2026 | WEC | 6 Hours of Fuji | Race | Toyota takes dramatic home win as WRT BMW triumphs in LMGT3

Toyota Racing claimed a dramatic home victory in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) 6 Hours of Fuji after a late strategy gamble allowed the No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid to deny Alpine in the closing stages of an unpredictable race.

Ryō Hirakawa defended from Victor Martins during a tense final sprint to secure victory alongside Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. The Toyota crossed the line just 0.591s ahead of the No. 36 Alpine A424, while BMW M Team WRT completed the Hypercar podium with the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8. The No. 35 Alpine finished fourth after the French manufacturer had appeared capable of completing a one-two for much of the six-hour contest.

LMGT3 produced an equally dramatic conclusion as Augusto Farfus charged from sixth following the final Safety Car to take victory in the No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo he shared with Sean Gelael and Darren Leung. Mattia Drudi brought the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin home second, while the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette completed the podium.

Alpine controls the opening stages

Alpine entered the race from the front of the field after Saturday’s Qualifying sessions were cancelled because of worsening wet conditions at Fuji Speedway. With the grid instead determined by Practice times, the No. 36 Alpine started from pole alongside the sister No. 35 A424.

The result reflected Alpine’s strength throughout the weekend. Martins had kept Alpine on top during a wet FP3 after the French manufacturer had also shown strong pace during the earlier sessions, leaving both cars ideally placed when Qualifying could not take place.

Alpine converted that advantage into control at the start, with Jules Gounon leading aboard the No. 36 while Ferdinand Habsburg kept the No. 35 firmly involved at the front. Toyota encountered an early complication with the No. 7 when a slow left-front puncture altered Nyck de Vries’ strategy and brought him into contention with Habsburg.

De Vries attempted to pass the No. 35, but contact between the pair spun the Toyota and cost the Dutchman valuable time. A subsequent Safety Car erased much of that deficit and brought the No. 7 back towards the leading group, but Alpine remained firmly in control.

By the end of the second hour, Alpine occupied the top two positions, with the No. 36 leading its sister car. The No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie remained close enough to threaten, while Genesis also featured prominently as several manufacturers stayed within striking distance of the leaders.

Aston Martin emerges as Alpine’s challenger

Alpine continued to control the race into its middle stages, but Aston Martin increasingly emerged as a genuine victory threat. The Valkyries had already demonstrated their potential when both cars finished inside the top three during the wet final Practice session, and the No. 007 translated that pace into a sustained challenge during the race.

The complexion of the battle changed during the fourth hour as the No. 36 began struggling for grip. The sister No. 35 Alpine moved ahead before the subsequent pit sequence allowed Tom Gamble to emerge in the No. 007 Aston Martin ahead of both A424s, putting the Valkyrie into a position to challenge for a breakthrough WEC victory.

However, Aston Martin lost the lead after Gamble received a drive-through penalty for crossing the pit-entry line while returning to the pits. The punishment dropped the No. 007 away from the front and handed the advantage back to Alpine, which restored its position at the head of the race as the final two hours approached.

The penalty did not completely remove Aston Martin from contention, while Cadillac, Toyota and BMW also remained close enough to capitalise on any further interruption. Alpine nevertheless appeared to have regained control of a race it had led for much of the afternoon.

Problems hit several major contenders

While Alpine controlled the front, several potential victory and championship contenders encountered problems that gradually removed them from the fight. BMW’s No. 20 M Hybrid V8 suffered a puncture following contact with the No. 51 Ferrari 499P at Turn 1, dropping the car away from the leading group and compromising its race.

Ferrari also struggled to reproduce the form it had shown during the previous round at the Lone Star Le Mans. The No. 50 Ferrari lost substantial time during a problematic pit stop, while the sister No. 51 had already endured a difficult opening phase. Those setbacks left the Italian manufacturer outside the main battle for victory as Alpine, Aston Martin, Toyota, BMW and Cadillac increasingly occupied the leading positions.

Toyota’s No. 7 also failed to turn its earlier recovery into a sustained challenge at the front. That placed increasing importance on the No. 8 Toyota as the race approached its final stages, even though the car remained outside the positions that initially appeared most likely to produce the winner.

