TOYOTA WINS THE 6 HOURS OF FUJI AFTER A DRAMATIC LATE RACE - Motorsportsclicks

Toyota won the 6 Hours of Fuji after a dramatic final part of the race, with the #8 TR010 HYBRID of Ryō Hirakawa, Brendon Hartley and Sébastien Buemi beating the Alpine #36 of Jules Gounon and Victor Martins by just 0.591 seconds. The BMW #15 of Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor completed the podium, 6.415 seconds behind the winner.

The result gave Toyota its tenth home victory in the FIA WEC at Fuji and its second win of the 2026 season. The #8 had started from eighth on the grid after qualifying was cancelled because of rain, but Toyota remained in contention throughout the race before making the decisive strategic move in the final hour. The victory was also Toyota’s first at Fuji since 2023.

Alpine had looked set for a very different result. The #36 and #35 started from the front row and controlled much of the first five hours, with Jules Gounon, Victor Martins, Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg keeping the two A424s at the front for long periods. Toyota’s #8 was running outside the podium places before the final Safety Car changed the race.

The Safety Car was caused by a heavy crash involving the #58 Garage 59 McLaren LMGT3 of Finn Gehrsitz. The McLaren went into the barriers at high speed, but Gehrsitz was able to leave the car without assistance. Mattia Drudi’s Aston Martin #27 was also involved and continued despite suffering a puncture.

Toyota made the key decision during the neutralisation. The #8 did not change its tyres and took less fuel, allowing Hirakawa to complete a much shorter pit stop. BMW made a similar choice with the #15, keeping Vanthoor on used tyres. Alpine chose a different strategy, with Martins receiving four new tyres while the #35 received two new tyres on the left side.

The strategy completely changed the order. Hirakawa moved into the lead, Vanthoor was second and the Alpine cars dropped behind. With around 20 minutes remaining after the restart, Martins began his charge. He passed Marco Sørensen’s Aston Martin, moved ahead of teammate Milesi after a team order and then overtook Vanthoor for second place.

Martins then closed rapidly on Hirakawa and reduced the gap to less than a second. The Alpine had the advantage of fresh tyres, but Hirakawa defended successfully until the chequered flag. The Japanese driver completed 203 laps and crossed the line just 0.591 seconds ahead of Martins, securing Toyota’s home victory.

The Alpine #35 finished fourth with Milesi and Habsburg, while the Cadillac #38 of Jack Aitken, Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber took fifth. Peugeot #94 was sixth, followed by Cadillac #12 and Toyota #7. The #7 was given a drive-through penalty for an infringement during a Full Course Yellow, which dropped it to eighth at the finish.

Ferrari had a difficult weekend after winning the previous round at Austin. The #51 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado finished tenth, while the #83 AF Corse Ferrari was 12th. The #50 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina retired after a problem during a pit stop in which the car did not lift correctly, followed by a technical issue.

The Fuji result has also changed the Hypercar championship. The #8 Toyota crew of Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi now leads the Drivers’ World Championship with 89 points, while the #7 Toyota crew is second on 79. The BMW #20 crew is third on 75 points. Toyota also increased its lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship to 169 points, ahead of BMW on 146 and Ferrari on 115.

The BMW #20 had arrived at Fuji sharing the championship lead with the Toyota #7, but a difficult race left René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde down in 13th. The result therefore cost BMW important points while Toyota’s #8 took maximum advantage of its late strategy call.

BMW did, however, take victory in the LMGT3 class. The #32 BMW M4 Evo of Augusto Farfus, Sean Gelael and Darren Leung won after a late fight with the Corvette #34 and Aston Martin #27. Farfus made several overtakes in the final minutes to move the BMW into first place.

The Aston Martin #27 of Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi finished second, just 1.062 seconds behind the BMW. The Corvette #34 completed the LMGT3 podium, while the Ferrari #54 finished fourth. The championship-leading Corvette #33 of TF Sport was fifth but kept the lead in the teams’ standings.

The Corvette #33 now leads the LMGT3 Teams’ Championship with 86 points, while the Aston Martin #27 has 62. The gap is therefore 24 points with two rounds remaining. The Ferrari #21, which is also part of the title fight, failed to score at Fuji after retiring following a first-corner incident.

The FIA WEC will now move to Spain for the 6 Hours of Barcelona from 16 to 18 October. It will be the penultimate round of the 2026 season, before the championship concludes with the 6 Hours of Monza in November.