WEC 2026 result after Round 8: 6 Hours of Monza

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. How did the team successfully win the world title double? Read on for our review of this WEC 2026 result.

WEC 2026: 6 Hours of Monza

A one-two victory in the penultimate round in Barcelona had already secured Toyota the overall WEC title. However this final race of the season in Italy developed, it was going to be the last for the TR010 Hybrid hypercar and the final race for Mike Conway, prior to his retirement from full-time competition. But on a brighter note, one of the two Toyota crews was also guaranteed to win the drivers’ championship. Both crews were in with a shot: Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa (#8 TR010 Hybrid) for the third time together, while Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries (#7 TR010 Hybrid) chased their first.

Similar to the Circuit de la Sarthe, Monza is famed for its long straights and tight chicanes, which require good top speed and braking stability. Toyota’s WEC history in Italy has been strong, the team team having won twice – in 2021 and 2023 – and finished on the podium four times.

Free practice

Practice for the eighth and final round of the 2026 season began in persistent rain with air temperatures hovering just into double figures. The team did its best to focus on mechanical and aerodynamic setups but to everybody’s frustration the session was interrupted three times by red flags. Rain continued into the afternoon but stopped early in second practice. This improved track conditions and led to a trouble-free session that even allowed some teams to test slick tyres for the final 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the Toyota crews were not among those.

Between sessions the engineers used the data to optimise settings for the specific demands of Monza, which places significant demands on the brakes and suspension in the slower chicanes.

Qualifying

The 12-minute qualifying round saw the first dry running of the weekend. This was frustrating for two reasons. Firstly, the team had not previously tested the TR010 Hybrid at Monza, so the engineers had no previous experience to rely on. Secondly, the team had not had an opportunity during the previous day’s practice sessions to capture data about the slick tyres’ performance around the circuit. This meant the team was forced to ‘fly blind’ and adopt a calculated but untested set-up.

Conditions did improve during the course of qualifying. And although both TR010 Hybrids went faster as the session progressed, they narrowly missed out on securing a top ten position and therefore a chance to compete in the Hyperpole shoot-out. Instead, lining up further down the starting grid meant the team would have to execute an effective race strategy to move up the field.

WEC 2026: 6 Hours of Monza

In front of a 75,000-strong weekend crowd, the #8 car started in 14th place and the #7 in 17th. Mike Conway 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 GT3 car at the first chicane, then to add insult to injury Kobayashi was hit from behind by a fellow Hypercar competitor a few laps later at the same corner.

Thankfully the two Toyotas avoided further drama and took the chequered flag as the sun set to bring a successful 2026 season to a close. In finishing 11th, Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa secured the drivers’ title crown in the #8 car. Toyota therefore ended the season 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.

WEC 2026 result: 6 Hours of Monza

POSITION	CAR / TEAM	DRIVERS	VARIATION
1	#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota	Fuoco / Molina / Nielsen
2	#36 Alpine Endurance Team	Makowiecki / Gounon / Martins	+ 5.607s
3	#51 Ferrari AF Corse	Pier Guidi / Calado / Giovinazzi	+ 35.767s
4	#007 Aston Martin Thor Team	Tincknell / Gamble / Gunn	+ 53.585s
5	#94 Peugeot TotalEnergies	Duval / Jakobsen / Pourchaire	+ 54.890s
6	#15 BMW M Team WRT	Magnussen / Marciello / Vanthoor	+ 1m 03.128s
11	#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing	Hartley / Hirakawa / Buemi	+ 1 lap
12	#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing	Kobayashi / Conway / de Vries	+ 1 lap

WEC 2026: manufacturer standings

POSITION	MANUFACTURER	POINTS
1	Toyota	215
2	BMW	172
3	Ferrari	150
4	Cadillac	143
5	Alpine	122
6	Aston Martin	58
7	Peugeot	42
8	Genesis	14

Where is the WEC heading next year?

For the first time in a decade, the WEC 2027 calendar has been expanded to nine rounds across four continents, each of which is hosted by a different country. The following table shows the order of events over the coming year.

ROUND	RACE	COUNTRY	DATE
1	Qatar 1812km	Qatar	27 March
2	6 Hours of Imola	Italy	11 April
3	6 Hours of Silverstone	United Kingdom	25 April
4	6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps	Belgium	15 May
5	24 Hours of Le Mans	France	12-13 June
6	6 Hours of São Paulo	Brazil	11 July
7	Lone Star Le Mans	USA	12 September
8	6 Hours of Fuji	Japan	26 September
9	8 Hours of Bahrain	Bahrain	6 November