The #74 of Kessel Racing for Blattner, Marschall and Lorenzo Patrese, another son of a former Grand Prix driver placed 9th at Le Mans.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
For the 2026 edition, 25 LMGT3s were entered, including the 18 competing in the full WEC championship. This represents nine manufacturers involved: Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche.
In the first two rounds of the WEC, McLaren particularly stood out, narrowly missing victory at Imola in the final hour due to a mechanical failure, but winning at Spa.
Would the papaya-branded team confirm its form on the unique Le Mans circuit?
Corvette
Against all expectations, the two McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evos played no role in the race, with the #10 finishing 12th and the #58 15th.
The Corvette team was well represented with 4 entries, from left to right the #34, the #33 and the #2 by TF Sport, the #13 coming from the IMSA championship and entered by 13 Autosport.
And the winner is… the #33 driven by businessman but nevertheless fast gentleman driver US Ben Keating accompanied by Jonny Edgar and Nick Catsburg wins with a lap’s lead over his closest pursuer, repeating his victory of 2023.
One year is not the same as another… 10th in its class last year, the #13 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, entered by 13 Autosport, opened the list of retirements following damage sustained by the car in an off-track.
Lexus
Throughout the race, the Lexus RC F LMGT3s entered by the French team Akkodis ASP were at the front of the pack. The #78 of Van Rompuy, David, and Hawksworth finished in second position.
As for the second Lexus, bearing #87, it finishes just off the podium, in 4th position.
Aston Martin
The podium is completed on the 3rd step by the Aston Martin Vantage AMR of the US Heart of Racing Team, whose drivers, in addition to Newell and Adam, include Dudu Barrichello, son of former Grand Prix driver Rubens Barrichello.
As for the other car of the team, which started from pole position thanks to the Italian Mattia Drudi, it had to retire three hours from the finish due to a gearbox failure.
Ferrari
Here are the two Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evos entered by the Vista AF Corse team, during scrutineering in downtown Le Mans.
It is the #21 of Rovera, Heriau and Mann which will record the best performance of a Ferrari, with 5th place in category.
As for the team’s second entry, the #54 of Flohr, Castellacci and Rigon, it ended its race in a gravel trap on Saturday evening.
The three other Ferrari 296s entered achieved a group finish in 8th, 9th and 10th places with, in order, the #150 of the Richard Mille AF Corse team driven by the Brazilian Toledo (country whose colors the car bears), Agostini and Wadoux, one of the two women entered in this edition.
Finally, 10th place for the last Ferrari, the #57 of Kimura, Laursen and Serra, also entered by the Swiss team Kessel Racing.
BMW
The Belgian team WRT entered four BMWs. Two in Hypercar, including the one that finished second, and two in LMGT3. The #69, winner at Imola, sported a special livery reminiscent of the BMW-powered McLaren F1 GTRs in Gulf colors from the 1990s. It had to retire three hours from the finish.
The BMW #32 finished 7th in its category.
Mercedes
In its second appearance at Le Mans, the Mercedes-AMG LMG LMGT3 had another difficult year. The #61 car of Martin, Berry, and Andrade was the second to retire on Saturday.
The #79 followed its sister car in the list of retirements after eleven hours of racing, without having been able to get involved in the fight at the front.
Finally the only Mercedes to finish, the #62 finishes in 16th place in category, twelve laps behind the class winner.
Mustang
Not a great year for the Ford Mustang either, with the #77 dropping out after 17 hours of racing, due to brake problems.
As for her sister, wearing #88, she finished 17th and last in the LMGT3.
Porsche
Porsche celebrated the 75th anniversary of its first participation at Le Mans, a 356 in 1951, by adopting its original livery. The #91, seen here at scrutineering, suffered a violent crash on Sunday morning, leading to its retirement and a one-hour safety car period.
Considered among the favorites, due to the presence at its wheel of Richard Lietz, class winner for the last two years, the #92 lost a lot of time at the beginning of the race following a steering problem and could do no better than 13th in its category.
LMP2
In the LMP2 category, all the cars are identical, equipped with an Oreca chassis and a naturally aspirated 4.2-liter Gibson V8 engine. One might think that this would make the competition more open and that a single competitor’s dominance impossible. However, this is not the case at Le Mans, where the Polish team Inter Europol Compétition has been dominating the field for several years. Winners in 2023 and 2025, and runners-up in 2024, they achieved the remarkable feat this year of placing both their cars in the top two positions in the category.
So it is the #43 led by Smiechowski, Dillmann and Yelloly, the winning crew in 2025, that repeats the feat.
The team’s second car, driven by Garg, de Gérus and Müller, completes the triumph of the Polish team.
It should be mentioned that the #30 of the Duqueine Team, driven by Andlauer, Verschoor and the French woman Doriane Pin, made life difficult for the Polish team and was in contention for the victory until a brake disc failure caused its retirement 3 1/2 hours from the finish.
Another point to mention is the performance of the #37 car driven by Closmenil, Aguilera, and Jensen, all three aged 19, making them the youngest crew ever to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They finished 5th in the LMP2 category.
The LMP2 category includes a Pro-Am class for less experienced crews. This class was won by the #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR car of Kurtz, Quinn, and Heinrich.
The 3rd place in Pro-Am went to the #99 of AO by TF usually entered in IMSA and driven by Hyett, Allen and Cameron.
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