In its 100th WEC race with hybrid power, the team earned its 50th victory thanks to the #8 TR010 HYBRID of S\u00e9bastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ry\u014d Hirakawa. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, finished third in the #7 TR010 HYBRID to complete a faultless team performance.<\/p>\n
A weekend crowd of 92,175 \u2013 a new record for a WEC event at Imola \u2013 witnessed a close and exciting race, interrupted by two short safety car periods, before light rain and strong winds in the closing stages.<\/p>\n
On its race debut, the two TR010 HYBRIDs and their driver crews showed consistent race pace, which was complemented by effective fuel and tyre strategies to gain positions over their Hypercar rivals during an intense six-hour contest.<\/p>\n
The #8 TR010 HYBRID started from the front row and Brendon ran third in his opening stint. Gains at the first pit stops initially elevated the #8 back into second, before Ry\u014d took the lead early in the third hour. He established a small gap over the chasing Ferrari, which S\u00e9bastien extended in the final two hours. He navigated tricky track conditions during a light shower to hold the advantage until the end.<\/p>\n
The #7 TR010 HYBRID was sixth at the start but fell to seventh. Mike pushed to rejoin the top-six throughout his stint before Nyck made progress. He was fourth before half race distance and claimed third in the fourth hour. Kamui then moved up to second and, on very used tyres, enabled the #8 to extend its lead by holding the #51 Ferrari at bay until finally stopping for new rubber inside the final hour.<\/p>\n
When the chequered flag flew after six hours, S\u00e9bastien crossed the line 13.352secs ahead of the #51 Ferrari, with Kamui bringing the #7 home in third, 27.835secs behind second place.<\/p>\n
After its second successive win \u2013 following its victory in last year\u2019s Bahrain finale \u2013 TOYOTA RACING holds the lead in both the manufacturers\u2019 and drivers\u2019 World Championships. It will aim to defend those positions at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on 9 May, the final race before the Le Mans 24 Hours.<\/p>\n
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Quotes:<\/p>\n
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, car #7): \u201cWe tried everything we could today to bring home the best possible result. It was quite a smooth race but not easy to find the opportunities to make up places. It was challenging for us, but we managed to get both cars on the podium and start the season with a win, so I\u2019m really happy. Most importantly, our car seems to be strong so that brings us confidence for the rest of the season. Congratulations to all the team who worked so hard on the TR010 HYBRID and to execute the race today. Next we head to Spa and a long season ahead of us. We will work hard and try our best to achieve all our targets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Conway (Driver, car #7): \u201cIt\u2019s a great result for the team and I\u2019m pleased to be on the podium. I think this is more than we expected. It\u2019s awesome for car #8 to win and for car #7 to be on the podium. We gave our maximum and brought home a double podium. It\u2019s a strong start to the season and we\u2019ll try to build on this in Spa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): \u201cThe whole team did a fantastic job to execute a very good race and make all the right strategy calls. We split the strategy between the two cars towards the end, and it worked out well. I\u2019m happy to start the season with a podium. We had to work hard for it, so thanks to the team for a big effort here this week from the beginning of the Prologue.\u201d<\/p>\n
S\u00e9bastien Buemi (Driver, car #8): \u201cIt\u2019s a great story, to get our 50th win in our 100th race, on the home ground of Ferrari and on the debut of the TR010 HYBRID. A lot of credit goes to the team in Higashi-Fuji and Cologne for their amazing work. Their reaction to a tough year in 2025 has been impressive. Of course, this is only the first race but congratulations to the whole team. The execution today was excellent, so I am very proud of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brendon Hartley (Driver, car #8): \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing feeling. The TR010 HYBRID looked fast even before it turned a wheel, and now it wins on its debut. The team put in a lot of work over the last months to prepare for this first race. It was a real team effort today as well, and it\u2019s not often you take a race victory with a feeling like that. There was an amazing crowd here at Imola and the podium was a beautiful moment. It feels like a special day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ry\u014d Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): \u201cWe couldn\u2019t ask for better than that. It\u2019s our 100th race and we marked it with our 50th win. We made history and we are happy for that. This year we changed the team identity and gave a debut to the TR010 HYBRID. We all pushed hard to start the season well. Last year was really painful for us, nobody was happy with that, but this year we are back in the game, so I am really happy. Well done to everyone in the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
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6 Hours of Imola \u2013 Race1st#8TOYOTA RACING213 laps2nd#51Ferrari AF Corse+13.352secs3rd#7TOYOTA RACING+41.187secs4th#35Alpine Endurance Team+59.385secs5th#20BMW M Team WRT+1min 0.543secs6th#50Ferrari AF Corse+1min 0.901secs<\/p>\n
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