Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA triumphed in the final round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship at Monza in Italy today (8 November), as Toyota’s Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa clinched the Drivers’ crown.
The #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar was a contender from the outset on race day at the ‘Temple of Speed’. Having started third on the grid, Jack Aitken demoted pole-sitter Miguel Molina (#50 Ferrari) on the opening tour and relieved Genesis’ Daniel Juncadella of the lead at the end of lap six.
The reigning IMSA champion remained in front throughout his two-hour stint behind the wheel, before vacating the cockpit and catching a plane back home, where he is expecting the birth of his first child. Sébastien Bourdais took up the mantle and maintained his team-mate’s momentum, drawing upon all of his experience to fend off threats from compatriot Victor Martins (Alpine) and Sheldon van der Linde (BMW) prior to passing the baton to Earl Bamber still in first place.
The New Zealander initially increased his advantage over the pursuing Martins, and while the rising French star reduced the gap between the pair to barely a second-and-a-half in the closing moments, Bamber was able to re-establish a buffer and ultimately take the chequered flag 5.607 seconds ahead of the #36 Alpine.
The result marked the #38 trio’s maiden victory together in FIA WEC and made them the highest-scoring line-up over the second half of the season. It also represented Bourdais’ first trip to the top step of the podium in more than a decade – in his final appearance for the Anglo/American alliance – and the 12th consecutive campaign in which JOTA has won a race in the championship.
“I’m over-the-moon!” enthused Bamber, who himself had gone more than nine years since his previous win. “Everybody at JOTA and Cadillac Racing has put in a lot of effort and worked so hard, and the car was faultless. Jack did an amazing job and Seb executed everything perfectly. We’ve got a great mix of ingredients to look forward to in 2027 – I think we will be a real force to be reckoned with!”
On its swansong in the series, Alpine tallied its third rostrum result of the year as Martins and countryman Jules Gounon sealed the runner-up spoils in Italy, although the sister A424 Hypercar piloted by Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi failed to finish when the Frenchman made heavy contact with the Parabolica barriers midway through the fourth hour.
The #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie driven by Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble took the chequered flag third, but a post-race penalty due to a tyre pressure infringement dropped the British duo behind the #51 Ferrari 499P, denying Aston Martin its first Hypercar podium but thrilling the 75,181 on-site tifosi, who gathered in droves to show their appreciation for their scarlet heroes.
There was a dramatic conclusion to the six-hour bout for the #12 Cadillac and #94 Peugeot 9X8, which clashed on multiple occasions over the closing laps before more significant contact between Alex Lynn and Malthe Jakobsen fired the former into the barriers and left the track littered with debris.
Neither Toyota scored points at Monza on a difficult weekend for the Japanese automotive giant – the most successful marque in FIA WEC history – but that mattered little given that the Manufacturers’ title had already been assured. Hirakawa, Buemi and Hartley duly did enough to lift the Drivers’ trophy – in the case of the latter pair, for an extraordinary fifth time.
“We didn’t have the pace for a win today, but what an amazing season for everyone!” reflected the New Zealander. “We didn’t get Le Mans, but we had our target to fight back for the Drivers’ championship and I’m really glad we’ve achieved that!”
The Bend Manthey made it two wins in as many races in the production-based LMGT3 category, but a second victory and fifth podium finish of the campaign was not quite enough to prevent TF Sport and Corvette from taking the season’s biggest prize, as a third-place finish for Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg proved sufficient to secure the Teams’ trophy as well as Drivers’ glory for the young British racer.
Following an early drive-through penalty for Yasser Shahin for a pit-lane speeding infraction, home hero Riccardo Pera climbed the order in mid-phase of the race in the #92 Porsche, subsequently benefitting from the fortuitous timing of a safety car period to gain a ‘free’ pit-stop and vault to the front of the 18-car field.
In his 100th FIA WEC outing, Richard Lietz then completed the job, staving off a late challenge from Heart of Racing Team’s Eduardo Barrichello (Aston Martin) to take the chequered flag ahead, with Catsburg crossing the line third to end Porsche’s unbroken run of LMGT3 titles and cement TF Sport and Edgar’s success.
Check out the full results from Monza.
All of FIA WEC. All of endurance racing’s greatest battles. Watch live and on demand with FIAWEC+ – the official streaming platform of the FIA World Endurance Championship, wherever you are, whenever you want, including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Stream FIA WEC live with FIAWEC+.
