WEC 2026 result after Round 6: 6 Hours of Fuji

Toyota Racing continued its FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) campaign with a bold strategy that earned the team a home race victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji, the sixth round of the season. How did the team successfully turn the race on its head and extend Toyota’s lead in the championship? Read on for our review of this WEC 2026 result.

WEC 2026: 6 Hours of Fuji

Fuji Speedway is a short drive from Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji technical centre, where the TR010 Hybrid’s powertrain is designed, developed and built. Since the start of Toyota’s hybrid WEC project, the team has delivered nine wins from 12 races at Fuji, including six one-two finishes. So naturally, the target for this home event was a tenth victory – an ideal result that would complement the win at Le Mans back in June.

As a circuit, Fuji Speedway is demanding for both car and driver. The 0.9-mile start-finish straight sees the cars achieve speeds of almost 200mph, and this contrasts with the tight third sector, which requires aerodynamic and mechanical grip around the corners. Optimising the vehicles’ set-up for this balance begins on a driving simulator but is finalised on-track during the practice sessions.

Free practice

Preparations began with pit stop practice, scrutineering checks and a track walk. But the intensity of the competition only became evident in the two 90-minute free practice sessions. Although the teams were somewhat preoccupied with set-ups and strategies, less than one second separated the top 15 cars after a dry, trouble-free day of testing in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa ended the day eighth fastest in their #8 TR010 Hybrid. Meanwhile, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, who were tied on points at the top of the drivers’ standings were 13th fastest in the #7 car.

Qualifying and Hyperpole

Everbody knew that rain was forecast for the Saturday, and it is acknowledged that Fuji has a history of weather disrupting WEC events. But for race control to abandon the entire qualifying and Hyperpole session within 75 seconds of it starting is an extremely rare occurrence in the WEC. The decision was made due to heavy rain and extremely poor visibility that made it unsafe to continue.

As a result, the starting grid for the race was decided on the best lap times set from the earlier free practice sessions. This meant that the #8 TR010 Hybrid would start in eighth place, and the #7 car in 13th.

WEC 2026: 6 Hours of Fuji

After poor weather caused qualifying to be cancelled, the TR010 Hybrids had a lot of ground to make up to challenge at the front. Working hard on the still-damp track surface, Buemi quickly made up two positions following his eighth place start in the #8 car, while the beginning of de Vries’s race in the #7 car was disrupted by a puncture inside the first half-hour. A promising fightback was then interrupted by a spin due to contact with another competitor early in the second hour.

Both TR010 Hybrids had successfully battled their way into the top six towards the conclusion of the first three hours. But the second half of the race started with frustration. Early in the fifth hour, Hartley was pushed from behind during his approach to turn one, which spun him out. Nevertheless, at the next round of pit stops, Hirakawa took over driving duties and was able to return in sixth place. Meanwhile, team principal Kobayashi was seventh until a drive-through penalty for speeding under a full course yellow dropped his #7 car to 12th place.

With less than an hour remaining, a bold strategic call transformed the #8 crew’s fortunes. Ahead of the last pit stop, the team engineers correctly anticipated a longer interruption for barrier repairs. It was therefore decided to refuel the car accordingly but not change the tyres. This minor time-saving measure was enough to catapault Hirakawa into the lead when the race resumed with 20 minutes remaining.

As the rain fell again, track conditions worsened and intense pressure was felt from behind. Despite this, Hirakawa held his own and crossed the finish line just half a second ahead, much to the delight of the 70,000-strong home crowd. A little further back, fellow Japanese driver Kobayashi made up two valuable positions in the final minutes to finish eighth – enough to keep the #7 crew in championship contention.

This victory in Fuji stretched the team’s advantage in the manufacturers’ championship to 23 points. Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa now lead the drivers’ standings with two races remaining, while Conway, Kobayashi and de Vries are in second, just ten points behind their team-mates. The WEC battle returns to Europe for the penultimate round of the season, the inaugural 6 Hours of Barcelona in Spain.

WEC 2026 result: 6 Hours of Fuji

WEC 2026: manufacturer standings

Where is the WEC heading next?

The WEC 2026 calendar consists of eight 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.