WEC 2025 result after Round 2: 6 Hours of Imola

Toyota Gazoo Racing continued its FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) campaign with a hard-earned double points finish at the front of a closely fought 6 Hours of Imola. How did this second race of the season pan out? Read on for our WEC 2025 review of round two.

WEC 2025: 6 Hours of Imola

Preview

The WEC juggernaut descended on Italy for the first European round of the eight-race WEC 2025 season. TGR secured its first victory of last year at a weather-affected Imola circuit, which in turn kick-started the team’s successful challenge for the world title. So it is a venue that holds fond memories for the team.

A large and passionate crowd watched 18 Hypercars from eight manufacturers – Alpine, newcomers Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Peugeot and Porsche – do battle alongside a further 18 LMGT3 cars over the Easter weekend.

Free practice

The track was declared wet for the start of the morning practice session. Contrary to popular belief, experience of track evolution can be critical to overall success when facing changing weather conditions. So in the early stages TGR’s race engineers and drivers were in constant communication over the radio as they discussed how to adapt to the drying surface. When the plan of action was decided, the mechanics worked efficiently in the limited time available to make the necessary changes.

The afternoon’s practice session, however, was dry. This allowed the team to focus on tyre performance and durability – essential given that the soft and medium compounds available this year were different to the medium and hard compounds offered a year ago. All the information and feedback gathered during the first two practice sessions helped optimise the GR010 Hybrids in time for the third and final practice the following morning. Unfortunately, this one-hour session was disrupted twice by red flags, which reduced its length by some 17 minutes.

Qualifying and Hyperpole

The two-and-a-half hours between third practice and qualifying allowed the engineers and drivers to fine-tune their approach to achieve maximum performance over one lap with new medium tyres and low fuel. Nyck de Vries was nominated for qualifying duties for the second time this season in the #7 GR010 Hybrid, while team-mate Ryo Hirakawa was behind the wheel of the #8 for the first time in 2025.

Finishing in the top ten and progressing through to the hyperpole shoot-out was the primary target for both drivers during the 12-minute qualifying session. Thankfully, the drivers delivered that on their first flying laps and further improved times in the second: de Vries in fourth and Hirakawa in sixth. Just eight minutes later the pair were back out on track for the ten-minute Hyperpole, where de Vries set his best lap on his first effort. Hirakawa, on the other hand, was just 0.001 second faster on his second lap, which earned the Japanese driver fourth place and a second-row start for the #8 car.

WEC 2025 race: 6 Hours of Imola

The 6 Hours of Imola started with the #7 and #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrids in fifth and fourth respectively. Mike Conway (#7) and Brendon Hartley (#8) had the opening stint and swapped places twice as they challenged for the podium positions. Imola’s old-school layout and narrow track width required constant concentration, especially when lapping the slower LMGT3 cars.

Late in the second hour, the team’s race took a dramatic turn when the a rival Hypercar bounced over a chicane and hit the #7 Toyota. A full course yellow warning was raised in order to clear debris from the track, at which point both GR010 Hybrids were recalled for a driver change. Nyck de Vries resumed in the slightly damaged #7 and Ryo Hirakawa took over the #8, only to receive a drive-through penalty for speeding during the full course yellow. When the next fuel stops were completed at half distance, de Vries was running in the top six and Hirakawa was battling to break into the top ten.

A safety car late in the fourth hour saw Kamui Kobayashi (#7) and Sébastien Buemi (#8) take the wheel of their respective cars, now equipped with an unusual combination of new medium compound tyres on the right-hand side, and older soft tyres on the left. Nevertheless, this strategy paid off, as Buemi used it to bring the #8 back within ten seconds of the race leader.

Just 20 minutes later, Buemi made the bold decision to pit for extra fuel. Though strictly unnecessary, this out-of-sequence top-up opened the door to a two-hour, uninterrupted shoot-out for Hypercar honours, with light rain creating even more tension among the teams. It was a strategy that helped the #8 lead into the final hour as the rivals ahead were forced to pit. Meanwhile, Kobayashi stalked the second-place car throughout his stint before a brave overtake shortly before his penultimate pit stop.

After their final fuel stops, both Toyota drivers nursed their old tyres through the last stint to reach the finish line in fifth and seventh places. It had been a determined team effort in challenging circumstances, combining inch-perfect driving and 13 faultless pit stops to accumulate a double points result. TGR’s challenge for the world championship and preparations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans now step up a gear for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the final race before the team goes into battle for a sixth win at La Sarthe.