MOTORSPORT – Toyota Racing will start the Six Hours of Barcelona today from the front row after narrowly missing pole position in a hard-fought qualifying session yesterday for the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.
A strong race result could secure the manufacturers’ world championship for Toyota with one race still to go, and qualifying at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya laid the foundations for their challenge in today’s race.
Ryo Hirakawa earned second place in the number eight TR010 Hybrid he shares with Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley, just 0.170secs away from the pole-sitting Genesis. The number eight crew currently lead the drivers’ standings and could also seal the title today if results go their way.
The number seven TR010 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries are also in the drivers’ title battle, just 10 points behind their teammates. They will start from ninth on the grid.
“The car was really fast today, the team did a great job,” said Hirakawa. “Potentially, I could have been even faster but there were double yellow flags on my second push lap in Hyperpole.
“That was a pity, but being on the front row is good and I’m happy with the result. From there we can have a nice race tomorrow, hopefully.”
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