Toyota Racing has won the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship manufacturers’ title with a round to spare, after its two TR010 HYBRIDs finished first and second in the 6 Hours of Barcelona. The #8 crew of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa took the win. The drivers’ title will now be settled between the team’s two cars at the Monza finale.

A fourth win of the season secures the title

The 6 Hours of Barcelona was the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), held in difficult conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Toyota Racing won it to secure the manufacturers’ crown. The team says it was its fourth victory of the season and its eighth manufacturers’ World Championship. It also came in its first year competing as Toyota Racing.

The win continues a strong debut season for the TR010 HYBRID. According to the team, the car has now won both World Championships, the Le Mans 24 Hours and Toyota’s home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji.

“It’s a huge achievement to win Le Mans and now the manufacturers’ title, especially after we were struggling last year. We introduced the TR010 HYBRID and that has brought us to the top again.” – Kamui Kobayashi, Team Principal and driver, car #7

Wet-weather start sets up the result

The crews made the most of changing conditions on wet tyres in the first hour. Buemi started second in the #8 car and was soon in the lead, in what was his 100th WEC race. Nyck de Vries started the #7 car from ninth on the grid and had climbed to second before the first hour was over.

Buemi was given a five-second penalty for a starting procedure offence, which he served at his second pit stop. The team says it had no lasting effect on the race. At half-distance Hartley led Kobayashi by 10 seconds, and the next cars were more than 20 seconds further back.

Safety car fails to slow the TR010s

With two hours left, a safety car bunched the field up again. Both Toyotas then set new fastest laps to rebuild their lead, and got through lapped traffic in the closing stages without losing their advantage. Hirakawa took the chequered flag in the #8 car just 0.583 seconds ahead of de Vries in the #7. It was the team’s first one-two since Bahrain last season.

Buemi admitted the penalty had annoyed him:

“There was a lot of stress and I’m still a bit mad at myself for the penalty at the start, but my team-mates made up for it.”

Hartley said the pace surprised the crew:

“Actually, we hadn’t tested here, and we didn’t expect to be so strong, but our crew worked very well, and we had a great car in the race.”

Drivers’ title goes down to Monza

The win stretches the #8 crew’s lead in the drivers’ standings. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries in the #7 car go into the final round 17 points behind their team-mates. Only the two Toyota crews can still win the title, so it is now an internal contest.

“On our car, we challenged for the win and didn’t quite make it. But it’s great to get a one-two finish and wrap up the manufacturers’ title.” – Mike Conway, car #7

Hirakawa said the #8 crew had come to Spain with momentum from their Fuji win:

“This victory is something we worked very hard for. There was no luck, we just grabbed it.”

What it means

With the manufacturers’ title decided early, the last race of the season is only about the drivers’ title. The team says this caps a turnaround from a difficult 2025 campaign. The new TR010 HYBRID was introduced over the winter and has since won Le Mans, Fuji and now Barcelona.

The eighth and final round of the 2026 WEC season, the 6 Hours of Monza, takes place on 8 November.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu