Toyota is back on top at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The No. 7 GR010 Hybrid of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries won the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans on Sunday, outlasting BMW and Cadillac in a fight that left the top four cars covered by just 32 seconds — and ending Ferrari's three-year hold on the race.
It was Toyota's sixth Le Mans victory, equalling Bentley, and its first since a run of five straight wins ended in 2022. Kobayashi brought the car home 10.913 seconds clear of the No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Robin Frijns, Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde, which denied Toyota a one-two and gave BMW its first Le Mans podium since the marque last won the race in 1999. The sister No. 8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa finished third.
The winning car had run as low as fourth on Sunday morning before Kobayashi seized his moment. When a safety car bunched the field with around six hours to go — brought out by a heavy crash for Ayhancan Guven's Manthey Porsche — the deficit to the leading Cadillac evaporated, and the veteran reeled off a string of fast laps to take control.
"Even in the first couple of hours we thought it wasn't looking good," Conway said after climbing onto the car to celebrate. "We just stuck in there."
For Kobayashi it was a second Le Mans win; for Conway, the 42-year-old Briton, also a second; and for de Vries a first, making him the first Dutch winner of the race in 38 years. Toyota credited a new-for-2026 car and upgrade package for the turnaround.
"Finally we bring in a new car and that's made it happen," Kobayashi said. "Mr Toyoda-san has been supporting big time — finally we're back on top."
The result was not without friction between the two Toyotas. On Sunday morning Hartley led overall in the No. 8 when he was told to let de Vries — on tyres 27 laps fresher in the No. 7 — through on the Mulsanne Straight. De Vries voiced his frustration when the move did not come immediately, only to be told to hold station. The pass was then completed cleanly during the next pit-stop cycle, exactly as the team had planned.
Ferrari, chasing an unprecedented fourth straight win, never threatened. The best of its 499Ps — the No. 51 of reigning Hypercar world champions Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi — came home fifth after an early drive-through penalty, while the No. 50 retired with electrical trouble. With teams including Ferrari struggling for pace, the category's Balance of Performance was again raised by some drivers afterwards.
Cadillac's challenge ended in cruel fashion. The crowd-favourite No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA car led deep into the morning before a Full Course Yellow speeding penalty cost it track position, and it finished fourth. The sister No. 38 of Le Mans native Sebastien Bourdais retired with power-steering failure in his home race.
"The power steering failed at pit end, so I was already through," Bourdais explained. "So I was going to have to do the lap back to the pits, bleeding lap time and trying not to crash because the steering wheel is just a rod."
He called it "the dagger in the heart," and reflected on the fine margins of the race. "For maybe a two-dollar piece, it just came to a crushing end," he said. "When the gods of racing decide that it's not your day, it's just not your day. We didn't stuff the car in the fence or anything like that. It's just a stupid failure that ruins everybody's efforts."
Sixteen former Formula 1 drivers started the race, among them Kevin Magnussen, Jack Aitken, Sebastien Bourdais and Andre Lotterer, none of whom saw the finish. For Toyota, though, four years of waiting are over.
---
*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/toyota-ends-ferraris-le-mans-reign-with-2026-24-hours-win). Visit for full coverage.*