Late Safety Car transforms the Hypercar race

Alpine appeared increasingly likely to convert its pace into victory as the race entered its final hour, but the entire complexion of the contest changed when Finn Gehrsitz suffered a heavy accident at Turn 1 aboard the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren. Gehrsitz emerged from the accident, but Race Control deployed the Safety Car and brought the field back together.

The interruption triggered the decisive round of pit stops and presented Toyota with an opportunity to turn a race it had not controlled into a home victory. Rather than prioritise fresh tyres, the No. 8 crew shortened Hirakawa’s final service and focused on gaining track position. BMW adopted a similar approach with Dries Vanthoor aboard the No. 15 M Hybrid V8, moving both cars ahead of rivals that chose more substantial tyre changes.

Alpine instead gave Martins fresh rubber aboard the No. 36. The decision cost the Frenchman track position but provided a significant tyre advantage for the final sprint, leaving Toyota with the lead but Alpine with the pace required to attack once racing resumed.

With only a short period remaining after the restart, the strategic contrast created a direct contest between Hirakawa’s track position and Martins’ fresh tyres. What had looked like an Alpine-controlled race therefore became a sprint to the finish between two manufacturers that had taken very different approaches to the final Safety Car.

Martins charges as Hirakawa defends

Martins immediately used his tyre advantage to attack after the restart, rapidly working his way towards the front before closing on Hirakawa. The gap disappeared as the final laps approached, with the Toyota relying on track position while the Alpine possessed the stronger tyres and the pace that had placed the A424s at the front throughout much of the weekend.

Hirakawa positioned the Toyota carefully through the closing laps and prevented Martins from finding the opportunity he needed. Traffic added another complication as both drivers negotiated slower cars while fighting for the overall victory, but the Japanese driver continued to resist the Alpine’s pressure.

After six hours, Hirakawa crossed the line just 0.591s ahead of Martins to complete Toyota’s dramatic late victory at home. Alpine therefore had to settle for second despite controlling significant portions of the race, while Vanthoor completed the podium in the No. 15 BMW alongside Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello.

The sister No. 35 Alpine of Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg finished fourth, leaving the French manufacturer with two cars inside the top four but without the victory its early pace had suggested was possible.

Cadillac places both cars inside top seven

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA placed both V-Series.Rs inside the top seven, with the No. 38 of Earl Bamber and Sébastien Bourdais taking fifth and the No. 12 shared by Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato finishing seventh.

Peugeot split the two Cadillacs with sixth for the No. 94 9X8 of Loïc Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and Théo Pourchaire. The result came during a weekend of change for the French manufacturer, with Fuji marking Stoffel Vandoorne’s final WEC appearance with Peugeot before his departure from the programme.

The No. 7 Toyota recovered to eighth after its early difficulties, while the No. 51 Ferrari finished ninth on a challenging afternoon for the Italian manufacturer. Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas completed the Hypercar top 10 aboard the No. 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie.

Genesis Magma Racing’s No. 19 took 11th ahead of the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, while the No. 20 BMW finished 13th after its earlier problems. The No. 007 Aston Martin fell to 14th despite having led during the middle stages, with the No. 17 Genesis and No. 50 Ferrari completing the classified Hypercars. The No. 93 Peugeot failed to finish.

