Leading the World Endurance Championship (WEC), TOYOTA RACING is banking on race pace to secure a strong result in the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the fourth round of the 2026 season. The manufacturer aims to advance on the grid as it did at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it emerged victorious after a challenging qualifying, much like the session this Saturday (11) at the Interlagos Circuit in São Paulo.
The No. 8 Toyota TR010 HYBRID will start from 14th on the grid with Ryo Hirakawa, Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. Meanwhile the current Le Mans-winning car, number 7, will take off from 16th with Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, a trio who won at Le Mans last June and now lead the standings after three rounds.
Hirakawa highlighted the team’s work toward race pace, and he trusts in a solid performance in Sunday’s race, which could still be affected by the possibility of rain. The weather forecast for Sunday indicates a 70% chance of rain in the region around the circuit located in the southern part of São Paulo.
“I couldn’t put together a truly clean lap. I tried to maximize what we could to try to reach Hyperpole. But I am convinced we have a good pace and we can put in a strong race tomorrow. It’s going to be a challenging race,” said Ryo Hirakawa, the driver of the No. 8 Toyota TR010 HYBRID.
Nyck de Vries highlighted the work he has been doing with Toyota Racing to find the best setup for car number 7, and despite the challenges, he eyes a positive result at the circuit that for the sixth time in history hosts the planet’s premier endurance championship.
“It’s good to be back in Brazil, but it seems we’re facing some difficulties. Obviously, we’re still exploring different setup paths and seeing how we can squeeze a bit more performance. It has been challenging so far, but we’ll keep pushing,” said De Vries.
The 6 Hours of São Paulo will be contested this Sunday, with the start scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
