Endurance Weekly: April 16th-22nd
- DIVEBOMB Endurance Team
- 4 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Written by the DIVEBOMB Endurance Team, Edited by Morgan Holiday
This week on Endurance Weekly, the DIVEBOMB Endurance Team takes a look ahead to the second round of the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) and the opening round of the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters), a look back at the WEC (World Endurance Championship) 6 Hours of Imola and reports on all of the breaking news stories from the past week.
WEC 6 Hours of Imola - Review
Read the full race report here
The No.51 Ferrari - driven by Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi - took home a victory on Sunday evening at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, after what looked to be an easy win for the Italian squad turned into a much more hard fought affair.
In LMGT3, the No.92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche - driven by Richard Leitz, Ricciardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick - held off the late charging No.46 WRT BMW of Kelvin Van Der Linde to win the race by just 0.316 seconds.
The race began with a clean getaway from both classes, with no major early incidents to report. The No.50 Ferrari began to progress through the field after having their best lap deleted for track limits in qualifying.
Their progress was halted with the first Full-Course Yellow (FCY) of the race. The No.85 Iron Dames, driven by Célia Martin at the time, went down the inside of Ben Keating in the No.33 TF Sport Corvette but collided with the American, sending him into the gravel. Keating managed to get going again, but brought a lot of gravel back onto the racing line, triggering the stoppage.
Multiple LMGT3’s were given five-second penalties for FCY infringements after the restart, including the No.21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, who had taken the lead on the restart from Ahmad Al-Harthy in the No.46 WRT BMW. The BMW styled in the colours of Valentino Rossi’s brand soon retook the lead due to the penalty.
Meanwhile in Hypercar, the No.38 Hertz Team Jota Cadillac and the No.94 Peugeot went side by side into Acqua Minerale. The Peugeot squeezed the Cadillac off the track for a brief trip into the gravel, and as the No.5 Porsche behind tried to take advantage of the situation, Loïc Duval in the Peugeot squeezed him off the track too. The Peugeot later received a penalty for the incident.
Soon after, the recovering No.38 crossed paths with the other Peugeot. The two collided at the Turn 7 hairpin, the Peugeot ending up facing the wrong way on the exit of the corner. The No.38 received a penalty for causing the collision.
That collison would be followed by another incident, this time in LMGT3 between the No.31 WRT BMW and the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. As the two fought for position heading into the final corner, the BMW cut across the track to take the inside line but tagged the Aston Martin. The No.27 of Ian James was then sent into the barriers for a big shunt, bringing out the Safety Car. Thankfully James was okay after the incident.
After the green flags flew again, the No.7 Toyota and No.20 BMW Hypercars were locked in battle with each other. Mike Conway in the No.7 tried a move at the tight chicane but hit the back of the BMW, damaging the right side of the rear wing, forcing the No.20 into the pits for repairs.
The ensuing FCY for the stray bits of BMW across the track brought a lot of cars into the pits, shaking up the order in Hypercar. The No.6 Porsche Penske car emerged in the lead of the race after they quietly made their way up through the field, ahead of the No.51 who had led the whole race so far.
The Porsche eventually yielded the position, while there was also a lead change in LMGT3 after. Valentino Rossi in the No.46 WRT BMW went down the inside of Simon Mann in the No.21 Ferrari at the final corner, but the gap quickly closed and the MotoGP legend hit the Ferrari, putting Mann into the barriers, bringing out the VSC (Virtual Safety Car) which turned into a full Safety Car.
The No.50 Ferrari and the No.8 Toyota sat 14th and 15th in the pack after the restart, due to differing strategies. Drivers Sebastian Buemi and Antonio Fuoco engaged in an almighty battle, with Buemi holding the faster Ferrari behind for most of his stint. Eventually after the two pitted again, Fuoco was too eager and ended up in the gravel trap with a puncture on his 499P.
The Hypercar order was then set with the No.51 Ferrari in the lead, the No.20 BMW in second, with the No.36 Alpine in third after a relatively quiet race for the French manufacturer.
In LMGT3, the No.92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche led the way, but behind them the No.46 BMW of Kelvin Van Der Linde was charging - their battle going down to the final corners of the race. The Porsche came out on top, winning by only 0.3s.
The No.51 Ferrari won in Hypercar, with no late race changes to the top of the order. Meaning two wins from two races for the Italian manufacturer.
DTM Oschersleben - Preview
The DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) will host its season opener this weekend at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Germany. The 3.7km (2.3 mile) track located in the northern region of Germany has played host to the DTM season opener two seasons prior to 2025.
The track also played host to the official pre-season test for DTM earlier this month, which you can read about in this edition of Endurance Weekly.
