MOTORSPORT – TOYOTA Racing returns to action this weekend for the second round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season at one of their home races, the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
Three weeks ago, the team enjoyed a winning debut for its TR010 Hybrid at Imola to take the early lead in both the WEC’s manufacturers’ and drivers’ Hypercar world championships. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa won in Italy in their #8 TR010, while the sister #7 car of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nyck de Vries made it a double podium with third place.
The team takes that momentum into the second of eight rounds this season at Spa, which is a favourite for many drivers and fans. It winds through the Ardennes forest on a 7.004-kilometre layout consisting of fast, undulating sectors at the beginning and end, separated by a tighter, more technical sector two.
“Spa is a really special circuit, great fun to drive and very challenging,” said Buemi ahead of this weekend’s action. “It’s such a historic place – all the legends of our sport have raced there and there are so many memories, including a lot of wins for our team.
“It still puts a smile on my face to drive a Hypercar flat-out around there, and I can’t wait to get started.”
As well as being a final competitive opportunity to optimise team operations prior to the Le Mans 24 Hours next month, the Spa event also helps the team’s engineers and drivers prepare the TR010s. High-speed corners like Eau Rouge-Raidillon, Pouhon and Blanchimont, as well as the long flat-out Kemmel Straight, require car set-ups similar to Circuit de la Sarthe.
Spa is one of Toyota Racing’s two home races in WEC, alongside Fuji Speedway, and the team have a strong record there. In their 13 races in Belgium, they has achieved four pole positions, eight wins, and a total of 14 podiums.
Cheering on the team’s bid to add to those successes will be a large contingent of employees from Toyota Racing GmbH, the team’s operational base just 120km away in Cologne, Germany. Colleagues from Toyota Motor Europe in Brussels, Toyota’s European headquarters, will also add their support.
“We made a great start to the season in Imola thanks to a big effort from the whole team,” said Kobayashi, who is also Toyota Racing’s team principal.
“Now we want to keep this momentum going throughout the season, and Spa is another important race for us.
“As well as being one of our home races, it is a big step in our Le Mans preparations. The TR010 Hybrid looked strong in Imola, which gives us encouragement, but we need to push hard again to get the maximum performance at Spa.”
Action in the round gets underway tomorrow with two free practice sessions, beginning at 12pm and at 4.40pm. A third free practice will then be held on Friday at 11.10am, while qualifying will take place from 3.30pm. That will set the grid for the weekend’s six-hour race on Saturday, which will flag off at 3pm. All times are Bahrain.
The WEC’s 2026 season features eight rounds in all. Spa will be followed by the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on June 13 and 14. Stops will then be made at Interlagos in Brazil on July 12, at Austin in the US on September 6, and at Fuji in Japan on September 27, before the WEC arrives in the Gulf.
The campaign’s penultimate meeting, the rescheduled Qatar 1,812km, will then take place on October 24, leading up to the WEC’s 2026 finale, the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, scheduled for November 6 and 7 at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.
&uuid=(email))