BMW scores maiden victory in Spa

Text & Images: Rick Kiewiet

Team WRT delivered BMW its first FIA World Endurance Championship victory at the 2026 TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, with a strategic masterclass producing a 1-2 finish for the Bavarian marque — its first outright win in ACO-rules racing since Le Mans in 1999.

Hypercar

Robin Frijns, Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde took the win in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, with Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor completing the WRT clean sweep in the #15. The result was particularly sweet for the Belgian squad, competing on home soil at Spa.

The foundation of the victory was laid at the opening round of pit stops, when WRT short-fuelled the #20 car onto an unconventional strategy. Running free of the Hypercar pack, the #20 BMW built an advantage of more than 50 seconds before a VSC — triggered by the retirement of the pole-sitting #94 Peugeot after Jakobsen was struck by a spinning Mercedes-AMG at Les Combes — reset the field. A second VSC, called just as the final round of pit stops began, caught the #8 Toyota in the wrong place: Buemi had already pitted, BMW had not, and Frijns re-emerged well clear. A third caution set up a 24-minute sprint to the flag, with Magnussen in the #15 playing rear gunner to hold off Antonio Fuoco's #50 Ferrari 499P on fresh rubber. Frijns crossed the line 1.969 seconds clear.

Fuoco took third alongside Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina, despite losing around 20 seconds mid-race to a stubborn wheel nut. The #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie of Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell came through for fourth — the best WEC result yet for the Valkyrie — after Alex Riberas had gone off on the Kemmel Straight late on. Kamui Kobayashi was fifth in the #7 Toyota alongside Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, with the #83 AF Corse Ferrari sixth, the #93 Peugeot seventh, and Genesis Magma Racing an impressive eighth in the #17 GMR-001 in only its second WEC outing. The #12 Cadillac, which had led early, faded badly following a soft tyre gamble and finished ninth. Both BMW Hypercars remain under investigation for their final Safety Car restart, and the result is provisional.

LMGT3

Garage 59 made amends for its Imola near-miss as the #10 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhöfer came through from 15th on the grid to take class victory.

The LMGT3 race was eventful from the opening laps. Eric Powell led early in the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 Evo after a bold move around the outside of pole-sitter Tom van Rompuy into Eau Rouge, only to spin off at Stavelot shortly afterwards and trigger the first Safety Car. The #88 Mustang then inherited the lead at the first pit stops before picking up a drive-through penalty for track limits violations, opening the door for the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo.

The Ferrari of François Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera crossed the line first on the road, but was handed a five-second post-race penalty after Rovera was released unsafely into the path of Kirchhöfer during the final pit stop cycle. That promoted the McLaren to the win by 2.148 seconds, with the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 Evo of Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi second. The #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R completed the podium, with the #21 Ferrari classified fourth.

The #10 McLaren and #21 Ferrari are also under investigation for their restart following the late Safety Car period.

Championship

The result has reshuffled the Hypercar standings considerably. The #20 BMW crew now leads the drivers' championship by five points from the #8 Toyota trio, with BMW also heading the manufacturers' standings for the first time — seven points clear of Toyota, who lead Ferrari by a further ten. The next round is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, from 10 to 14 June.