Toyota is back in Hypercar with a P2 for 0.011 sec

WECHyperCar

Apr 18

Looking at the timesheets dominated by the Ferrari 499Ps during the Prologue Tuesday and 6 Hours of Imola’s combined Practices we were expecting Alpine as major challenger to Ferrari for Hyperpole in Hypercar category but it turned out to be Toyota who ends up second behind #51 Ferrari for just 0.011 second. The top four are within 0.073 second!

Giovinazzi got Ferrari 499P in pole

For the second consecutive year, Giovinazzi (Ferrari 499P #51) snatched pole position for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Imola in his very last lap with his 1:30.127, as he was the final driver to take the chequered flag in the Hypercar Hyperpole session, for just 0.011 seconds ahead of Ryo Hyrakawa in Toyota #8.

The number 51 crew, which last year was crowned World Drivers’ champion, thus secures its fourth pole position; the total number of Hyperpoles recorded by the 499P since its racing debut, dating back to the 2023 season, rises to 9: four by Fuoco–Molina–Nielsen, as many by Pier Guidi–Calado–Giovinazzi, and one by the number 83 Ferrari.

Antonio Giovinazzi 499P #5 :”1It was a fantastic and very intense day, with a Hyperpole where only on the final attempt did I manage to put together what I would call an almost perfect lap. I couldn’t be happier to have secured another pole position in front of our Tifosi. Looking ahead to tomorrow, I expect a certainly difficult race, with several rivals capable of fighting for the very top positions, and the weather variable that could prove decisive. We are expecting a closely fought 6 Hours of Imola, and we hope it will be a memorable race for all the fans who come to support Ferrari”.

Toyota second

The TR010 HYBRIDs – competing for the first time with updated bodywork and a striking new livery – challenged hard and narrowly missed top spot.

Ryō Hirakawa was just 0.011secs away from pole in second place in the #8 TR010 HYBRID (with a 1:30.138) which he shares with Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. Nyck de Vries was only a fraction further back in sixth, at the wheel of the #7 TR010 HYBRID he drives alongside Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi. 0.011 seconds short .

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola 2026. #8 Toyota Racing TR010 Hybrid

Ryō Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “To be honest, I had been struggling a bit with the car and tyres before qualifying. I was still building up my pace through qualifying, and in the end, Hyperpole went well. I had a lot of support from the team; we did some set-up fine-tuning and I drove an almost perfect lap. Qualifying on the front row is great. It’s a really good weekend so far, and it’s fantastic to start the first race from the front. Let’s keep going like this and push to finish one place higher tomorrow.” Source: Toyota

#50 Ferrari 499P third.

Antonio Fuoco with the #50 Ferrari 499P ended third, 0.040 seconds off pole.

Antonio Fuoco 499P #50: “Both the qualifying sessions and the Hyperpole were very enjoyable sessions. In the latter I made a small mistake, without which I might have taken pole position, but overall we are in a good position, and I am happy for the team, considering we will start first and third with the number 50 and 51 499Ps. We are aware that the race will be difficult and that the gaps between competitors are close; moreover, rain is expected during the six hours, which could make the race even more complex. We will do our best to enjoy a great Sunday in front of the Italian Tifosi.” Source: Ferrari

Peugeot fourth

The #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 of Malthe Jakobsen was fourth, 0.072 seconds back from Giovinazzi’s time.

Malthe Jakobsen (PEUGEOT 9X8 #94): “Good qualifying, very intense as expected. In Hyperpole, I had to adapt because we were on soft tires, whereas until then we had only run on medium tires. But everything went well; we're less than a tenth of a second off pole position.” Source: Peugeot Sport

Cadillac fifth

The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, driven by Norman Nato, advanced to the Hyperpole session after setting the 10th fastest time (01:30:644) in the initial qualifying session. In Hyperpole Nato improved further on this time, posting a lap time of 1:30:419. The No.12 car, driven by Will Stevens and Norman Nato, will line up in fifth position on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

📷 © Luc Warnotte at Imola 2026. Cadillac Hertz Team Jota #12

Norman Nato: “Of course we were aiming for more, but taking everything into consideration, the limited testing, this being our first race weekend back together, and adapting to working without Alex for this race, there was a lot to manage. For me personally, it was my first Hypercar qualifying session in 18 months, so there was a lot to relearn.

I was a little concerned before qualifying, so to come away with a top-five result is very positive and I’m very happy with that. It was a lot of fun as well, so a big thank you to the team for the trust in putting me in the car for qualifying this weekend. It gives us a good position to start from, and from here we can focus on making progress in the race.” Source: Cadillac

De Vries in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, Milesi with the #35 Alpine Endurance Team A424, Kubica driving the #83 Ferrari 499P and the pair of BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8s follow.

Kevin Magnussen, driver #15: “I think that we look worse than it is, position wise but we are actually quite close lap-time wise. We are closer than last year! The whole field is bunched up. But I feel we have a chance tomororw! We'll try our best!”

Robin Frijns, driver #20: “I was expecting more, especially seeing how the free practice sessions went. I was hoping for P5 or P6, but we qualified P9 which is not bad, but not great either. Anyway, with the new aero update, our focus is on race pace, which hopefully works in our favour tomorrow. And with rain potentially on the way, it could be an interesting one. Let's see!” Source: BMW

Hyperpole Hypercar results