TOYOTA RACING made a winning start to the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season with a double podium finish in a hard-fought 6 Hours of Imola.
In its 100th WEC race with hybrid power, the team earned its 50th victory thanks to the #8 TR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, finished third in the #7 TR010 HYBRID to complete a faultless team performance.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Hartley. “The TR010 HYBRID looked fast even before it turned a wheel, and now it wins on its debut. The team put in a lot of work over the last months to prepare for this first race. It was a real team effort today as well, and it’s not often you take a race victory with a feeling like that.
“There was an amazing crowd here at Imola and the podium was a beautiful moment. It feels like a special day.”
A weekend crowd of 92,175 – a new record for a WEC event at Imola – witnessed a close and exciting race, interrupted by two short safety car periods, before light rain and strong winds in the closing stages.
On its race debut, the two TR010 HYBRIDs and their driver crews showed consistent race pace, which was complemented by effective fuel and tyre strategies to gain positions over their Hypercar rivals during an intense six-hour contest.
The #8 TR010 HYBRID started from the front row and Brendon ran third in his opening stint. Gains at the first pit stops initially elevated the #8 back into second, before Ryō took the lead early in the third hour. He established a small gap over the chasing Ferrari, which Sébastien extended in the final two hours. He navigated tricky track conditions during a light shower to hold the advantage until the end.
The #7 TR010 HYBRID was sixth at the start but fell to seventh. Mike pushed to rejoin the top-six throughout his stint before Nyck made progress. He was fourth before half race distance and claimed third in the fourth hour. Kamui then moved up to second and, on very used tyres, enabled the #8 to extend its lead by holding the #51 Ferrari at bay until finally stopping for new rubber inside the final hour.
When the chequered flag flew after six hours, Sébastien crossed the line 13.352secs ahead of the #51 Ferrari, with Kamui bringing the #7 home in third, 27.835secs behind second place.
After its second successive win – following its victory in last year’s Bahrain finale – TOYOTA RACING holds the lead in both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ World Championships. It will aim to defend those positions at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on 9 May, the final race before the Le Mans 24 Hours.
6 Hours of Imola – Race
1st #8 TOYOTA RACING 213 laps
2nd #51 Ferrari AF Corse +13.352secs
3rd #7 TOYOTA RACING +41.187secs
4th #35 Alpine Endurance Team +59.385secs
5th #20 BMW M Team WRT +1min 0.543secs
6th #50 Ferrari AF Corse +1min 0.901secs
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