2026 FIA WEC 6 Hours of Fuji — complete Hypercar classification

1. No. 8 Toyota Racing — Toyota TR010 Hybrid — Sébastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryō Hirakawa
2. No. 36 Alpine Endurance Team — Alpine A424 — Jules Gounon/Victor Martins
3. No. 15 BMW M Team WRT — BMW M Hybrid V8 — Kevin Magnussen/Raffaele Marciello/Dries Vanthoor
4. No. 35 Alpine Endurance Team — Alpine A424 — Charles Milesi/Ferdinand Habsburg
5. No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA — Cadillac V-Series.R — Earl Bamber/Sébastien Bourdais
6. No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies — Peugeot 9X8 — Loïc Duval/Malthe Jakobsen/Théo Pourchaire
7. No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA — Cadillac V-Series.R — Alex Lynn/Will Stevens/Norman Nato
8. No. 7 Toyota Racing — Toyota TR010 Hybrid — Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Nyck de Vries
9. No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse — Ferrari 499P — Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi
10. No. 009 Aston Martin THOR Team — Aston Martin Valkyrie — Alex Riberas/Marco Sørensen
11. No. 19 Genesis Magma Racing — Genesis GMR-001 — Mathieu Jaminet/Paul-Loup Chatin/Dani Juncadella
12. No. 83 AF Corse — Ferrari 499P — Yifei Ye/Robert Kubica/Phil Hanson
13. No. 20 BMW M Team WRT — BMW M Hybrid V8 — Robin Frijns/René Rast
14. No. 007 Aston Martin THOR Team — Aston Martin Valkyrie — Harry Tincknell/Tom Gamble
15. No. 17 Genesis Magma Racing — Genesis GMR-001 — André Lotterer/Pipo Derani/Mathys Jaubert
16. No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse — Ferrari 499P — Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen
    OUT — No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies — Peugeot 9X8 — Paul di Resta/Stoffel Vandoorne/Nick Cassidy

The complete official Fuji results are available through the FIA WEC.

LMGT3 begins with early drama

The LMGT3 race developed into an equally unpredictable contest involving Ford, McLaren, Porsche, Corvette, BMW and Aston Martin. Proton Competition began from the front of the class after the cancellation of Qualifying left the grid determined by Practice times, but incidents during the opening phase quickly disrupted the expected order.

Garage 59 emerged as a major force during the early stages, while Proton Competition, Porsche and Corvette all spent time towards the front as different driver and tyre strategies began to develop. The repeated interruptions prevented any one team from establishing decisive control and ensured the leading group remained fluid through the first half of the race.

Ford initially held the advantage, with the Mustang leading LMGT3 after the opening two hours, but the battle continued to evolve as the driver cycles and Safety Car periods reshaped the order.

Corvette emerges as a victory contender

TF Sport gradually established itself as one of the major threats as the race approached its middle stages. The No. 33 Corvette moved into the lead during the third hour, while the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF entry also worked its way into contention.

Garage 59 remained involved as differing tyre strategies created frequent changes at the head of the class. The No. 32 Team WRT BMW, meanwhile, remained within reach despite not appearing to be the obvious favourite for much of the race. Darren Leung and Sean Gelael kept the car close enough to the leading battle to give Farfus an opportunity if the race changed late.

That patience became crucial when the final Safety Car completely reset the field. With several teams facing different tyre choices and track position suddenly more valuable, a class battle that had developed over almost six hours effectively became a short sprint to the finish.

Garage 59 accident creates final sprint

Gehrsitz’s sizeable accident at Turn 1 aboard the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren triggered the Safety Car that transformed both class battles. The intervention created another round of strategic decisions, with Racing Team Turkey by TF prioritising track position aboard the No. 34 Corvette while several rivals opted for fresher tyres.

Farfus restarted sixth aboard the No. 32 Team WRT BMW but had the tyre advantage required to attack the cars ahead. With little time remaining, the Brazilian needed to make rapid progress rather than wait for opportunities to develop naturally.

He did exactly that, carving his way through the leading group and rapidly moving into podium contention. Farfus then cleared the Corvettes and reached the front, completing a remarkable rise from sixth at the restart.

Farfus charges to victory for WRT

Farfus’ progress ultimately produced a last-gasp Fuji victory for Team WRT, but the BMW driver still had to withstand pressure during the closing laps.

Mattia Drudi had also charged through the field aboard the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin. The Italian moved into second and began pursuing Farfus as the finish approached, ensuring the LMGT3 victory remained undecided until the final stages.

Farfus resisted the pressure and brought the No. 32 BMW home first alongside Leung and Gelael, rewarding a race in which Team WRT had remained within striking distance before exploiting the opportunity created by the final Safety Car.

Drudi secured second for Heart of Racing alongside Ian James and Zacharie Robichon, while the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette of Peter Dempsey, Salih Yoluç and Charlie Eastwood completed the podium.

