WEC Drivers’ title for Hartley’s #8 TR010 HYBRID team

Sébastien Buemi (SUI), Brendon Hartley (NZL) and Ryō Hirakawa (JAP) are the 2026 Hypercar Drivers’ title-winners as TOYOTA RACING brought the curtain down on a spectacular FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season by reclaiming the drivers’ title in the eighth and final round of 2026, the 6 Hours of Monza. Fellow Kiwi Earl Bamber along with his Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA teammates Jack Aitken and Sébastien Bourdais won the final round ahead of the Alpine Endurance Team and Ferrari AF Corse.

Four wins this season – including the Le Mans 24 Hours and its home race at Fuji Speedway – helped the team secure the manufacturers’ World Championship last month at the penultimate round in Barcelona in its first year competing as TOYOTA RACING.

Going into the final round in Italy, the drivers’ title fight was a contest between the team’s two car crews. The 6 Hours of Monza saw Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa secure the crown in their #8 TR010 HYBRID, finishing in 11th place.

“As a team we already celebrated clinching the manufacturers’ title in Barcelona, which felt incredible for everyone,” commented Hartley. “After all the hard work that went into the TR010 HYBRID we knew this season was an opportunity for us.

“Against such tough competition we had to improve in every area of the team, including as drivers, so it’s a great feeling now to finish the season as World Champions. All three of us on #8 had mixed emotions after Le Mans but I am really proud of how we fought back over the second half of the season, because we were really strong.”

After three wins this season, the #8 crew won their third world title together. For Sébastien and Brendon, this season’s triumph is their fifth World Championship crown, while Ryō takes his third title.

Le Mans winners Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries needed to overcome a 17-point deficit to win the title in their #7 TR010 HYBRID. A difficult competitive situation for both cars at Monza made their task even harder and they finished 12th.

TOYOTA RACING therefore ends the first season of competition for its TR010 HYBRID with four wins and seven podiums to its name. The World Championship double means the team has now won eight manufacturers’ titles and seven drivers’ crowns since its return to WEC in 2012.

The race at Monza proved to be a challenging finale to a highly successful season. The only running in dry conditions this weekend came in qualifying, providing relatively little data on which to base race set-ups and strategies. The #8 started in 14th, while the #7 lined up 17th.

In front of a 75,181-strong weekend crowd, Mike had the honour of taking the start in his last race before retirement after 12 seasons, two titles and 20 wins with the team since joining in 2014.

Both cars pushed hard to move into the points and gained positions. The race featured four safety car periods but was incident-free for the TR010 HYBRIDs until the final 90 minutes. The #7 suffered bodywork damage in contact with a Ford LMGT3 at the first chicane. Kamui was then hit from behind by the #17 Genesis a few laps later at the same corner.

But both cars avoided further drama and took the chequered flag as the sun set over the Temple of Speed to bring a successful 2026 season to a close.