Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Saturday, May 9, 2026
Peugeot Claims Maiden WEC Hypercar Pole Position at Spa
Malthe Jakobsen delivered a landmark moment for Peugeot by claiming the manufacturer’s first-ever FIA World Endurance Championship pole position in Friday’s qualifying for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The Dane posted a 2:00.653 in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8, edging Charles Milesi’s No. 35 Alpine by just 0.078 seconds. Will Stevens in the No. 12 Jota Cadillac V-Series.R completed the front row, a further 0.043 seconds adrift. The top ten Hypercars were separated by a mere 0.664 seconds, setting a new Hypercar Hyperpole record and promising a fiercely competitive six-hour race on Saturday afternoon.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
Ford in Active Discussions with Verstappen Over Future Le Mans Hypercar Drive
Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has confirmed that the manufacturer is in ongoing discussions with four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen about a potential future Le Mans Hypercar drive. Ford will debut in the WEC’s top class in 2027 with an LMDh prototype, and Rushbrook indicated that a Verstappen entry would not be possible during that debut season but could materialise via a third car at Le Mans in subsequent years. Verstappen, who remains under Red Bull contract until the end of 2028, has shown growing interest in endurance racing and will compete in next week’s Nürburgring 24 Hours in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
McLaren Signs Vanthoor as Second Driver for 2027 Hypercar Programme
McLaren Racing has signed 2024 WEC Hypercar World Drivers’ Champion Laurens Vanthoor as the second confirmed driver for its 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship entry. The Belgian joins Danish racer Mikkel Jensen, who drove the MCL-HY during its maiden track test at Varano de’ Melegari, Italy, earlier this week. Vanthoor will split duties in 2027 between a full WEC season with McLaren and an IMSA GTP Endurance Cup campaign with Porsche Penske Motorsport before becoming exclusive to McLaren when his Porsche contract expires at the end of 2028. The MCL-HY is an LMDh prototype powered by a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
Toyota and Ferrari Left Playing Catch-Up After Difficult Spa Qualifying
Championship leader Toyota and reigning Le Mans winner Ferrari both endured miserable qualifying sessions at Spa-Francorchamps, with neither manufacturer placing a car inside the top ten in Hypercar Hyperpole. Kamui Kobayashi qualified the No. 7 Toyota TR010 Hybrid in 12th position, while Brendon Hartley’s No. 8 car — winner of the Imola season-opener — could manage only 16th. Ferrari fared little better, with the No. 83 AF Corse entry in 13th and the factory No. 51 car in 15th. Both marques face a significant challenge to recover through the field during Saturday’s six-hour race at the 7.004-kilometre Belgian circuit.
Sources: Motorsport.com
WEC Spa Race Day: 17 Hypercars From 14 Manufacturers Set for Six-Hour Battle
The TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps gets underway at 14:00 CEST on Saturday with 17 Hypercars and 18 LMGT3 entries representing 14 different manufacturers on the grid. Toyota arrives as championship leader following its milestone victory at Imola but starts from the back half of the Hypercar field after a poor qualifying session. Peugeot will lead the field away from its maiden pole position, with Jota’s Cadillac alongside on the front row. BMW M Team WRT fields seasonal debutants Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor in the No. 20 car, while Jota celebrates its 80th WEC start.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
Cadillac Tops Final Practice at Spa as Stevens Sets the Pace
Will Stevens catapulted the No. 12 Jota Cadillac V-Series.R to the top of the timesheets in the final free practice session ahead of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Stevens posted a best lap of 2:02.379 to head the AF Corse Ferrari and Aston Martin in the Hypercar class during the 60-minute FP3 session on Friday morning. The result underlined the growing competitiveness of Cadillac’s Hypercar programme at Spa, where the American manufacturer’s entries had shown consistent pace throughout the practice sessions. Stevens and co-driver Norman Nato went on to qualify the car on the front row later in the day.
Sources: RACER
Lexus Takes LMGT3 Pole at Spa as Rookie David Shines in Qualifying
Rookie Hadrien David delivered a stellar performance to put the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 on pole position for the LMGT3 class at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. David posted a best time of 2:16.612 in the Hyperpole shootout, beating Zacharie Robichon’s No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 by just under two tenths of a second. The No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang completed the top three, making it three different manufacturers on the first three grid positions. Clemens Schmid placed the sister No. 87 Lexus fourth, with the No. 88 Proton Ford Mustang fifth.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Tunjo Tops IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge Qualifying at COTA
Oscar Tunjo, the overall Airbnb Endurance Challenge points leader, claimed pole position for Saturday’s two-hour race at Circuit of The Americas. The Colombian driver topped the timesheets in qualifying for the LMP3-only endurance event, which for the first time uses the full 3.4-mile Grand Prix circuit at COTA rather than the shorter National Course. A new regulatory change requires competitors to make two mandatory timed pit stops during the race, with the window opening after the first 15 minutes and closing 15 minutes before the chequered flag. Tunjo is seeking his first COTA victory after heartbreak at the Austin venue in 2025.
Sources: IMSA
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. Brendon Hartley / Ryō Hirakawa / Sébastien Buemi — 25 pts
2. Alessandro Pier Guidi / Antonio Giovinazzi / James Calado — 19 pts
3. Kamui Kobayashi / Mike Conway / Nyck de Vries — 15 pts
4. António Félix da Costa / Charles Milesi / Ferdinand Habsburg — 12 pts
5. René Rast / Robin Frijns — 10 pts
6. Antonio Fuoco / Miguel Molina / Nicklas Nielsen — 8 pts
7. Kevin Magnussen / Raffaele Marciello — 6 pts
8. Earl Bamber / Sébastien Bourdais — 4 pts
9. Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble — 2 pts
10. Philip Hanson / Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye — 1 pts
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. Toyota — 40 pts
2. Ferrari — 27 pts
3. BMW — 16 pts
4. Alpine — 13 pts
5. Cadillac — 4 pts
6. Aston Martin — 2 pts
7. Peugeot — 0 pts
8. Genesis — 0 pts
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. Julien Andlauer / Felipe Nasr — 1,061 pts
2. Laurin Heinrich — 1,026 pts
3. Jack Aitken / Frederik Vesti — 1,023 pts
4. Kevin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor — 977 pts
5. Renger van der Zande / Nick Yelloly — 952 pts
6. Sheldon van der Linde / Dries Vanthoor — 891 pts
7. Tom Blomqvist / Colin Braun — 820 pts
8. Louis Deletraz / Jordan Taylor — 808 pts
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. Porsche Penske Motorsport (#7) — 1,061 pts
2. Cadillac Whelen (#31) — 1,023 pts
3. Porsche Penske Motorsport (#6) — 977 pts
4. Acura Meyer Shank Racing (#93) — 952 pts
5. BMW M Team WRT (#24) — 891 pts
6. Acura Meyer Shank Racing (#60) — 820 pts
7. Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing (#40) — 808 pts
8. JDC-Miller MotorSports (#5) — 789 pts
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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