Also reported in the same edition of this column, the ADAC announced that the Sunday races (race 2’s) will feature two mandatory pit stops, rather than the one seen in previous seasons. The change is set to make for more exciting strategic races.
Both Saturday and Sunday are expected to be dry, with highs of 17 degrees celsius. So no weather interruptions are predicted for the weekend.
You can watch the season opener live on the official DTM YouTube channel (geo-restrictions may apply).
NLS 2 - Preview
For the second time this year, the green flag will wave for the Nürburgring only series this Saturday at 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT). Qualifying will take place three and a half hours before at 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT). The cars will race for four hours on the combination of the GP track and Nordschleife, one of the most feared race tracks in automotive history.
The weather forecast suggests the majority of the race will be sun and cloud, however there is a 30% chance of rain two hours into the race. If rain falls, drivers will be faced with a more extreme challenge than on other tracks because the span of the track is so large, some areas of the track may have torrential rain while other parts may be completely dry.
Over 100 cars will compete in the race, split across many different classes, the most important of which to watch is SP9 and Cup 2, as both of these are GT3 classes, the fastest of the cars on the track. The first round of the NLS was won by the No.3 Porsche, leading a Falken Motorsports 1-2. The No.911 Manthey EMA car secured an all Porsche podium, and the Dinamic GT Porsche finished fourth.
Breaking News
WEC
Genesis reveal striking GMR-001 livery - Read the full report here
Genesis Magma Racing revealed the livery that they will be using in the 2026 WEC season on their new GMR-001 challenger last Wednesday in New York.
The livery is mainly a striking orange colour, fading to a deeper red colour towards the back of the car, giving hints to Genesis’ Korean heritage.
United Autosports Complete Le Mans LMP2 lineup
United Autosports have announced that David Heinemeier Hansson and Pietro Fittipaldi will join Renger van der Zande in their Oreca 07 LMP2 car in this season's Le Mans 24 Hours. Van Der Zande had previously been revealed as the team's pro driver, with Fittipaldi joining as a gold driver and Hansson as a silver.
Franck Perera completes VDS Panis lineup for Le Mans
The No.48 VDS Panis LMP2 car will be piloted by Esteban Masson, Oliver Gray and now Franck Perera for this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The No.48 Oreca 07 LMP2 machine will compete in this year's ELMS (European Le Mans Series) championship with Masson, Gray and Alpine factory driver Charles Milesi. However, with Milesi racing the Alpine in Hypercar for the WEC flagship event, Perera will fill his place for the twice round the clock race.
Gray and Masson have already achieved a third place overall finish at the ELMS 4 Hours of Barcelona, and will be hoping to take home some silverware at Le Mans in June alongside Perera.
GT World Challenge
Valentino Rossi confirms 24 Hours of Spa entry
Coming into the 2025 season, Rossi announced that he would be scaling back his commitments in the GTWC (GT World Challenge) to focus more on his WEC (World Endurance Championship) campaign. As reported by DIVEBOMB, Rossi will return to the series to contest the Misano round alongside Raffaele Marciello.
However, in the pre-event press conference for the WEC round in Imola, Rossi commented: “I will race in Spa 24 because I like Spa. All the big names are there and I will race. I don’t know the lineup still, but yes, I will race it.”
No public confirmation of the entry has been made by GTWC or WRT, the team Rossi has solely raced with since his switch from two wheels to four in 2022. Further information on the lineup is expected at a time closer to the event.
HRT and Ford Performance reveal GTWC EU Sprint Cup lineup
Romain Andriolo and Jusuf Owega will pilot the No.64 Ford Mustang GT3 in the 5 round Sprint Cup calendar in the GTWC Europe. HRT will also field a second car in the Sprint Cup, with that lineup still yet to be announced.
The Sprint Cup gets underway next Saturday, the 3rd of May, in Brands Hatch.
24h Nürburgring
Mattia Drudi to race at this years N24
Having previously won the 24 Hours of Spa, Mattia Drudi will replace Kuba Giermaziak in Walkenhorst’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, alongside Christian Krognes, David Pittard and Nicki Thiim. Drudi has competed in the event four times previously, although each time in an Audi, his highest finish being sixth.
Walkenhorst will enter five cars to the famous race this year. Managing director Joerg Breuer said: ‘For many years we have been chasing a top result in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring - we want to change that this year.’
Robert Wickens to make Nurburgring debut at N24
Disabled racer Robert Wickens will make his debut in the Nürburgring 24 Hour race. He will drive a Hyundai Elantra N TCR in the TCR touring car class. Wickens will be using a hand control driving system, which he has been driving his Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with in IMSA.
Wickens is no stranger to the Nürburgring, having taken two wins in DTM on the GP track. He said: “As an athlete, I’m constantly seeking ways to push myself and explore new opportunities to grow and hone my skills.”
