Toyota Racing beat Ferrari at Imola in the opening round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season, with the No. 8 TR010 Hypercar driven by Ryo Hirakawa, Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi taking victory in a six-hour race that was decided by strategy rather than outright pace. It was Toyota's 50th WEC victory since 2012 and it came in the manufacturer's 100th FIA WEC race on Ferrari's home circuit. The win was not handed to them. Toyota had to work for every position across the full six hours and the pit wall deserved as much credit as the drivers for how it played out.
The Strategy That Won The Race
The No. 8 dropped to third at the start but the Toyota pit wall made a bold call, triple-stinting the medium tyres from the opening phase to gain track position over the rival Ferraris. The gamble worked. The No. 8 reclaimed second, then moved past the No. 51 Ferrari when the Italian car changed only its right-side tyres after a double stint rather than a full set. On a circuit as difficult to overtake on as Imola, track position is everything. Toyota understood that better than anyone on Sunday. A safety car, brought out when Peugeot's Nick Cassidy went off into the gravel, arrived at exactly the right moment for the No. 8. Toyota used the caution period to change a full set of tyres and retain the lead, while the pole-sitting No. 51 Ferrari changed only half a set at the same stop. From that point, Toyota controlled the race.
The sister No. 7 car was then used tactically, left out on a set of medium Michelins for 104 laps to gain track position via an undercut and make it a Toyota 1-2. Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 7 was then tasked with holding back Antonio Giovinazzi in the No. 51 Ferrari on fresher rubber through the fifth hour, which he definitely did. When the No. 7 finally pitted for a set of soft Michelins in the final phase, it dropped to third, where it finished. But the damage was pretty much done. Giovinazzi emerged from his final stop 16 seconds behind Buemi and could not close the gap, finishing 13 seconds back and 27 seconds clear of the No. 7. Hartley was understandably emotional after the finish. "It feels so good to win on the TR010's debut. It started yesterday with Ryo putting the car on the front row, we didn't expect it. Strategy was then on point today, we managed the tyres well and the sister car got in front of the Ferrari to give us breathing room. Fantastic," he said. Hirakawa added simply, “We got a new car, it's our 100th race and we made history.”