After last year’s inaugural edition, the Italian-Endurance Awards are back, (virtually) recognizing the best of the season in endurance racing – in our opinion, of course.

Team of the Year: Ferrari AF Corse. A WEC constructors’ title earned with the maturity derived from many years of experience with the Prancing Horse’s GTs and then the following two years with the 499P Hypercar. A proper award for the team created and managed by Antonello Coletta, capable of bringing the highest endurance honor back to Maranello after 52 years.

Driver of the Year: As always, the most difficult award to assign, as it goes to an individual in a sporting discipline that features crews of two or more drivers. Our award goes to Robert Kubica, standard-bearer of the 499P #83, which triumphed at Le Mans against all odds. The second phase of the Polish driver’s career has been consecrated, and it’s no coincidence that he’s so beloved by the Italian fans.

A special mention for  Richard Lietz, the newly crowned WEC LMGT3 champion. The experienced Austrian driver also scored his sixth class victory, his second consecutive, at Le Mans, all of which came on a Porsche. Antonio Fuoco, for his part, can certainly celebrate his splendid victory in Macau, as well as his decisive contribution to the championship with the highlight of a first-place finish in Lusail. Finally, a thought goes to Alex Palou, the IndyCar Series all-star, who has won his fourth title in five years.

Race of the year: without a doubt, the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa. It’s hard to find a more balanced race throughout the season among so many different contenders. The overall victory went to the GRT Grasser Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper, and Luca Engstler, a partial consolation for the difficult experiences on the other racing projects by the Sant’Agata manufacturer, while awaiting the debut of the new Temerario GT3.

Continuing with the Revelation of the Year: among the teams, we’d like to award IDEC Sport, which fought until the final race in the European Le Mans Series despite a very unusual crew of Jamie Chadwick, Dani Juncadella, and Mathys Jaubert; the latter will undoubtedly will stand up in the headlines with Genesis Magma Racing’s upcoming racing debut. Among the drivers, we’d like to highlight Riccardo Pera, a factor alongside Lietz in Manthey 1st Phorm’s WEC win in the LM GT3 class, poised to become a key player for Meuspath’s team.

Car of the Year: Here, we once again have no doubts and choose the Ferrari 499P. Ferdinando Cannizzo’s creation – BoP or no BoP- dominated the season, starting from the first races, then picking up valuable points on traditionally unfavorable circuits like São Paulo and Bahrain. This success was further enhanced by a third win at Le Mans with the yellow #83.

We are closing with the Overtake of the Year: Ayhancan Güven‘s grand finale in the DTM title decider at Hockenheim was a clear winner. This year, the German series has established itself as the benchmark for GT3 racing, and the battle between the Turkish driver and Marco Wittmann’s BMW in the closing minutes of the last race was a proper culmination of a season that saw no fewer than nine drivers battling for the title in the final round of the season.

See you in 2026!

Piero Lonardo – Luca Pellegrini

Photos: Piero Lonardo, GTWC Europe, DTM