6 Hours of Barcelona: Preview - TOYOTA RACING takes title challenge to Spain
TOYOTA RACING faces another important milestone in its title challenge when the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) returns to Europe for the inaugural 6 Hours of Barcelona on 18 October.
After an exciting victory on home ground at Fuji Speedway in the previous race, the team travels to Spain for the penultimate round of the season at the top of both World Championships. Its third win of the season extended the gap in the manufacturers’ standings to 23 points, while in the drivers’ championship, the two TR010 HYBRID crews are first and second.
A second win of the season for the #8 TR010 HYBRID crew of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa elevated them to the top of the standings. The #7 TR010 HYBRID drivers, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, are just 10 points behind.
Barcelona represents a significant landmark for Sébastien, who will become the first driver to reach 100 WEC race starts. Sébastien is the only active driver to have been with the team since its first race, at Le Mans in 2012. In that time, he has won 28 times – including four times at Le Mans – on his way to four World Championship titles so far.
Meanwhile, Mike is preparing for the penultimate race in his illustrious racing career, having announced earlier this month that he will retire from full-time competition at the end of the WEC season.
The 6 Hours of Barcelona is a new addition to the WEC calendar, replacing – along with November’s race in Monza – the races originally scheduled in the Middle East. The 4.657km circuit, located around 30km north of Barcelona in the town of Montmeló, has been a regular feature on the calendar of many championships since it opened in 1991.
Although this will be WEC’s first race in Spain, it is not the series’ first visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. It hosted the pre-season Prologue test in July 2019, when Mike, Kamui, Sébastien and Brendon were among the team’s line-up at the wheel of the TS050 HYBRID. Ryō has the most recent experience of the track via his Formula 1 testing and free practice roles.
The TR010 HYBRIDs will complete their first laps in Barcelona during two free practice sessions on Friday 16 October. Saturday hosts final practice and qualifying (3.40pm CEST), before Sunday’s race, which begins at midday CEST.
Quotes:
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): “This is another important race for the World Championship. With only two races left, there’s no room for mistakes – we need to maximise our results with both cars to stay in a strong position for the final race. We’re entering the unknown to a certain extent because we don’t have much experience of Barcelona, although it’s a track all drivers know well from earlier in our careers. It means we need to work particularly hard in free practice to find the right set-up direction for the race. We’ll be pushing hard to have the best chance on race day.”
Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): “This is obviously my first race since announcing my retirement at the end of the season. I am determined to create more happy memories over the rest of the season, starting in Barcelona. Racing there again is like going back to my younger days, because I drove there regularly in my junior career. I’m looking forward to being there again and seeing what our TR010 HYBRID can do.”
Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “I’m looking forward to Barcelona. It’s a track where I have had some success in the past, winning in Formula 2 and junior series, so I know it well. It’s a big weekend for the team, and also for our car, in terms of the championship. We’ve been a bit unfortunate on our side of the garage in the last two races, so we want to reverse that trend.”
Sébastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): “A hundred races is a cool milestone and a nice opportunity to think again about all those races, the ones we have won, as well as the ones we have lost together as a team. I can’t believe we have done so many races together. We’re always looking to the future and the next race, so I don’t really think about being with the team since the comeback in 2012. I feel proud and honoured to reach 100 WEC races and I hope to be around for a bit longer still. It’s fitting to reach this number on the back of the win at Fuji, which was one of our best because of the great job we all did as a team. I have so many good memories of winning championships and Le Mans, but that’s the past. We want to focus on the next races and obviously I hope we will be able to score some decent points in Barcelona to help us in the World Championship.”
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): “As drivers, I think we all know Barcelona pretty well from earlier in our careers, but as a team there’s a lot to learn about how our TR010 HYBRID works on this track. Barcelona was actually my first official appearance for TOYOTA, back at the Prologue in 2019. It’s nice to think back and consider how much we’ve experienced together since then. I hope we can add some more good memories this weekend. We’ll be doing our best.”
Ryō Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “It’s great to be racing again so soon after our victory at Fuji. That put us in a strong position in the World Championship and gives us positive momentum for the last two races. It will be a tough weekend, I’m sure, because we haven’t tested our TR010 HYBRID at Barcelona before, unlike some of our rivals. But we showed at Fuji what is possible with strong teamwork and good strategy so I’m optimistic we can fight at the front again.”
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