As engineer for the car driven by Marcel F

24H Le Mans

Le Mans Series

24 Heures du Mans

FIA WEC

Toyota celebrated its 100th FIA World Endurance Championship appearance with an incredible 50th victory in the 2026 curtain-raising contest at Imola today, following an enthralling nip-and-tuck duel with home favourite Ferrari.

In front of a record Imola attendance of&nbsp;92,175 enthusiastic fans, the start was given by Formula 1 World Championship leader,&nbsp;Kimi Antonelli, and&nbsp;Ferrari&nbsp;delighted the ever-devoted tifosi by running first and second early on.

Having dropped to third at lights-out, the&nbsp;#8 Toyota&nbsp;piloted by&nbsp;Brendon Hartley&nbsp;regained second place during the opening round of pit-stops. The next time the heavily-revised&nbsp;TR010 Hybrid&nbsp;pulled into its box &ndash; just before the two-hour mark &ndash; Toyota elected not to change tyres in order to seize track position, catapulting&nbsp;Ryō Hirakawa&nbsp;past&nbsp;Alessandro Pier Guidi&nbsp;in the&nbsp;#51 Ferrari&nbsp;into the lead.

What ensued was a memorable face-off between the reigning world championship-winning marque and the most successful brand in the series&rsquo; history, with&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Buemi&nbsp;in the leading TR010 Hybrid ultimately taking the chequered flag just over 13 seconds clear.

<h2>McLaren&rsquo;s pain is BMW&rsquo;s gain</h2>

In&nbsp;LMGT3,&nbsp;Team WRT&nbsp;extended BMW&rsquo;s excellent record at Imola, as the Belgian squad benefitted from late heartbreak for series newcomer&nbsp;Garage 59&nbsp;to triumph for the second time in three years in Italy ahead of TF Sport. The&nbsp;#69 BMW&nbsp;crossed the finish line barely 0.25secs in front of the&nbsp;#33 Corvette, after the pole-sitting&nbsp;#10 McLaren&nbsp;suffered alternator failure while on-course for victory just half-an-hour from the end.

The 2026 campaign continues with the&nbsp;TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps&nbsp;in Belgium on&nbsp;7-9 May.

<a href="http://www.fiawec.com/fr/page/resultats/56" target="_blank">Full race results</a>

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Toyota takes 50th win in milestone 100th start

Twelve months ago at Imola, Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi grabbed pole position by more than three-quarters-of-a-second. The reigning world champion secured the top spot on the starting grid again today, but he had to dig deep during the closest Hyperpole shootout in Hypercar history.

As it bids to get its title defence off to a winning start on home soil, Ferrari topped four of the five testing and practice sessions around the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, but when it came to qualifying for tomorrow&rsquo;s FIA World Endurance Championship curtain-raising contest, the Prancing Horse&rsquo;s rivals applied some serious pressure.

Ferrari&rsquo;s all-conquering 499P was still firmly in the mix &ndash; courtesy of Giovinazzi and countryman Antonio Fuoco &ndash; but so too were Toyota and Peugeot. Rising star Malthe Jakobsen produced a stellar effort in Team Peugeot TotalEnergies&rsquo; #94 9X8, but as the clock ticked down towards zero, Ryō Hirakawa stormed to the summit of the standings in TOYOTA RACING&rsquo;S heavily-updated TR010 Hybrid.&nbsp;

That looked to be that, but Giovinazzi had other ideas. On the very last lap of the session, the Italian thrilled the thousands of tifosi packing the circuit grandstands to snatch pole position by the tiniest of margins, with the leading quartet blanketed by a miniscule 0.073 seconds...

In LMGT3, Garage 59 made a grand entrance into the championship as rising star &ndash; and FIA WEC rookie &ndash; Tom Fleming produced a sensational performance. For much of the session, the young Brit looked untouchable, and while the opposition &ndash; led by Lexus &ndash; narrowed the gap later on, ultimately, nobody could hold a candle to the McLaren racer.&nbsp;

The 6 Hours of Imola will get underway at 13:00 CEST tomorrow (Sunday, 19 April).

Qualifying results <a href="https://www.fiawec.com/en/page/resultats-1" target="_blank">HERE</a>.

Follow all of the action live on <a href="https://plus.fiawec.com/fr" target="_blank">FIAWEC+</a>

Qualifying and Hyperpole Highlights | 6 Hours of Imola 2026 | FIA WEC

FIA WEC : les temps forts des qualifications et de l'Hyperpole des 6 Heures d'Imola 2026

FIA WEC : Ferrari on pole at Imola as Giovinazzi tops scintillating shootout

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and Bosch are pleased to announce the extension of their partnership for a further two seasons. For the 2026–2027 period, Bosch will continue as both a Premium Partner and a Technical Partner of the FIA WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, reaffirming its long-term commitment to endurance racing and technological innovation at the highest level.

A major force in motorsport for more than 120 years, Bosch plays a key role in the evolution of endurance racing technologies, particularly in electrification, hybrid systems and advanced vehicle control solutions. Through this renewed agreement, Bosch will maintain strong brand visibility across FIA WEC events and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, supported by on-site activation, digital content and media exposure, while continuing to contribute its technical expertise to the championship&rsquo;s leading categories. 
 
