Mike Conway secured a strong podium finish as Toyota Racing began its 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign with a double podium at the 6 Hours of Imola.
Alongside Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, Conway brought the #7 TR010 HYBRID home in third after a competitive and closely fought race at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
The weekend started positively, with the #7 car showing strong pace in practice to finish second fastest on Friday, just over a tenth from the top. That performance carried into qualifying, where de Vries secured sixth on the grid in an exceptionally tight Hypercar field.
In Sunday’s race, the #7 entry briefly dropped back at the start before Conway delivered a determined opening stint to keep the car in contention. Strong pace and clean execution from all three drivers steadily moved the car forward, breaking into the top three by the fourth hour.
Kobayashi later climbed as high as second and played a key role in securing the overall result, managing tyre wear and pressure from rivals in the closing stages before the final stop.
After six hours of racing, the #7 GR010 HYBRID crossed the line in third, completing a double podium result for Toyota Racing in its milestone 100th WEC race with hybrid power.
“It’s a great result for the team and I’m pleased to be on the podium. I think this is more than we expected. It’s awesome for car #8 to win and for car #7 to be on the podium. We gave our maximum and brought home a double podium. It’s a strong start to the season and we’ll try to build on this in Spa.”
Mike Conway (Driver, car #7):
