In its penultimate WEC race before its withdrawal, Alpine suffered a run of bad luck with the #36 Gounon/Martins car. In contention for 5th place overall, a slow puncture late in the race relegated it to 8th.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
The World Endurance Championship had its initial round in Qatar postponed until October in the hope of more favorable conditions given the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, but it became clear that it was once again impossible to organize this event, just like the final round of the season in Bahrain. Thus, the WEC found itself in Barcelona on October 16 to October 18, 2026 for the seventh of eight rounds of the 2026 championship, which concluded this Sunday in Monza.
The WEC had never raced at the Montmeló circuit, 25 km north of Barcelona, except for the prologue of the 2019 season. For this autumn round, the weather was kind for free practice and qualifying, but rain arrived for the race before the track dried out during the competition. In these tricky conditions, the start of the race was chaotic, as feared, but Toyota quickly established a dominance in the Hypercar category and the #92 Porsche in the LMGT3 class, forcing their rivals to fight for the remaining podium positions. Let’s take a look at the images.
In its first season in WEC, Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand, secured pole position thanks to young Frenchman Mathys Jaubert, the youngest poleman in WEC history on car #17.
At the start, given in the rain, the two Genesis cars remained in the lead, while at the rear there was chaos with the Alpine #35 being pushed into a spin by the Cadillac #12.
The Genesis cars were quickly excluded from the front of the race, with the #17 car soon experiencing technical problems while Juncadella, the local driver of the #19, made a mistake on the first lap and rejoined far back in the pack.
Very quickly, the Toyota TR010 Hybrids took control of the race with the #8 of Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa…
…followed by the #7 of Conway/Kobayashi/De Vries. They finished in that order without being challenged by their rivals. This result allowed Toyota to clinch the World Constructors’ Championship one race before the end.
The Ferrari 499P #50 of Fuoco/Nielsen and local driver Miguel Molina followed the Toyota demonstration from a distance and secured the last step of the podium.
The tricky conditions at the start of the race and the traffic were the difficulties that the competitors had to face on a circuit where overtaking is not easy.
It was a difficult race for the other factory 499P, number 51, driven by Giovinazzi, Pier Guidi, and Calado. A poor qualifying position (13th) and an anonymous race condemned the #51 to a 15th-place finish, three laps behind the leader.
The #51 car faced a problem with its speed limiter in the pits as well as abnormal tire wear on a drying track.
A happier race for the yellow #83 499P entered by AF Corse for Ye/Kubica/Hanson. After holding fourth place for much of the race, it dropped back a position near the finish to take 5th, its best result of the year.
Fourth place finish for the #38 Cadillac V-Series.R of Bamber/Bourdais/Aitken. Perhaps a podium finish would have been possible if it hadn’t been for the spin caused by the #15 BMW of Kevin Magnussen?
The other Cadillac of the Jota team, the #12 of Stevens/Nato/Lynn, received a 10-second penalty for pushing an Alpine at the start. It then began a climb up the order to finish in 6th place.
BMW represented Toyota’s most serious competitor for the manufacturers’ championship. But the 7th place finish of the #15 car, shared by D. Vanthoor, Marciello, and Magnussen, dashed those hopes. That car also received a 10-second penalty for causing the #38 Cadillac to spin.
The #20 BMW of Rast/Frijns/van der Linde still had title hopes coming into Barcelona. But their lackluster race, hampered by a lack of pace and racing incidents, ended in a 14th place finish, dashing their hopes.
The only Aston Martin Valkyrie to finish, the #009 of Dane Sorensen and local Riberas, finished 9th, one lap behind the leader.
A race to forget for the Valkyrie #007. A mistake in the rain resulted in a considerable loss of time. In the final third of the race, it had to retire due to an engine or gearbox problem.
From the start, the race of the #35 Alpine of Milesi/Hasburg seemed ruined, as the latter was pushed into a spin by the #12 Cadillac. A chase ensued, ultimately finishing 10th and securing a valuable championship point.
A tough race, as usual, for the Peugeot 9X8s, which will soon be relegated to the museum, with a new model arriving next year. The #93 of DiResta/Cassidy/Quinn had good pace on the wet track, but as soon as it dried, it dropped down the order to finish in 12th place.
The sister car #94 of Duval/Jakobsen/Pourchaire follows in 13th position, Peugeot scoring no points in Barcelona.
The Toyota TR010 Hybrid #8 therefore wins these first 6 Hours of Barcelona.
Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi not only won but also consolidated their lead in the drivers’ championship with a 17-point advantage over their teammates in the #7 Toyota.
Leave a Reply