Twelve months ago, a record-breaking crowd of almost 100,000 fans enjoyed what was widely acclaimed as one of the most exciting races in endurance racing history at Spa- Francorchamps.
A truly iconic venue in the sport, Spa – nestled deep in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest – has been welcoming elite-level endurance racing for more than a century. One of only two tracks to have featured in all 14 FIA World Endurance Championship campaigns to-date – in company with Le Mans’ Circuit de la Sarthe – the forthcoming edition will make it the first to host 15 races in the series.
A firm favourite amongst competitors and fans alike, Spa’s undulating, 7.004km rollercoaster-like layout is famous for inspiring awe-inspiring overtakes and breathtaking wheel-to-wheel duels, while the region’s notoriously unpredictable weather can often play a role.
The TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps represents round two of the 2026 season, and marks a special anniversary for FIA WEC’s headlining Hypercar division. Five years ago, the burgeoning category – currently disputed by eight major automotive manufacturers, with two more set to swell the fray in 2027 in the shape of McLaren and Ford – made its debut at the event.
In evidence of the class’ extraordinary growth, that inaugural campaign saw an average of 3.8 Hypercars per race. In 2026, there are 17 entries on a permanent basis – and the category is more competitive than ever.
Last year in Belgium, an astonishing 13 crews all finished on the lead lap – with the podium- occupying trio blanketed by barely five seconds – while at Imola just over a fortnight ago, an unprecedented 0.073 seconds covered the first four qualifiers in Hyperpole, as under half-a- second separated the entire top half of the field.
FP1 at Spa
Ferrari topped the timesheets in the Hypercar category in FP1 in Belgium, as the Turkish Corvette went quickest in LMGT3.
Hypercar
• Track action for the 2026 TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps took place
under cloudy skies and cool ambient and track temperatures this morning
• Ferrari led Aston Martin as Antonio Fuoco logged a best lap of 2m02.955s in the #50
Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar – an effort that was 0.564s ahead of the #009 Heart
of Racing Team Aston Martin Valkyrie
• Alex Riberas punched in a 2m03.523s lap to boost the US-entered team as it looks to
kick on from its debut FIA WEC season in 2025
• Alpine showed it could be in the mix come Saturday afternoon, as the #36 A424
crewed by Jules Gounon, Frédéric Makowiecki and Victor Martins placed third;
Makowiecki, who memorably led the 2025 race for Les Bleus, set the lap of
2m03.523s
• Robert Kubica’s early 2m03.650s run was good enough for fourth at the chequered
flag, as the yellow Ferrari started the Spa weekend strongly
• Alpine delivered strength in numbers over the 90-minute session, with the #35 car
driven by António Félix da Costa, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi taking fifth
position
• Completing the top six in Hypercar was the first of the local favourite BMW entries,
operated by the Team WRT concern based just a few miles from the circuit; the #20
M Hybrid V8 of René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde just outpaced the
sister #15 car of home hero Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin
Magnussen, which sat seventh
• Rounding out the top ten in the first practice session were the second #007 Heart of
Racing Team Aston Martin of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble, the #94 Team
Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 and the 2025-winning #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P
• The running was interrupted by a brief Full Course Yellow called to remove debris
from the track, prior to concluding with a red flag in the final minute due to the
stranded #92 Porsche at the exit of the Fagnes Chicane
LMGT3
• Racing Team Turkey by TF continued to show significant potential as Salih Yoluç,
Charlie Eastwood and Peter Dempsey headed the times in an immensely close
LMGT3 category
• The Turkish flag-entered Corvette peaked on a 2m18.034s lap claimed by Eastwood,
but its session was not without drama after Dempsey indulged in a quick spin at Les
Combes prior to continuing without issue
• Ferrari started strongly, with the #21 VISTA AF Corse 296 Evo of Simon Mann,
François Hériau and Alessio Rovera just 0.366s off the pace-setting Corvette;
Rovera, a former winner at Spa, registered the peak time of 2m22.047s
• The Garage 59 McLaren claimed third position with the #10 car that set pole at Imola
last month; a best time of 2m18.504s set by Tom Fleming completed a solid session
for the squad
• The Akkodis ASP Team-run Lexus placed fourth, with its #87 car crewed by José
María López, Petru Umbrărescu and Clemens Schmid posting a best of 2m18.565s
• Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG made it five manufacturers inside the top five positions,
with the #61 entry of Martin Berry, Rui Andrade and local legend Maxime Martin
ending the session on a 2m18.763s
• That time was two tenths quicker than the #58 Garage 59 McLaren, with the British
marque the only manufacturer to get two cars into the top six during the session
FP2 at Spa
Alpine climbed to the top of the Hypercar timesheets in Thursday’s afternoon practice
session in Belgium as the French manufacturer went one-two at a happy hunting-ground,while Aston Martin led the way in LMGT3.
