6 Hours of Imola: victory for Toyota, ahead of Porsche

The second clash of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship turned out to be a nail-biter all the way to the flag as the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid (Conway/Kobayashi/De Vries) and #6 Porsche 963 (2^nd, Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) engaged in an exciting late duel. Third and fourth were the #5 Porsche and #50 Ferrari. The Italian make's 499P prototypes led for much of the distance but were caught out when rain appeared with two hours to go. The medium-compound MICHELIN Pilot Sport successfully completed quadruple stints, while Michelin's rain tire provided further evidence of its exceptional versatility in wet and drying conditions.

• A crowd of 73,600 saw Toyota Gazoo Racing claim its first success of the season after a highly entertaining race at Imola, a new addition this year to the FIA WEC calendar.

• The closing phase saw Kamui Kobayashi (#7 Toyota) and Kevin Estre (#6 Porsche) engage in a thrilling scrap on medium-compound MICHELIN Pilot Sports. The gap between the two at the flag was less than a second after six hours of racing!

• Appearing on home soil at Imola's Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the Ferrari 499Ps dominated free practice, qualifying and two-thirds of the race. When rain started to fall, though, they stayed out on slicks for four laps after their rivals had switched to wet-weather tires.

• WRT and the #20 BMW M Hybrid produced a strong performance and were challenging for a podium placing before the rain. The car ended up sixth.

• With 37 cars on the grid, including 19 prototypes, fears of a chaotic start were realized when three Hypercars (#36 Alpine, #94 Peugeot, #15 BMW) tangled through Turn 1.

• The new Peugeot 9X8 made its race debut at Imola. A top-10 finish saw Team Peugeot TotalEnergies claim its first points of the season.

• Pierre Alves (Endurance Racing Manager, Michelin Motorsport): “It's important to underline the medium MICHELIN Pilot Sport's longevity and consistency at Imola. A single set completed 129 laps on the front-running #50 Ferrari during a quadruple stint at one stage. That's 633 kilometers! Several of our partners completed the race's entire first half on just one set of tires! Our rain tire also showcased its versatility in the wet and in drying conditions.”

• The next round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship follows in Belgium. Early May's 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is the teams' traditional final dress-rehearsal before June's Le Mans 24 Hours.