News Summary
- Tom Fleming secured LMGT3 pole with a 1:40.933 in the No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren.
- The Briton beat Riccardo Pera’s Porsche by 0.122 seconds, with Simon Mann’s Ferrari third.
- Fleming missed Friday’s two practice sessions because of his GT World Challenge Europe commitments at Portimão.
Tom Fleming delivered an impressive pole position for McLaren in the LMGT3 class at the 6 Hours of Barcelona on Saturday, October 17, beating Porsche and Ferrari despite missing Friday’s practice sessions because of his commitments in another championship.
The British driver recorded 1:40.933 in the No. 10 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, becoming the only competitor to break the 1:41 barrier during the Hyperpole shootout at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The lap put Fleming 0.122 seconds ahead of Riccardo Pera in the No. 92 The Bend Manthey Porsche, while Simon Mann secured third for the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari with a 1:41.398.
Fleming shares the McLaren with Antares Au and Marvin Kirchhöfer, giving the trio its second LMGT3 pole of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season after previously topping qualifying at Imola.
The result was particularly significant because Fleming had been dividing his weekend between Barcelona and Portimão, where the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup is holding its season finale.
Fleming delivers pole after missing Friday practice
Fleming’s preparation for the Barcelona event was unusually limited.
The Briton missed both of Friday’s free-practice sessions while fulfilling his commitments at Portimão, leaving Au, Kirchhöfer and the Garage 59 engineers responsible for much of the car’s preparation.
He returned for Saturday’s qualifying programme and immediately demonstrated the pace required to challenge for pole.
The initial qualifying session determined which LMGT3 entries would advance to Hyperpole. Peter Dempsey led that segment in the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette with a 1:42.082, but the order changed substantially when the faster drivers took over for the final shootout.
Mann initially established the benchmark in the Ferrari before Pera moved the Porsche into provisional pole position with a 1:41.055.
Fleming then produced the decisive lap, becoming the only driver to record a time below 1:41 and securing the front-row advantage for McLaren.
The Briton praised his teammates and Garage 59 for preparing the car while he was absent.
“Credit to the team, constantly performing and producing a good package,” Fleming said after qualifying.
He also acknowledged the unusual demands of his weekend, explaining that he had needed to absorb information quickly after missing the opening sessions.
The pole extends an impressive qualifying record for the young driver, who has topped both Hyperpole sessions in which he has competed this season.
Porsche and Ferrari complete the top three
Pera’s Porsche had appeared well placed to secure pole after improving the benchmark during the final qualifying session.
However, Fleming’s lap proved decisive, leaving the Italian 0.122 seconds behind.
Mann finished third in the Ferrari, 0.465 seconds away from pole, ahead of Jonny Edgar in the No. 33 TF Sport Corvette.
The Corvette driver recorded a 1:41.447, just 0.049 seconds behind Mann, underlining how closely matched the leading LMGT3 cars were.
Iron Lynx completed the top five with the No. 61 Mercedes-AMG driven in Hyperpole by Martin Berry.
The result gives Garage 59 a valuable starting position for Sunday’s six-hour race, although endurance competition places greater emphasis on consistency, traffic management and strategy than qualifying performance alone.
The British team will also need to manage the challenge posed by Porsche, Ferrari and Corvette during the race, particularly as the championship approaches its final round.
WEC 2026 — Complete LMGT3 qualifying results for the 6 Hours of Barcelona
The classification below includes all 18 LMGT3 entries. Positions 1–10 were determined in Hyperpole; positions 11–18 were established in the initial qualifying session.
