Garage 59 experienced all the emotions of endurance racing in the 6 Hours of Imola earlier this month, from the elation of securing pole position at its inaugural attempt to the heartbreak of retiring from the lead of the race with barely half-an-hour left on the clock.
Having taken over the running of McLaren’s pair of 720S LMGT3 Evos from United Autosports – as the latter prepares to step up to the headlining Hypercar category with the famous British supercar marque next year – Garage 59 made its FIA World Endurance Championship bow in the 2026 curtain-raising contest in Italy, and immediately signalled its intent.
After Antares Au had safely progressed through the opening part of qualifying in ninth position, Tom Fleming produced a tremendous effort on his maiden appearance in the series to top the timesheets by almost a quarter-of-a-second in the Hyperpole shootout – in so doing, pocketing the first LMGT3 pole of the season.
Fellow FIA WEC newcomer Au then maintained that advantage when the starting lights went out, soaking up the pressure from the Lexuses behind in the early stages before benefitting from some welcome breathing room when his pursuers began to squabble.
The #10 McLaren conceded the lead during the initial flurry of pit-stops, but when Fleming climbed into the cockpit for the mid-phase of the race, the chase was reignited, and the rising British star – just 23 years of age – pulled off a brilliant pass on Corvette rival Jonny Edgar shortly after the four-hour mark following a thrilling, crowd-pleasing duel.
That reinstated the pole-sitting car at the front of the 18-strong LMGT3 class field, and within the space of only half-an-hour, Fleming had opened up a margin of more than 25 seconds prior to handing over to Marvin Kirchhöfer to drive to the end. The trio looked to have done enough to secure a memorable triumph on Garage 59’s FIA WEC debut – but then came a reminder that it’s never over until the chequered flag has flown.
Five-and-a-half hours in, an alternator issue put paid to the British outfit’s victory bid, and while Fleming was subsequently presented with the fan-voted Goodyear Wingfoot Award for his impressive performance weekend-long, the late retirement was a bitter pill to swallow.
“It would have been great to come away with some good points but unfortunately, racing is quite a cruel mistress,” mused the Essex-born ace. “After the third round of pit-stops, I got in the car and made quick work of the BMW in front, but it looked like the #33 Corvette tried to undercut us by taking fewer tyres than we did, so it was a battle to firstly get onto the back of him before I could have a go at passing.
“Eventually, going through Variante Alta, I managed to set up the move for the back straight and got the inside line that I wanted, and then the rest of the stint was really quite tense because of the changing conditions. The track was generally dry but you didn’t know which part of the circuit would remain dry at any given point.
“What happened at the end was gutting, especially as my team-mates and the entire team had done such an amazing job, but I think everybody here can be extremely proud of what we’ve all achieved.”
In the sister #58 McLaren, Alexander West, Benji Goethe and Finn Gehrsitz fought their way through the pack from 16th on the grid to claim a points-scoring finish in seventh. The campaign continues with round two – the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium – on 7-9 May.
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