Hypercar
• Alpine Endurance Team set the pace in the day’s second 90-minute free practice
session, as the 35 entries for the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps
continued preparations for Saturday’s second round of the 2026 FIA World
Endurance Championship campaign
• Jules Gounon set a peak time of 2m01.816s in the #36 Alpine A424 Hypercar that he
will share with countrymen Frédéric Makowiecki and Victor Martins
• That effort bettered the 2m02.090s lap achieved by the #35 sister car, as António
Félix da Costa, Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg completed the first ever
Alpine one-two in a FIA WEC Hypercar session
• Improving its pace and performance from FP1, BMW M Team WRT placed third with
the #20 car crewed by Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde, as the
local squad continued to showcase its new-look BMW Hypercar
• The sister #15 BMW placed fifth, sandwiching the highest of the two Heart of Racing
Team Aston Martin entries, with Marco Sørensen posting the quickest lap time in the
#009; similarly running just two drivers in Belgium, the sister #007 Valkyrie claimed
the eighth-fastest lap
• The highest-placed Ferrari in the session was the FP1-topping #50 Ferrari AF Corse
499P, as the Prancing Horse looks to repeat its 2025 victory with the #51 car
• Team Peugeot TotalEnergies placed seventh with the #94 9X8, as the ‘Lions’
predominantly focused on a long stint programme during FP2
• The top ten was completed by the #83 AF Corse Ferrari in ninth, and the #7 TOYOTA
RACING entry, with the Japanese manufacturer appearing to struggle for outright
speed after its win in the curtain-raising contest at Imola last month
• The session was interrupted by two red flag periods, the first for track clearance
procedures and the second for the retrieval of the Tom Van Rompuy-driven #78
Akkodis ASP Team Lexus LMGT3 car
LMGT3
• The returning Eduardo Barrichello, now piloting the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Team
Martin Vantage he shares with Gray Newell and Jonny Adam, headed the times
• The Brazilian stopped the clocks on a 2m17.769s to outpace the pursuing pack by
0.202s, but Newell incurred a five-minute stop-and-go penalty for track limit violations in the final moments of the session
• At the head of the chase was the Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette, which
continued to show significant speed after topping FP1 – but the #34 entry was also
handed a five-minute stop-and-go penalty for track abuse violations during the
session
• Third in LMGT3 in FP2 was the #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG driven by Matteo
Cressoni, Lin Hodenius and Johannes Zelger
• The #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari continued to show strong pace in free practice as
Simon Mann, François Hériau and Alessio Rovera, as the trio chase back-to-back
victories at Spa after their 2025 success
• Akkodis ASP Team concluded proceedings in fifth and sixth positions, as the #78
Lexus led the #87 RC F, but the session ended dramatically for the squad as Tom
Van Rompuy lost a wheel in sector three
FP3 at Spa
Cadillac leapt to the top of the Hypercar timesheets in a closely-contested final free practice session in Belgium today as Garage 59’s pair of McLarens set the pace in LMGT3.
Hypercar
• Will Stevens catapulted Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA to the summit of the standings in
the final free practice session in preparation for tomorrow’s TotalEnergies 6 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps
• The British ace, who won at Spa in a JOTA Porsche two years ago, set a peak lap
time of 2m02.379s as the American manufacturer looks for its second FIA WEC
victory after breaking its duck at Interlagos last July
• Stevens’ time was a slender 0.023s ahead of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P crewed
by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson; the Pole set an early session best of
2m02.402s
• Aston Martin Heart of Racing Team continued to show very encouraging pace, as the
#007 Valkyrie took third position with Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble sharing the
cockpit
• The #38 Cadillac V-Series.R ended the session with the fourth-best time on a
2m02.469s, as Sébastien Bourdais and Earl Bamber are joined by Jack Aitken this
weekend. The top four are separated by a remarkable 0.104s
• The pair of factory run Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercars take fifth and sixth positions
with the 2025 winning #51 Ferrari just outpacing the #50 499P. Just 0.5s covered the
top six in FP3
• Team Peugeot TotalEnergies take seventh spot with the #93 9X8 driven by Stoffel
Vandoorne, Nick Cassidy and Paul di Resta all getting seat time in the session
• Alpine mase it five manufacturers inside the top eight with the #35 Alpine A424
Hypercar of António Félix da Costa, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi
• The top ten in Hypercar is rounded out by the #94 Peugeot and the #36 Alpine
• Two Full Course Yellow periods occur in FP3 with both being deployed to remove
debris from the track
LMGT3
• Finn Gehrsitz set the quickest time in FP3, taking the #58 Garage 59 McLaren
LMGT3 to a best of 2m17.068s. Gehrsitz will be aiming for a second consecutive
category pole later today after his 2025 success with Akkodis ASP Lexus
• That lap proved to be just a tiny 0.004s ahead of the sister Garage 59 McLaren. Tom
Flemming continued his impressive form so far in his debut WEC season
• Chasing the McLaren’s was the #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari as Francois Heriau,
Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera were again able to show strong pace and
consistency
• The #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus piloted by Hadrien David, Tom Van Rompuy and
Esteban Masson took fourth position, fighting back solidly from being stranded on
track following a lost wheel in FP2 on Thursday afternoon
• Completing the top six in LMGT3 is The Bend Manthey Porsche 911GT3 R as
Riccardo Pera claimed a strong 2m18.368 laps. But the Porsche stops on track with Richard Lietz was at the wheel. That caused a third Full Course as the reigning
champion stopped on track at Stavelot
• Sixth was the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage crewed by Ian James,
Mattia Drudi and Zacharie Robichon as they look to fight back after a difficult firstround at Imola when they were forced to retire. by Mellissa Warren
