Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa led the charge at the 6 Hours of Barcelona, guiding Toyota to the FIA World Endurance Championship manufacturers’ crown in a stylish one-two finish.
The Japanese manufacturer displayed speed in both wet and dry conditions on Spanish soil, and a victory never looked uncertain from the opening hour as the No. 8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid, which started from the front row, crossed the line 0.583 seconds ahead of its sister No. 7 crew of Nyck de Vries, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi in a late photo finish.
The one-two ensured that neither BMW nor Ferrari can overhaul Toyota in the manufacturers’ standings—an eighth title for the marque—while the drivers’ championship fight will also stay confined within the Toyota camp, with the No. 8 crew holding a 17-point lead as no other pairing can catch them.
Toyota asserted its authority on the race from the very first lap, a start that proved costly for Genesis Magma Racing after they had enjoyed such a strong Saturday with pole and a top-three in qualifying.
Local racer Dani Juncadella moved the No. 19 Genesis GMR-001 into the lead at Turn One by passing both Buemi and Andre Lotterer in the pole-sitting No. 17 Genesis.
But Juncadella then slid wide at Turn Five later in the lap in the wet conditions, handing Buemi the lead in the No. 8 Toyota, and from there the result looked one-sided.
Juncadella dropped to the rear of the Hypercar field, and Lotterer soon followed suit as well.
Buemi stretched his advantage through two early safety-car periods in the opening hour, with almost the entire field choosing to pit during the second of these.
BMW attempted to roll the dice as Rene Rast did not pit in the No. 20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 in a bid to remain in contention for the title, but the plan unravelled when the car was shown a black-and-orange flag for operating with tire pressures that were too low.
Rast therefore had to stop immediately and dropped to the rear, while the crew also absorbed a 20-second penalty for the illegal pressure.
Meanwhile, Nyck de Vries, driving the sister No. 7 Toyota, was the standout mover in the early stint, having qualified only ninth.
De Vries rose to third after the opening two cautions and then overtook Miguel Molina in the No. 50 Ferrari 499P to propel Toyota to a 1-2.
From that point onward, the Japanese cars were largely untroubled, even though the No. 8 incurred a five-second penalty for a start-procedure infringement.
That penalty was served during the second round of pit stints and dropped Brendon Hartley behind Mike Conway’s No. 7 car.
However, Hartley was rapid on the drying surface with slick tires and moved past Conway a couple of laps later.
Hartley pulled clear of his sister car, building a lead in excess of 30 seconds over the No. 50 Ferrari in third before a safety car was required in the fourth hour when Zacharie Robichon’s No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo spun into the Turn 7 gravel.
The Toyotas faced only a couple of lapped cars between them and the Ferrari at the restart, and they navigated the final two hours without serious challenge to seal the manufacturers’ title with room to spare.
There was some concern of rain returning in the closing half hour, but the weather held fair and dry.
No. 8 led by more than ten seconds during the final hour, yet the gap closed to 0.583 seconds at the line as the Toyotas crossed in a dramatic photo finish.
The battle for the final step on the podium intensified in the last couple of hours when No. 36 Signatech Alpine A424 switched to a delayed strategy, short-fueling to climb into third.
That move ultimately yielded less reward than hoped, with Molina, Fuoco and Nielsen’s No. 50 Ferrari reclaiming third in the final round of stops, finishing about 39 seconds behind the leaders.
The No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R finished fourth after electing to push its final pit stop to the last 20 minutes, with Jack Aitken fending off Robert Kubica’s No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari in the closing stages on older tires.
The second Cadillac ended the race sixth, ahead of the No. 15 WRT BMW, which received a 10-second penalty earlier in the race for a robust encounter with the No. 38 machine.
The No. 009 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie finished eighth, while the No. 36 Alpine driven by Jules Gounon and Victor Martins dropped to ninth after needing a late tire change in the final ten minutes.
Genesis endured another challenging outing as several issues added to earlier off-track moments, leaving the GMR-001s in 11th and 16th place.
Manthey Porsche Scores Dominant First Win of Season
The No. 92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo dominated the LMGT3 class as Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz claimed Porsche’s first win of the year.
The Porsche led from the opening hour and finished 4.750 seconds clear of the No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo driven by Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhoefer, after Kirchhoefer momentarily passed the No. 69 WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Dan Harper with 11 minutes remaining.
The victory marked Porsche’s first WEC LMGT3 triumph since last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Pole-sitter Au initially led from pole in the No. 10 McLaren but struggled in the wet and began to fade as the race progressed after the first Safety Car period.
Shahin moved into the lead and the No. 92 Porsche remained at the front for most of the remainder, with the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs running second and third at that stage.
However, the points-leading No. 33 Corvette’s hopes were hindered by Ben Keating having to stay on wets longer than expected as Hypercars in adjacent pit boxes stopped, and TF Sport waited on them.
A 10-second penalty for Jonny Edgar further dented the Corvette’s push, while a strong middle phase brought the No. 69 WRT BMW into contention and Harper moved into second place in the fourth hour.
Nevertheless, Harper had Kirchhoefer in the No. 10 McLaren hot on his tail.
But the BMW managed to hold the McLaren at bay, and pitting a lap later failed to put Kirchhoefer ahead in the final stops.
However, Harper, Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson were denied a runner-up finish when Kirchhoefer finally surged ahead at Turn 1 in the closing laps.
The No. 34 Corvette of Salih Yoluc, Peter Dempsey and Charlie Eastwood finished fourth and have now moved into title contention, with the sister car of Keating, Edgar and Nicky Catsburg only seventh, behind the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Francois Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera and the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
This result trims Edgar’s points lead over the No. 92 crew to 18, with the No. 34 Corvette four points further back as the teams head to Monza for the finale.
