A month after winning Le Mans, Toyota Racing had a weekend to forget in Brazil, with both TR010 HYBRIDs held back by penalties, contact and a difficult qualifying. The #7 finished 12th and the #8 came home 17th after suspension damage. Despite the setback, Toyota still leads the World Endurance Championship for manufacturers at the halfway point of the season.

Toyota Racing left the fourth round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) empty-handed after a difficult 6 Hours of São Paulo. Coming off victory at last month’s Le Mans 24 Hours, the Japanese squad struggled for pace all week and never recovered from a compromised qualifying that left both cars fighting through the field.

Two cars, two troubled races

Le Mans winners Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries recovered to 12th in the #7 TR010 HYBRID, finishing one lap down on the race-winning #15 BMW. Conway started 17th after a grid penalty, then picked up a five-second penalty for a start infringement and a drive-through for a full course yellow infraction in the second hour. Incidents and penalties for others helped the car climb back towards the top 10, but with temperatures falling and fog settling over the circuit, no further progress was possible.

The #8 TR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa started 14th and briefly ran inside the top 10 after the opening stops. Its points hopes ended in the second hour when Hartley was hit by another Hypercar, damaging the right-front suspension and forcing a 16-minute repair stop. The car dropped to the back but its drivers pushed to the flag, ending 17th.

“Obviously it was a very difficult race. It’s not what we wanted before coming here, but we lacked performance all week, including in the race,” said team principal and #7 driver Kamui Kobayashi. “We need to learn from this and improve. There is still a long way to go in the World Championship fight, so we will do our homework and come back stronger for Austin.”

Championship still in Toyota’s hands

The result stings, but the bigger picture remains positive. According to the team, Toyota Racing still leads the manufacturers’ World Championship at the halfway point, now five points clear of BMW M Team WRT. In the drivers’ standings, the #7 crew are tied at the top with the #20 BMW drivers, while the #8 crew sit fifth, 19 points back.

Hartley felt a stronger result had been on the cards. “I fought hard for the first two stints, and we were up to ninth after the first pit stop,” he said. “Unfortunately, we got taken out by a car diving up the inside and locking the rears, which bent our suspension. Without that, I think we could have fought for points today, but we didn’t have the pace for a podium.”

What it means

With a five-point cushion but a clear pace deficit in Brazil, Toyota now has an eight-week break to analyse what went wrong before the title fight resumes. The gaps at the front of both championships are narrow enough that a single strong weekend from BMW could swing momentum, making Toyota’s mid-season regroup the story to watch.

The WEC returns with the Lone Star Le Mans on 6 September at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu