– Porsche is out, but Genesis is in: The World Endurance Championship (WEC) starts the 2026 season with a three-week delay. After the canceled season opener in Qatar, the 6-hour race at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari marks the start of the 2026 season.
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From a German-speaking perspective, a painful double blow had to be accepted over the winter: Both Mick Schumacher, the most prominent German-speaking driver in the field, and Porsche have turned their backs on the WEC for different reasons. Fans will also no longer find the name Valentino Rossi on the entry list, as he has returned to the GTWC Europe.
Instead, there is a promising newcomer with Genesis. How the GMR-001 will perform on its debut is likely the most exciting question of the weekend – alongside the most important question for the local fans, whether Ferrari can repeat its success from last year.
Photos: WEC Prologue Imola: The 2026 Vehicles
Extensive testing was done during the prologue ahead of the race. Several teams also conducted private tests before the race week.
Schedule 6h Imola 2026
No time difference, no exotic race days: The Imola weekend is a classic race weekend from Friday to Sunday.
Friday, April 17
10:15 – 11:45 AM: 1st Free Practice
3:15 – 4:45 PM: 2nd Free Practice
Saturday, April 18
10:30 – 11:30 AM: 3rd Free Practice
2:30 – 3:00 PM: Qualifying and Hyperpole LMGT3
3:10 – 3:40 PM: Qualifying and Hyperpole Hyperpole
Sunday, April 19
1:00 – 7:00 PM: Race
Supporting events include the historic series Legends of Le Mans by Peter Auto, featuring cars from the Le Mans era between 2006 and 2020, and the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany.
TV Times and Livestream 6h Bahrain 2026
The hard news upfront: There is no longer a free livestream of the WEC 2026. The exclusive TV rights in Germany this year are held by Eurosport, which is outsourcing the entire season opener to its pay-TV channel Eurosport 2. In Austria, parts of the race can be seen on ORF Sport+.
Additionally, there is the streaming offer from HBO Max (formerly Eurosport Player/Discovery+) starting at 5.99 euros per month, and the official streaming offer FIAWEC+. Here, offers range from 9.99 euros per race up to 49.99 euros for the whole year. The livestream of the third free practice, which is also streamed again on the WEC YouTube channel, remains freely accessible.
Streams FIAWEC+/HBO Max
Saturday, 10:20 – 11:40 AM: 3rd Free Practice (also on WEC YouTube)
Saturday, 2:20 – 3:55 PM: Qualifying
Sunday, 12:30 – 7:30 PM: Full-length race
Highlights WEC Imola 2026
Eurosport (Free TV)
Monday, 2:00 – 4:00 AM: Replay
Tuesday, 11:00 PM – 12:00 AM: Summary
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Eurosport 2
Sunday, 12:30 – 2:00 PM: Start phase
Sunday, 3:30 – 7:30 PM: Final phase
ORF Sport+
Sunday, 1:30 – 2:00 PM: Interim report
Sunday, 5:00 – 5:30 PM: Interim report
Entry List 6h Imola 2026
Hypercar – 17 vehicles
#007 – Aston Martin Thor Team – Harry Tincknell/Tom Gamble – Aston Martin Valkyrie
#009 – Aston Martin Thor Team – Alex Riberas/Marco Sorensen – Aston Martin Valkyrie
#7 – Toyota Racing – Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Nyck de Vries – Toyota TR010 Hybrid
#8 – Toyota Racing – Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa – Toyota TR010 Hybrid
#12 – Cadillac Hertz Team Jota – Will Stevens/Norman Nato – Cadillac V-Series.R
#15 – BMW M Team WRT – Kevin Magnussen/Raffaele Marciello – BMW M Hybrid V8
#17 – Genesis Magma Racing – Andre Lotterer/Luis Felipe Derani/Mathys Jaubert – Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar
#19 – Genesis Magma Racing – Mathieu Jaminet/Paul-Loup Chatin/Daniel Juncadella – Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar
#20 – BMW M Team WRT – Robin Frijns/Rene Rast – BMW M Hybrid V8
#35 – Alpine Endurance Team – Antonio Felix da Costa/Charles Milesi/Ferdinand Habsburg – Alpine A424
#36 – Alpine Endurance Team – Frederic Makowiecki/Jules Gounon/Victor Martins – Alpine A424
#38 – Cadillac Hertz Team Jota – Earl Bamber/Sebastien Bourdais – Cadillac V-Series.R
