Fleming claims Barcelona LMGT3 pole for Garage 59

Tom Fleming put Garage 59 on pole in LMGT3 for the 6 Hours of Barcelona, overcoming a disrupted weekend to lead the grid for the penultimate round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

The British driver missed Friday’s practice sessions because he is also competing in the GT World Challenge season finale at Portimão. His first laps at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya came in Saturday’s FP3, before he took the #10 McLaren 720S Evo into the 10-minute Hyperpole shootout.

Fleming turns limited track time into pole

Team-mate Antares Au advanced the McLaren from the opening qualifying stage, allowing Fleming to contest Hyperpole. He made the opportunity count, setting the session’s two fastest times and finishing 0.122 seconds ahead of Riccardo Pera in the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche.

It was Fleming’s second career pole in Hyperpole and his second from two appearances. His previous top spot came at the season-opening contest at Imola in April. Garage 59’s result was also McLaren’s fifth LMGT3 pole.

Fleming, a WEC rookie this season, had little preparation time in Barcelona, but the team’s work on the car helped him settle in quickly. His pole puts the McLaren ahead of Pera, while Simon Mann placed third in the VISTA AF Corse Ferrari 296 Evo.

The qualifying battle follows a challenging practice period for some of the field. For more on the earlier Barcelona running, read our report on Aston Martin and McLaren leading WEC FP2. The result also adds another endurance-series pole story to the weekend, after Tom Dillmann took ELMS Silverstone pole.

Corvette makes progress as Aston Martin misses the top ten

Both Corvette Z06.Rs improved in qualifying after struggling in practice. The championship-leading #33 TF Sport Corvette reached Hyperpole for the first time this season, with Ben Keating driving in the opening phase. Jonny Edgar then secured fourth on the grid, giving the title contender a strong starting position.

Rui Andrade qualified fifth in the #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, followed by Sean Gelael in Team WRT’s #32 BMW M4 Evo. Neither Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin made the top ten; Ian James was last in the 18-car order in the title-chasing #27 Vantage AMR.

The inaugural Barcelona six-hour race is scheduled to start at 12:00 local time on Sunday, 18 October.