Toyota to Test 2026 GR010 Aero Package Next Week

Toyota is poised to run the GR010 Hybrid’s 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship aero package for the first time in a test at Paul Ricard next week, after confirming its intention to use at least one Evo joker last weekend at Fuji.

The Japanese manufacturer is known to have been evaluating the possibility of bringing the first substantial update to the GR010 since 2023, as suggested by Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury earlier this year.

Ahead of last weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji, TGR-E vice-chairman Kazuki Nakajima clarified in a roundtable with Japanese media that Toyota has decided to press on with introducing a new aero package, having opted against an update for 2025.

Toyota has two days of testing booked at Paul Ricard on Oct. 8-9, where the updated car is set to run for the first time.

“We are working to introduce an update for next year,” Nakajima said. “In early October we will test the car with this new aero package for the first time.

“As a team, we are working together as one and proceeding with our preparations with the absolute intention of winning at Le Mans next year.

“To be honest, we have been thinking about doing an update since last year, and we even considered introducing it for this year, but partly due to the timing of the homologation wind tunnel changing [to Windshear], we decided to delay it for a year.

“We went into this year with no changes on the hardware side, but after the events of Le Mans this year, we’ve found a way to take things another step further.”

Toyota has never publicly confirmed how many of its five Evo jokers it has used since the GR010’s debut back in the first year of the WEC’s Hypercar rules in 2021.

It introduced an update in 2022 to change the wheel sizes to suit the evolving LMH rulebook — although then-technical director Pascal Vasselon says this change did not require a joker — and then made a further major revision in 2023.

It has been speculated that the 2023 update marked the use of Toyota’s second homologation, to which each Hypercar manufacturer is entitled.

Kobayashi Reflects on Home Race to Forget for Toyota

Nakajima’s comments came ahead of a difficult home race for Toyota, as the Japanese marque’s two cars ended up seventh and 16th in the final reckoning.

Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway salvaged four points aboard the No. 7 car, although a well-timed safety car earlier in the race had promoted the crew into the podium positions until a later caution caused them to drop back.

“At one point we briefly ran second, and it looked as if a podium finish could be on, but the timing of the safety car meant we dropped to 13th,” said Kobayashi.

“From that position, we can be satisfied that we recovered to eighth [before a post-race penalty for the No. 94 Peugeot]. I don’t think we could have hoped for any more.

“The last FCY was simply unlucky, but this is racing. We were lucky that we briefly ran second, and in the end we ended up back where we should have been.”

The sister No. 8 Toyota shared by Sebastien Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa and Brendon Hartley was the better-placed of the two in the early stages, until Buemi was hit from behind by the No. 35 Alpine of Ferdinand Habsburg that went on to win the race.

Buemi sustained a puncture in the impact and pitted to have the damaged tire replaced despite the fact that a full-course yellow had been called, closing the pits.

The No. 8 crew was then assessed a three-minute stop-and-go penalty for failing to return to the pits immediately after the FCY lifted, as is required by the rules.

Kobayashi said Toyota misinterpreted the regulations surrounding so-called ’emergency stops’ under FCY, which typically involve cars being refuelled for five seconds before returning to the pits for a full-service pit stop when the race returns to green.

“In that situation, we had no choice but to replace the tire,” said Kobayashi. “We were hit from behind and got the puncture, so we were already losing a lot of time, so to force us to come in again is a nonsense regulation.

“We didn’t put in any fuel, we only changed the tire. I think it comes down to a difference in the interpretation of the regulations. It’s a bit bureaucratic.”

Toyota has one more chance to score a podium finish in November’s season finale in Bahrain, which is set to be the GR010’s final race in its current form.

“Honestly, the current tires and car are not a good match for Fuji, but on the other hand, I think Bahrain is well-suited for us,” Kobayashi said.

“It depends on the BoP, but I think we may be able to fight there.”