Having looked set to triumph on its maiden appearance in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the 2026 curtain-raising contest at Imola, Garage 59 got the job done second time out at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend (7-9 May) – a result that Tom Fleming attributed to the British outfit’s ‘strength of character’.
After taking over the running of the pair of McLaren 720S Evos from Hypercar-bound United Autosports, Garage 59 joined the fiercely-disputed LMGT3 category field in Italy and was barely half-an-hour from the chequered flag when an alternator failure forced the #10 crew into retirement from the lead. Three weeks on, there was to be no repeat of that late-race heartbreak – although on Friday afternoon in the Ardennes, victory looked to be a decidedly distant prospect...
Neither Garage 59 entry succeeded in advancing beyond the initial phase of qualifying, with Antares Au managing no better than 15th on the 18-strong grid in the Imola pole-sitting car – four spots behind stablemate Alexander West in the #58 McLaren.
Rapidly making amends – despite having to contend with power steering issues – Au worked his way up into the top ten in the race before handing over to Fleming, who gave another demonstration of why he was voted the Goodyear Wingfoot Award winner in the season-opener by scything incisively through the pack.
After overhauling Racing Team Turkey by TF’s Peter Dempsey and Spa Hyperpole star Hadrien David in Akkodis ASP Team’s #78 Lexus, the young Brit closed down a 23-second deficit to LMGT3 class leader Simon Mann in the #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari. He had reduced the gap to next-to-nothing when the two cars peeled into the pits in unison approaching the four-hour mark.
Marvin Kirchhöfer subsequently settled into the cockpit and set about piling the pressure on Alessio Rovera ahead, until news filtered through that the Ferrari had picked up a penalty for an unsafe release. From that moment on, the German knew he needed only to stay within five seconds of his Italian rival to ensure Garage 59 of victory – and that is exactly what he did.
“My team-mates did an outstanding job, especially to keep us away from penalties, which was a big deciding factor in getting to the front,” Kirchhöfer reflected. “About 15 or 20 minutes into my stint, the team told me the Ferrari had received a penalty – our crew was super-strong in the pit-stops, and basically, we forced them into a mistake.
“We had a very good car underneath us all weekend, and I’m very pleased that we could bounce back so quickly after Imola. There, it was looking like a bit of a dream coming in as a rookie team and rookie drivers, leading most of the race, so not making it to the end was very painful – probably one of the most painful ones I’ve had. This one feels great, and the team very much deserves it.”
Notably, the #10 McLaren became only the fourth car ever to win in FIA WEC without leading a single lap, and the first since 2019. It was also just the fourth car to prevail from a starting position of 15th or lower – with Au playing an essential early role.
“I’m the one who put the team in a hole in qualifying, so I figured I’d better find a way to dig us out of it!” joked the first driver from Hong Kong to reach the top step of the rostrum in the series. “We were fortunate that we had good pace relative to the others and we kept our noses relatively clean – we may not have been the outright fastest, but we managed to bang out lap after lap.
“I cannot be more thankful for the people I’m working with. This is a team sport – we win together and we lose together. I’ve raced at Spa many times and been on the podium here before, but this is probably the most special one.”
“It was redemption,” echoed 23-year-old Fleming. “The whole crew at Imola, on their debut and with a lot of pressure going into the weekend, did everything right, and with 35 minutes to go, it all went to pot.
“This journey hasn’t been without its challenges, but it is testament to the strength of character of this team that we bounced back from that heartbreak and also from the difficult times we had at Spa. The drivers, the mechanics and all of the staff here have been exceptional, and I couldn’t be happier.”
McLaren is the first marque to win in LMGT3 with two different teams, and with the sister Garage 59 car taking the chequered flag fifth in Belgium in the hands of West, Finn Gehrsitz and Benji Goethe – the latter producing a sensational final stint to gain no fewer than eight positions – Team Principal, Andrew Kirkaldy, was quick to pay tribute to a flawless collective effort from the driving seat to the pit wall.
“After the massive disappointment at Imola, everyone worked so hard to make sure we could bounce back quickly,” the Scot acknowledged. “The pit-stops were perfect, the drivers did a fantastic job and every member of the team was ‘on it’. We had a few issues with the car leading up to the race, so this win is great reward for all of that work.”
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