Toyota Makes It Six At Le Mans, Beating BMW and Cadillac To The Line

Racing for 24 hours straight, only to cross the finish line a handful of seconds ahead of second place, with third place closing in fast as well. That’s pretty much what happened at the final stages of the 2026 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. After three straight wins for Ferrari with the 499P, it was Toyota on top this time around, making it six wins in total and the first for the new TR010 Hybrid Hypercar. Drivers Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Dutchman Nyck de Vries bested the odds and serious competition to claim victory. But it was far from an easy win, as BMW and Cadillac challenged them to the last lap. And things weren’t much different in LMP2 and GT3 for a long time, as multiple teams contested for class wins until the very end!

New Challengers

With Porsche announcing its departure from the Hypercar category ahead of the 2026 season (even though the Porsche 963 is still running in the US under IMSA/LMDH regulations), and Alpine leaving at the end of this season, it seemed the World Endurance Championship is losing some of its main challengers. However, the World Endurance Championship and thus the Le Mans 24 Hours has welcomed Genesis as a new Hypercar team for this year, and McLaren and Ford have announced their return to the top class of racing next year; there’s hardly anything to complain about.

Lining up on the grid for the 2026 running of the famous endurance race were 18 cars in total. Toyota introduced its new TR010 Hybrid, the latest generation of its Hypercar, at the beginning of the season, while others returned with familiar faces. Ferrari aimed for four in a row with its 499P, Cadillac once more sending shockwaves through the French hills with its thunderous V-Series R, while Aston Martin countered that with the symphonic scream of its V12-powered naturally-aspirated Valkyrie. Then there was BMW’s M Hybrid V8 coming hot off its first win at the 6 Hours of Spa just weeks ago, with Peugeot continuing its 9X8 program, and Alpine having a go at Le Mans one final time. And as mentioned, the Genesis Magma Racing made its Le Mans debut, which was only the third race for the GMR-001 Hypercar.

With such a strong field of contenders, it could be anyone’s game, really. During practice and qualifying, it proved that the field was close. And even though Pole Position is not the most important thing in trying to win a 24-hour race, it does come with a bit of prestige, claiming you’re the fastest. The No. 15 BMW M Team WRT claimed top spot in qualifying, after Cadillac got a one-place penalty and had to settle for second place. Alpine lined up third, followed by the second BMW, and a Cadillac in fifth place. Genesis made a strong impression in sixth, with the Valkyrie in seventh and Ferrari in eighth. Toyota and Peugeot struggled and had to settle for the lower spots.

Hypercars – Toyota Back On Top

With Genesis looking quite strong during practice and qualifying, rumours rose of the team being able to claim the win and causing a huge upset in doing so. The last car to win Le Mans the first time is the fabled McLaren F1 GTR in 1995, so it’s long overdue for a repeat. A good qualifying result helps to stay out of trouble, but it doesn’t guarantee you a victory, of course, as a lot can go down in 24 hours of continuous racing. As soon as the flag dropped on Saturday afternoon, it quickly turned into a full-on sprint instead of an endurance race, it seemed, much like the previous years. Pole sitter Kevin Magnussen, driving the #15 BMW, was jumped by the #12 Cadillac, driven by Will Stevens, directly into the first corner, with René Rast in the second BMW taking over the lead as the field blasted down the Hunaudiéres straight (or the Mulsanne straight, as it’s more commonly referred to).

Toyota pulled a strategic rabbit out of its hat, pitting after just 29 minutes to perform an undercut on the rest of the hypercars, with the #8 car coming out in the lead after everyone else made their first pit stop. The opening hours were relatively incident-free, with the first full-course yellow coming in the fourth hour. At the front, the lead swapped from Toyota to Cadillac again, while two of the Ferrari cars were involved in incidents and received penalties. Nevertheless, all cars continued into the evening and night of the race without too many issues. The first safety car period occurred in the 8th hour of the race, after a collision between an LMP2 and a GT3 car, seeing numerous cars enter the pits and the lead of the race swapping multiple times. Closing in on the halfway mark, it was clear the #15 BMW couldn’t achieve its pace during qualifying, dropping down the order in the Hypercar class. Alpine, Peugeot and Ferrari were also proven no match for the others.

The first Hypercar retirement came on lap 218, as the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota car suffered a power steering issue. Not long after, and in rather quick succession, the #17 Genesis, #15 BMW and #50 Ferrari were forced to retire as well, due to suspension damage, collision damage and mechanical issues, respectively. With those being the only cars not to make it to the chequered flag, the Hypercar field proved very reliable this year! That doesn’t mean it was plain sailing for the others, as the #8 Toyota ran into a brake drum mounting issue, for instance. Around noon on Sunday, the race was shaping up to be a close battle between both Toyotas, a Cadillac and a BMW.

Towards the closing hour of the race, a late full-course-yellow caused trouble for the Cadillac team and their #12 car. During a splash-and-dash pit stop, the safety period ended, costing them vital seconds in pursuit of a potential win or podium finish. The two Toyota cars and the #12 BMW were charging hard, but an offset tyre strategy of the Japanese team meant a crucial decision had to be made. Continuing both cars on old rubber would guarantee a loss, as the BMW was faster at the time. Stopping both cars would end up the same way, so a sacrifice had to be made. The #7 car was told to stop for fresh rubber, with the #8 car doing everything it could to hold off the fast-charging Robin Frijns in the BMW. This allowed the #7 of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries to pull out a lead over its main rivals, big enough to claim the victory after 24 hours of racing!

