Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
BMW Scores Maiden Hypercar Win at Spa in Dramatic WEC Race
BMW claimed its maiden World Endurance Championship Hypercar victory on Saturday, ending a winless run of 18 race starts since the programme’s debut. The #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh of René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns started from 11th on the grid but leapt to the lead after Team WRT short-fuelled the car during its first pitstop. The BMW proved the fastest car in race conditions, and despite four safety car periods in the closing hours, Frijns held on for victory. Kevin Magnussen’s rearguard driving in the sister #15 BMW fended off a charging Ferrari to seal a BMW 1-2 at Spa.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Frijns: BMW’s Spa Win Was “a Race We Had to Win”
Robin Frijns described “relief” after finally delivering BMW’s maiden WEC victory in its 18th Hypercar race start. Speaking after Saturday’s result at Spa, Frijns revealed the team had deliberately traded qualifying pace for race performance with its updated LMDh package. “We gave up a little bit in qualifying, but in the race we saw that it actually was working,” said Frijns. The Dutchman described the final stints as pressure-filled, with each safety car restart erasing his gap to the pack. He credited engineer Adam for calling the aggressive short-fuel strategy. BMW now leads both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ WEC championships heading into the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Jakobsen Delivers Peugeot’s First WEC Pole in 15 Years at Spa
Malthe Jakobsen delivered a stunning lap to give Peugeot its first World Endurance Championship pole position in 15 years during Friday qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps. The 22-year-old Dane set a 2:00.653 in the #94 Peugeot 9X8, pushing Alpine’s Charles Milesi aside by 0.078 seconds, with Cadillac’s Will Stevens a further 0.043 seconds back in third. The result was historically significant: Peugeot had last claimed a world championship sportscar pole in 1992. Jakobsen recovered from a high-speed spin at Raidillon earlier in the session, returning to the pits for fresh tyres before his decisive push lap. The achievement marks a meaningful step forward for the French manufacturer’s WEC programme.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Toyota Denies Sandbagging After Spa Qualifying Struggles, Eyes Le Mans
Toyota technical director David Floury denied sandbagging after both TR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercars failed to reach Q2 at Spa, qualifying 12th and 16th. Three weeks after winning at Imola, Toyota found the high-speed Belgian circuit a poor fit. “The characteristic of the track doesn’t seem to suit our car,” Floury admitted, though he noted Toyota improved its qualifying lap time by three tenths compared to 2025. The #8 car’s race was further compromised when the team was “too aggressive on strategy” during a late safety car, requiring a second pit stop. Floury raised explicit concerns about Le Mans performance given the circuit’s high-speed similarity to Spa.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Vanthoor to Join McLaren’s 2027 WEC Hypercar Programme on Porsche Loan Deal
Multiple GT World Challenge champion Laurens Vanthoor will join McLaren’s 2027 WEC Hypercar programme while remaining under Porsche contract through the end of that season. The Belgian was confirmed ahead of the Spa race in a loan deal, under which McLaren thanked Porsche for enabling Vanthoor to participate in the MCL-HY test programme beginning this month at Imola. In 2027, Vanthoor will contest the full WEC season with McLaren while running only the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds in IMSA for Porsche Penske. His Porsche tenure concludes after 2027. Vanthoor’s stated primary goal is winning Le Mans outright, an objective now reachable through McLaren’s programme from 2028 onwards.
Sources: Autosport
Ford Confirms Regular Verstappen WEC Discussions as 2027 Entry Takes Shape
Ford Performance director Mark Rushbrook confirmed the brand holds regular discussions with Max Verstappen about a potential future WEC Hypercar drive ahead of Ford’s planned 2027 series entry. “We love Max. We have regular discussions with him about what are the opportunities to do more in sportscar, including Hypercar,” Rushbrook told Motorsport.com at Spa. Verstappen himself raced a Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the Nürburgring 24 Hours this weekend. Any WEC appearance remains contingent on his Red Bull Formula 1 contract running through end of 2028. Ford’s confirmed 2027 WEC driver lineup is Logan Sargeant, Mike Rockenfeller and Sebastian Priaulx, with the LMDh prototype due to begin testing later this year.
Sources: Autosport
Heinrich Delivers JDC-Miller First GTP Win in Historic Privateer Breakthrough at Laguna Seca
Laurin Heinrich produced a decisive last-lap move to deliver JDC-Miller MotorSports its first GTP class win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, advancing from third to first on the run to the final corner. Heinrich drove the #5 Porsche 963 alongside co-driver Tijmen van der Helm. The victory was a landmark: the first GTP win by a privateer customer team in the era, previously monopolised by factory outfits from Porsche Penske Motorsport, BMW M Team RLL and Cadillac Racing. Heinrich now leads the GTP driver championship by 21 points over Jack Aitken with the next WeatherTech round at Detroit’s street circuit on May 30.
Sources: IMSA
AF Corse Ferrari Inherits GT World Challenge Brands Hatch Win After Mass Penalty
The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup season opened at Brands Hatch with the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer inheriting victory after nine cars received 30-second post-race penalties for yellow flag violations. Verstappen Racing’s #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo had led until its exclusion, dropping from first to 13th. Optimum Motorsport’s #5 McLaren moved to second in the team’s Sprint Cup debut, with WRT’s #32 BMW M4 GT3 Evo completing the podium. SRO simultaneously announced Brands Hatch will remain on the Sprint Cup calendar through 2028 following an extension with venue operator MotorSport Vision. A record 45-car field contested the season opener.
Sources: DailySportsCar
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. Rast / van der Linde / Frijns (BMW WRT) — 35 pts
2. Hartley / Hirakawa / Buemi (Toyota) — 26 pts
3. S. van der Linde / Frijns (BMW WRT) — 25 pts
4. Kobayashi / Conway / de Vries (Toyota) — 25 pts
5. Magnussen / Marciello (BMW WRT) — 24 pts
6. Fuoco / Molina / Nielsen (Ferrari) — 23 pts
7. Pier Guidi / Giovinazzi / Calado (Ferrari) — 19 pts
8. Vanthoor (Porsche) — 18 pts
9. Tincknell / Gamble — 14 pts
10. da Costa / Milesi / Habsburg — 12 pts
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. BMW M Team WRT — 59 pts
2. Toyota Gazoo Racing — 52 pts
3. Ferrari AF Corse — 42 pts
4. Aston Martin — 14 pts
4. Alpine — 14 pts
6. Peugeot — 9 pts
7. Cadillac — 8 pts
8. Genesis — 6 pts
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. Laurin Heinrich / Tijmen van der Helm (JDC-Miller) — leads by 21 pts
2. Jack Aitken — 2nd
(Full standings pending imsa.com update)
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. Porsche — leads by 52 pts
2. Cadillac
(Full standings pending imsa.com update)
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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