The Bend Manthey claimed a commanding triumph for Porsche as Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz raced to the top step of the LMGT3 class podium in Spain today (18 October).
Porsche dominated the LMGT3 category of the 6 Hours of Barcelona presented by Visit Qatar, the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The #92 The Bend Manthey 911 GT3 R car claimed an emphatic victory after Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz raced to the famed German manufacturer’s first win of the 2026 campaign, with the Australian also being voted Goodyear Wingfoot ‘Driver of the Race’.
The Porsche led most of the way from the first hour onward, and ultimately beat the Garage 59 McLaren of Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhöfer by just under five seconds. In so doing, the #92 crew became the seventh different winner from the seven races held thus far this year, underlining the ultra-competitive nature of FIA WEC’s production-based LMGT3 division. Porsche also ended its longest winless streak in the class, stretching back to its previous win in the 2025 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“I’m a big fan of mixed conditions and I like driving in the rain,” reflected Shahin. “The car obviously performs very well in the wet, too, so it all came together quite nicely. We’d also tested here, which was a big advantage, so we were confident going in and it was just one of those races where everything went right. Before I got into the car, Richard [Lietz] said to me, ‘I’m jealous, because these are the conditions a driver wants to drive in’ – and he was right!”
“We had a fantastic start to the year with three podiums, but Le Mans was a huge let-down. We had such a strong car and performance there and we were on for a good result, but unfortunately, a part failure destroyed those hopes and probably the championship with them. Still, it’s not how you react when you’re winning, it’s how you react when things go wrong that builds close bonds. We suffer together and we win together, and that’s absolutely a tribute to the culture within this team.”
The race began in lively fashion on a wet track surface. Pole-sitter Au initially led in the #10 Garage 59 McLaren, but there was drama at the first corner as Hadrien David’s #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus was hit by the #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche of James Cottingham, as part of a chain reaction shunt triggered by Stefano Gattuso in the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang being turned around by the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG piloted by Martin Berry.
At the sharp end of the field, Shahin moved swiftly to the front and the #92 Porsche remained consistently in charge as the two TF Sport-run Corvettes – the championship-leading #33 car and the #34 Racing Team Turkey entry – briefly ran second and third in the mid-portion of the race.
But the #33 Z.06, started by Ben Keating, lost time when congestion in the pits compromised its stop as the Texan handed over to team-mate, Jonny Edgar.
A subsequent 10-second penalty for the Briton further blunted TF Sport’s charge, while some impressive dry-weather pace from the #69 Team WRT BMW M4 Evo conversely brought the BASF-liveried car into contention, with Daniel Harper rising to second during the fourth hour.
The Northern Irishman, however, came under huge pressure from a charging Kirchhöfer in the McLaren that had been started by Au and then taken over by pole-winner, Fleming. Even a puncture – caused by contact with the #77 Proton Mustang – could not halt the Garage 59 trio’s charge, and Kirchhöfer was able to make a move stick on Harper to secure the runner-up spoils in the race’s final knockings.
The #34 Corvette of Salih Yoluç, Peter Dempsey and Charlie Eastwood finished fourth to remain in title contention against the sister car of Keating, Edgar and Nicky Catsburg, which took the chequered flag seventh after the Dane was overtaken by Maxime Martin in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG on the last lap.
The result means Edgar’s championship margin over the Barcelona-winning #92 crew has been cut to 18 points, with the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette four points further back and 26 points still available in what looks sure to be a tense finale at Monza next month (6-8 November).
Check out the full results from Barcelona.
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