Garage 59 McLaren delivers on its promise with Spa triumph, shaking up the LMGT3 order

Everyone loves a good redemption story, right? Well, Garage 59’s victory at Spa certainly delivered an entertaining and memorable one. Just three weeks after having a win at Imola snatched away by an alternator issue while leading in its LMGT3 debut, the McLaren partner team fought from 15th on the grid to victory with its No. 10 GT3 Evo in only its second FIA World Endurance Championship appearance.

Team co-owner Andrew Kirkaldy described the result as “justice” after the team’s heartbreak in Italy. But this result felt like more than that; it went a long way in proving that the Brackley-based outfit’s head-turning performance at the 2026 curtain-raiser was no fluke.

This is a team that has honed its craft – much like the Spa Hypercar winner WRT – with hard graft in GT World Challenge Europe and at events like the Spa 24 Hours. Its ability to burst out of the starting gates in the WEC LMGT3 field is a testament not only to the early starts and late finishes back at base to prepare for its foray into LMGT3, but also to the level of competition it faces in the SRO’s flagship European series.

“Imola was so hard for us all to take,” Kirkaldy told RACER. “It was all in the bag in our first WEC event, so for it to be taken away like that was horrific. But we reset and were perfect all race, in the pits and out. It was hard work. GT World Challenge is just so strong, and it has a different dynamic, but it’s strong here too. Here we’re the only McLaren team, but the racing is fantastic, and we’re enjoying being a part of it.”

The result, which delivered McLaren its second-ever WEC class victory, appears even more impressive when you consider the adversity that the team’s drivers had to overcome during the weekend. Kirkaldy revealed post-race that throughout the meeting its cars were encountering power steering issues at the point of max compression at Eau Rouge, making it tougher to achieve consistent lap times and forcing its drivers to remain fearless behind the wheel.

“We have to be honest and say this was a really hard week,” he explained. “We had difficulties with the car, with power steering, and the Bronzes were struggling. We had pace, but we weren’t confident.

“The power steering was just locking up halfway through Eau Rouge. Both Antares [Au] and Alex [West], but Antares was struggling with it more so. He and Alex did a brilliant job because it was a problem the whole way through. We’re not the only ones with that issue, but it’s a weird problem we hadn’t encountered in SRO on Pirellis, only on the Goodyear.”

The sister No. 58 car, hampered by a string of drive-throughs for track limits, caused in part by the power steering issue, also achieved a strong points finish in sixth, adding to the team’s impressive day.

“It was incredible really, the journey for that car and the end of the race was mega,” Kirkaldy noted. “Benji [Goethe]’s drive was just awesome; some of the moves he made were impressive. It really was such a good race, I could hardly watch!

“At the end of the day, we’ve had, but together, good line-ups, and the whole team has done such a good job. It’s a new team, really; we’ve built, we’ve split last year’s GT World Challenge team in two and built a new one. Everyone is learning to work together, so to avoid penalties in the pits and get most things spot on is incredible. Just knowing the rules requires a lot of work, and it shows that we put in the hours every day.”

The team overcame some mechanical issues at Spa, but next month brings a whole new level of challenge. Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images

Garage 59 may have caused alarm bells to ring up and down the pit lane with its fast start, but we shouldn’t forget that it’s still early days. In a BoP formula that also features success ballast dealt to the best performing teams for the races outside of Le Mans, no matter how strong the Antares Au-Tom Fleming-Marvin Kirchhöfer combination proves to be across the season, nobody should expect a lengthy winning streak, regardless of how safe a bet it looks.

Lest we forget that Le Mans is up next, and the McLaren GT3 Evo, even with years of data behind it, has never really been the sharpest tool in the box for a 24-hour race. Garage 59 also lacks the experience that most of its competitors have at what can quickly become a grueling 10-day event for teams if things don’t go their way.

“We’ll do our best there, but it’s the first time for our group to really be at Le Mans.” Kirkaldy pointed out. “In previous iterations of the team, like when we were CRS, we were at Le Mans, but it was many years ago. The last time we went with Ferrari, compared to now, there are about two guys who are still with us. It’s going to be a different type of challenge.”

That's next month's problem, though, for now, the team can travel back to the UK, safe in the knowledge that it has put the entire WEC LMGT3 class on notice.