Toyota has won the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans for the sixth time. BMW came second. Ferrari missed out on the podium.
After a gruelling 24-hour battle, the Japanese brand’s cars came out on top against fierce competition. Starting with Ferrari, which failed to finish in the top three. Meanwhile, BMW, which had led for much of the race, still managed to secure second place. It was a disappointment for the American team Cadillac, who finished only fourth.
Toyota has returned to victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, securing its sixth overall win – a feat it had not achieved since 2022. The two cars fielded by Toyota Racing monopolised the podium, taking first and third place. A crowd of over 350,000 spectators witnessed an epic race in one of the most closely fought and unpredictable editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in recent years. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, the three drivers of the #7 car, secured a heart-stopping victory with a lead of 10.913 seconds after 381 laps of non-stop racing. For Kobayashi and Conway, this is their second victory following their triumph in 2021, whilst for Nyck de Vries, it is his first ever win.
Effective race management was the key to victory
Toyota’s success was rounded off by Sébastien Buemi, one of the three drivers – the others being Bendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa – who guided the #8 Toyota to third place. Having started near the back of the Hypercar field, the Toyota team had to contend with a puncture to the #7 car in the early stages of the race, which forced it to battle its way through the middle of the field. However, a race strategy that initially seemed almost desperate enabled the Toyota team to move, almost miraculously, into the leading positions by the end of the race. Meanwhile, car #8, thanks to its refuelling pit-stop strategy, led the race for long stretches before eventually handing the lead over to car #7.
