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Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and TOYOTA RACING GmbH have changed the company name of the European research and development center and subsidiary “TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe GmbH” (Cologne, Germany) to “TOYOTA RACING GmbH” and will start to use the new name from January 7, 2026 onwards.
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and TOYOTA RACING GmbH have changed the company name of the European research and development center and subsidiary “TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe GmbH” (Cologne, Germany) to “TOYOTA RACING GmbH” and will start to use the new name from January 7, 2026 onwards.
The new GR Supra GT4 EVO2 demonstrated its competitiveness in its first year of competition with numerous titles in Europe, Japan and the United States. With the EVO2 model, which was further developed for the 2025 season, TOYOTA also moved into the top three of the SRO's global GT4 manufacturer rankings for the first time – an outstanding result in competition against with seven other brands. This cross-series ranking considered the results of 99 races in nine different series on four continents.
The new GR Supra GT4 EVO2 demonstrated its competitiveness in its first year of competition with numerous titles in Europe, Japan and the United States. With the EVO2 model, which was further developed for the 2025 season, TOYOTA also moved into the top three of the SRO's global GT4 manufacturer rankings for the first time – an outstanding result in competition against with seven other brands. This cross-series ranking considered the results of 99 races in nine different series on four continents.
The traditional pre-season Prologue takes place over two days on 21-22 March at Lusail International Circuit, shortly before the opening race of the campaign, the Qatar 1812KM.
Qatar hosts the Prologue for the third time and is the sixth circuit to do so, following the introduction of the pre-season test in 2013. Paul Ricard, Monza, Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps and Sebring have also held Prologue tests.
Two days of testing represent the first time for all Hypercar competitors to be on track at the same time since the 2025 season finale in Bahrain. A total of 14 hours of track time is split into four sessions, with two taking place in daylight, and two under lights to replicate the temperature and environmental conditions teams will face during the 10-hour race on 28 March.
Drivers and engineers can therefore fine-tune the settings of the TR010 HYBRIDs specifically to the demands of the 5.418km Qatar circuit and its 16 corners, whilst comparing the Michelin tyre compounds for performance and durability.
The two days also offer WEC officials an opportunity to check race control systems prior to the first race. The two days are likely to feature simulated full course yellow and safety car periods to ensure all equipment is ready.
Lusail International Circuit opens the FIA World Endurance Championship season for the third time in 2026, kicking off an eight-race campaign with a 10-hour contest.
Named the Qatar 1812KM to mark Qatar’s unification on 18 December 1878, the race starts in daylight and runs through sunset into the night. That creates ever-changing conditions as the track
temperatures drop, making tyre strategy particularly important.
The Lusail track was opened in 2004, initially for motorcycle racing. It is characterised by a 1km start-finish straight before a sequence of medium to high-speed corners. That combination requires a balance of straight-line speed and aerodynamic grip to generate optimum lap times.
With minimal elevation changes, changing wind direction can affect car performance at Lusail. A head or tail wind under braking for turn one impacts top speed and braking distance, while side winds through the flowing infield section further challenges drivers.
Qatar has yet to see a Toyota on the podium, although Nyck de Vries earned a front-row starting spot for the inaugural race in 2024. However, the team has a 100% points-scoring record at Lusail International Circuit, with a best result of fifth in each of the two races so far.
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola has become one of motorsport’s most recognisable circuits since its opening in 1953. It has hosted World Championship endurance racing seven times, most recently as the WEC’s Italian round since 2024.
Located just 90km from Maranello, Imola is a home track for Ferrari – it is named after the company’s founder and his son – and WEC races there attract a large, passionate local crowd.
It has been a successful venue for Toyota, with an inspired strategy bringing victory in changeable conditions in 2024, followed by a strong double points finish last year.
The circuit remains one of the most scenic in motorsport, set in green countryside and featuring picturesque elevation changes around its challenging 4.909km layout.
A significant percentage of the lap is driven at full throttle but the challenging medium and high-speed corners require relatively high levels of downforce. Meanwhile, the various chicanes require a car to be stable over the kerbs to achieve the optimum racing line.
The track is narrow which makes overtaking difficult, as Sébastien Buemi proved last year when he heroically held off the faster #50 Ferrari for several laps before the home favourite made a mistake.
Spa-Francorchamps is a favourite for drivers and spectators alike thanks to its high-speed and uncompromising layout through Belgium’s Ardennes forest.
Spa-Francorchamps is an iconic circuit with a rich endurance racing heritage, and it was part of the very first World Championship calendar in 1953, with a 24-hour race. It hosted its first 1,000km race – the predecessor to the modern six-hour WEC contests – in 1966.
At 7.004km it is the second longest circuit in WEC after Le Mans, and arguably the most spectacular thanks to legendary corners such as the Eau Rouge-Raidillon sequence, Pouhon and Blanchimont.
As well as being an iconic race in its own right, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is also an important step in the team’s preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hours. The high-speed first and third sectors of Spa require similar characteristics from a Hypercar, adding significance to the weekend.
Of its 13 races at Spa in the modern WEC era, Toyota has won eight times, including an unprecedented run of seven consecutive victories from 2017.
Spa-Francorchamps is also one of two home races for TOYOTA RACING, alongside Fuji Speedway, due to its proximity to the team’s base in Cologne, Germany, which is only 120km away.
The undisputed highlight of the global endurance racing calendar, the Le Mans 24 Hours challenges drivers, team members and cars like no other race in the world.
