Charles Milesi romped Alpine to the top of the timesheets in Free Practice 2 at Imola, shattering Ferrari’s dominance as the 2026 World Endurance Championship season kicks off.
Milesi delivered a breakthrough lap of 1:30.898 to mark the quickest time of the week so far as well as the first time an Alpine A424 has led a WEC practice session, signaling a fierce battle ahead in the Hypercar class.
The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari buzzed with anticipation as teams hit the track for the crucial one-hour second practice, scheduled under clear skies and optimal conditions typical for mid-April in Italy.
Following Ferrari’s commanding 1-2-3 in the Prologue earlier in the week and Friday morning’s FP1 where Robert Kubica set the pace, the pressure was on for rivals to respond and Alpine wasted no time asserting its credentials.
As the green flag dropped around 4:30 PM local time, drivers embarked on progressive runs, gradually switching to softer compounds for qualifying simulations which injected high drama into the proceedings with times tumbling rapidly in the opening stint.
Charles Milesi driving the No. 35 Alpine Endurance Team A424 alongside Antonio Felix da Costa and Ferdinand Habsburg, unleashed a blistering 1:30.898 just 30 minutes into the session which stood unbeaten to the flag.
Hot on Milesi’s heels was the No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid piloted by Nyck de Vries, who posted a 1:31.012 to claim second, just 0.114 seconds off.
Defending champions Ferrari refused to yield ground easily despite losing their stranglehold with Antonio Fuoco slotting the No. 50 Ferrari 499P into third, just 0.138s behind Milesi, while Antonio Giovinazzi secured fourth in the No. 51 AF Corse entry, a further 0.051s back.
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Peugeot made a solid showing with the No. 94 9X8 of Malthe Jakobsen claiming fifth, as Robin Frijns propelled the No. 20 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 to sixth despite a minor half-spin at Acque Minerali.
The customer No. 83 Ferrari 499P landed seventh after Kubica’s strong push, beating Harry Tincknell in the No. 007 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie by 0.052s, while the No. 36 Alpine A424 and the No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid rounded out the top ten.
The best of Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s efforts came from Earl Bamber who placed the No. 38 in 11th, as the sister No. 12 V-Series.R took 14th. Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001s finished at the bottom of the Hypercar field, just 1.389 and 1.932 seconds off the pace respectively.
Kobe Pauwels powers Aston Martin to fastest lap on LMGT3 debut
Shifting to the fiercely contested LMGT3 category, rookie Kobe Pauwels topped second WEC Imola 6H practice in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 after clocking a 1:42.081 in the dying minutes of the session.
The Belgian, who replaced Dudu Barrichello this weekend, pipped Hadrien David’s No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 by 0.070 seconds, as Heart of Racing doubled up with Zacharie Robichon’s No. 27 Aston Martin taking third.
The sister No. 87 Lexus of Clemens Schmid was fourth, followed by TF Sport’s pair of Corvette Z06 LMGT3.Rs with the No. 33 entry ahead of the Racing Team Turkey-backed No. 34 which spent over half the session in its garage with an issue.
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