Within the Hypercar era, Bosch is a central technical partner of the platform, supplying key elements of the standardized hybrid system used by manufacturers. Bosch Motorsport provides critical components including the electric motor (MGU), inverter and hybrid control unit, ensuring a reliable, high-performance and cost-controlled hybrid architecture. 
 
Ingo Mauel, Head of Bosch Motorsport, said:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&quot;We are delighted to continue our successful partnership with the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 2026&ndash;2027 seasons. This collaboration is driven by our deep passion for developing pioneering technologies and underlines our shared ambition with the FIA WEC and the ACO to shape the future of endurance racing. The championship is the ultimate proving ground for our advanced hybrid systems, allowing us to push the boundaries of performance and efficiency under the most demanding conditions. We are proud to continue transferring this pioneering spirit from the racetrack to the road.&rdquo; 
 
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest, commented:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&quot;Bosch is much more than a partner &mdash; they are a cornerstone of the Hypercar era. Their engineering expertise, particularly in hybrid technology, has been instrumental in shaping a competitive, efficient and cost-controlled framework that benefits the entire grid. Renewing this partnership for 2026 and 2027 is a natural step, and a strong signal that the most innovative industrial players see the FIA WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the ultimate arena to demonstrate what technology can achieve.&quot; 
 
Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Lequien, FIA WEC CEO, added:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&ldquo;Bosch has been a loyal and long-standing partner to the FIA World Endurance Championship, and we are delighted and proud to be extending that relationship for at least another two years. As a global leader in the realm of automotive equipment, Bosch is always at the cutting-edge of technology and engineering, and as such, is a vital partner to have by our side as we drive FIA WEC forward into an ever-brighter and more innovative future.&rdquo; 
 
The extension of this partnership for 2026&ndash;2027 reinforces Bosch&rsquo;s strategic presence in world-class endurance racing and underlines the shared ambition of Bosch, the FIA WEC and the ACO to continue pushing the boundaries of performance, efficiency and sustainable technology.

Bosch extends Partnership with the FIA WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans for 2026–2027

A red flag interrupted 4 Hours of Barcelona saw the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca-Gibson take a dramatic win, with reigning LMP2 champions Esteban Masson and Oliver Gray joined by new teammate Louis Rousset on the top step of the podium to get their title defence off to a great start.

Esteban Masson&nbsp;took the chequered flag 13 seconds ahead of the #34&nbsp;Inter Europol Competition&nbsp;of&nbsp;Reshad De Gerus, with&nbsp;Ben Hanley&nbsp;in the #22&nbsp;United Autosports&nbsp;claiming the final podium position.

Algarve Pro Racing&nbsp;took the victory in the&nbsp;LMP2 Pro/Am&nbsp;category, with last year&rsquo;s winners&nbsp;AF Corse&nbsp;in second and Duqueine Team in third.&nbsp; 
The&nbsp;LMP3&nbsp;victory was claimed by&nbsp;Rinaldi Racing&nbsp;after a great class battle with the #85&nbsp;R-ace GP Duqueine, the #13&nbsp;Inter Europol Competition Ligier&nbsp;and the #11&nbsp;Eurointernational Ligier-Toyota.

Proton Competition&nbsp;took the win in the&nbsp;LMGT3&nbsp;class with&nbsp;Tom Sargent&nbsp;crossing the line in the #75&nbsp;Porsche 911&nbsp;to take the victory in a car whose livery is celebrating Porsche&rsquo;s first class win at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/porsche-at-le-mans-the-early-days-1951-1952-22759" target="_blank">24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951</a>.&nbsp;The #23&nbsp;United Autosports McLaren 720S&nbsp;was second, 3 seconds behind the Porsche, with the #57&nbsp;Kessel Racing Ferrari&nbsp;in third.

<a href="https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/en/race/4-hours-of-barcelona-2026" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;for the provisional result from the 4 Hours of Barcelona.

The next race will be the&nbsp;4 Hours of Le Castellet&nbsp;on&nbsp;Sunday 3 May 2026.

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ELMS : Victory in Barcelona for Forestier Racing by Panis

Trained by Audi Sport Team&rsquo;s technical director Joest Howden Haynes at Progressive Engineering, Gade was snapped up by the Audi team, with whom she won Le Mans in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and contributed to the World Endurance Championship driver and constructor titles they claimed in 2012.

	Gade, who is a member of the FIA Women in Motorsport committee, will remain with Audi for the first three rounds of the World Endurance Championship to ensure a handover period with her successor, Erik Schuivens. After Le Mans, she will be taking up a new challenge with Bentley, another VW group constructor.

	C&eacute;cile Bonardel / ACO - Translated from French by Emma Paulay

24H LE MANS

WEC - Audi engineer Leena Gade to move on

Related News

Toyota takes 50th win in milestone 100th start

FIA WEC : Ferrari on pole at Imola as Giovinazzi tops scintillating shootout

Bosch extends Partnership with the FIA WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans for 2026–2027

ELMS : Victory in Barcelona for Forestier Racing by Panis

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