Pre-season The pre-season prologue for the GT World Challenge commenced on Wednesday, 8 April 2026, at Circuit Paul Ricard. In a series first, this testing event is held just days before the season-opening six-hour race scheduled for Saturday night. The opening day featured two sessions, with all 59 entered cars taking to the track.
Thomas Preining claimed the fastest overall time of the day during the morning session, clocking a 1m54.682s in the No. 80
Lionspeed GP Porsche. He narrowly beat Christopher Haase in the No. 84 Eastalent Racing Audi by a margin of 0.086s. In the afternoon,
Ben Dörr led the field in the No. 23
Team RJN McLaren with a time of 1m54.762s, which secured him the second-fastest spot across the combined daily standings. He was followed by
Loek Hartog in the No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche. Despite several yellow flags and brief stoppages, no major incidents occurred. Haase topped the standings on the final day with a time of 1m54.352s, besting Preining's previous pace by three-tenths. Alessio Picariello followed in the No. 2 Boutsen VDS Porsche, trailing Haase by 0.283s, while
Ricardo Feller and
Robert Renauer secured third and fourth for Porsche. The session was marred by two Aston Martin crashes:
Jamie Day sustained heavy front-end damage at Turn 7, and
Mari Boya hit the barriers after losing control exiting Turn 2.
Opening rounds The season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard opened with a multi-car collision involving the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Porsche and the No. 555 CSA Racing McLaren, immediately eliminating both from the race. Shortly after, the No. 59 Garage 59 McLaren was tipped into a spin and dropped to the back of the field, prompting the first safety car deployment. The No. 48 Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter, having started from pole, then controlled the pace for much of the race. Near the end of the opening stint, the No. 7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin, driven by
Marco Sørensen, suffered a puncture that forced an out-of-sequence pit stop. Two hours in, the No. 97 Rutronik Racing Porsche took over the Bronze Cup lead, where it would remain, ultimately placing 13th overall and first in class. As the final 60-minute stint began, the No. 48 Mercedes looked set for the win, but a late safety car for the stranded No. 93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Porsche closed the field. This allowed Nicki Thiim in the No. 7 Aston Martin to erase a three-second gap to the leader. With nine minutes to go, a minor mistake from Lucas Auer opened the door for Thiim, who overtook for the win. The No. 7 Aston Martin prevailed, followed by the No. 48 Mercedes and the No. 58 Garage 59 McLaren, which also won the Gold Cup. Notably, the No. 32 Team WRT BMW surged from 10th to 4th, the No. 59 McLaren recovered to 5th, and the No. 9
Pure Rxcing Porsche clinched the Silver Cup win with a late move on the No. 30 Team WRT BMW. The first race at Brands Hatch saw Arthur Leclerc and
Thomas Neubauer take victory for AF Corse Ferrari. Although the No. 50 Ferrari finished second on track, it was promoted after the leader No. 3 Mercedes-AMG of Team Verstappen Racing received two post-race penalties. The No. 80 Lionspeed Porsche initially dominated from pole position but retired following a mid-race stop due to steering issues. This allowed the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG to take the lead. Despite a pit infringement penalty, driver Chris Lulham crossed the line first, but a subsequent yellow flag infringement dropped the car out of the points. The race also featured an early 15-minute red flag after the No. 10 Porsche crashed on the opening lap. Ultimately, the No. 2 Boutsen VDS Porsche took second, while the No. 32 Team WRT BMW rounded out the podium. The No. 51 Ferrari took the win in the Gold Cup, while the Silver victory went the way of the No. 5 McLaren. In race two, the No. 80 Porsche would claim a lights-to-flag victory. Drivers
Bastian Buus and Feller secured the win after the car ran flawlessly, redeeming their retirement from the opening race. The No. 3 Mercedes-AMG, driven by Dani Juncadella and Lulham, finished in second place, trailing the winners by just over three seconds. Winward Racing's Maro Engel and Auer took the final podium spot in the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG, successfully defending third despite receiving a five-second penalty for a pit infringement. Further down the field, Silver Cup victory went to the No. 30 Team WRT BMW, while the No. 555 McLaren secured Gold Cup honours. == Results and standings ==