TOYOTA RACING returned to action in free practice for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
The team arrived in Belgium as the early World Championship leader after its victory in the season-opener at Imola. It took important steps to prepare for Saturday’s race with two 90-minute free practice sessions on the legendary Spa circuit.
The #7 TR010 HYBRID of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries was 10th fastest, 0.711secs behind the pace-setting #36 Alpine. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa were 13th in their #8 TR010 HYBRID.
“It was a smooth day with no major dramas,” commented Hartley. “It’s obviously very competitive at the front, which is exactly what we expected. We are lacking a little bit, particularly compared to Imola. But we are also working hard to try to extract a bit more lap time out of the car.”
Temperatures between 9°C and 13°C were cooler than at Imola three weeks ago, although the weather stayed dry. The TR010 HYBRIDs used the two sessions to test set-ups specifically for the conditions and demands of Spa. The 7.004km circuit requires a balance between top speed at the first and third sectors of the lap, and aerodynamic and mechanical grip in the second sector.
Tyre warm-up, performance, and consistency will be key factors on race day, so in second practice both cars also analysed the soft and medium compound Michelin tyres. That session saw the fastest laps of the day, with Kamui and Brendon setting the best times of the day in their respective cars.
A third and final practice session takes place on Friday morning, giving the engineers and drivers another opportunity to optimise car settings before qualifying, which begins at 3.20pm local time for Hypercars. That sets the grid for Saturday’s race, with the action starting at 2pm.
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – Free Practice 1
1st #50 Ferrari AF Corse 2mins 02.955secs
2nd #009 Aston Martin THOR Team +0.564secs
3rd #36 Alpine Endurance Team +0.568secs
4th #83 AF Corse +0.695secs
5th #35 Alpine Endurance Team +0.757secs
6th #20 BMW M Team WRT +1.194secs
14th #8 TOYOTA RACING +2.163secs
17th #7 TOYOTA RACING +2.582secs
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps – Free Practice 2
1st #36 Alpine Endurance Team 2mins 01.816secs
2nd #35 Alpine Endurance Team +0.274secs
3rd #20 BMW M Team WRT +0.363secs
4th #009 Aston Martin THOR Team +0.478secs
5th #15 BMW M Team WRT +0.544secs
6th #50 Ferrari AF Corse +0.565secs
10th #7 TOYOTA RACING +0.711secs
13th #8 TOYOTA RACING +1.588secs
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