Antonio Giovinazzi wrenched pole position from Toyota’s grasp in the closing heartbeat of Hypercar qualifying to give Ferrari AF Corse the front‑row launch into the 6 Hours of Imola.
Giovinazzi driving the No. 51 Ferrari 499P produced a last‑gasp lap in the final seconds of qualifying to better the No. 8 Toyota TR010‑Hybrid of Ryo Hirakawa by just 0.011 seconds, handing the Italian marque a dream‑start to the 2026 World Endurance Championship at its home venue.
Antonio Fuoco in the sister No. 50 Ferrari eventually settled for third, 0.040 seconds off Giovinazzi’s benchmark, while Malthe Jakobsen slotted the No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 into fourth, 0.072 seconds adrift.
Norman Nato delivered an impressive fifth on his first qualifying run aboard the No. 12 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V-Series.R, beating Nyck de Vries’ No. 7 Toyota TR010‑Hybrid by just 0.013 seconds.
Charles Milesi placed the No. 35 Alpine A424 in seventh, with Robert Kubica’s satellite No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P and the two BMW M Hybrid V8s of Robin Frijns and Kevin Magnussen rounding out the order in Hyperpole.
Garage 59 McLaren seals LMGT3 pole on debut
Away from Hypercar, the LMGT3 class produced its own drama with Garage 59 McLaren securing a surprise pole position on its WEC debut in a tightly contested qualifying session.
Tom Fleming at the wheel of the No. 10 McLaren 720S GT3 delivered a stunning 1:41.181 in the dying minutes of Hyperpole to beat Hadrien David in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 by 0.226 seconds.
The sister No. 87 Lexus of Clemens Schmid took third, followed by Team WRT’s pair of BMW M4 LMGT3 Evos with the No. 69 of Parker Thompson leading the No. 32 of Sean Gelael, while the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 completed the top six.
Full 2026 WEC Imola 6H Qualifying Results
| Pos | No | Team | Drivers | Class | Time | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 51 | FERRARI AF CORSE | A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi | HYPERCAR | 1:30.127 | 196.083 |
| 2 | 8 | Toyota Racing | S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa | HYPERCAR | +0.011 | 196.059 |
| 3 | 50 | FERRARI AF CORSE | A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen | HYPERCAR | +0.040 | 195.996 |
| 4 | 94 | PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES | L. Duval M. Jakobsen T. Pourchaire | HYPERCAR | +0.073 | 195.924 |
| 5 | 12 | Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA | W. Stevens N. Nato | HYPERCAR | +0.292 | 195.450 |
| 6 | 7 | Toyota Racing | M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries | HYPERCAR | +0.305 | 195.421 |
| 7 | 35 | Alpine Endurance Team | A. Felix da Costa C. Milesi F. Habsburg | HYPERCAR | +0.342 | 195.342 |
| 8 | 83 | AF Corse | Y. Yifei R. Kubica P. Hanson | HYPERCAR | +0.381 | 195.257 |
| 9 | 20 | BMW M Team WRT | R. Frijns R. Rast | HYPERCAR | +0.491 | 195.020 |
| 10 | 15 | BMW M Team WRT | K. Magnussen R. Marciello | HYPERCAR | +0.674 | 194.627 |
| 11 | 36 | Alpine Endurance Team | F. Makowiecki J. Gounon V. Martins | HYPERCAR | +0.555 | 194.883 |
| 12 | 007 | Aston Martin THOR Team | H. Tincknell T. Gamble | HYPERCAR | +0.679 | 194.617 |
| 13 | 38 | Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA | E. Bamber S. Bourdais | HYPERCAR | +0.740 | 194.486 |
| 14 | 009 | Aston Martin THOR Team | A. Riberas M. Sorensen | HYPERCAR | +0.840 | 194.272 |
| 15 | 93 | PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES | P. di Resta S. Vandoorne N. Cassidy | HYPERCAR | +0.868 | 194.212 |
| 16 | 19 | Genesis Magma Racing | M. Jaminet P. Chatin D. Juncadella | HYPERCAR | +1.131 | 193.653 |
| 17 | 17 | Genesis Magma Racing | A. Lotterer P. Derani M. Jaubert | HYPERCAR | +2.089 | 191.641 |
| 18 | 10 | Garage 59 | A. Au T. Fleming M. Kirchhofer | LMGT3 | +11.054 | 174.661 |
| 19 | 78 | AKKODIS ASP Team | T. Rompuy H. David E. Masson | LMGT3 | +11.280 | 174.271 |
| 20 | 87 | AKKODIS ASP Team | R. Umbrarescu C. Schmid J. Lopez | LMGT3 | +11.418 | 174.035 |
| 21 | 69 | TEAM WRT | A. McIntosh P. Thompson D. Harper | LMGT3 | +11.464 | 173.956 |
| 22 | 32 | TEAM WRT | D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus | LMGT3 | +11.685 | 173.578 |
| 23 | 61 | IRON LYNX | M. Berry R. Andrade M. Martin | LMGT3 | +11.965 | 173.102 |
| 24 | 21 | Vista AF Corse | F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera | LMGT3 | +12.103 | 172.869 |
| 25 | 91 | Manthey DK Engineering | J. Cottingham T. Boguslavskiy A. Güven | LMGT3 | +12.138 | 172.809 |
| 26 | 88 | Proton Competition | S. Gattuso G. Levorato L. Sargeant | LMGT3 | +12.308 | 172.523 |
| 27 | 34 | Racing Team Turkey by TF | P. Dempsey S. Yoluc C. Eastwood | LMGT3 | +12.979 | 171.400 |
| 28 | 92 | The Bend Manthey | Y. Shahin R. Pera R. Lietz | LMGT3 | +12.966 | 171.421 |
| 29 | 27 | Heart of Racing Team | I. James Z. Robichon M. Drudi | LMGT3 | +12.979 | 171.400 |
| 30 | 77 | Proton Competition | E. Powell B. Tuck S. Priaulx | LMGT3 | +13.114 | 171.176 |
| 31 | 33 | TF Sport | B. McDonald J. Edgar N. Catsburg | LMGT3 | +13.154 | 171.109 |
| 32 | 23 | Heart of Racing Team | G. Newell K. Pauwels J. Adam | LMGT3 | +13.209 | 171.018 |
| 33 | 58 | Garage 59 | A. West F. Gehrsitz B. Goethe | LMGT3 | +13.237 | 170.972 |
| 34 | 79 | IRON LYNX | J. Zelger M. Cressoni L. Hodenius | LMGT3 | +13.395 | 170.711 |
| 35 | 54 | Vista AF Corse | T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon | LMGT3 | +13.872 | 169.928 |
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