Season-opening victory in Italy for Toyota Racing

Toyota Racing made a winning start to the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) with a double podium finish in a hard-fought 6 Hours of Imola yesterday. 

In their 100^th WEC race with hybrid power, the team earned their 50^th victory thanks to the No8 TR010 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, finished third in the No7 TR010 Hybrid to complete a faultless team performance. 

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 their race debut, the two TR010 Hybrids and their driver crews showed consistent race pace, complemented by effective fuel and tyre strategies to gain positions over their Hypercar rivals during an intense contest. 

The No8 TR010 Hybrid started from the front row with Hartley running third in his opening stint. Gains at the first pit stops initially elevated the car back into second, before Hirakawa took the lead early in the third hour. He established a small gap over the chasing Ferrari, which Buemi extended in the final two hours. He navigated tricky track conditions during a light shower to hold the advantage until the end. 

The No7 TR010 Hybrid was sixth at the start but fell back to seventh. Conway pushed to rejoin the top six throughout his stint before de Vries made progress. He was fourth before half race distance and claimed third in the fourth hour. Kobayashi then moved up to second and, on very used tyres, enabled the No8 to extend its lead by holding the No51 Ferrari at bay until finally stopping for new rubber inside the final hour. 

When the chequered flag flew, Buemi crossed the line 13.352secs ahead of the No51 Ferrari, with Kobayashi bringing the No7 home in third, 27.835secs behind second place. 

After their second successive win – following their victory in last year’s Bahrain finale – Toyota Racing hold the lead in both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ World Championships. They aim to defend those positions at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on 9 May, the final race before the Le Mans 24 Hours. 

Team quotes 

Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car 7): “We tried everything we could today to bring home the best possible result. It was quite a smooth race but not easy to find the opportunities to make up places. It was challenging, but we managed to get both cars on the podium and start the season with a win, so I’m really happy. Most importantly, our car seems to be strong so that brings us confidence for the rest of the season. Congratulations to all the team who worked so hard on the TR010 Hybrid and to execute the race today. Next we head to Spa and a long season ahead of us. We will work hard and try our best to achieve all our targets.” 

Mike Conway (driver, car 7): “It’s a great result for the team and I’m pleased to be on the podium. I think this is more than we expected. It’s awesome for car 8 to win and for car 7 to be on the podium. We gave our maximum and brought home a double podium. It’s a strong start to the season and we’ll try to build on this in Spa.” 

Nyck de Vries (driver, car 7): “The whole team did a fantastic job to execute a very good race and make all the right strategy calls. We split the strategy between the two cars towards the end, and it worked out well. I’m happy to start the season with a podium. We had to work hard for it, so thanks to the team for a big effort here this week from the beginning of the Prologue.” 

Sébastien Buemi (driver, car 8): “It’s a great story, to get our 50^th win in our 100th race, on the home ground of Ferrari and on the debut of the TR010 Hybrid. A lot of credit goes to the team in Higashi-Fuji and Cologne for their amazing work. Their reaction to a tough year in 2025 has been impressive. Of course, this is only the first race but congratulations to the whole team. The execution today was excellent, so I am very proud of everyone.” 

Brendon Hartley (driver, car 8): “It’s an amazing feeling. 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.” 

Ryō Hirakawa (driver, car 8): “We couldn’t ask for better than that. It’s our 100th race and we marked it with our 50th win. We made history and we are happy for that. This year we changed the team identity and gave a debut to the TR010 Hybrid. We all pushed hard to start the season well. Last year was really painful for us, nobody was happy with that, but this year we are back in the game, so I am really happy. Well done to everyone in the team.” 

6 Hours of Imola results 

ENDS