Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Sunday, April 26, 2026
Toyota Wins 6 Hours of Imola for Historic 50th WEC Victory
Toyota Racing won the 2026 WEC season opener at Imola with the #8 TR010 Hybrid of Buemi, Hartley, and Hirakawa beating pole-sitter Ferrari by 13.352 seconds — the team’s 50th WEC victory in its 100th Championship start. Ferrari’s Giovinazzi, Pier Guidi, and Calado led early but could not match Toyota’s tyre strategy: extended stints combined with a virtual safety car stop in the third hour proved decisive. The sister #7 Toyota completed a one-three, with Alpine fourth and BMW fifth. Toyota now leads Hypercar with 40 points to Ferrari’s 27 ahead of Spa-Francorchamps on May 9.
Sources: FIA WEC
WEC Imola Paddock Notes: Record 92,000-Strong Crowd as Season Gets Under Way
The 2026 WEC season opener at Imola drew more than 92,000 spectators, a record for the circuit under WEC competition. Post-race coverage showed Toyota celebrating the dual milestone of a 50th win and 100th Championship start coinciding with the debut of the rebranded TR010 Hybrid. Ferrari closed 13.352 seconds behind in second, with analysis pointing to Toyota’s tyre strategy as the decisive factor. Alpine ran fourth at the flag on the A424’s revised debut, and BMW came fifth. All eight Hypercar manufacturers now have a three-week gap before the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on May 9, the season’s second round.
Sources: dailysportscar.com
Honda Racing Confirms Acura IMSA GTP Programme Will Pause After 2026 Season
Honda Racing Corporation USA confirmed on April 22 that its Acura factory GTP programme will pause after the 2026 IMSA season, with resources shifting toward expanded IndyCar commitments. The announcement came four days after Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s victory at Long Beach — the manufacturer’s first win on the circuit since 2009. HRC cited a challenging automotive market and Honda’s strategic pivot toward IndyCar, where Acura branding will appear on Marcus Armstrong’s #66 at the Indianapolis 500. The Acura ARX-06 will continue through the rest of 2026, and HRC said the programme could return if 2030 regulations allow existing LMDh platforms to carry over into the next era.
Sources: dailysportscar.com
Genesis Magma Racing Completes Encouraging FIA WEC Debut at Imola
Genesis made its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 6 Hours of Imola, running two GMR-001 Hypercars under the Magma Racing banner. The #17 car finished 15th and the #19 17th of 17 Hypercars, but both completed the full race distance — a key goal for the debut round. The program was announced just 499 days before its first competitive outing, using an Oreca LMDh chassis with a V6 twin-turbo engine. The team acknowledged a gap to the front but noted both cars ran reliably throughout and that the data will be vital for Spa and Le Mans, where the Korean manufacturer will look to close the gap.
Sources: Genesis Newsroom
McLaren Names Its Forthcoming WEC Hypercar the MCL-HY
McLaren Racing revealed on April 24 that its forthcoming LMDh Hypercar — set to compete in the FIA WEC from 2027 — will be named the MCL-HY. The name combines McLaren’s ‘MCL’ Formula 1 prefix with ‘HY’ for Hypercar. McLaren Automotive simultaneously announced the track-only derivative will be the MCL-HY GTR, referencing a lineage running from the F1 GTR that won Le Mans in 1995 through to the P1 GTR and Senna GTR. Built on a Dallara chassis with an ATM V6 twin-turbo engine, the car is scheduled for a public reveal on May 4. McLaren targets a full 2027 WEC season including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Sources: RACER
WEC Ends Publication of Balance of Performance Data for 2026 Season
The FIA and ACO announced at the Imola opener that Balance of Performance data — the weight, power, and energy allocations used to equalize Hypercar performance — will no longer be published in 2026. Officials said the change would prevent misinterpretation, since precise figures are difficult to contextualize. Ferrari objected, with executive Antonello Coletta saying the hidden BoP removes a key element of the race narrative. Critics argued the decision would increase speculation rather than suppress it, by removing public data needed to fact-check commentary. Teams will continue to know their own allocations, but no figures will be released publicly before or after race weekends in 2026.
Sources: Autosport
Aitken Has Three IMSA Podiums and Zero Wins Heading into Laguna Seca
Jack Aitken has opened the 2026 IMSA season with three consecutive GTP podiums in the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R, paired with Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti — yet has not won. Second-place finishes at Daytona and Sebring were followed by third at Long Beach. Aitken said the team is not concerned, citing consistent pace and lap leadership in all three races. Bamber returns at Laguna Seca after missing Long Beach due to WEC commitments. The #31 is the only car in any of IMSA’s four classes to podium in every round so far. Championship leaders Nasr and Andlauer (#7 Porsche) hold 1,061 points, with Aitken and Vesti at 1,023.
Sources: Motorsport.com
IMSA Heads to Laguna Seca Throwback Weekend With Porsche-Cadillac Title Battle Sharpening
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to Laguna Seca on May 1–3 for the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship, the fourth round of the season. A 34-car field is confirmed — 11 GTP, 9 GTD Pro, and 14 GTD — with a throwback livery theme referencing IMSA history. Porsche Penske leads GTP, with Nasr and Andlauer 38 points ahead of Aitken and Vesti’s Cadillac Whelen. The #6 Porsche of Estre and Vanthoor has won the last two Laguna Seca races and podiumed in all three 2026 sprint events. Earl Bamber returns to the #31 Cadillac after missing Long Beach due to WEC duties at Imola.
Sources: IMSA
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. S. Buemi / B. Hartley / R. Hirakawa — 25 pts
2. A. Giovinazzi / A. Pier Guidi / J. Calado — 19 pts
3. K. Kobayashi / M. Conway / N. de Vries — 15 pts
4. A. F. da Costa / C. Milesi / F. Habsburg — 12 pts
5. R. Rast / R. Frijns — 10 pts
6. A. Fuoco / M. Molina / N. Nielsen — 8 pts
7. K. Magnussen / R. Marciello — 6 pts
8. E. Bamber / S. Bourdais — 4 pts
9. H. Tincknell / T. Gamble — 2 pts
10. P. Hanson / R. Kubica / Y. Ye — 1 pts
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. Toyota Racing — 40 pts
2. Ferrari AF Corse — 27 pts
3. BMW M Team WRT — 16 pts
4. Alpine Endurance Team — 13 pts
5. Cadillac Hertz JOTA — 4 pts
6. Aston Martin THOR — 2 pts
7. Peugeot TotalEnergies — 0 pts
8. Genesis Magma Racing — 0 pts
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. F. Nasr / J. Andlauer — 1,061 pts
2. L. Heinrich — 1,026 pts
3. J. Aitken / F. Vesti — 1,023 pts
4. K. Estre / L. Vanthoor — 977 pts
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. Porsche Penske Motorsport (#7) — —
2. Cadillac Whelen (#31) — —
3. Porsche Penske Motorsport (#6) — —
Teams standings order based on driver standings after Long Beach.
Curated by JD · samwise.agency