WEC 2026 result after Round 7: 6 Hours of Barcelona

Toyota Racing secured its FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) campaign with a dominant one-two victory in the 6 Hours of Barcelona, the penultimate round of the season. How did the team successfully win the manufacturers’ title, and where does that place the two TR010 Hybrid crews in the drivers’ championship? Read on for our review of this WEC 2026 result.

TOYOTA RACING won the manufacturers’ title with a dominant one-two victory in the 6 Hours of Barcelona, the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season.

WEC 2026: 6 Hours of Barcelona

After Toyota’s exciting victory in Japan in round six, the team travelled to Spain for the 6 Hours of Barcelona – the penultimate round of the WEC 2026 season. The event is a new addition to the WEC calendar, having replaced the races originally scheduled in the Middle East. And while it offered an opportunity to cement Toyota’s top position in the manufacturers’ standings, for Sébastien Buemi (below) it represented a significant individual landmark.

The Swiss driver became the first to reach a century of WEC starts, and he is the only active driver to have been with Toyota since the team’s first race in 2012. In those 14 seasons Buemi has won a total of 28 races – including four Le Mans wins – and secured four World Championship titles so far.

Free practice

Excitement and tensions rose with the first official activities of the race week. After completing pit stop practice, scrutineering checks and a track walk, fine-tuning of the TR010 Hybrids finally began through the two 90-minute practice sessions. Tyre degradation on this unfamiliar track proved to be a hot topic among the teams. But thanks to ideal weather, a lack of interruptions and quantifiable improvements applied between the two sessions, the team made a productive start to the event with both cars in the top ten.

Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nick de Vries were fifth fastest in the #7 car, while Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa – who lead the drivers’ standings – were eighth in the #8.

Qualifying and Hyperpole

The warm, dry conditions continued into qualifying. The 12-minute session saw de Vries (#7 car) and Hirakawa (#8) enlisted for driving duties, both of whom chose to run on medium compound tyres. Aiming to progress into Hyperpole, the pair pushed hard from the outset and set eighth and second fastest lap times respectively, which secured them their places in the grid-defining shoot-out.

In Hyperpole, the fastest ten Hypercars battled for the top grid positions. Running on medium compound tyres again, both TR010 Hybrids set their best laps on their first efforts. Hirakawa was again among the fastest on track and scored the team’s second front-row start of the season. Meanwhile, de Vries missed out on the top six by just over a tenth of a second and secured ninth place on the starting grid.

WEC 2026: 6 Hours of Barcelona

A strong opening hour proved decisive for the Toyota crews, despite changing conditions and running on wet tyres. Starting from the advantage of the front row, it didn’t take long before Buemi took the lead in the #8 car, while de Vries (#7) rapidly moved up the field and rose from ninth to second place before the second hour. However, a starting infraction from Buemi meant that he was forced to factor in a five-second penalty, which he served at his second pit stop – thankfully without any long-term impact on the race.

At half-distance, Hartley (#8) led Kobayashi (#7) by ten seconds, with the chasing pack over 20 seconds behind. With two hours to go a safety car closed the field but when the track cleared the two TR010 Hybrids set new fastest laps and rebuilt their advantage. That comfortable gap was even preserved as they safely negotiated lapped traffic through the closing stages. At the chequered flag, Hirakawa (#8) crossed the line just half a second ahead of de Vries (#7) to earn the team’s first one-two since Bahrain last season.

This fourth win of the WEC 2026 season was enough to secure Toyota its eighth manufacturers’ championship with one race to go. At that final event in Italy, the drivers’ championship will also be decided – and it is now a two-way contest between the two TR010 Hybrid crews.

WEC 2026 result: 6 Hours of Barcelona

POSITION	CAR / TEAM	DRIVERS	VARIATION
1	#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing	Hartley / Hirakawa / Buemi
2	#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing	Kobayashi / Conway / de Vries	+ 0.583s
3	#50 Ferrari AF Corse	Antonio / Miguel / Nicklas	+ 39.725s
4	#38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota	Fuoco / Molina / Nielsen	+ 52.811s
5	#83 AF Corse	Ye / Kubica / Hanson	+ 53.353s
6	#12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota	Lynn / Stevens / Nato	+ 1m 20.751s

WEC 2026: manufacturer standings

POSITION	MANUFACTURER	POINTS
1	Toyota	212
2	BMW	154
3	Ferrari	130
4	Cadillac	118
5	Alpine	104
6	Aston Martin	58
7	Peugeot	24
8	Genesis	14

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.

ROUND	RACE	COUNTRY	DATE
1	6 Hours of Imola	Italy	19 April
2	6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps	Belgium	9 May
3	24 Hours of Le Mans	France	13-14 June
4	6 Hours of São Paulo	Brazil	12 July
5	Lone Star Le Mans	USA	6 September
6	6 Hours of Fuji	Japan	27 September
7	6 Hours of Barcelona	Spain	18 October
8	6 Hours of Monza	Italy	8 November