Toyota seals WEC manufacturers’ crown with Barcelona 1-2

Toyota clinched the World Endurance Championship Hypercar manufacturers’ title with a controlled one-two finish at the series’ first race in Barcelona. The #8 car of Brendon Hartley, Sébastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa beat its sister entry in six hours of wet-to-dry running, securing the crown with a round still to come.

The result was the #8 crew’s third win of the season and its second in succession. It leaves the trio 17 points ahead of their #7 teammates heading to Monza, where the drivers’ title will be decided. The race followed a Genesis pole-winning performance in Barcelona, but Toyota took control once the race began.

Toyota recovered the lead after a disrupted start

Heavy rain meant the field started on wet tyres, and the opening laps were repeatedly interrupted. Genesis’ Daniel Juncadella briefly led after a strong launch from third, but ran wide at Turn 5. Buemi then moved the #8 Toyota into the lead before separate incidents involving Alpine and Lexus brought out the safety car.

A further neutralisation followed when an Aston Martin became stuck in the gravel. Most Hypercar teams used the interruption to refuel, while the #20 BMW stayed out. As the track dried, the Toyotas moved into first and second, with Nyck de Vries making rapid progress in the #7.

The first full-service stops came well into the second hour, when slick tyres became viable. Hartley took over the #8 and recovered the position lost while serving Buemi’s five-second start penalty. He then built a lead of more than 14 seconds by halfway.

Ferrari took third as BMW’s title bid ended

A late safety car erased Toyota’s advantage with two hours remaining, but Hirakawa pulled away again. The #7 could not sustain a challenge, and the sister cars finished just 0.6 seconds apart. Ferrari’s #50 crew took third, more than half a minute behind the winners.

Cadillac’s #38 finished fourth, holding off the AF Corse Ferrari by less than a second. BMW’s #15 recovered to seventh, but the title-contending #20 lost a lap after a tyre-pressure issue and later received a 20-second penalty. Its third non-scoring result in a row ended its mathematical chance of the drivers’ crown. Toyota’s earlier concerns about BMW ahead of Barcelona gave way to a weekend that settled the manufacturers’ fight.

In LMGT3, Manthey’s #92 Porsche won, while the championship-leading TF Sport Corvette finished seventh. Jonny Edgar’s crew retains an 18-point advantage over the Porsche team, with a maximum of 26 points available at Monza.