TOYOTA GAZOO Racing entered the season-closing Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain earlier this month with one goal on its mind – maintaining its record of winning a race in every FIA World Endurance Championship campaign since 2016. The Japanese car giant achieved that ambition and then some...
The multiple world championship-winning outfit – by some margin the most successful competitor in FIA WEC history – endured a disappointing season by its usual high standards in 2025, and heading to the desert kingdom, neither its #7 nor #8 crews had set foot upon the podium in any of the previous seven rounds.
Kamui Kobayashi and Brendon Hartley dominating Hyperpole to lock out the front row of the Hypercar grid offered a strong indication that the team’s barren run could be about to end. Twenty-four hours later, Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries converted pole position into victory in the #7 GR010 HYBRID to extend Toyota’s extraordinary winning streak in Bahrain to nine consecutive races and make up for the frustration of Fuji, where the trio had led on home soil prior to falling down the field due to a strategic mis-step.
Notwithstanding a brief threat from world champion-elect Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 Ferrari, the two Japanese prototypes controlled proceedings early on in Sakhir, with Conway and Hartley swapping positions during the first pit-stop phase as the New Zealander in the #8 entry did not change tyres in order to save a fresh set for later.
Conway reclaimed the initiative at the one-and-a-half-hour mark, with the sister car subsequently slipping to the tail-end of the top ten after picking up a drive-through penalty for a yellow flag infringement. A stirring fightback from Hartley, Sébastien Buemi and Ryō Hirakawa, however – allied to a timely seventh-hour safety car intervention that bunched the pack back up – paved the way to a commanding one-two finish and maximum points haul that vaulted Toyota from fourth up to second in the Manufacturers’ standings at the last gasp.
“It’s been a very tough season, and we had to wait until the final round to enjoy a result like this,” reflected Kobayashi, who doubles up as the squad’s Team Principal and whose 18th FIA WEC win has elevated him above countryman Kazuki Nakajima as the most successful Japanese driver in the series’ history.
“We felt quite confident after free practice, although we were surprised by our performance in qualifying. We then executed a clean race with no mistakes; it wasn’t easy, but a big effort from everyone made this result possible. We never gave up all season, and winning in Bahrain was a great reward. Thanks to the whole team – the engineers and pit crew on-site, plus everyone in Cologne and Higashi-Fuji – for their hard work.”
“It’s an amazing result,” echoed Conway, FIA WEC’s winningest driver at Bahrain International Circuit, with the Briton’s 23rd career triumph in the championship drawing him level with stablemate Hartley for the second-highest tally of all time behind Buemi. “Before the race, I felt like we had a good chance, but to come away with a one-two is incredible and I’m so happy for the team.
“Everybody working on car #7 did an awesome job – we couldn’t have asked for more. Finishing second in the world championship is pretty cool as well, because we didn’t even think about that going into the weekend...”
On its series swansong, the current iteration of the GR010 HYBRID – which will be updated for 2026 – became the first car to win 20 FIA World Endurance Championship races outright, while securing Toyota’s 49th overall success in its 99th appearance, equating to almost a 50 per cent strike rate.
The result additionally represented the brand’s 28th one-two finish in FIA WEC competition – a figure TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will be eager to increase next year, as all six drivers return for a third straight season.
“Everyone deserves to enjoy the moment because we have all worked so hard to get back to the front,” reflected four-time world champion Buemi, whose partnership with Hartley and Hirakawa will extend into a fifth consecutive campaign in 2026. “Considering the season we had, finishing second in the world championship is a nice boost for everyone’s morale going into next year, when we hope to come back stronger and fight for the title.”
“Congratulations to car #7 for their victory and to the whole team for the result,” added Hirakawa. “I’m very happy to get second in the [Manufacturers’] world championship as well. That was a nice surprise and the result of pushing until the end in every race. Next year, the target is very clear – we are looking forward to fighting at the front like this again.”
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