Barcelona
Austrian Philipp Sager has become the 17th driver since 2016 to be crowned Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 Champion, with Racing Spirit of Léman adding the 2026 GT3 Team title to the one they secured in 2023 with Arnold Robin and Valentin Hasse Clot.
Sager, racing the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage, secured the title with 100 points from the six races, with two wins and third place finish alongside 2023 MLMC GT3 Champion Valentin Hasse Clot. Hasse Clot finished the season on 88-points. The French driver missed the race in Belgium due to another racing commitment in the USA and Marius Fossard raced alongside Philipp Sager at Spa-Francorchamps.
Round 1 was held in Spain at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Sager qualifying the car sixth on the grid, 1.6 seconds behind the no11 Code Racing Development Aston Martin of Colombian Sebastien Moreno.
The race saw a strong first stint by Philipp Sager to hand over the car to his teammate with Hasse Clot moving up to challenge the leading no17 Kessel Racing Ferrari of David Fumanelli with Matteo Cressoni in the no54 Dinamic GT Porsche closely following in third.
For several laps Hasse Clot tried to get past the lead Ferrari, while fending off the challenge of Cressoni’s Porsche. However, a 10 second penalty for a FCY infringement meant Hasse Clot had to get past the Ferrari and be 10 seconds ahead to be sure of winning the race. The Aston Martin eventually got past the Ferrari into Turn 1 and Hasse Clot set off to try and open up a gap as Cressoni now had to battle to get past the no17 Ferrari.
Cressoni could not get past Fumanelli and at the last corner to two cars collided, with the Ferrari ending up in the gravel. The Porsche took the chequered flag in second but was given a post-race penalty of 30 seconds for causing the collision. Cressoni was still far enough ahead of the third placed no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren to still be classified in second place. The first victory of the 2026 season went to the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, with 25-points on the board for the team and the two drivers.
Round 2 was held at the Circuit Paul Ricard, with Sebastian Morenco claimed his second GT3 pole of the season in Le Castellet. Philipp Sager finished 8th, and 2.638 seconds behind, at the end of the 15-minute qualifying session.
The GT3 race victory went to the no17 Kessel Racing Ferrari, with Lorenzo Innocenti and David Fumanelli battling their way through the two-hour race to finish 18 seconds ahead of the no51 AF Corse Ferrari of defending class champions Alessandro Cozzi and Eliseo Donno, with the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin finishing third to keep Valentin Hasse Clot and Philipp Sager at the top of the championship standings.
The first ever 3-hour Road To Le Mans race saw Sager and Hasse Clot extend their championship lead in dramatic circumstances. For the only time in 2026, the pro drivers were allowed to take part in qualifying, and Valentin Hasse Clot qualified the no10 Aston Martin Vantage in 4th spot, one second behind the no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren of Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer.
In the race there was plenty of drama with the no95 United Autosports McLaren of Garnet Patterson and the no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren of Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer fighting for the lead for the final 30 minutes of the 3-hour race. On the last lap there was a collision involving an LMP3 competitor at Mulsanne, with Patterson spearing into the barrier and Simmenauer able to continue and take the chequered flag.
The no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin of Valentin Hasse Clot finished second, 3.4 seconds behind the Gulf liveried McLaren, with 2025 RTLM winner Steve Jans taking the final podium place in the no14 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG after the no21 Kessel Racing Ferrari, which had finished 3rd on the road, dropped back to 5th due to a time penalty incurred during the race.
However, a post-race penalty for the no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren, because Gonzalo De Andres Martin not respecting the minimum driving time, saw the no10 Aston Martin promoted to the race victory.
After a long summer break, the Michelin Le Mans Cup resumed at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with Marius Fossard replacing Valentin Hasse Clot in the no10 Aston Martin.
Philipp Sager qualified in 5th, his best result of the season so far, 1.5 seconds behind the no21 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Oscar Lee Ryndziewicz.
The race saw a 1-2 photo finish for the two Ferrari 296s, with the pole sitting no21 Ferrari of Oscar Lee Ryndziewicz and Lorenzo Ferrari taking the flag just ahead of their teammates Lorenzo Innocenti and David Fumanelli in the no17 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. The no11 Code Racing Developments Aston Martin Vantage took the final podium position ahead of the championship leaders Racing Spirit of Léman.
The penultimate round was held at Silverstone in the UK. Philipp Sager qualified the no10 Aston Martin 7th on the grid, the Austrian’s time 2 seconds behind the pole time set by Stephane Lemeret.
With heavy rain falling mid race making track conditions difficult for all concerned, it was all down to tyre strategy and when to switch from wets to slicks in the final part of the race.
Lorenzo Innocenti and David Fumanelli took their second win in a row in the no17 Kessel Racing Ferrari, heading a Swiss team 1-2, with Fumanelli crossing the line 9 seconds ahead of the no21 Ferrari at the end of the 2-hour race.
The no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin finished two laps down in 9th place after a difficult race, the worse result of the season for the French flagged team.
The final race of the season at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve saw Philipp Sager put in his best qualifying performance of the year, putting the Aston Martin on the front row of the GT3 grid, alongside the no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren.
The GT3 race was won by the no17 Kessel Racing Ferrari, with Lorenzo Innocenti and David Fummanelli taking their third win of the 2026 season ahead of the no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren and the no88 AF Corse Ferrari.
Oscar Ryndziewicz needed a good result to take the title from Philipp Sager, but the no21 Ferrari had to start at the back of the grid after the car failed post qualifying scrutineering due to the ride height of the car. This meant that pro driver Giacomo Altoe had to start the race, with the Italian moving swiftly through to lead ahead of the pitstop.
Ryndziewicz was running third when he took over and was a lap ahead of the no10 Aston Martin of Valentin Hasse Clot after his teammate Philipp Sager found himself on the wrong side of the Safety Car, which put him a lap down to the leading Ferrari.
Hasse Clot moved up to 6th, with the no21 Ferrari falling back to 5th as the bronze rated Ryndziewicz couldn’t keep the pro drivers at bay. The 8 points for 6th was enough to give the 2026 GT3 title to Philipp Sager and Racing Spirit of Léman.
Philipp Sager finished the season on 100 points, 3-points ahead of Oscar Lee Ryndziewicz, with David Fumanelli and Lorenzo Innocenti coming in third with 93-points. Valentin Hasse Clot was classified as fourth in the driver standings with 88 points.
CLICK HERE for the final 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 Championship standings.
