Toyota will head into the 2026 World Endurance Championship with an unchanged driver line-up throughout its two manufacturing unit Hypercar entries.
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries will proceed to share the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid subsequent season, with Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa persevering with within the sister #8 automotive.
The announcement was made shortly after Toyota ended its victory drought with a commanding 1-2 end within the season-ending Bahrain 8 Hours on Saturday.
“Victory brings a difficult season to a optimistic shut,” the Japanese producer stated in a press release.
“The crew now turns its full focus to 2026, aiming to construct on this momentum. Subsequent season sees the introduction of an up to date automotive, which might be raced by an unchanged driver line-up.
“Mike, Kamui and Nyck will race collectively for the third consecutive season, whereas Sebastien, Brendon and Ryo compete alongside one another for a fifth 12 months.”
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ry? Hirakawa, #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 – Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries
Photograph by: Jakob Ebrey / LAT Pictures through Getty Pictures
Toyota has not made any adjustments to its Hypercar roster since de Vries rejoined the crew in 2024 after a failed stint in System 1 with AlphaTauri the 12 months earlier than.
Since then, de Vries, Toyota stalwart Conway and driver/crew principal Kobayashi have racked up two Hypercar wins as a trio, together with most just lately within the Bahrain finale on Saturday.
The #7 crew was additionally Toyota’s high consultant within the drivers’ championship in each 2024 and ‘25, ending third of their first season collectively earlier than slipping to sixth this 12 months.
In the meantime, the 2026 season will mark the sixth for Hartley, Buemi and Hirakawa as team-mates. The trio received the Le Mans 24 Hours on their first try in 2022 and in addition clinched back-to-back Hypercar titles in ‘22 and ‘23.
Whereas no reserve driver has been named, Toyota has additionally been capable of name in Jose Maria Lopez instead on a number of events in the previous couple of years. The Argentine was a part of the #7 crew throughout a really profitable interval for the Japanese producer in LMP1 and the early years of Hypercar, however stepped into the #87 ASP Lexus RC F GT3 at the beginning of the LMGT3 period in 2024.
Toyota will enter an upgraded automotive subsequent 12 months, with a brand new aerodynamic bundle altering the look of the automotive that made its debut again in 2022 at the beginning of the Hypercar period.
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