6 Hours of Imola

Italy 6 Hours of Imola
FIA World Endurance Championship
VenueImola Circuit
LocationImola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
First race1974
First WEC race2024
Duration6 hours
Most wins (driver)17 drivers (1)
Most wins (team)Toyota Racing (2)
Most wins (manufacturer)Toyota (2)

The 6 Hours of Imola, formerly 1000 km of Imola, is an endurance race for sports cars, held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.

History

The first 6 Hours race was held as the fourth round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the third round of the 2011 Le Mans Series.[1] The circuit was dropped from the newly founded FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series calendar in 2012. In 2013, the circuit returned to the 2013 European Le Mans Series calendar, however the race was held for 3 hours.

With the announcement of 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship calendar on 9 June 2023 at the Automobile Club de l'Ouest press conference, the race was revived again by replacing the 6 Hours of Monza.[2] The Italian round of the World Endurance Championship, 6 Hours of Monza had been held at Monza in July between 2021 and 2023. However, to accommodate an extra non-European round of the championship the Italian race needed to be moved from July to April; with Monza undergoing upgrade works in April, the circuit was unable to host the race, so the Italian round was shifted to Imola instead of Monza.[3] Despite the fact that the race was originally intended as a one-off race, it was announced on 14 June 2024 that Imola will continue to host FIA World Endurance Championship races until 2028 after signing a 4-year contract extension.[4]

Results

Year Overall winner(s) Entrant Car Time Laps Distance/Duration Championship Report
1000 km distance
1974 France Gérard Larrousse
France Henri Pescarolo
France Equipe Gitanes Matra-Simca MS670C 198 1001.880 km World Sportscar Championship
Campionato Italiano Sport
report
1975–1982: Not held
1983 Italy Teo Fabi
West Germany Hans Heyer
Italy Martini Racing Lancia LC2 6 hours 191 962.640 km European Endurance Championship report
1984 West Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck
West Germany Stefan Bellof
Switzerland Brun Motorsport Porsche 956B 5:54:56.32 199 1002.960 km World Sportscar Championship
Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft
report
1985–2010: Not held
6 Hour distance
2011 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson
France Sébastien Bourdais
France Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 6:01:01.623 220 1079.762 km Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
Le Mans Series
Report
2012–2023: Not held
2024 United Kingdom Mike Conway
Japan Kamui Kobayashi
Netherlands Nyck de Vries
Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid 6:00:34.717 205 1006.127 km FIA World Endurance Championship Report
2025 United Kingdom James Calado
Italy Antonio Giovinazzi
Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
Italy Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P 6:00:28.365 212 1040.490 km FIA World Endurance Championship Report
2026 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi
New Zealand Brendon Hartley
Japan Ryō Hirakawa
Japan Toyota Racing Toyota TR010 Hybrid 6:00:10.939 213 1045.617 km FIA World Endurance Championship Report

References

  1. ↑ "2011 ILMC Calendar". lemans.org. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "WEC: 2024 calendar expands to eight rounds". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). 9 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  3. ↑ Mitchell, Rory (9 June 2023). "WEC to visit Imola and Qatar for the first time in 2024". RacingNews365. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  4. ↑ Cavers, Rachel (14 June 2024). "2025 FIA WEC calendar revealed: eight rounds as Imola secures multi-year extension". fiawec.com. Retrieved 18 June 2024.