Garage 59 stars while WRT shows championship potential on WEC opening weekend

LMGT3 had a bit of everything on Sunday at Imola. Daring overtakes, rock-solid defensive drives, sudden retirements, wheel-to-wheel moments, bold strategic moves and late drama that turned the race result on its head. In the fallout, it’s a challenge to reflect on, because the big talking point, arguably, wasn’t the performance of the team that won, WRT; it was the performance of the team that came oh so close: Garage 59.

In the build-up to the 6 Hours of Imola, RACER visited Woking and McLaren Automotive’s new head of motorsport, Giorgio Sanna, to discuss the brand’s strategy in GT racing. One of the big takeaways was the Italian’s confidence that 2026 would be a big year for the brand in the WEC’s LMGT3 class.

With a new team representing the brand and a strong, balanced driver line-up, Sanna was bullish: “Garage 59 was ready to start if the season began in Qatar as planned. They worked very well during the winter and were preparing themselves in the best way possible, together with us and United Autosports (which has shifted its focus to taking McLaren to Hypercar).

“We are optimistic for the start of the season, and I believe that we will be very competitive right away. We are working hard on fine-tuning the car, and I think we also have the right drivers. The team has worked hard to improve their organisation and raise the bar. They are on the right path.”

Looking back, he was absolutely right to be confident. Through the entire week in Imola, Garage 59 stole the show in LMGT3. It was fast and metronomic in the Prologue test, took pole on Saturday and came just over half an hour away from winning on its WEC debut before an broken alternator dropped its lead car out of the top 10.

The team operated its cars pretty much flawlessly from the first session on Tuesday onwards, and its three drivers in the No. 10 (Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhöfer), all rookies to the WEC, didn’t put a foot wrong.

Garage 59 is not a brand new team; it’s been around the block many times since it was founded in 2016, winning races and titles in Europe with Aston Martin and McLaren. And notably, two of its co-owners, Andrew Kirkaldy and Chris Goodwin, formed part of the original McLaren GT set-up during the 12C and 650S GT3 eras.

Stepping up to the LMGT3 class of the WEC for the first time was never going to be a simple task, though. The competition is red hot, the team had very limited running on the Goodyear tyres in the off-season, and, unlike the SRO series it is used to, all cars run with torque sensors. And yet, to the team’s credit, sitting at the back of the post-race Mixed Zone last night was Kirchhöfer, left in shock and visibly disappointed that the team didn’t win its first race.

“I’m more upset than angry,” he told RACER. “I’m so so proud of the outstanding job this team did, coming here as rookies. Thomas (Fleming) hasn’t done a WEC season, Antares (Au) hasn’t, I haven’t, the team hasn’t, yet after the final pit stops, we led the race. I’m just so sorry for the guys because they worked so hard to prep the car, and then you run out of luck with 35 minutes to go.

“I don’t even know what happened. I just lost all power, and the car switched off three times. The only goal I had was to make it back to the pits; I didn’t want to stop on track and cause a safety car. I couldn’t believe it.”

WRT ultimately led BMW to another Imola victory. Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

Looking at the bigger picture, Garage 59 must take the positives away from last week and build on them when the trucks unload at Spa next month. This is a team that looks like it can be a force all season long if it can regularly unlock the McLaren GT3 EVO’s full potential.

Its engineers are clearly on the ball already with the ruleset, and with the No. 10 in particular, it has a driver crew that can match any other in the field. Au is a strong Bronze, young Thomas Fleming looks a revelation as a Silver and Kirchhöfer is a factory driver with the speed and racecraft to fight any other pro at the end of a race.

“Garage 59 has many guys I rate highly,” Kirchhöfer continued. “We have a strong engineering side, the mechanics are skilled, and the drivers we have are strong. The team has grown in recent years. I’m proud; I am sure we will be good for the rest of the year. I just wish they had been rewarded.”

The misfortune that Garage 59 suffered, of course, shouldn’t take anything away from WRT’s victory, though. Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Dan Harper also have all the ingredients to challenge for a title this year, should the M4’s form outside of Imola – still the only circuit BMW has LMGT3 wins at – improve.

And WRT winning, it must be noted, was a welcome positive end note after a tough weekend for the wider BMW family. Setting aside the performances of the brand’s cars in the WEC and IMSA, Saturday’s serious incident at the Nürburgring, which claimed the life of Juha Miettinen, who was racing a ‘stock’ 325i in the Nürburgring 24 Hours Qualifiers event, made Sunday’s race a particularly emotional affair.

“We did an excellent job, we were not the strongest car, but strong enough to be in the mix. Of course, the McLaren was ahead and had a technical issue. But I would like to take a moment to dedicate this win to Juha. He was taken by his passion,” WRT boss Vincent Vosse said to RACER.

“Our sport stays a dangerous sport, we all hope that it doesn’t happen, and it must not happen, but it will happen again. We have to make sure every time we work to improve safety. That’s all I have to say.”