Toyota ended Ferrari’s three-year winning streak at the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries securing the Japanese manufacturer’s sixth victory at Circuit de la Sarthe.

The #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, featuring South African Sheldon van der Linde alongside Robin Frijns and René Rast, finished second, while Toyota’s #8 crew completed a dominant double podium for the Japanese marque.

Eight brands contested the Hypercar category at the 24h Le Mans, with 18 cars in total. Toyota, Alpine, Peugeot, BMW, Aston Martin and debutant Genesis each fielded two entries, while Ferrari and Cadillac added a third car through customer teams.

In the LMGT3 category, nine manufacturers took part, with machinery closely resembling road-going performance cars in spirit if not in detail. The field included the Corvette Z06 LMGT3-R, Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo, Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3, BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO, Mercedes-AMG LMGT3, Ford Mustang LMGT3, Lexus RC F LMGT3 and Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3.

The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 claimed Hyperpole with a time of 3:22.564, ahead of the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R of Will Stevens, the #35 Alpine A424 of Ferdinand Habsburg, the #20 BMW of René Rast, the #101 Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque, and the #19 Genesis GMR-001 of Dani Juncadella. Despite that one-lap pace, the BMWs struggled to consistently match the front-runners in race conditions.

Early on, René Rast in the #20 BMW held a strong lead, but after 30 minutes the Ferrari AF Corse entries were running seventh (#51) and eighth (#50), on a split strategy using hard and medium slick tyres, with mediums fitted to the front-right corner.

By 48 minutes, the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi had moved into the lead, while teammate Mike Conway in the #7 sister car was charging through the field in fifth overall.

In LMGT3, after just over an hour, the #78 Lexus led a BMW 1–2–3 battle (#69 and #32), with the #87 Lexus in fourth, followed by the #27 Aston Martin, #77 Ford, #74 Ferrari, #34 Cadillac, #91 Porsche and #10 Aston Martin.

Two hours into the race, Toyota still led in Hypercar with the #8 car, followed by the #20 BMW and #35 Alpine. The Cadillacs ran in close pursuit (#38, #12 and #101), with the Ferrari AF Corse pair just behind, while the #15 BMW and #36 Alpine completed the top 10.

At the four-hour mark, the #8 Toyota of Hirakawa and the #20 BMW of Sheldon van der Linde had traded the lead over successive stints. Just before six hours, however, the #15 BMW driven by Dries Vanthoor collided with an LMP2 car, damaging the right-rear bodywork and eventually causing a puncture on the Michelin tyre through the Porsche Curves.

After limping through an entire lap, the pole-sitters dropped to 18th and last in Hypercar before ultimately retiring.

Overnight, the unusually dry conditions prevented the typical Le Mans weather chaos, allowing the field to spread out. But a late LMGT3 incident brought out interruptions that bunched the Hypercars back together with around six hours remaining, effectively turning the final phase into a sprint.

In the final hour, the LMGT3 lead was held by the #33 Corvette of Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar and Nick Catsburg, who went on to secure victory.

In Hypercar, Kamui Kobayashi led overall in the #7 Toyota, followed closely by the #20 BMW of Robin Frijns and the #8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi. The #12 Cadillac of Will Stevens ran fourth, with the top four separated by only around ten seconds.

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