The new season of the FIA World Endurance Championship opens with a triumph for Toyota Gazoo Racing at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Brendon Hartley, Ry\u014d Hirakawa, and S\u00e9bastien Buemi drove the #8 GR010 Hybrid to victory after a long tactical battle with Ferrari, giving the Japanese manufacturer its 50th win in the championship\u2019s history during its 100th race appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The #51 Ferrari 499P, driven by Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and James Calado, finished second, 13.352 seconds behind. Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, and Mike Conway secured third place in the #7 Toyota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ferrari started strongly, as the #51 kept the lead after Giovinazzi secured pole position. The Ferrari team looked set for a home victory, but everything changed in the third hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toyota #8 built its advantage through a decisive strategic choice. During the second pit stop, the Japanese team chose not to change tires, while Ferrari replaced two. This decision allowed Hartley and later Hirakawa to stay fully in contention for the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decisive turning point came shortly afterward when Nick Cassidy ran the Peugeot 9X8 into the gravel and triggered a virtual safety car. This neutralization allowed Toyota to fit a new set of tires with almost no time loss, while the #51 Ferrari had to follow its scheduled pit strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toyota #7 made Ferrari\u2019s race even harder. Kobayashi overtook the #51 Ferrari by completing a stop without changing tires, reducing Ferrari\u2019s margin further. Although Toyota #7 later dropped back, the time Giovinazzi lost in the pits allowed Buemi to build a decisive gap at the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clouds threatened rain over Imola in the closing stages, but no rain arrived in time to affect the result. Buemi crossed the finish line in first place and secured a major victory for Toyota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles Milesi, Ant\u00f3nio F\u00e9lix da Costa, and Ferdinand Habsburg finished fourth in the #35 Alpine A424, nearly one minute behind after fighting for third place for much of the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ren\u00e9 Rast and Robin Frijns took fifth place in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 and held off a late charge from the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The #50 Ferrari stood out as one of the biggest missed opportunities. The car showed podium pace, but a drive-through penalty for a yellow flag infringement ruined its chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen finished seventh in the #15 BMW, ahead of the best Cadillac from Hertz Team JOTA, the #38 driven by Earl Bamber and S\u00e9bastien Bourdais.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peugeot delivered a disappointing performance and failed to score points with both cars, while the #83 Ferrari from AF Corse managed only tenth place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Team WRT claimed victory in LMGT3 with the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, driven by Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson, and Dan Harper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garage 59 looked set for victory with the #10 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo driven by Antares Au, Tom Fleming, and Marvin Kirchh\u00f6fer. The McLaren started from pole and held the lead until the final minutes, but a sudden power issue on the main straight forced Kirchh\u00f6fer to slow down. Harper immediately seized the opportunity, took the lead, and drove to victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final moments, the BMW driver defended against Nicky Catsburg in the #33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, who finished just 0.265 seconds behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard Lietz, Yasser Shahin, and Riccardo Pera completed the podium in the #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo from Manthey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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