Toyota won the 6 Hours of Fuji on Sunday, September 27, after a late tire and fuel gamble propelled Ryō Hirakawa, Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley from sixth place to victory in the final hour.
Hirakawa crossed the line 0.591 seconds ahead of Alpine’s Victor Martins, completing 203 laps in the No. 8 Toyota TR010 HYBRID. The result gave Toyota its 10th FIA World Endurance Championship victory at Fuji Speedway and its first at the Japanese circuit since 2023.
Safety car overturns Alpine control
Alpine had controlled much of the sixth round of the 2026 season after locking out the front row. Its two A424s occupied the leading positions for most of the opening five hours in front of 72,326 spectators.
The race changed after a heavy accident for the No. 58 Garage 59 LMGT3 McLaren brought out a late safety car. Finn Gehrsitz emerged unhurt, while the Hypercar field headed to the pits before the restart.
Toyota kept the No. 8 on used tires and gave Hirakawa a short fuel fill, reducing its time in the pits. BMW made the same tire choice with Dries Vanthoor in the No. 15 M Hybrid V8.
Alpine fitted four fresh Michelin tires to Martins’ No. 36 and changed the two left-side tires on Charles Milesi’s No. 35. Those longer stops dropped Milesi to third and Martins to fifth, with Hirakawa leading Vanthoor and Aston Martin driver Marco Sørensen.
Martins charges toward Toyota
Light rain complicated the restart with 20 minutes remaining.
Martins passed Sørensen before Milesi let the sister Alpine through. The French rookie then cleared Vanthoor for second and quickly reduced Hirakawa’s advantage, setting up a fight between fresh and used tires over the closing laps.
Hirakawa held his line under sustained pressure. His 0.591-second advantage at the checkered flag was the closest top-class FIA WEC finish between two different manufacturers.
“The re-start was really tricky, with the conditions changing and being on cold tyres on a slightly damp track,” Hirakawa said. “I was lucky I had a lapped BMW ahead, because that gave me a kind of reference, and I had the other BMW just behind to block the Alpine.”
The victory completed a difficult recovery for the No. 8 crew. Earlier in the race, Hartley had been tipped into a spin by Harry Tincknell on the approach to Turn One, leaving the Toyota facing the wrong direction.
BMW completes the Fuji podium
Martins brought the No. 36 Alpine home second, while Vanthoor secured third for the No. 15 BMW. Milesi finished fourth in the No. 35 Alpine, sealing the French manufacturer’s best two-car result in WEC’s top class.
The No. 38 Cadillac completed the top five. Peugeot recorded its best result of the season with the No. 94 9X8 in sixth, while the No. 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie finished ninth.
Ferrari endured a difficult race. The No. 51 499P was its only points finisher in 10th, 26.443 seconds behind the winning Toyota. The No. 7 Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries finished eighth.
Toyota takes both championship leads
Fuji marked the No. 8 crew’s second victory of 2026, making Hirakawa, Buemi and Hartley the season’s first repeat winners. They left Japan leading the drivers’ championship with two races left.
Toyota also extended its manufacturers’ championship advantage to 23 points. The home victory was its third win of the season.
“Even allowing for that, there was quite a lot of pressure and the last couple of laps were particularly stressful, but the team did a great job and kept giving me feedback on where I needed to push and where I needed to defend, so I’m very grateful for that and this win is for all of them,” Hirakawa said. “To stand on the top step of the podium in front of all of our fans was amazing.”
The FIA WEC season continues with the 6 Hours of Barcelona from October 16 to 18.
