TOYOTA RACING returned to the track for the first time since its Le Mans 24 Hours victory when free practice got underway for the 6 Hours of São Paulo.
The team’s sixth win at Le Mans extended its lead in the manufacturers’ World Championship and it will defend that advantage at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace – better known as Interlagos – which hosts round four of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
Two 90-minute free practice sessions gave engineers and drivers a first opportunity to adjust the TR010 HYBRIDs for the 4.309km, anti-clockwise track, notable for its elevation changes and tight, twisty layout. A challenging day leaves the team with work to do to extract more performance from its cars.
Le Mans winners and World Championship leaders Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries were 14th fastest in the #7 TR010 HYBRID. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa, who finished third at La Sarthe, ended the day 15th in their #8 TR010 HYBRID.
“We tried quite a few different things between our two cars, but right now it looks like it’s going to be a tough weekend,” commented Hartley. “It looks like there could be rain on Sunday and that might be good news for us. It was tough going in the dry today, so maybe the weather can help us. But we’ll keep working on it and fighting for every position in qualifying and the race.”
First practice began late on a sunny morning, with temperatures around 25°C. Both cars began a busy programme of mechanical and aerodynamic set-up and control setting adjustments, as well as analysing both compounds of Michelin tyres. Mike and Brendon set the best laps for their respective cars.
In the afternoon, the team continued its work in similar weather conditions. Both cars completed an incident-free second session but were slightly behind their Hypercar rivals at the end of a tough day of free practice. Kamui and Ryō recorded the fastest times in their cars.
After two busy sessions, the team’s engineers will now analyse the data and work closely with the drivers with the target of improving the balance and performance of the TR010 HYBRIDs prior to the final, one-hour practice session on Saturday morning.
Qualifying takes place on Saturday afternoon (3.10pm local time, 8.10pm CEST) to set the grid for Sunday’s race, which begins at 11.30am local time (4.30pm CEST).
6 Hours of São Paulo – Free Practice 1
1st #007 Aston Martin THOR Team 1min 25.457secs
2nd #50 Ferrari AF Corse +0.024secs
3rd #51 Ferrari AF Corse +0.106secs
4th #83 AF Corse +0.139secs
5th #36 Alpine Endurance Team +0.243secs
6th #20 BMW M Team WRT +0.541secs
12th #7 TOYOTA RACING +0.762secs
17th #8 TOYOTA RACING +1.322secs
6 Hours of São Paulo – Free Practice 2
1st #19 Genesis Magma Racing 1min 24.271secs
2nd #009 Aston Martin THOR Team +0.060secs
3rd #007 Aston Martin THOR Team +0.216secs
4th #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota +0.414secs
5th #12 Hertz Team Jota +0.442secs
6th #35 Alpine Endurance Team +0.484secs
14th #7 TOYOTA RACING +0.863secs
15th #8 TOYOTA RACING +0.880secs
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