Brendon Hartley has taken a crucial step towards the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship drivers’ title, sharing victory at the 6 Hours of Barcelona as Toyota sealed the manufacturers’ championship with a one-two finish.
The Kiwi teamed up with Sébastien Buemi and Ryō Hirakawa to win in the #8 TR010 HYBRID at a wet Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, extending the trio’s lead in the drivers’ standings with one round remaining. The result handed the team its fourth win of the season and its eighth manufacturers’ world title, the first under the TOYOTA RACING name.
The #8 crew’s victory was set up in a strong opening hour, as changing conditions played into the hands of the Toyota drivers on wet tyres. Buemi, starting second in his 100th WEC race, quickly moved into the lead, and was able to jump the #17 Genesis car early on. A five-second penalty for a starting procedure offence, served at his second pit stop, did little to slow the car’s progress.
Hartley took over and controlled proceedings through the middle of the race. By half-distance he held a 10-second lead over Kamui Kobayashi in the sister #7 car, with the rest of the field more than 20 seconds further back.
A safety car with two hours remaining wiped out the advantage, but both Toyotas responded by setting new fastest laps to rebuild the gap. Hirakawa then brought the #8 home through the closing stages, navigating lapped traffic to cross the line 0.583 seconds ahead of Nyck de Vries. It was the team’s first one-two since Bahrain last season.
Hartley said the result came as a pleasant surprise, given the team had not tested at the circuit ahead of the weekend.
“It’s a fantastic day for the team with a one-two and the manufacturers’ title,” Hartley said. “Actually, we hadn’t tested here, and we didn’t expect to be so strong, but our crew worked very well, and we had a great car in the race.”
He added that his focus was on celebrating with the team rather than the drivers’ championship, describing the title as the reward for a massive effort to fight back.
Meanwhile, further back, Earl Bamber was also able to move forward in the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota car.
Bamber and his team were lucky to avoid retirement after contact with the #15 car of Kevin Magnussen, which resulted in a penalty for the BMW. Nevertheless, the Kiwi, Sebastian Bourdais, and Jack Aitken were able to climb forward from a tenth place starting position to finish in fourth position, albeit thirty seconds behind the next car.
Nick Cassidy suffered a tricker day behind the wheel of the #93 Peugeot, with the Kiwi, Paul Di Resta, and Alex Quinn finishing twelfth, a full lap behind the winners.
Initially, the team managed to rocket up to sixth place as they showed outstanding pace in the wet. However, as the track dried out and the slicks went on, the pace they had fell off.
Their problems were compounded with an untimely race neutralisation with two hours to go, leaving them stranded a lap down to eventually be classified in twelfth, a place ahead of the #94 Peugeot sister car.
With the drivers’ title still on the line, drivers and teams will prepare for a hugely anticipated season finale in Monza, with the six hour race kicking off on November 6.
