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Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI ***Mathys Jaubert became the youngest-ever outright polesitter in the FIA World Endurance Championship on Saturday at Barcelona. At 21 years, 7 months and 15 days, surpassing the previous record set by Malthe Jakobsen earlier this year at Spa. ***However, the youngest class polesitter remains Thomas Laurent, who was just 19 years, 3 months and 11 days old when he scored LMP2 pole for the 2017 Nürburgring round alongside Oliver Jarvis, with two-driver averages determining grid positions. ***Shortly after scoring its first pole, Genesis Magma Racing announced that Daniel Juncadella has been officially retained for the 2027 season, with the news coming in a Genesis Motor Europe event held in downtown Barcelona on Saturday evening. ***Juncadella commented: “I’m already massively motivated for next season. My first season in Hypercar has been a valuable experience. As a rookie, even at 35, there were still a lot of things to learn, but I feel like I have got...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI Mathys Jaubert says it “means a lot” to score the first pole position for Genesis Magma Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as the Korean marque celebrated getting both of its cars in the top three for Sunday’s 6 Hours of Barcelona. The 21-year-old edged out the championship-leading Toyota of Ryo Hirakawa by 0.170 seconds at the wheel of the No. 17 GMR-001 that he shares with Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani to deliver pole in only the seventh attempt for 2026 newcomer Genesis. Mathieu Jaminet completed a strong effort for the brand with a time good enough for third on the grid aboard the sister No. 19 car. While stressing that the team must remain focused on trying to maximize its chances of a first victory on Sunday in what is expected to be at least partially a wet race, Jaubert said he was “humbled” to be the driver to achieve the landmark pole. “The team did a good job analyzing everything from free pr...

Photo: SRO/JEP Garage 59 boss Andrew Kirkaldy feared that his squad would have to hire a jet on its own to take its drivers between Barcelona and Portimao for the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS clash as the number of racers doing both continually reduced. Despite 18 GTWC Europe regulars also competing in the WEC, only four have ended up tackling both championships this weekend and two of those are Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo racers Tom Fleming and Benji Goethe. Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 EVO driver Darren Leung and Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo pilot Mattia Drudi are the other two, with everyone making the trip backwards and forwards between the venues hiring a jet together to reduce costs. “It is helpful,” Kirkaldy told Sportscar365 of those affected combining forces. “It’s interesting because it started off there’s 18 drivers, now it’s 15, now it’s ten, now it’s six — and it was like, wait a m...

Photo: Drew Gibson There are no plans for McLaren Formula 1 champion Lando Norris to race or test the manufacturer’s Hypercar again in the immediate future, despite his successful recent outing in the MCL-HY at Portimao. Norris completed 38 laps at the wheel of the new McLaren MCL-HY at the Portuguese track last month ahead of the car’s planned debut in next season’s FIA World Endurance Championship. But, despite the 24 Hours of Le Mans not currently clashing with an F1 event in 2027, McLaren Endurance Racing team principal James Barclay said the squad has now signed its six race drivers for next year with all of them due to test together for the first time at the end of November. Speaking to reporters at the Barcelona FIA WEC round, when asked about any future plans for Norris to drive the MCL-HY by Sportscar365, Barclay replied: “For now, no. Of course we would love to have him back but he has a very busy program and a very clear priority on Formula 1. ...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: SRO/JEP Several GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS teams have confirmed changes to their lineups for this weekend’s Portimao season finale, including FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Peter Dempsey and Rui Andrade no longer contesting both categories. The initial 61-car entry list published last week had Dempsey sharing the Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo in which he won the Sprint Cup Bronze class title, but he will now prioritize the clashing Barcelona WEC contest. That list also included Rui Andrade in one of two new Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo entries but he is another to now solely focus on Barcelona. This means that now only four drivers are due to contest both events: Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo pair Tom Fleming and Benji Goethe, Comtoyou Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo racer Mattia Drudi and Paradine Competition BMW M4 GT3 EVO pilot Darren Leung. Dempsey’s place in the Porsche has been taken by Lucas Wolf, who last raced...