Victory in the 6 Hours of Barcelona seals world title for Toyota Racing
Toyota Racing won the FIA World Endurance Championship manufacturers’ crown yesterday with a dominant one-two victory in the 6 Hours of Barcelona, the penultimate round of the 2026 season.
In difficult conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the team won for the fourth time this year to secure their eighth title, in their first year competing as Toyota Racing.
Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa were victorious in the No8 TR010 Hybrid, extending their lead in the drivers’ standings.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries completed a perfect day for the team by finishing second in the No7 TR010 Hybrid. With one race to go, they are 17 points behind their team-mates in the fight for the drivers’ title, which is now a two-way contest between the Toyota Racing crews.
The team have now ensured a clean sweep of both World Championships and victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the team’s home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji, in the TR010 Hybrid’s debut season.
A spectacular performance in Spain was built on a strong opening hour when the drivers took advantage of changing conditions on wet tyres. After starting second, Buemi quickly took the lead in his 100th WEC race. From ninth on the grid, de Vies rapidly moved up the field and into second late in the opening hour.
Buemi served a five-second penalty for a starting procedure offence at his second pit stop, without any long-term impact on the race. At half-distance, Hartley was leading Kobayashi by 10 seconds, with the chasing pack more than 20 seconds behind.
Despite a safety car closing the field with two hours to go, the two TR010 Hybrids set new fastest laps and rebuilt their advantage. They safely negotiated lapped traffic through the closing stages while preserving their comfortable gap. Hirakawa crossed the line just 0.583secs ahead of de Vries to earn the team’s first one-two since Bahrain last season.
The close fight between the TR010 Hybrid crews will resume in the eighth and final round of the season, the 6 Hours of Monza on 8 November, when the drivers’ title battle will be decided.
Team quotes
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car 7): “Congratulations to the whole team for winning the race and the manufacturers’ World Championship already. I’m very proud of all the team members involved in this, in Cologne and at Higashi-Fuji, as well as the Toyota family, our partners and of course, Morizo-san and Nakajima-san. 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. The drivers’ title is now between our two cars, so I think we can enjoy the last race.”
Mike Conway (driver, car 7): “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. Against such a competitive field, it’s impressive to do that with one race to go, so big congratulations to everyone. The drivers’ title is still open, so for the No7 car, we will just try to regroup and improve for the next race.”
Nyck de Vries (driver, car 7): “It’s a great result for the team. I think we executed the race well, very cleanly, with no mistakes, so it was a really strong performance from everyone. Obviously, it’s very important to secure the manufacturers’ World Championship and to know that a Toyota Racing crew will win the drivers’ title as well. That’s a nice feeling going into the final round.”
Sébastien Buemi (driver, car 8): “It’s obviously an amazing day for the whole team. 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. I’m really happy to celebrate the title with the whole team with a one-two. After a difficult season last year, it shows how hard the team worked over the winter to introduce the TR010 Hybrid and win Le Mans and both titles. Now hopefully Brendon, Ryō and I can win the drivers’ title in Monza.”
Brendon Hartley (driver, car 8): “It’s a fantastic day for the team with a one-two and the manufacturers’ title. I enjoyed the whole weekend. 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. Today I’m not thinking about the drivers’ championship, it’s all about celebrating the title with the team. Congratulations to everyone involved, it’s been a massive effort to fight back and take the manufacturers’ World Championship. It’s a huge deal for everyone involved and I’m proud to be part of it.”
Ryō Hirakawa (driver, car 8): “We were really motivated after our Fuji victory, and we came here with a lot of momentum. There were a lot of things to explore because we hadn’t tested here, but everyone did a good job, the car was flying, and everything went well. This victory is something we worked very hard for. There was no luck, we just grabbed it. It’s good to secure the manufacturers’ title but the drivers’ is still open. We’ll keep pushing and hopefully we can win that with car No8.”
6 Hours of Barcelona results
| 1st | 8 | TOYOTA RACING | 198 laps |
| 2nd | 7 | TOYOTA RACING | +0.583 sec |
| 3rd | 50 | Ferrari AF Corse | +39.725 sec |
| 4th | 38 | Cadillac Hertz Team Jota | +52.811 sec |
| 5th | 83 | AF Corse | +53.353 sec |
| 6th | 12 | Cadillac Hertz Team Jota | + 1 min 20.751 sec |
