Garage 59 delivered McLaren’s second FIA World Endurance Championship victory in five races with a commanding performance at Spa-Francorchamps, underlining the pace and resilience that has defined the team’s season so far.
The British squad showed strong form from the outset, remaining competitive throughout all three free practice sessions as the team focused on building on its season-opening pole position at Imola while helping its Bronze-rated drivers adapt to the demanding seven-kilometre Belgian circuit in the McLaren GT3 EVO.
Starting 11th on the grid with the No. 58 car and 15th with the No. 10 entry, Garage 59 steadily worked its way through the field during the six-hour contest. Antares Au laid the foundation with an aggressive opening stint, gaining six positions across two runs that featured several decisive overtaking moves.
Silver-rated driver Tom Fleming then continued the charge during the middle portion of the race, climbing from ninth to second place and ending his stint less than a second behind the race leader. Marvin Kirchhöfer took over for the final two hours, maintaining relentless pressure on the leading Ferrari as the battle for victory intensified.
The pivotal moment came in the closing stages during the final pit-stop cycle. Garage 59’s crew executed a flawless stop that forced the leading Ferrari team into an error, resulting in a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release. From there, Kirchhöfer controlled the gap to secure Garage 59’s maiden WEC victory with the McLaren GT3 EVO.
Spa Francorchamps, Belgium
May 6th – 9th 2026
Photo: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography
The sister McLaren also produced a strong recovery drive after overcoming track-limits penalties in the opening hours. Finn Gehrsitz and Benji Goethe fought back from 15th on the grid to finish fifth, adding valuable championship points for the team.
Giorgio Sanna, Head of Motorsport, McLaren Automotive
“Huge congratulations to the whole Garage 59 team on an excellent race and our first WEC win of the season! The drivers all performed flawlessly, and the team executed the pitstops superbly. This sets us up nicely for Le Mans where, as Mclaren Motorsport, we will continue to work closely with Garage 59 towards another strong performance.”
Andrew Kirkaldy, Team Principal, Garage 59
“After Imola, everyone has worked so hard to make sure we could bounce back quickly. The pit stops were perfect; the drivers did a fantastic job – every member of the team was on it today. It has been a challenging week leading up to today as we have had a few issues with the car, so this win is a great reward for all of that work. I also want to mention Benji’s final stint – that was the best driving I have ever seen from him!”
Antares Au, Driver #10 McLaren GT3 EVO
“I cannot be more thankful for the people I am working with. This is a team sport: we win together and we lose together. I’ve raced at Spa many times and been on the podium here, but this is probably the most special one.”
Thomas Fleming, Driver #10 McLaren GT3 EVO
“This journey hasn’t come without its difficult moments, but it is testament to the strength of character of this team that we bounced back from the heartbreak at Imola and also from the difficult times we have had this weekend. The drivers, the mechanics and all the staff here have done an exceptional job and I couldn’t be happier.”
Marvin Kirchhöfer, Driver #10 McLaren GT3 EVO
“I want to credit my team mates who did an outstanding job, especially to keep us away from penalties, which was a big deciding factor is getting us up to the front. About 15-20 minutes into my stint the team told me that the lead Ferrari had received a penalty for an unsafe release so that meant I had to stay within five seconds of the Ferrari but also make sure nobody passed me. We could only dream of bouncing back this quickly after Imola so this win feels great and the team very much deserves it.”
Above content © 2026 McLaren Automotive Ltd, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee @rexmcafee
