Mike Conway and his Toyota Racing narrowly missed out on the podium at the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps last weekend.
They had to settle for a fifth place finish in the latest round of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), and all eyes now turn to Le Mans in June.
A record weekend crowd of 101,606 fans witnessed an intense battle amongst a closely-matched Hypercar field. In the final race before the Le Mans 24 Hours, TOYOTA RACING used strategy and determined driving to recover from a difficult qualifying to fight at the front.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries finished fifth in their TR010 HYBRID, falling just short of the podium despite a late charge. The #8 TR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and RyōHirakawaran second for much of the race before a podium slipped away in the closing stages.
The #7 TR010 HYBRID started the race from 12th and, despite the best efforts of Mike and Nyck, remained outside the top 10 during the opening stages. Incidents elsewhere and Kamui’s bold overtaking, moved the #7 into eighth. A safety car at the end of the fifth hour elevated the #7 into fourth and set up an exciting finale.
Starting 16th, the #8 TR010 HYBRID deployed an alternative strategy early in the race. A short early first stop helped Brendon move into second, a position both Ryōand Sébastien held for long periods. However, Sébastien lost out late in the last hour when an issue around a pit stop meant the #8 was not fully refuelled. That required an additional stop, dropping the #8 out of the top 10 before the final safety car.
When racing resumed with just over 20 minutes remaining, Kamui was part of a thrilling four-car battle for second place. An action-packed finale saw Kamui fight wheel-to-wheel with his rivals before ultimately crossing the line in fifth, just 6.015secs away from the race-winning BMW M Team WRT. Sébastien also had an eventful final few laps and earned a point for 10th.
TOYOTA RACING now accelerates its preparations for the highlight of the 2026 WEC season, the Le Mans 24 Hours on 13-14 June when it aims to challenge for a sixth victory at La Sarthe.
Speaking after the weekend, Conway said: “It was probably better than we expected, honestly. At one point it looked like car #8 would do well with their strategy, but then they were unlucky. We had two different strategies, and two different results.
“I am happy to come away with fifth. It was nearly fourth, but we just didn’t have the pace. We scored some decent points and now we move on to Le Mans.”