TOYOTA ADDS WEC TITLE, GAZOO RACING STARS AT HOME

Toyota absolutely dominated the World Endurance Championship’s maiden visit to Barcelona to claim a commanding 1-2 finish in the 6 Hour race as it wrapped up its eighth World Endurance manufacturers’ title with a round to spare on Sunday. The Spanish success adds to the Japanese carmaker’s eleventh World Rally title claimed two weeks ago, and fifteenth South African Rally-Raid title notched up last week, in its fifth Hypercar era championship, over and above three previous generation LMP1 titles.

The weekend also assured that a Toyota crew will take the WEC Drivers' World Championship. Only the number 8 Hartley, Buemi and Hirakawa and Conway, Kobayashi and de Vries’s number 7 remain in title contention. It was the 8 GR010 Hybrid crew of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa which best mastered treacherous wet-to-dry conditions to take their third win of the season, leading the sister #7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries home by half a second.

Ferrari’s Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen’s number 50 499P came home third, over 30 seconds adrift. Fourth went to Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais, and Jack Aitken’s Cadillac, which narrowly fended off Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson in the yellow privateer Ferrari as the 12 Cadillac recovered from a start penalty to claim sixth. The 15 BMW followed from the 36 Alpine, the 009 Aston Martin Valkyrie, and the 35 Alpine in tenth.

The Shahin, Pera, and Lietz Porsche 911 led LMGT3 virtually from lights to flag to win from the Kirchhofer, Au, and Fleming McLaren, which passed the Dan Harper, Anthony McIntosh, and Parker Thompson BMW M4 for second late in the race, which started in sodden, tricky conditions with two safety car interventions inside the opening hour. Buemi seized the lead from Daniel Juncadella’s Genesis, while de Vries mounted a fierce charge from ninth to second. Despite an early five-second pit penalty, clinical pit work and a Hartley undercut, Hirakawa kept his cool for a comfortable win.

Closer to home meanwhile, Gazoo Toyota Racing starred in the Zwartkops National Extreme Festival finals. Outgoing champion Michael van Rooyen was third and second in the South African Touring Cars races to take the day overall in his Toyota Gazoo Corolla. He followed BMW driver Keegan Campos and Gazoo Toyota teammate Jason Coetzee home in race 1 before ending second to championship successor Julian van der Watt in the reverse-grid Race 2 with Campos third. Jason Loosemore dominated SATC SupaCup to claim that championship.

It was a very good day as teenager Reagile Mailula swept the Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup to earn his maiden main circuit race win in the GR86 class, but Namibian Kobus Reynecke did enough to clinch that tight title chase. Devon Scott won the Dealer Challenge to win the title, while already champion, Nabil Abdool took another Media Challenge double.

Aqil Alibhai dominated both MSA4 races, beating title rival Mikel Bezuidenhout in the first before the two collide in the second heat to ending Bezuidenhout's challenge. Alibhai held off Guido Bidoli to win the race and seal the MSA4 title, while Nicholas van Weely swept to Formula Kent honours

Elsewhere, Hannes Scheepers and Mauro Da Luz shared Saturday's Astron Energy Polo Cup race wins to see that championship still unresolved as it heads to its Kyalami finale. Scheepers took the day and needs just two ponts to wrap it up. Wayne Masters and Derick Smalberger shared the Masters wins, with Smalberger taking the day overall to also take that title down to the wire. Sebastian Dias won Volkswagen Rookie Cup Race 1 from Luke Hill, before Sebastian Venkov won heat two from Keyaan Dwomoh as Dias in third secure that championship

Charl Arangies took the opening Extreme Supercars Driven by Dunlop opening race in his Mercedes-AMG GT3, but Lamborghini Huracan man Jonathan du Toit won the second and third heats to take overall honours. Karah Hill swept Class A in third overall in her Audi R8, while Shayur Harpal took Class B. And on two wheels, Clinton Seller dominated the SunBet ZX10 Masters Cup with two race wins, but that was not enough to stop Damien Purificati from sealing the Championship with a round still to race.

That wraps up a tough 2026 National Extreme Festival season marked by venue swaps, race cancellations, and tragedy. The racing, however, was superb throughout, leaving three more champions to still be crowned at their standalone finales, before the Festival dusts itself off in time for another great season in 2027.