Cadillac JOTA claims Monza victory as Toyota secures fifth title
Cadillac JOTA wraps up its 2026 FIA WEC season with a highly anticipated win, while Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa claim the Drivers’ World Championship in a turbulent six-hour finale.
Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA finally seized its opportunity at Monza. The #38 Cadillac V-Series.R, piloted by Jack Aitken, Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber, transformed a solid showing into their first win of the year. Simultaneously, the #8 Toyota lineup of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa clinched the Drivers’ World Championship, even though they finished off the podium in 12th place.
Amidst four Virtual Safety Cars and three Full Course Yellows, the #38 Cadillac took charge early on and held onto the net lead without letting go. Starting from third, Aitken quickly made his move, overtaking the pole-positioned #50 Ferrari driven by Miguel Molina, and then squeezing past Daniel Juncadella’s #19 Genesis at Parabolica.
Genesis held the lead briefly after a powerful first lap, but Aitken’s overtake on lap seven changed the race dynamics. Cadillac then navigated the interruptions, managed tyre strategy and resisted rival pressure, with Bourdais holding his line through the middle phase before Bamber took the wheel during the Virtual Safety Car period in the fourth hour.
The final stint turned into a strategic duel as Cadillac’s lead, which had grown to over ten seconds, faced pressure from Alpine’s Victor Martins, who surged forward by exploiting a different fuel strategy. Bamber had to balance speed with fuel saving, letting the #36 Alpine close the distance before the Cadillac settled into a steady run to the finish line.
“Yeah, I mean it was a really tough race. There’s a lot of strategy going on,” Bamber explained.
“We pulled away eight seconds, and then they came back to us three or four, but managed to get the number. Then we could free up, and I think they over-consumed in the middle.”
The winning margin was merely 5.607 seconds, yet the importance went far beyond the result. The win added to JOTA’s impressive streak of winning at least one ACO race each season for 15 straight years, and provided Bourdais with an ideal farewell in his last race for the team.
“It’s always bittersweet moments, but there’s definitely no better way to end,” Bourdais reflected.
“It’s been a long time coming for the #38.”
For Cadillac, the win was a well-earned payoff after a season of promise, where a new aerodynamic package offered competitiveness that didn’t always yield results. For Bourdais, it marked the end of an era on a high note.
36 GOUNON Jules (fra), MARTINS Victor (fra), Alpine Endurance Team, Alpine A424 #36, Hypercar, portrait during the 6 Hours of Monza 2026, 8th round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship, from November 6 to 8, 2026 on the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy – Photo Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI
Alpine bids farewell with a podium
Alpine Endurance Team gave a proper send-off to the Hypercar class by taking second place with the #36 A424 driven by Victor Martins and Jules Gounon. Martins delivered a standout individual effort, taking over late in the second hour and driving until the end.
Choosing not to pit Gounon was key to keeping track position, especially as Martins faced pressure from Cadillac and BMW late in the race. His speed brought him close to Bamber, but the earlier time gap and Cadillac’s fuel management ultimately decided the outcome.
“I tried everything. I pushed with the Cadillac in the end. I tried to come back,” Martins said.
“I did come back, but then I think I did not have good momentum with GT traffic. So then I lost a lot of time again.”
Although they missed the win, Alpine finishes the championship on the podium, a strong result that showed the team could fight at the front even as their WEC campaign came to an end.
Aston Martin’s podium slips away
The battle for the last podium spot saw one of the race’s major late shifts. Tom Gamble drove through the pack in the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, overtaking the #51 Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi in the final 15 minutes to seemingly secure a historic result for The Heart of Racing.
Post-race penalties, however, drastically altered the result. An initial 20-second penalty for tyre-pressure issues was added to a 145-second penalty for exceeding the energy limit per stint. The Valkyrie dropped from the podium, giving third place to the #51 Ferrari of Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi.
It was a tough afternoon for Ferrari despite the podium finish. The outgoing Drivers’ Champions couldn’t match the speed of the leaders, while the other two 499Ps also incurred early penalties for tyre-pressure violations.
Peugeot, on the other hand, achieved their best result of the season. The #94 9X8 driven by Loïc Duval, Théo Pourchaire and Malthe Jakobsen finished fifth, enduring a clutch problem and a tough late fight against Alex Lynn’s #12 Cadillac.
The battle ended with contact at the Roggia chicane, sending Lynn into the barriers and ending the contest abruptly. Lynn was given a ten-second penalty after the race for the incident.
Toyota secures driver’s title
While Cadillac celebrated their win, Toyota had little to cheer about regarding race pace. Neither TR010 Hybrid was in the mix, leaving the #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries unable to make up enough ground to change the championship order.
The #8 Toyota thus secured the title in 12th place overall, with the other car finishing right behind them.
This marks a record-breaking fifth Drivers’ World Championship for Buemi and Hartley, and a third for Hirakawa. Even more notably, the trio becomes the first crew in FIA WEC history to win three Drivers’ Championships together, adding the 2026 title to their previous wins in 2022 and 2023.
It wasn’t the dominant performance Toyota might have preferred, but the championship was never in doubt. The #7’s lack of speed meant the reigning champions didn’t need to take chances, allowing the #8 crew to add another milestone to the championship’s history.
For Genesis, it was another difficult weekend. Juncadella led early after a strong start on Molina, giving the brand its first front-running laps in a FIA WEC race.
A five-second penalty for cutting Turn 2, followed by an electrical failure that retired the #19 GMR-001 in the third hour, ended their hopes.
For Paul-Loup Chatin, who replaced Juncadella just before the failure, the result was especially disappointing given the team’s strong pace all weekend: “We are disappointed for Genesis, because it looks like the luck was not on our side this week, but even this season, but looking back we are super proud of what we achieved.”
Still, the performance showed the programme’s progress, with Genesis being competitive right away despite the challenge of preparing for a dry weekend with limited running.
“It shows again this weekend how well the team is working, being capable of setting up a car without any practice, dry practice, and to set up a car already fighting for pole yesterday with front row, and fighting at the top the first two laps of the race, with this kind of competition it’s amazing.”
The sister Alpine had worse luck, with Charles Milesi crashing at Parabolica while fifth, after a strong showing that included the race’s fastest lap.
