Peugeot secures first ever WEC pole position at Spa
Peugeot secured a first ever WEC pole position at Spa
Peugeot has taken pole position for the 2026 World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa-Francochamps.
It was a highly dramatic session in which some of the championship’s big players failed to even make it through to Hyperbole. And it was a situation that Peugeot took full advantage of, going on to claim its very first WEC pole position.
After a frustrating spin on his first lap in qualifying, Malthe Jakobsen quickly recovered to end the first session in second. And then in Hyperbole, he put in a great effort to take pole with a time of 2m00.653 seconds.
But having ditched his first set of tyres after that early spin, questions still remain over Peugeot’s strategy for the race itself.
After a solid, albeit quiet first session in which they secured fifth and ninth respectively, Cadillac have dispelled any pre-event doubts regarding the V-Series.R’s pace.
Will Stevens made a valiant bid in the dying moments of Hyperpole but missed out by just 0.043s.
His team-mate Jack Aitken kicked off his 2026 campaign with a fifth-place finish to cap off an encouraging session for the team.
After setting the pace throughout much of free practice, Alpine’s momentum continued into qualifying. The No.35 car took third while the sister car ended up fourth.
Further back, Marco Sorensen gave Aston Martin cause for celebration. An eye-catching final effort secured eighth in the first qualifying session, while his performance in Hyperpole yielded sixth place.
Team-mate Harry Ticknell will lineup one place behind him, making this Aston Martin’s best qualifying result of the season so far.
Antonio Fuoco was the highest-placing AF Corse Ferrari in eighth, while the fifth row of the grid will be filled by the No. 93 Peugeot and No.15 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8.
But the first part of qualifying had no shortage of surprises as many established frontrunners failed to progress to Hyperpole.
Kamui Kobayashi missed out by 0.029s and could only manage 12th in the No.7 Toyota, while Brendon Hartley qualified 16th in the No.8 car that was victorious last time out at Imola.
Team-mate Sebastien Buemi expressed surprise at the result but remained confident in the TR010 Hybrid’s race pace.
Fucoco’s eighth place will be of little consolation to Ferrari. Robert Kubica was the first car on track in Hyperpole but could only manage 13th. And the factory No.51 car looked set for a quick lap only to suffer a major slide on the run towards Pouhon.
Genesis Magma Racing by contrast, had an encouraging session. Mathieu Jaminet qualified 14th in the No.19 car and missed out on Hyperpole by just 0.261s. Pipo Derani took 17th.
Plenty of action in LMGT3
In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP Team capitalised on its pre-event promise with a second consecutive pole at Spa, courtesy of rookie Hadrien Davide in the No.78 Lexus. Zacharie Robichon in the sister No.87 car took fourth.
Heart of Racing made an encouraging step forward thanks to Zacharie Robichon.
Ben Tucker secured third in the No.77 Proton Competition Mustang and praised both his team’s efforts as well as the new Evo package.
The No.88 Ford qualified fifth ahead of the No.21 Ferrari, No.32 BMW and No.61 Mercedes.
Porsche and Chevrolet will share the fifth row of the grid ahead of the session's biggest surprise: McLaren.
Having been the clear pacesetters at Imola, Garage 59 failed to get either car into Hyperpole.
The high downforce middle sector proved problematic for both cars, which qualified 11th and 15th, respectively.
Peugeot has taken pole position for the 2026 World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa-Francochamps.
It was a highly dramatic session in which some of the championship’s big players failed to even make it through to Hyperbole. And it was a situation that Peugeot took full advantage of, going on to claim its very first WEC pole position.
After a frustrating spin on his first lap in qualifying, Malthe Jakobsen quickly recovered to end the first session in second. And then in Hyperbole, he put in a great effort to take pole with a time of 2m00.653 seconds.
But having ditched his first set of tyres after that early spin, questions still remain over Peugeot’s strategy for the race itself.
After a solid, albeit quiet first session in which they secured fifth and ninth respectively, Cadillac have dispelled any pre-event doubts regarding the V-Series.R’s pace.
Will Stevens made a valiant bid in the dying moments of Hyperpole but missed out by just 0.043s.
His team-mate Jack Aitken kicked off his 2026 campaign with a fifth-place finish to cap off an encouraging session for the team.
After setting the pace throughout much of free practice, Alpine’s momentum continued into qualifying. The No.35 car took third while the sister car ended up fourth.
Further back, Marco Sorensen gave Aston Martin cause for celebration. An eye-catching final effort secured eighth in the first qualifying session, while his performance in Hyperpole yielded sixth place.
Team-mate Harry Ticknell will lineup one place behind him, making this Aston Martin’s best qualifying result of the season so far.
Antonio Fuoco was the highest-placing AF Corse Ferrari in eighth, while the fifth row of the grid will be filled by the No. 93 Peugeot and No.15 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8.
But the first part of qualifying had no shortage of surprises as many established frontrunners failed to progress to Hyperpole.
Kamui Kobayashi missed out by 0.029s and could only manage 12th in the No.7 Toyota, while Brendon Hartley qualified 16th in the No.8 car that was victorious last time out at Imola.
Team-mate Sebastien Buemi expressed surprise at the result but remained confident in the TR010 Hybrid’s race pace.
Fucoco’s eighth place will be of little consolation to Ferrari. Robert Kubica was the first car on track in Hyperpole but could only manage 13th. And the factory No.51 car looked set for a quick lap only to suffer a major slide on the run towards Pouhon.
Genesis Magma Racing by contrast, had an encouraging session. Mathieu Jaminet qualified 14th in the No.19 car and missed out on Hyperpole by just 0.261s. Pipo Derani took 17th.
Plenty of action in LMGT3
In LMGT3, Akkodis ASP Team capitalised on its pre-event promise with a second consecutive pole at Spa, courtesy of rookie Hadrien Davide in the No.78 Lexus. Zacharie Robichon in the sister No.87 car took fourth.
Heart of Racing made an encouraging step forward thanks to Zacharie Robichon.
Ben Tucker secured third in the No.77 Proton Competition Mustang and praised both his team’s efforts as well as the new Evo package.
The No.88 Ford qualified fifth ahead of the No.21 Ferrari, No.32 BMW and No.61 Mercedes.
Porsche and Chevrolet will share the fifth row of the grid ahead of the session's biggest surprise: McLaren.
Having been the clear pacesetters at Imola, Garage 59 failed to get either car into Hyperpole.
The high downforce middle sector proved problematic for both cars, which qualified 11th and 15th, respectively.
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