Reports and updates from the 2026 GT3 programme, and the 2025 season that set it up.
The double-header the whole year has been pointing at. Two races, one weekend, and the first proper benchmark for the Audi R8 LMS GT3 programme: every test day, every tyre run, every lap of Nordschleife homework gets its answer here. The team is ready, the car is quick, and the aim is simple. Arrive sharp, race hard, leave with proof.
Next stop: another GT3 test on the Nürburgring Nordschleife on 31 July. More laps, more data, more time in the seat. The job list is clear: keep building speed and consistency in the Audi, and keep sharpening the circuit craft that only the Nordschleife can teach.
The two learning threads finally came together: months of GT3 driving on Grand Prix circuits, and a season of Nordschleife craft built in the Cup car. First proper GT3 running on the Nordschleife, and the car came alive over the crests and compressions.
We also worked with a tyre manufacturer through the test, running different specs back to back and chasing performance in the details. A big step, and the next one comes at the end of July.
GT3 development at Spa-Francorchamps. Long runs through Eau Rouge and the fast, flowing middle sector, working on car placement and confidence at very high speed. The purpose of the whole GP-circuit programme is simple: build speed and consistency in the Audi, one clean lap after another, then carry that base to the Nordschleife.
Familiar ground. The GP circuit was a podium venue in 2025 in the McLaren, and it made the perfect classroom for the Audi R8 LMS GT3: more downforce, more braking performance, more grip to lean on. Session by session the references moved closer to the limit, and the lap times followed. Same tarmac, a completely different animal underneath.
Where the GT3 chapter started. First serious development running in the Audi R8 LMS GT3: learning the car's language, the braking zones, the aero, the systems, the rhythm of a GT3 day. The baseline came quickly and the direction was clear from the first run. Build the foundations properly, then go faster.
Before the GT3 comes the homework. NLS 3 in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: a full race distance on the Nordschleife, in traffic, in a car that rewards precision over power. The Cup car is the honest way to learn the world's hardest circuit at race pace, corner by corner, lap after lap. Every kilometre banked here pays straight into the Audi programme.
Pole position to end the season. Leonidas controlled Race 1 from lights out until a 20-second pitstop penalty dropped him to a hard-fought P2, then went again in Race 2 for another silver.
Driver of the Weekend, second in the championship, and a record that speaks for itself: eight races, eight podiums, a 100% podium rate in the McLaren Artura Trophy Evo.
Mixed weather in practice, but the rain held off when it mattered. P2 in qualifying set both grids, then P3 in Race 1 and a thrilling P2 in Race 2, closing to within half a second of the win on the last lap once the pitstops shook out.
Success penalties, the price of a perfect podium record, made victory tantalisingly close. Car 90 stayed firmly in the championship hunt.
Second place in both races at Spa-Francorchamps, through fierce competition and shifting weather on the Ardennes rollercoaster. The double silver kept the podium record perfect and moved car 90 into genuine championship contention.
First ever McLaren Trophy weekend, at the Temple of Speed. P3 in qualifying set both grids, and Leonidas converted it twice: P3 in Race 1 and P3 in Race 2 on his series debut with ALM Motorsport in car 90. A perfect start, and the first podiums of what became a streak.