Ferrari and Corvette complete the top five

The No. 54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari finished fourth after Davide Rigon helped move the car forward during the closing stages, while the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette completed the top five ahead of Team WRT’s second BMW, the No. 69 of Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Daniel Harper.

Manthey DK Engineering finished seventh with the No. 91 Porsche, followed by the surviving No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren in eighth. Proton Competition’s No. 77 Ford Mustang took ninth after the marque had featured prominently earlier in the race, while the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus completed the top 10.

The sister No. 87 Lexus finished 11th ahead of the No. 21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari and No. 92 The Bend Manthey Porsche. The No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG followed in 14th, while the crashed No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren was listed 15th in class. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, No. 88 Proton Competition Ford and No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG failed to finish.

2026 FIA WEC 6 Hours of Fuji — complete LMGT3 classification

1. No. 32 Team WRT — BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo — Darren Leung/Sean Gelael/Augusto Farfus
2. No. 27 Heart of Racing Team — Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 — Ian James/Zacharie Robichon/Mattia Drudi
3. No. 34 Racing Team Turkey by TF — Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R — Peter Dempsey/Salih Yoluç/Charlie Eastwood
4. No. 54 VISTA AF Corse — Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo — Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon
5. No. 33 TF Sport — Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R — Ben McDonald/Jonny Edgar/Nicky Catsburg
6. No. 69 Team WRT — BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo — Anthony McIntosh/Parker Thompson/Daniel Harper
7. No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering — Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 — James Cottingham/Timur Boguslavskiy/Ayhancan Güven
8. No. 10 Garage 59 — McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo — Antares Au/Thomas Fleming/Marvin Kirchhöfer
9. No. 77 Proton Competition — Ford Mustang LMGT3 — Eric Powell/Ben Tuck/Sebastian Priaulx
10. No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team — Lexus RC F LMGT3 — Tom Van Rompuy/Hadrien David/Esteban Masson
11. No. 87 Akkodis ASP Team — Lexus RC F LMGT3 — Petru Umbrărescu/Clemens Schmid/José María López
12. No. 21 VISTA AF Corse — Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo — François Hériau/Simon Mann/Alessio Rovera
13. No. 92 The Bend Manthey — Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 — Yasser Shahin/Riccardo Pera/Richard Lietz
14. No. 79 Iron Lynx — Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 — Johannes Zelger/Matteo Cressoni/Lin Hodenius
15. No. 58 Garage 59 — McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo — Alexander West/Finn Gehrsitz/Benjamin Goethe
    OUT — No. 23 Heart of Racing Team — Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 — Gray Newell/Kobe Pauwels/Jonny Adam
    OUT — No. 88 Proton Competition — Ford Mustang LMGT3 — Stefano Gattuso/Giammarco Levorato/Logan Sargeant
    OUT — No. 61 Iron Lynx — Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 — Martin Berry/Rui Andrade/Maxime Martin

Toyota and WRT emerge from dramatic Fuji finale

Fuji ultimately produced two class battles transformed by the final Safety Car and contrasting strategic decisions. Alpine had controlled much of Hypercar after demonstrating its pace throughout the Fuji weekend, while Aston Martin briefly emerged as its strongest challenger before the No. 007’s penalty. Toyota nevertheless remained close enough to capitalise when the final interruption presented an opportunity.

The decision to prioritise track position left Hirakawa vulnerable to Martins during the closing laps, but the Toyota driver resisted the Alpine’s attack and converted the gamble into a home victory. Alpine therefore left Fuji with second and fourth despite spending much of the race in control, while BMW completed a strong recovery to take third.

LMGT3 followed a similar pattern. Team WRT did not control the majority of the six hours, but Leung and Gelael kept the No. 32 BMW close enough for Farfus to exploit the final Safety Car. The Brazilian then turned sixth at the restart into victory with an aggressive closing stint, eventually holding off Drudi to complete WRT’s late Fuji turnaround.

After six unpredictable hours at Fuji, neither class went to the team that had controlled the majority of the race. Instead, Toyota and WRT capitalised when the final Safety Car compressed the field, making their strategic decisions and closing pace count when the opportunities mattered most.