WEC 2026 result after Round 5: Lone Star Le Mans

Toyota Racing continued its FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) campaign with the pain of being denied victory in the closing minutes of a dramatic Lone Star Le Mans, the fifth round of the season. What caused this sudden change of fortune? Read on for our review of this WEC 2026 result.

WEC 2026: Lone Star Le Mans

Following a seven-week summer break, Toyota Racing was determined to reinforce its title challenge in the second half of the World Endurance Championship season. Coming into this fifth round in Texas, USA, the #7 crew of Mike Conway (below), Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries were tied on points at the top of the drivers’ standings, while their team-mates in the #8 TR010 Hybrid, Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa, were 19 points behind but still in the title fight.

Like the previous round at Interlagos, the Circuit of the Americas is run anti-clockwise. Among its other striking features is the steep climb to turn one, which is followed by a sequence of fast, sweeping corners, and one of the heaviest braking zones of the season. It is a circuit that Toyota is yet to taste victory on, so the team worked extra hard over the summer to optimise set-ups and strategies ahead of the official free practice sessions. This included a two-day test for all six drivers on the circuit itself.

Free practice

The first practice session began late in the morning, two days before the race, and temperatures were already hitting 30°C. Thanks to the early set-up work carried out in late July, the crew was able to focus on fine-tuning the control settings and applying minor mechanical adjustments. Conditions were even hotter for the second session. So the team switched its focus to the tyres, which experience the greatest wear and heat generation of the season on this circuit.

Data from these two intense but successful sessions were then analysed behind the scenes, in the hope of finding areas where performance and balance could be further improved before the race.

Qualifying and Hyperpole

Qualifying took place under 38°C skies – the hottest conditions of the event so far. And it didn’t take long for the competition to heat up either. Hirakawa set off as soon as the 12-minute session opened, with a minimal volume of fuel on board and his #8 car equipped with new medium compound tyres. Kobayashi was similarly equipped in the #7 car but waited a couple of minutes before setting off on his own hot lap.

By the end of the session the cars were equally matched, having set times just 0.058 seconds apart. Both finished within the top ten and therefore secured places in the Hyperpole shoot-out, where the starting grid line-up was decided – seventh for the #8 TR010 Hybrid and ninth for the #7 car.

WEC 2026: Lone Star Le Mans

Starting from a respectable seventh and ninth on the grid respectively, Buemi (#8) and de Vries (#7) moved into the top six in the early laps before separating into different fuel strategies. Buemi pitted first to try and gain time on a clear track, while de Vries stayed out. As a result, both ran in the top three in the first two hours.

Unfortunately, a safety car at the midway point reset the strategies and reduced the hard-fought gaps. After the restart, de Vries made three bold overtakes into turn one and battled into the lead. A swift driver change to Kobayashi didn’t upset that advantage, and the Japanese driver continued to increase the #7’s lead despite pressure from the two Alpines immediately behind.

At this point the #8 was also heading for a strong podium position, with Hirakawa in third with 90 minutes remaining. That was until a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding dropped him to seventh. Further misfortune occurred when Hirakawa took a scheduled fuel stop under racing conditions moments before a virtual safety car session was initiated. This meant that rivals gained time by pitting during this session, so Hirakawa dropped to 14th.

When the race resumed with 45 minutes to go, de Vries set new fastest laps to build a gap at the front. But just when he was within touching distance of victory, an hydraulic issue affected his power steering and forced the #7 into the garage and retirement from the race with just eleven minutes to go.

Back in the #8 car, Buemi was able to recover some points for the team with a determined and exciting final stint. He delivered an overtaking masterclass by passing multiple rivals to move back into the points and finish sixth.

Despite missing out on a better result in this round, Toyota still extended its lead in the manufacturers’ championship to nine points. The #7 crew remains tied on points at the top of the drivers’ standings with three races remaining, while the #8 crew has closed to within eleven points.

WEC 2026 result: Lone Star Le Mans

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.