In the end, the #20 BMW came in second with a 10-second gap, followed by the #8 Toyota after another ten seconds or so, and the #12 Cadillac coming in fourth, just over half a minute behind the winners. In the end, all cars down to 7th place finished on the same lap, which is remarkable considering racing for 381 laps!

LMP2 & LMP2 Pro-Am – Inter Europol Competition In Control

As in the years before, the LMP2 class is divided into LMP2 and LMP2 Pro-Am, where teams have to run a mix of professional and amateur racing drivers. The cars are all identical, with the Oreca-Gibson chassis and powertrain combination keeping costs relatively steady and performance on the same level across the field. That means that pretty much every year, it’s a closely fought battle from start to finish between multiple teams, with the action sometimes being bumper-to-bumper for hours on end. Similar to the Hypercar class, pole position didn’t go to the fastest car, as the #29 car of Forestier Racing by Panis was handed a one-place grid penalty.

As the lights turned green, it was Paul Lafargue in the #28 IDEC Sport car that took the lead, with the #4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR leading from pole in the LMP2 Pro-Am class. The battle for the LMP2 lead ensued quickly, with multiple cars in contention and swapping places left and right. Pistops mixed things up as always, and heading into the evening hours, it was Julien Andlauer in the #30 Duqueine car that built up a substantial lead over the rest. Eventually, after more driver swaps, tyre changes and refuelling stops, Nico Müller in the #343 Inter Europol Competition took over the lead from Doriane Pin in the #30 Duqueine car. Issues like a door not staying shut, cars being beached in the gravel pits and mechanical failures meant the field was regularly reshuffled in both LMP2 and LMP2 Pro-Am.

Heading into the final three hours of the race, drama unfolded for the #30 Duqueine car, as shortly after dropping to second, Richard Vershoor ground to a halt after a brake failure. Considered as one of the title contenders in the class, the unfortunate retirement pretty much handed the win to the Inter Europol Competition team, who were still running both cars strongly at the top of the leaderboard. In the end, it was the #43 Inter Europol Competition car, driven by Tom Dillman, Jakub Smiechowski and Nick Yelloly, that came in 15th overall and claimed the LMP2 class victory, one lap ahead of the #343 sister car of Nico Müller, Reshad de Gerus and Bijoy Garg, with Oliver Gray, Esteban Masson and Louis Rousset in the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis car completing the LMP2 podium.

In LMP2 Pro-Am, the #4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR of Laurin Heinrich, George Kurts and Alex Quinn cruised to a class win and 21st overall, just three laps and 6 places down on the winning LMP2 team. The #183 AF Corse car of Ben Barnicoat, François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxiviére came in second, and the #99 AO by TF team of James Allen, Dane Cameron and P.J. Hyett finished in third.

LMGT3 – Corvette Claims The Win

Qualifying in LMGT3 came down to mere tenths for four cars, with the #27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO by The Heart of Racing team being very closely followed by the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO and the two Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 cars. Mattia Drudi led the pack into the Dunlop curve and chicane as the flag dropped, and continued to do so for much of the first hour. About an hour in, though, it was the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus that caught up and passed Drudi’s Aston Martin, with the second Lexus closing in, in third place. The first retirement of the race came from the LMGT3 class, sadly, as the #13 Autosport Corvette ran into mechanical issues that couldn’t be fixed. By then, it was a back-and-forth between Aston Martin, Lexus and a solitary Manthey Porsche on an offset pit stop strategy.

With the sun setting on the Le Sarthe circuit, with plenty of cars facing technical challenges or on-track collisions, the LMGT3 deck was reshuffled with new contenders. The #27 Aston Martin was still going strong, but the #91 Manthey Porsche dropped down the order following a puncture. Several of the Corvettes made their way to the top of the class, with Lexus still very much in contention as well. Close to midway into the race, the Lexus duo even found themselves running first and second, which was later handed to the two Aston Martins of the The Heart of Racing team. As morning came, a severe crash from the #91 Manthey Porsche, then driven by Ayhancan Güven caused a safety car period, with the #23 Aston Martin in the lead, followed by the #33 Corvette and #78 Lexus.

The final stages ended in tears for the #27 Aston Martin, which battled for the lead (and thus the win) for almost the entire race. A gearbox failure meant the end of the race for the car. The #33 Corvette was in the lead, followed by the #78 Lexus and the #23 THOR Aston Martin, with the second Akkodis ASP Lexus charging hard for the final spot on the podium.

With the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R driven by Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar and Dutchman Nicky Catsburg, we not only had an unprecedented double-podium finish overall, but also a brilliant double class win at Le Mans! One lap down, in second place, it was the #78 Lexus piloted by Hadrien David, Jack Hawksworth and Tom van Rompuy, ahead of the 323 Aston Martin of Jonny Adam, Eduardo Barrichello and Gray Newell.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is always sure to deliver on racing spectacle, and this 94th edition of the world’s most famous endurance race came down to the wire. With the top four finishers in the Hypercar class just half a minute or so apart, and multiple manufacturers proving to be fast and reliable enough to challenge for the win, it seems the WEC, Le Mans and endurance racing in general are delivering what the sport was missing during the final years of LMP regulations. And it must be said that the LMP2 and GT3 teams certainly did not take a backseat over the Hypercar class, with racing being close and action-packed from start to finish.

Editorial Note: The images portrayed in this article are sourced from and used with permission of Rolex SA and Toyota Gazoo Racing, unless stated otherwise.