Drama and double points for Toyota Racing at Spa-Francorchamps

Toyota Racing challenged hard for a podium in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday (9 May) before securing a double points-scoring finish in a dramatic second round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season. 

A record weekend crowd of 101,606 fans witnessed an intense battle among a closely matched Hypercar field. In the final race before the Le Mans 24 Hours, Toyota Racing used strategy and determined driving to recover from a difficult qualifying and fight at the front. 

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries finished fifth in their TR010 Hybrid, falling just short of the podium despite a late charge. The No8 TR010 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa ran second for much of the race before a podium result slipped away in the closing stages. 

The No7 TR010 Hybrid started the race from 12^th and, despite the best efforts of Conway and de Vries, remained outside the top 10 during the opening stages. Incidents elsewhere and Kobayashi’s bold overtaking, moved the No7 into eighth, while a safety car at the end of the fifth hour elevated the car into fourth and set up an exciting finale. 

Starting 16^th, the No8 TR010 Hybrid deployed an alternative strategy early in the race. A short early first stop helped Hartley move into second, a position both Hirakawa and Buemi held for long periods. However, Buemi lost out late in the last hour when a pit stop issue meant his car was not fully refuelled. An additional stop was required, dropping the No8 out of the top 10 before the final safety car. 

When racing resumed with just more than 20 minutes remaining, Kobayashi was part of a four-car battle for second place. An action-packed finale saw him fight wheel-to-wheel with his rivals before ultimately crossing the line in fifth, just 6.015secs away from the race-winning BMW M Team WRT. Buemi also had an eventful final few laps and earned a point for 10^th. 

The team now accelerate their preparations for the highlight of the 2026 WEC season, the Le Mans 24 Hours on 13-14 June when they aim to challenge for a sixth victory at La Sarthe. 

Team quotes 

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car No7): “To come away with fifth and 10^th is quite decent considering our pace. We had some challenges today, but we did our best to get a good result and managed to score points with both cars which is good for the World Championship. It was not an easy week, but we executed a strong team performance. Now we have some things to study and improve before Le Mans.” 

Mike Conway (driver, car No7): “It was probably better than we expected, honestly. At one point it looked like car 8 would do well with their strategy, but then they were unlucky. We had two different strategies and two different results. I am happy to come away with fifth. It was nearly fourth, but we just didn’t have the pace. We scored some decent points and now we move on to Le Mans.” 

Nyck de Vries (driver, car No7): “I’ve mixed feelings from that race. Car 8 had a good opportunity with their different strategy to fight for a great result, but they were unfortunate. We had a clean race, didn’t make mistakes and executed well, and then benefited from things happening in front of us. That brought us some good points, and we should be happy with that.” 

Sébastien Buemi (driver, car No8): “We made a great decision to offset our strategy and it was going well. Unfortunately, we then lost all those positions. It will hurt for a bit but that’s racing. Car 7 salvaged some points which is positive for the team, but it could have been more. We will process everything and work to be stronger when it matters in Le Mans.” 

Brendon Hartley (driver, car No8): “We ended up with one point, but I can’t help but feel disappointed because we were looking set for a podium. These things can happen; it’s all a team effort and we stand together. On the positive side, it was looking really good for us at one moment and it was an incredible race, full of excitement at the end. We all fought hard and showed good fighting spirit.” 

Ryō Hirakawa (driver, car No8): “We had a chance to get on the podium and maybe we could even have fought for victory. To be honest, I am very disappointed at the moment. We need to review what happened and try to avoid it in the future. Even though it was a frustrating result for our car, Le Mans is next so we need to maximise everything for that and we will be working hard.” 

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps race results 

Provisional results. For full results, please visit https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com 

ENDS