This post is brought to you by The Racing Line, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming. Download on iOS today!
Finally, it's FIA World Endurance Championship race week again.
Feels like it's been age since Qatar, but the championship now heads to Europe for the Imola-Spa-Le Mans leg.
Last year at Imola, Ferrari had mighty pace and looked nailed on to win and maybe even take a 1-2-3 — which they finally did do at Qatar this season — until rain and a strategy error saw the win slip through their fingers.
So, what can we expect this time, and what should we look out for?
Cadillac and JOTA continue gelling
Cadillac and. JOTA were going well at Qatar until that moment mid-race with Jenson Button and Alex Lynn.
We're not here to cast blame, but to look forward. The positives from Qatar were clear: they were fast. The team will be looking to continue that progress in Italy.
Looking at the average pace data from last year, Cadillac — then run by Chip Ganassi — were mid-field, behind Ferrari, Porsche, and Toyota. They'll be hoping to be in the fight again with the 'top 3', the only teams to have won in WEC in the last couple of years.
Phil Oakley
Cadillac have tested at Imola recently, alongside Peugeot, Alpine, and Porsche. That'll serve them well, since we know that Imola, with its fast-but-twisty, bumpy nature requires a different setup from some other tracks on the calendar. Plus, the V-Series.R tends to go well on bumpy tracks.
'We had a good test at Imola,' said Earl Bamber.
'It was pretty constructive though one of the days was impacted by weather, but that was the same for everyone. We were able to do this test and understand and answer some questions from 2024 there.
'The guys at Action Express have also given us some ideas and directions, so all of that has really helped to accumulate to a good base that I think we've got going towards Imola.'
Will we see a Ferrari win in Italy?
Can Ferrari redeem themselves in front of their beloved Tifiosi and take a home win? They fluffed their chances last year, not pitting quick enough for wets when the rain came, plus not splitting the strategy and leaving all three cars out on slicks.
This lost them a good minute and enabled Toyota to sneak through and take an unexpected win.
Ferrari were dominant in Qatar and will be hoping to continue that form into Imola as they pursue their aim of winning the world championships. Perhaps surprisingly, they haven't been pegged back as much as some might think on the BoP front, which could play into their hands.
Phil Oakley
'Expectations for our home race are very high, and although we know it won’t be an easy task, the team has no intention of letting the fans down,' said Ferdinando Cannizzo, Ferrari's WEC programme chief.
'In 2024, the Ferrari 499P demonstrated its full potential at Imola thanks to the excellent work done in the simulator and pre-race testing to develop a set-up tailored to this specific circuit.
'This year we’re starting from a solid base, also taking into account the improvements in brake cooling introduced with the joker in 2024 and the developments carried out over the winter break.
'We know that won’t be enough to bring home the result we’re aiming for – we still remember the mistakes that cost us victory last year. Preparation, focus, attention to detail and team spirit will therefore be essential to replicate the excellent performance seen in Qatar and take on an ever-stronger and more competitive field.'
Aston Martin getting into their stride
Aston Martin have now raced the Valkyrie for 23 hours and 40 minutes — almost a full Le Mans. And, they raced at probably the toughest track in the world — and survived with no real issues.
So the car's reliable. Now the question is extracting pace out of it and fighting with the rest of the pack.
'This was a satisfying performance from Valkyrie and wholly underlines the good progress the programme is making with every lap we complete,” said Adam Carter, Aston's programme chief, after Sebring.
Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription!
'Sebring is well renowned for being a tough test on any racecar, let alone a new hypercar. But we were confident in the car’s ability to go the distance, and the fact that it did it so well is a huge testament to everybody working on the programme and a good indicator of the inherent potential of the car.'
This'll be the car's second WEC race and first in Europe. It's also completely different to anywhere its raced so far, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes, and what learnings Aston has taken from Sebring and Long Beach that it can employ at Imola to move the Valkyrie up through the field.
LMGT3 will be a dogfight — again
LMGT3 is proving to be a worthy successor to GTE. Yes the cars might not be quite as exciting, and there's no pro subclass because there simply isn't room to accommodate one. But the on-track product is great, at least.
There's the whole discussion about torque sensors and the associated issues teams are facing with them, but that'll pass as they're more widely understood.
What I want to see is whether McLaren and United Autosports can live up to their potential and claim a win. They have pace over a single lap in qualifying — they've taken the last two poles, at Bahrain at the end of 2024, and Qatar — but so far they haven't been able to use this and take a win.
Lexus were a surprise in Qatar, both in the Prologue and in the race weekend. Would be great to see ASP and the Japanese manufacturer continue this run of form out of, by far, the oldest car on the grid.
Imola and unpredictable weather
Imola was a good race last year, almost exclusively because of the rain chaos and uncertainty it created. Until then it was... eh. Not great — but not bad either.
Hopefully this year we'll get a more competitive race in the dry. However, great track as it is, overtaking is hard at Imola and qualifying will be key.
Phil Oakley
Traffic, too, will be an issue. The Italian circuit is narrow and, at times, twisty (Tamburello-Villeneuve complex, Acque Minerali to the chicane) so Hypercar drivers will need to pick their moments carefully. Likewise, GT3 drivers will need to be prepared to compromise.
That said, regarding weather, the region is well known for being a little unpredictable with weather. And, looking at the forecast, there is a small, fluctuating chance it'll rain during the race. Enough for teams to need to change tyres? Who knows. But the possibility is there.
Either way, it's sure to be a good race with eight manufacturers in each class going for the win and 36 cars in total. If you're a paid member, let us know what you're most looking forward to in the comments, or tag us on social media, @onlyendurance, with your thoughts.
We'll be back with BoP analysis when it's released, plus some pre-weekend thoughts from various teams and drivers, later this week.