As Speedcafe reports, outright victory at the 6 Hours of Barcelona went to Brendon Hartley, who triumphed alongside Toyota teammates Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa. It was a dominant display from the manufacturer, which locked out the top step with a one-two finish. The #8 car led home the sister #7 machine driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries, a result that officially secured Toyota the manufacturers’ championship with one round left to spare.
The championship battle is heating up brilliantly. Heading into the season-ending 6 Hours of Monza, the trio of Hartley, Buemi, and Hirakawa now lead the drivers’ championship by 17 points over Conway, Kobayashi, and de Vries. The Toyota TR010 proved to be an absolute beast in the wet conditions within the opening hour of the race.
Things started with some early drama when the pole position-winning Genesis of Andre Lotterer got away slowly, handing the early lead to the sister car of Daniel Juncadella. That advantage vanished immediately on the opening lap as Buemi grabbed the top spot while Juncadella went off at Turn 5, dropping all the way to the tail of the Hypercar pack. Meanwhile, de Vries put on a charge, climbing from ninth to second inside the opening hour.
Toyota controlled the contest from the outset, brushing off even a five-second penalty for a start procedure infringement that failed to trouble Buemi during the pit stop sequence. Hartley took the reins for the second stint, returning to the track with a 10-second advantage over Kobayashi, before Hirakawa brought the leading Toyota home to take the chequered flag half a second clear of the sister car.
“It’s a fantastic day for the team with a one-two and the manufacturers’ title,” said Hartley. “I enjoyed the whole weekend. Actually, we hadn’t tested here, and we didn’t expect to be so strong, but our crew worked very well, and we had a great car in the race.”
Over in LMGT3, victory went the way of Sam Shahin alongside Porsche teammates Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz. Shahin started second and wrestled the lead away from the pole-sitting Garage 59 McLaren inside the first half hour. That stellar opening stanza also earned him the fan-voted Goodyear Wingfoot Award for the most outstanding drive in the class.
That victory moves Shahin to within 18 points of the drivers’ championship lead, currently held by the TF Sport Corvette pairing of Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg. The FIA World Endurance Championship concludes on November 8 at Monza.
