Toyota Racing goes into the first-ever 6 Hours of Barcelona on 18 October leading both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ standings of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship. The Spanish race is the season’s penultimate round, so the Japanese team has two chances left to secure its titles. Sébastien Buemi will also become the first driver to start 100 WEC races.

A strong position after Fuji

Toyota won its home race at Fuji Speedway, the most recent round. It was the team’s third win of the 2026 season and lifted its lead in the manufacturers’ championship to 23 points. In the drivers’ standings, Toyota’s two TR010 HYBRID crews hold first and second place.

The #8 car of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa took its second victory of the year in Japan, which moved that trio to the top of the table. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries in the sister #7 car are 10 points behind. With only Barcelona and the season finale left, the drivers’ title is effectively a two-way fight inside the Toyota garage.

Kobayashi is team principal as well as a driver in the #7 car, and he made clear that mistakes now would be costly.

“This is another important race for the World Championship. With only two races left, there’s no room for mistakes – we need to maximise our results with both cars to stay in a strong position for the final race.”

Buemi reaches 100 starts

Barcelona will make Buemi the first driver to reach 100 WEC race starts. He is the only current driver who has been with Toyota since its first race in the series, at Le Mans in 2012. Since then he has won 28 races, four of them at Le Mans, and taken four world titles.

“I feel proud and honoured to reach 100 WEC races and I hope to be around for a bit longer still. It’s fitting to reach this number on the back of the win at Fuji, which was one of our best because of the great job we all did as a team.”

This will also be Mike Conway’s second-to-last race. Earlier this month he announced that he will retire from full-time racing when the WEC season ends. “I am determined to create more happy memories over the rest of the season, starting in Barcelona,” he said.

A new venue on the calendar

The 6 Hours of Barcelona is new to the WEC schedule. Together with November’s race at Monza, it replaces the rounds that were originally planned in the Middle East. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is 4.657 km (2.894 miles) long and sits in Montmeló, around 30 km (19 miles) north of Barcelona. Many championships have raced there since it opened in 1991.

This is the first WEC race in Spain, but the series has been to the circuit before. It held the pre-season Prologue test there in July 2019, when Conway, Kobayashi, Buemi and Hartley drove for Toyota in the TS050 HYBRID. Hirakawa has the most recent experience of the track, from his Formula 1 testing and free practice outings.

All the drivers know the circuit from earlier in their careers, but the team has never run the TR010 HYBRID there. Hirakawa said: “It will be a tough weekend, I’m sure, because we haven’t tested our TR010 HYBRID at Barcelona before, unlike some of our rivals.” Nyck de Vries has won at the track in Formula 2 and junior series. He said the #7 crew wants to turn things around after what he called a “bit unfortunate” run in the last two races.

Facts: 6 Hours of Barcelona

  • Round: Penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship
  • Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló – 4.657 km (2.894 miles)
  • Toyota’s manufacturers’ lead: 23 points
  • Drivers’ standings: #8 crew leads, #7 crew 10 points behind
  • Free practice: Two sessions on Friday 16 October
  • Qualifying: Saturday 17 October, 3.40pm CEST (after final practice)
  • Race start: Sunday 18 October, midday CEST

The two TR010 HYBRIDs go out for first practice on Friday 16 October, and the race starts at midday CEST on Sunday 18 October.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu