WEC: Prologue - Afternoon: Ferraris still untouchable, Alpine lying in wait

After their morning 1-2-3 finish, the Ferraris once again locked out the podium during the second half-day of the Prologue. The No. 50 is in the lead, while the Alpine, 5th and 6th, achieved an interesting group finish.

Published 14/04/2026 à 18:34

Comment on this article! ⁰

Prologue – Afternoon: Ferraris still untouchable, Alpine in ambush

The hours pass by, all the same, in Imola. On the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Classic Ferrari for saleThe crews of the World Endurance Championship returned to the track for the first time this season, just days before the 6 Hours of Imola. And they were able to see that the winter break, however long it may have been due to the postponement of the first round scheduled for Qatar, will not have caused a complete revolution in the hierarchy.

Because what emerges from this test session—which doesn't yet establish the order, but provides some initial indications—is that Ferrari seems determined not to relinquish its crowns so easily. The Italians clearly dominated the day on "their" track, where they had already won last year. It was the No. 51 car of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and James Calado that triumphed then, and it was this very same car that dominated the morning session on a still-damp track.

However, in the afternoon, the sister car, the #50 499P, set the fastest time with a lap of 1:31.177, also the fastest time of the day. The #51 car finished third, just behind the #83 AF Corse car, which won the... 24 Hours of Le Mans last year. It should be noted that the three Ferraris are separated by only 0,198 seconds, while the No. 20 BMW, runner-up in the 2025 Imola 6 Hours, is 0,532 seconds behind. Robin Frijns and René Rast still managed to place the German Hypercar just off the podium, ahead of a duo ofAlpine.

Red flag provoked by José María López

The day was rather positive for the Ferrari A, which finished just six-tenths of a second behind the No. 50 Ferrari thanks to the No. 36 of Victor Martins, Frédéric Makowiecki, and Jules Gounon, in 5th place, ahead of the No. 35 of Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi, and Antonio Félix da Costa. The performance of the Peugeot No. 94, which takes 7th place ahead of Kevin's BMW No. 15 Magnussen and Toyota n ° 8.

In fact, it was a former Toyota driver who caused the afternoon's red flag: José María "Pechito" López He went off into the gravel with the #87 Lexus of the Akkodis ASP team. A minor error — right under the nose of the #83 AF Corse — for the winner of the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Jestem chodzącą klątwą dla kierowców…

This flag nr 2 – Lexus #87 is located in Aqua Minerali. Zaraz jednak wrócimy do akcji.#WEC #WECpl #WECPrologue #6HImola https://t.co/0sHRXAODhW pic.twitter.com/MjVKW7aA4C

— Igor Długosz (@SMotorsportu) April 14, 2026

In LMGT3, the fastest time was set by...Aston Martin The #27 Heart of Racing Ferrari, driven by Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi, finished second. The #21 Ferrari of Alessio Rovera, François Hériau, and Simon Mann took second place for AF Corse, while the McLaren Garage 59 No. 10, driven by Thomas Fleming, Antares Au and Marvin Kirchhöfer, completes the podium.

A satisfactory result for the Aston Martin team, which was only able to run one of its Hypercars: the No. 009 Valkyrie did not take to the track following Marco Sørensen's violent crash in the morning. A chassis change has been carried out, and the crew's return to the track will await Free Practice 1 of the 6 Hours of Imola, scheduled for Friday morning, April 17.