Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
BMW Claims Maiden WEC Hypercar Win at Spa With Strategic Masterclass
BMW and Team WRT executed a bold short-fuel strategy to perfection at the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, delivering the manufacturer its first World Endurance Championship Hypercar victory. The No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Rene Rast, Sheldon van der Linde, and Robin Frijns capitalised on a penultimate-hour safety car that bunched the field, with Frijns pulling clear in the final two stints to win by under two seconds. Kevin Magnussen guided the sister No. 15 BMW home in second place, completing a historic 1–2 for the Bavarian manufacturer in front of the Belgian home crowd at WRT’s base circuit.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
Verstappen Headlines Nürburgring 24 Hours Debut With Largest Entry in a Decade
Max Verstappen will make his Nürburgring 24 Hours debut this weekend alongside Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon, and Lucas Auer in a Red Bull-liveried Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by factory-supported Winward Racing. The Dutchman arrives as a pre-race favourite after winning two preparation races in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie earlier this season. The 2026 edition boasts the largest entry list in a decade with 161 cars registered across all classes, and more than 40 GT3 machines will contest the overall victory. BMW, Audi, Ferrari, and Porsche factory crews are expected to provide the sternest opposition on the gruelling Nordschleife layout.
Sources: Autosport
Heinrich’s Last-Lap Pass at Laguna Seca Reshapes IMSA GTP Title Fight
Laurin Heinrich delivered one of the drives of the 2026 IMSA season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, passing Earl Bamber’s Cadillac on the final lap to win the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship for JDC-Miller MotorSports. Heinrich moved from third to first in the closing 14 minutes, first overtaking the No. 25 BMW into Turn 10 before completing the decisive pass through Turns 3 and 4 to win by 0.758 seconds. The 24-year-old German now leads the GTP driver standings with 1,396 points, 21 clear of Jack Aitken, with the Detroit round on May 30 up next.
Sources: IMSA
Peugeot’s Maiden WEC Pole Turns to Heartbreak After Jakobsen Crash at Spa
Malthe Jakobsen secured Peugeot’s first World Endurance Championship pole position at Spa-Francorchamps with a stunning 2:00.653 lap in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8, edging the Jota Cadillac by just 0.043 seconds. The Danish youngster had spun at Raidillon on his outlap and flat-spotted his tyres before recovering to top qualifying. Race day brought disaster in the fourth hour when Matteo Cressoni’s Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 spun into the path of the Peugeot at Les Combes, dealing terminal damage and forcing the French manufacturer into retirement from a race it had led.
Sources: Motorsport.com
World Champion Vanthoor Joins McLaren Hypercar on Porsche Loan Deal
Laurens Vanthoor, the 2024 WEC Hypercar World Drivers’ Champion, has signed with McLaren Racing to spearhead its 2027 World Endurance Championship entry alongside Mikkel Jensen. The Belgian will race the Dallara-based MCL-HY under a loan arrangement with Porsche, combining the McLaren WEC programme with an IMSA GTP Endurance Cup campaign for Porsche Penske Motorsport next year before going exclusive to McLaren in 2028. Vanthoor cited his ambition to win Le Mans outright as the driving force behind the move, an opportunity unavailable at Porsche following the German manufacturer’s withdrawal from the WEC.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
Garage 59 McLaren Wins LMGT3 at Spa to Confirm Imola Pace Was No Fluke
Garage 59 claimed its maiden FIA World Endurance Championship victory at Spa-Francorchamps as the No. 10 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of Antares Au, Tom Fleming, and Marvin Kirchhöfer charged from 15th on the grid to win in just the team’s second WEC start. The Brackley-based squad had seen a potential debut win at Imola slip away after an alternator failure while leading in the final hour, making the Spa triumph a redemptive result for all three first-time WEC winners. The victory underlines the growing competitiveness of McLaren’s GT3 platform in the world championship.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
Ford Confirms Talks With Verstappen About Future WEC Hypercar Role
Ford Performance director Mark Rushbrook has confirmed that the American manufacturer is in regular discussions with Max Verstappen about sportscar opportunities, including a potential seat in Ford’s upcoming WEC Hypercar programme debuting in 2027. Verstappen’s connection to Ford stems from the Red Bull-Ford partnership in Formula 1, though any commitment hinges on calendar availability given his Red Bull F1 contract running until 2028. Ford has so far signed Logan Sargeant, Sebastian Priaulx, and Mike Rockenfeller for its as-yet-unnamed LMDh challenger, which is set for its first test later this year.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Le Mans 2026 Entry List Confirmed With 62 Cars and 186 Drivers
The definitive entry list for the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11–14 features a capacity 62-car grid spanning 18 Hypercar, 19 LMP2, and 25 LMGT3 entries. The Hypercar field has shrunk from 21 to 18 cars following Porsche’s withdrawal from the WEC’s top class, though eight manufacturers remain represented including newcomer Genesis. Ferrari arrives at La Sarthe seeking a fourth consecutive Le Mans victory, while Alpine faces its final appearance at the race before withdrawing from the championship at season’s end. All 186 drivers across the four classes have been confirmed.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
McLaren MCL-HY Completes First Track Shakedown Ahead of 2027 WEC Debut
McLaren Racing’s MCL-HY Hypercar completed a successful two-day rollout at the Autodromo Riccardo Paletti in Varano de’ Melegari, Italy, hitting the team’s ambitious May 4 target date. Factory driver Mikkel Jensen took the first laps in the Dallara-based LMDh prototype, followed by McLaren development driver Grégoire Saucy. The first day ran entirely to plan while rain delayed the second session before the team resumed running at full power once conditions cleared. The shakedown marks a significant milestone for McLaren’s return to top-level endurance racing ahead of its planned 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. S. Buemi / B. Hartley / R. Hirakawa — 25 pts
2. A. Pier Guidi / J. Calado / A. Giovinazzi — 19 pts
3. M. Conway / K. Kobayashi / N. de Vries — 15 pts
4. A. Felix da Costa / C. Milesi / F. Habsburg — 12 pts
5. R. Frijns / R. Rast / S. van der Linde — 10 pts
6. A. Fuoco / M. Molina / N. Nielsen — 8 pts
7. K. Magnussen / R. Marciello — 6 pts
8. E. Bamber / S. Bourdais — 4 pts
9. H. Tincknell / T. Gamble — 2 pts
10. Y. Yifei / R. Kubica / P. Hanson — 1 pt
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. Toyota Racing — 40 pts
2. Ferrari AF Corse — 27 pts
3. BMW M Team WRT — 16 pts
4. Alpine Endurance Team — 12 pts
5. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA — 4 pts
6. Aston Martin THOR Team — 2 pts
7. AF Corse — 1 pt
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. L. Heinrich / T. van der Helm — 1,396 pts
2. J. Aitken / F. Vesti — 1,375 pts
3. J. Andlauer / F. Nasr — 1,323 pts
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. JDC-Miller MotorSports — 1,396 pts
2. Cadillac Racing — 1,375 pts
3. Porsche Penske Motorsport — 1,323 pts
Curated by JD · samwise.agency