FIA WEC Imola – Nyck de Vries wins the 6 Hours of Imola with Toyota #7 with Kobayashi and Conway; P6 for Robin Frijns!

Nyck de Vries he stood afterwards as the victor 6 hours of Imola on stage! Finally success again for the talented man from Sneek, after a failure in Formula 1 and a difficult start this year in the Formula E championship, in which he became the world champion in 2021. Toyota made a good return to the FIA ​​WEC championship, which it dominated for many years , but since last year it has been regularly beaten by Ferrari (24 Hours of Le Mans 2023) and Porsche (24 Hours of Daytona 2024) as well. BMW, Lamborghini and Peugeot are struggling to overtake Toyotas. However, after an amazing 6 Hours of Imola, the Japanese took victory after a team performance in the second round of FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) car 2024.

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries took a thrilling victory in the #7 GR010 HYBRID in a completely changed situation thanks to flawless driving and intelligent strategy on a day full of twists and turns in the 19-strong Hypercar field. It was a victory for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s first of the season and closed the gap on Porsche to just nine points in the World Constructors’ Championship heading into round three at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on May 11. The #7 squad now sits second in the drivers’ standings, 16 points behind the leaders.

After starting from P6, Mike Conway showed his fighting spirit in the opening laps as he moved up to fifth. But passing was very difficult on the narrow Imola circuit, something Sébastien also discovered when he was driving in eighth place.

The team used smart tactics and speed to get around their perfectly executed centers to gain space. Mike Conway moved into the top three before handing the No. 7 to Nyck de Vries at the first driver change, near the two-hour mark. Sébastien was also on the move and Ryo took 8th place in fifth place.

Nyck de Vries put a lot of pressure on the leading Ferrari duo before rain and different strategies in the fourth hour blew the race wide open. Nyck de Vries made a good move to take second immediately after the full yellow and shortly afterwards even took the lead when the #51 Ferrari came down before the safety car.

During the car safety period the rain increased, especially in the last sector. When the green flags flew, the GR010 Hybrid struggled to grip the wet track and immediately sought wet weather tyres. It showed great skill and both cars were significantly faster than their Hypercar rivals.

After many Hypercars also struggled on wet tyres, Kamui Kobayashi opened up a lead of over 20 seconds and Brendon Hartley moved up to third as the race entered the final 90 minutes.

With an hour to go, both cars stopped at their final pit stop and switched to Michelin treadless tyres. Other rivals also battled it out with Kamui Kobayashi retaking the lead ahead of a pair of Porsches, while Brendon Hartley twice sank into the gravel trap during his final laps as tires struggled to warm up on the dirt track.

Finally on the warm tires, Brendon Hartley completed a series of fast laps to move up to fourth place and finish the race in third place #5 But with less fuel on board than their rivals, both GR010 Hybrids had to spend the last 30 minutes driving car. with great efficiency, which led to an exciting final phase of the race and victory was narrowly claimed.

Kamui Kobayashi fought bravely to hold on to the lead under intense pressure to win for the second consecutive season in Italy, 7.081 seconds ahead of the #6 Porsche. Brendon Hartley and the #8 crew had to settle for fifth place after being overtaken by the #50 Ferrari on the final lap.

A total of 73,600 spectators attended the second round of the WEC as the FIA ​​WEC World Championship kicked off for the first time at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, marking the first race on European soil this year.

Season one race winners Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche) maintain their lead in the championship standings after another strong second place performance. The podium was completed by Porsche Penske teammates Matt Campbell, Frederic Makowiekci and Michael Christensen, who made it a double podium for the German manufacturer.

Ferrari AF Corse was on course to win Sunday’s race in front of the home crowd, but a tire strategy decision when rain fell in the fourth hour of the race ultimately saw the #50 and #51 Ferrari 499P Hypercars relegated. Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco moved up to finish fourth, Fuoco overtaking Hartley when he and Toyota co-drivers Sebastien Buemi and Rio Hirakawa lost time on the final lap and made a trip to the outside at the Tamburello chicane. .

The BMW M WRT team scored its best WEC result after Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde crossed the checkered flag in sixth place, with this combination of drivers held back by a late penalty after a pit breach. The victorious #51 Hypercar of AF Corse Ferrari finished the race in seventh place, one place ahead of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari which lost time earlier in the race due to a speeding penalty under FCY.

The new Peugeot 9X8, driven by Nico Mueller, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne, finished ninth in the overall standings and also picked up important points during the team’s first race. At Imola Peugeot was fitted with a rear wing for the first time. Cadillac’s Racing Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn rounded out the top ten in the Cadillac V-Series.R.

In just three weeks, the WEC will resume in Belgium with the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (9-11 May).

6 hours of Imola results:

1e	#7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (Conway/Kobayashi/Nyck de Vries) 	 

        205 laps

2e	#6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor)	     

        +7.081secs

3e	#5 Porsche Penske (Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki)	 

        +25.626secs

4e	#50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen)	    

        +31.469secs

5e	#8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing	                            

        +33.777secs

6e	#20 BMW M Team WRT (Van der Linde/Rast/Robin Frijns)	+1 lap

Images: FIA WEC, BMW M Motorsport, Porsche Newsroom, Toyota Gazoo Racing Global

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