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 6 Hours of Barcelona presented by Visit Qatar, the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 LMGT3 car claimed a conclusive victory after Yasser Shahin, Riccardo Pera and Richard Lietz raced to the famed German manufacturers first win of the 2026 campaign.
The Porsche led most of the time from hour one onward and ultimately beat the Garage 59 McLaren of Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhoefer by just under five seconds. In so doing, the #92 Porsche team became the seventh different winner from the seven races held this year, emphasising the ultra-competitive nature of the LMGT3 category. Porsche also ended its longest winless streak in LMGT3 as its last win came at Le Mans last year.
The race began in dramatic fashion as polesitter Antares Au initially led in the #10 Garage 59 McLaren but then fell down the order after an early Virtual Safety Car.
Just prior to that there was drama at the first corner as Hadrien David’s Akkodis ASP Team Lexus was hit by the #91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche of James Cottingham, as part of a chain reaction shunt triggered when Stefano Gattuso in the #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang was himself turned around by the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG piloted by Martin Berry.
At the front of the field though Shahin moved into an ever expanding lead and the #92 Porsche remained consistently at the front as the two TF Sport run Corvettes, the title leading #33 car and the Racing Team Turkey entry briefly ran second and third in the mid-portion of the race.
But the #33 Corvette, which was started by Ben Keating, lost time with congestion in the pits compromising the stop when Keating handed over to teammate and drivers title leader, Jonny Edgar.
A subsequent 10-second penalty for Edgar further blunted the TF Sport’s charge, while some impressive dry pace from the #69 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 brought it into contention with Daniel Harper moving into second place in the fourth hour.
But Harper came under huge pressure from a charging Marvin Kirchhoefer in the #10 Garage 59 McLaren that was started by Au and then taken over by polesitter Tom Fleming. Even a puncture, after contact with the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang, could not halt the Papaya liveried LMGT3 cars charge and Kirchhofer was able to make a move stick on Harper to seal second position in the final knockings of the race.
The #34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette of Salih Yoluc, Peter Dempsey and Charlie Eastwood placed fourth and remain in title contention against the sister car of Keating, Edgar and Nicky Catsburg, which finished seventh after being overtaken by Maxime Martin in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the final lap.
The result meant that Edgar’s points lead over the Barcelona winning #92 crew has now been cut to 18pts, with the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette four points further back as the title fight is set for a tense finale at Monza next month.
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