WEC season opener in Imola: What to focus on?

The first FIA World Endurance Championship race of the season will take place this weekend at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. So, what are the key topics to watch over the weekend?

Photo: fiawec.com

We will see a brand-new team on the WEC starting grid this season — Genesis Magma Racing, which will debut with its GMR-001 hypercar. The postponement of the opening race due to the conflict in the Middle East has worked in their favor, as it gave them more time to prepare.

Although they completed more than 25,000 kilometers of testing last year on European circuits, their first real challenge still lies ahead — the 6 Hours of Imola. This race will test them more than anything else so far.

However, it is still their first race, and expectations should remain realistic. Even André Lotterer has acknowledged that.

“Imola is one of the tightest tracks on the calendar, it’s very demanding in terms of traffic management and it’s quite busy for the drivers.

“It’s one of the bumpiest tracks we visit and requires a car that is nimble and able to go over the kerbs and absorb the bumps."

Photo by Daniele Paglino

“As a driver, you always try to maximise what you have, but in this case we don’t know what we have compared to the competition, so we don’t have crazy expectations. We want to finish the race and gain as much experience as possible. We’ll focus on ourselves and learn as much as we can to enable us to continue building the team and leave Imola stronger,” he said.

Toyota Gazoo Racing might be the “dark horse” of the season with their heavily upgraded GR010 Hybrid. They are definitely aiming high after a very disappointing season last year. It will be interesting to see how significant the performance gains are, especially given the extremely strong competition — it certainly won’t be easy to return to the top.

Photo: FIAWEC

But there is also another big question mark: Aston Martin. Last season marked the debut of the Valkyrie, which was primarily about gaining experience — something that Genesis Magma Racing will be going through this year. However, the target is different this time. The goal should be to consistently fight for points and even challenge for podium finishes.

As mentioned, the level of competition in the FIA World Endurance Championship is extremely high, and standing out is no easy task for anyone. Beating the current world champions, Ferrari, is the ultimate target for all teams.

6h Imola schedule:

CET

Friday

FP1-10:15 AM

FP2-03:15 PM

Saturday

FP3-10:30 AM

Qualifing/LMGT3-02:30 PM

Hyperpole/LMGT3-02:50 PM

Qualifing/Hypercar-03:10 PM

Hyperpole/Hypercar-03:30 PM

Sunday

Race-01:00 PM