| Pos. | Car | Drivers | Team / Manufacturer | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #10 | A. AU / T. FLEMING / M. KIRCHHÖFER | Garage 59 McLaren | 1:40.933 | — |
| 2 | #92 | Y. SHAHIN / R. PERA / R. LIETZ | The Bend Manthey Porsche | 1:41.055 | +0.122 |
| 3 | #21 | F. HÉRIAU / S. MANN / A. ROVERA | Vista AF Corse Ferrari | 1:41.398 | +0.465 |
| 4 | #33 | B. KEATING / J. EDGAR / N. CATSBURG | TF Sport Corvette | 1:41.447 | +0.514 |
| 5 | #61 | M. BERRY / R. ANDRADE / M. MARTIN | Iron Lynx Mercedes | 1:41.625 | +0.692 |
| 6 | #32 | D. LEUNG / S. GELAEL / A. FARFUS | Team WRT BMW | 1:41.698 | +0.765 |
| 7 | #87 | R. UMBRĂRESCU / C. SCHMID / J. M. LÓPEZ | Akkodis ASP Lexus | 1:41.894 | +0.961 |
| 8 | #77 | E. POWELL / B. TUCK / S. PRIAULX | Proton Competition Ford | 1:41.956 | +1.023 |
| 9 | #88 | S. GATTUSO / G. LEVORATO / L. SARGEANT | Proton Competition Ford | 1:42.222 | +1.289 |
| 10 | #34 | P. DEMPSEY / S. YOLUÇ / C. EASTWOOD | Racing Team Turkey Corvette | 1:42.774 | +1.841 |
| 11 | #78 | T. VAN ROMPUY / H. DAVID / E. MASSON | Akkodis ASP Lexus | 1:43.124 | +2.191 |
| 12 | #91 | J. COTTINGHAM / T. BOGUSLAVSKIY / A. GÜVEN | Manthey DK Engineering Porsche | 1:43.169 | +2.236 |
| 13 | #54 | T. FLOHR / F. CASTELLACCI / D. RIGON | Vista AF Corse Ferrari | 1:43.332 | +2.399 |
| 14 | #23 | G. NEWELL / E. BARRICHELLO / J. ADAM | Heart of Racing Aston Martin | 1:43.513 | +2.580 |
| 15 | #69 | A. MCINTOSH / P. THOMPSON / D. HARPER | Team WRT BMW | 1:43.975 | +3.042 |
| 16 | #58 | A. WEST / F. GEHRSITZ / B. GOETHE | Garage 59 McLaren | 1:44.267 | +3.334 |
| 17 | #79 | J. ZELGER / M. CRESSONI / L. HODENIUS | Iron Lynx Mercedes | 1:44.655 | +3.722 |
| 18 | #27 | I. JAMES / Z. ROBICHON / M. DRUDI | Heart of Racing Aston Martin | 1:49.121 | +8.188 |
McLaren’s endurance ambitions extend beyond LMGT3
The pole comes during an important period for McLaren’s international endurance programme.
Garage 59 continues representing the manufacturer in LMGT3, while McLaren is preparing a much larger commitment to the World Endurance Championship with its planned 2027 Hypercar debut.
The British manufacturer has already confirmed Mikkel Jensen, Laurens Vanthoor and Alex Lynn for its new top-class operation.
As GRANDE PRÊMIO reported following Lynn’s announcement, the former Cadillac driver will bring significant prototype experience to the programme, including pole position at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The new project is separate from Garage 59’s current LMGT3 operation, but both contribute to McLaren’s growing presence in international endurance racing.
The Barcelona pole also follows a difficult previous round for Garage 59 at Fuji, where the No. 10 McLaren finished eighth in class.
That result was recorded in GRANDE PRÊMIO’s complete Fuji race classification, which included the LMGT3 finishing order and the late Hypercar battle between Toyota and Alpine.
Barcelona now offers Fleming, Au and Kirchhöfer an opportunity to return to the front after a strong qualifying performance.
When is the WEC 6 Hours of Barcelona?
The 6 Hours of Barcelona takes place on Sunday, October 18, at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with both Hypercar and LMGT3 entries competing in the same six-hour race.
The event is the penultimate round of the 2026 World Endurance Championship, preceding the season finale in Bahrain.
The race will feature the leading Hypercar manufacturers, including Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Porsche and Alpine, alongside the LMGT3 field.
The Barcelona weekend also coincides with the GT World Challenge Europe finale at Portimão, where Max Verstappen and Valentino Rossi are competing in separate GT3 entries.
As GRANDE PRÊMIO explained in its coverage of Verstappen’s additional GT3 appearance, the overlapping schedules have created logistical challenges for drivers and teams participating in both championships.
