Big in Japan tonight! 🇯🇵

There are victories.

And then there are victories like this one.

Winning at Fuji, in Toyota’s home country, surrounded by thousands of passionate Japanese fans, makes this one particularly special.

The #8 Toyota Racing crew — Ryō Hirakawa, Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley — fought their way to the top after a race full of twists and pressure.

With just over twenty minutes remaining, everything came down to the final restart.

Cold tyres.
A damp track.
An Alpine closing in.

Ryō Hirakawa had to defend.

And he did.

The chequered flag finally came out, with the Toyota #8 taking the win by just 0.591 seconds.

Standing there afterwards, with the trophies, the Japanese flags and all those messages from the fans, you realise what a victory at Fuji really means.

Toyota wins at home.

And tonight, Japan is celebrating.

Big in Japan tonight! 🇯🇵🏆