#50 – Ferrari AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen – Ferrari 499P
#51 – Ferrari AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi – Ferrari 499P
#83 – AF Corse – Yifei Ye/Robert Kubica/Philip Hanson – Ferrari 499P
#93 – Peugeot TotalEnergies – Paul di Resta/Stoffel Vandoorne/Nick Cassidy – Peugeot 9X8
#94 – Peugeot TotalEnergies – Loic Duval/Malthe Jakobsen/Theo Pourchaire – Peugeot 9X8
LMGT3, 18 vehicles
#10 – Garage 59 – Antares Au/Thomas Fleming/Marvin Kirchhöfer – McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo
#21 – Vista AF Corse – Francois Heriau/Simon Mann/Alessio Rovera – Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo
#23 – Heart of Racing Team – Gray Newell/Kobe Pauwells/Jonny Adam – Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3
#27 – Heart of Racing Team – Ian James/Zacharie Robichon/Mattia Drudi – Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3
#32 – Team WRT – Darren Leung/Sean Gelael/Augusto Farfus – BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo
#33 – TF Sport – Blake McDonald/Jonny Edgar/Nicky Catsburg – Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R
#34 – Racing Team Turkey by TE – Peter Dempsey/Salih Yoluc/Charlie Eastwood – Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R
#54 – Vista AF Corse – Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon – Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo
#58 – Garage 59 – Alexander West/Finn Gehrsitz/Benjamin Goethe – McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo
#61 – Iron Lynx – Martin Berry/Rui Andrade/Maxime Martin – Mercedes-AMG LMGT3
#69 – Team WRT – Anthony McIntosh/Parker Thompson/Daniel Harper – BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo
#77 – Proton Competition – Eric Powell/Ben Tuck/Sebastian Priaulx – Ford Mustang LMGT3
#78 – Akkodis ASP Team – Tom van Rompuy/Hadrien David/Esteban Masson – Lexus RC F LMGT3
#79 – Iron Lynx – Johannes Zelger/Matteo Cressoni/Lin Hodenius – Mercedes-AMG LMGT3
#87 – Akkodis ASP Team – Petru Umbrarescu/Clemens Schmid/Jose Maria Lopez – Lexus RC F LMGT3
#88 – Proton Competition – Stefano Gattuso/Giammarco Levorato/Logan Sargeant – Ford Mustang LMGT3
#91 – Manthey DK Engineering – James Cottingham/Timur Boguslavskiy/Ayhancan Güven – Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3
#92 – The Bend Manthey – Yasser Shahin/Riccardo Pera/Richard Lietz – Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3
Balance of Performance (BoP)
No BoP has been published so far. The ACO has scheduled a meeting with the media for Thursday morning to discuss this topic. We will provide an update here after the meeting.
Weather Forecast, as of: April 15, 2026
After rainy days around the prologue, the weather improves from Thursday. For Friday and Saturday, when the practices and qualifying will take place, it will be sunny with temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius.
On Sunday, it will initially continue like this and temperatures can climb up to 24 degrees, but the weather could change in the late afternoon. The race runs from 1 to 7 PM. It is therefore not excluded that the race will be disrupted by rain showers as in 2024. Whether the showers will hit the track remains to be seen.
On Sunday, the wind, which will mostly come from the east during the training days, will shift to the south and pick up. A finish with weather caprices is therefore possible.
Data for Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
Track length: 4.909 kilometers
Turns: 16-19 (depending on counting method)
Opening/Modifications: 1952/1973/1981/1995/2008
WEC in Imola since: 2024 (ILMC 2011)
Distance record: 205 laps (1,006.345 kilometers; 2024)
Track record Hypercar: Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari 499P; 1:28.920 minutes, 2025)
Address: Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Piazza Ayrton Senna da Silva, 1 40026 Imola, Bologna, Italy
All previous WEC winners in Imola
2024: Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Nyck de Vries (Toyota GR010 Hybrid)
2025: James Calado/Alessandro Pier Guidi/Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari 499P)
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