barely touched the Imola circuit, despite the concerns.
Read also: 6 Heures d’Imola – H+1: Ferrari already outpaces the competition
The stewards also took time to judge the incident between the BMW #46 and the Ferrari #21. Valentino Rossi and his crew were penalized with a simple stop and go. Leading at home, the Italian saw his hopes of victory on his own turf vanish because of this action. The penalty was fully justified as the Vista AF Corse car had to retire.
The Ferrari #51 finally found its rhythm and made the difference in traffic to distance itself from the Porsche #6, the Toyota #7, and the BMW #15.
See also: 6 Hours of Imola – H+2: The Easy Ride Continues for Ferrari
In GT3, the BMW #46 was on fire. Despite a penalty, it didn’t lose much time. Behind the wheel, Kelvin van der Linde was unstoppable. He executed magnificent overtakes, including one on the outside over the Aston Martin of Racing Spirit of Léman at Tosa.
The Iron Dames, discreet since the beginning, were able to take advantage of the various incidents to climb into the top half of the standings. The experienced Michelle Gatting held her ground against faster cars.
Read also: 6 Heures d’Imola – H+3: The French forces awaken
On the side of French cars, both Alpines were in the points. #36 was in seventh place. #35 was ninth. Both Peugeots were provisionally in this top 10 as well: #94 was eighth, and the other was tenth.
We witnessed a magnificent battle for the second position. Kévin Estre defended his position very firmly but very cleanly against an extremely aggressive Kamui Kobayashi. After one last attempt, the Toyota driver forced his way through in the last two corners to climb to second position.
Read also: 6 Hours of Imola – H+4: Porsche has temporarily taken the lead
The end of this hour was very tense between the Ferrari #50 and the Toyota #8. The two drivers behind the wheel were very heated. They put on quite the show on the track.