Front row start for TOYOTA RACING at Imola

TOYOTA RACING will start the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season from the front row after a thrilling and closely-fought qualifying for the 6 Hours of Imola.

An exciting afternoon at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari featured an intense battle for pole position. The TR010 HYBRIDs – competing for the first time with updated bodywork and a striking new livery – challenged hard and narrowly missed top spot.

Ryō Hirakawa was just 0.011secs away from pole in second place in the #8 TR010 HYBRID which he shares with Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. Nyck de Vries was only a fraction further back in sixth, at the wheel of the #7 TR010 HYBRID he drives alongside Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi.

The 12-minute qualifying session saw all 17 Hypercars on track, fighting to finish in the top 10 and earn a place in the 10-minute Hyperpole shoot-out. On a warm, sunny afternoon, Nyck and Ryō drove their respective cars.

Both TR010 HYBRIDs improved their pace throughout qualifying to earn their place in Hyperpole. Nyck set the third fastest time, with Ryō not far behind in seventh at the end of a session in which less than a second covered the first 15 Hypercars.

In Hyperpole, Ryō held provisional pole position going into the closing seconds after improving with his final flying lap. However, on the very last lap of the session, the #51 Ferrari snatched pole. Nyck also showed competitive pace and earned an encouraging top-six start, only 0.305secs off pole.

Those close lap times throughout the Hypercar field increase the anticipation for Sunday’s race, which begins at 1pm local time. In its 100th WEC race with hybrid power, TOYOTA RACING will aim to start the season with a repeat of its 2024 Imola victory.

Quotes:

Nyck de Vries (Driver, car #7): “That was a pretty solid qualifying for us. Hyperpole was my first time running these tyres this weekend, so it was a new experience. I feel like we maximised what we had by being in the mix and qualifying in sixth. It gives us a good opportunity for the race tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Ryō Hirakawa (Driver, car #8): “To be honest, I had been struggling a bit with the car and tyres before qualifying. I was still building up my pace through qualifying, and in the end, Hyperpole went well. I had a lot of support from the team; we did some set-up fine-tuning and I drove an almost perfect lap. Qualifying on the front row is great. It’s a really good weekend so far, and it’s fantastic to start the first race from the front. Let’s keep going like this and push to finish one place higher tomorrow.”

 For full results, please visit https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com

Click here to access the 2026 TOYOTA RACING WEC press kit. Click here to download rights-free video material of the TR010 HYBRID.