A unique circuit consists partly of permanent circuit and partly of public roads. These sections, particularly on the high-speed Mulsanne Straight, are bumpier with unforgiving barriers in close proximity.
Since the first Le Mans 24 Hours in 1923, the race has been a showcase for the latest automotive technologies and pioneering road-relevant innovations. Toyota advances its technology at Le Mans and, since returning in 2012, it has competed exclusively with a hybrid powertrain.
As the only twice-round-the-clock race on the WEC calendar, Le Mans is a true endurance test, which begins with the spectacular night qualifying sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. It is not only the on-track action which stands out at La Sarthe; the Friday drivers’ parade brings fans into direct contact with the stars of the show in a festival atmosphere.
This year’s race will take Toyota to 28 appearances since its Le Mans debut in 1985. A total of 63 Toyota cars have competed at La Sarthe, in 26 editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours, earning five wins, 18 podiums and eight pole positions, whilst also setting the fastest-ever lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe, achieved by Kamui Kobayashi in 2017.
As well as the prestige of a Le Mans win, the race also offers double points, which can accelerate a World Championship challenge.
The second half of the WEC season begins in South America in front of the famously passionate Brazilian fans, at the evocative Interlagos track in São Paulo.
The anti-clockwise 4.309km circuit, officially named the Autódromo José Carlos Pace after the São Paulo-born former Le Mans and Formula 1 driver, is the spiritual home of Brazilian motorsports and has held five WEC races since the series returned in 2012.
Its compact layout is located in a uniquely urban setting among the colourful residential streets of the Interlagos suburb.
An undulating and twisty track, Interlagos is unrelenting with corners coming in quick succession. Even the start-finish straight is split by the flat-out turn 15. One of the main overtaking opportunities comes through the downhill turn one section.
As an old-school circuit, and with 15 corners squeezed into its 4.309km, traffic is a major factor, particularly through the tight sector two, where precious time can be lost behind LMGT3 cars in the low-speed corners.
Interlagos has witnessed significant milestones in Toyota’s WEC history, from its maiden victory in 2012, to securing the manufacturers’ World Championship title for the first time two years later. The team has two poles and two wins to its name in Brazil.
The vibrant city of Austin, Texas hosts WEC’s only visit to North America on a spectacular circuit which evokes memories of the world’s most famous corners.
The 5.513km Circuit of the Americas is an anti-clockwise track, characterised by a steep hill up to turn one followed by a sequence of sweeping, fast corners which create a thrilling opening sector, before tighter, more technical corners later in the lap.
In creating the circuit prior to its 2012 opening, designers took inspiration from some of motorsport’s most familiar corners, including the Maggotts-Becketts sequence at Silverstone, the triple-apex turn eight of Istanbul Park, and the stadium section of Hockenheim.
Finding the right car set-up is particularly challenging in Austin due to this mix of different corners, as well as one of the heaviest braking zones of the season, when cars decelerate from over 300km/h to around 60km/h for the tight turn 12.
Austin is one of only two circuits on the current WEC calendar – alongside Qatar – where Toyota has not yet stood on the top step of the podium. The team achieved its best result of second place in 2013, 2020 and 2024, while its only Austin pole came in 2014.
Fuji Speedway is truly the home circuit for TOYOTA RACING, making the 6 Hours of Fuji a special and high-priority race for the team.
The track, located around 100km west of Tokyo, is close to the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center, where the high-performance hybrid powertrain in the TR010 HYBRIDs is designed, developed and built.
Historically, Fuji Speedway has played a significant role in Toyota’s endurance racing development. The iconic 2000GT sportscar showed its speed with wins in the 1967 24-hour and 1000km races, whilst the Toyota 7 wrote itself into legend with fearsome performances there, including victories in the Fuji 1000km in 1968 and 1969.
The All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship, a national series for Le Mans-style cars, brought Toyota back into front-line sportscar competition in the 1980s and it became a regular winner at Fuji Speedway, which also hosted Japan’s first World Sportscar Championship race in 1982.
The circuit is characterised by a 1.475km start-finish straight where cars exceed 320km/h, and this demands strong top speed plus braking stability into turn one. In contrast, the tight and technical third sector requires aerodynamic and mechanical grip, as well as strong traction out of the corners.
Toyota has an impressive record at Fuji Speedway, with nine victories contributing to 15 podiums from the 12 WEC races there since the series returned in 2012.
A day-night race in the desert brings the curtain down on the 2025 WEC campaign. The 5.412km Bahrain International Circuit is the traditional venue for the last race of the season, having hosted it in 10 of the 13 seasons since WEC’s return in 2012.
The circuit, located around 35km south of the capital Manama, was the first modern Middle East motorsport venue and made history by bringing Formula 1 to the region in 2004.
Its 15-turn layout features a mix of high-speed and slower corners and is renowned for being abrasive with high grip levels, creating a particular challenge in terms of tyre management.
Toyota has a formidable record in Bahrain, having won the last nine WEC races there. In total it has won nine of its 13 races in the island kingdom, earning eight pole positions and a remarkable 19 podiums.
Although the 8 Hours of Bahrain brings closes the competitive action this season, there remains a final date in the diary. The annual WEC Rookie Test takes place the day after the race and gives teams a chance to offer track time to promising young drivers.
© 2026 TOYOTA RACING GmbH
