Toyota and Michelin notch up their 50th FIA WEC success together

19/04/2026

Toyota and Michelin celebrated their 100^th FIA World Endurance Championship appearance together by scoring their 50^th victory as partners! The win of the brand-new TR010 Hybrid shared by Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa (#8) was also the first of Michelin's latest Pilot Sport Endurance range which contains 50 percent renewable/recycled raw materials. Second and third at Imola, Italy, were the #51 Ferrari and #7 Toyota.

Toyota and Michelin kicked off their 2026 FIA WEC campaign just as they had concluded the last season... with a victory!

This weekend's success will be remembered notably for being their 50^th from 100 starts together in world-class endurance racing. And not only was it the maiden win of Toyota's latest Hypercar challenger, but it was also the first of Michelin's new range of Pilot Sport Endurance slicks.

Toyota's prototype provided an eloquent display of the longevity and consistency of Michelin's new innovative slicks when Kamui Kobayashi (#7) clocked up more than 100 laps (almost 500km) on the medium-compound option as he defended second place to the end of his spell in the car. He successfully warded off the #51 Ferrari which was on soft slicks that had completed just 30 or so laps!

The Italian car eventually succeeded in grabbing second place at the checkered flag, while the #35 Alpine A424 and #20 BMW rounded out the day's top-five which featured four different makes, a clear sign that Michelin's latest tires are suited to all of today's Hypercars.

Defending world champion Ferrari failed to dominate the race as it did Free Practice and Qualifying which saw Antonio Giovinazzi claim pole-position. The #50 and #83 Italian prototypes had to settle for sixth and 10^th respectively.

There were top-10 finishes for Aston Martin (#007) and Cadillac (N°38), but the Peugeot 9X8s had a more complicated race. Meanwhile, Genesis finished its debut FIA WEC outing in 15^th spot.

The next round of the 2026 FIA WEC will take teams to Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, in three weeks' time.