Tom Fleming was a late arrival to the track for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Barcelona presented by Visit Qatar (16-18 October), but the Garage 59 driver is rapidly making up for lost time – as evidenced by a superb display to secure LMGT3 class pole position for the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign.
Fleming is one of a number of competitors on double duty as he concurrently competes in the GT World Challenge season finale at Portimão, meaning the rising British star missed the entirety of Friday’s free practice sessions and got his first laps around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in this morning’s hour-long FP3 session.
He climbed back into the cockpit of Garage 59’s #10 McLaren 720S Evo for the 10-minute Hyperpole shootout, after team-mate Antares Au successfully advanced beyond the initial qualifying stage for just the second time. In Fleming’s only previous Hyperpole appearance – during the curtain-raising contest at Imola back in April – he had grabbed the top spot on the grid. In Spain today, he repeated the feat.
“Credit to the team for constantly performing at a high level and giving us a really good package,” commented the 24-year-old – an FIA WEC rookie this season. “Having missed FP1 and FP2, there was a lot for me to absorb, but Antares, Marvin [Kirchhöfer] and the entire team did an amazing job in setting the car up, which made the transition as easy as possible. It’s nice to be back on the front row and to keep my 100 per cent Hyperpole streak going!”
Posting the quickest two times of the session to cement McLaren’s fifth LMGT3 pole, Fleming ultimately wound up a slender 0.122 seconds clear of Riccardo Pera in the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R. Simon Mann placed third in VISTA AF Corse’s Ferrari 296 Evo, as the Prancing Horse bids to bring to an end an 11-race winless run in the production-based category.
Having largely struggled during free practice in Spain, both Corvette Z06.Rs took a significant step forward in qualifying, with the championship-leading #33 TF Sport entry progressing to Hyperpole for the first time in 2026 in the hands of Ben Keating. Jonny Edgar duly exploited the opportunity to grab fourth on the grid, as he aims to extend his margin at the summit of the standings.
Rui Andrade sealed fifth in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, with Sean Gelael rounding out the top six for Team WRT in the #32 BMW M4 Evo. Aston Martin, meanwhile, has work to do on Sunday, with neither of the Heart of Racing Team cars making the top ten, as Ian James in the title-chasing #27 Vantage AMR brought up the rear of the 18-strong order.
The inaugural 6 Hours of Barcelona presented by Visit Qatar will begin at 12:00 local time (CEST) tomorrow (Sunday, 18 October).
Check out the full LMGT3 qualifying and Hyperpole times.
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