Up2Race wins Barcelona as Saintéloc takes the European crown

The 27th Michelin 24H Barcelona brought the 2026 European season to a close with a first 24-hour victory for Up2Race, while Saintéloc Junior Team left Spain with the overall European title. Before the racing even started, Barcelona had already made its presence felt. Torrential rain and thunderstorms swept across the circuit on Wednesday, but by Thursday the weather had changed completely. The rain disappeared, the temperature climbed and hot, humid conditions settled over the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the remainder of the event.

The race was the fifth and final round of the Michelin 24H SERIES European season, with several championships still unresolved. GetSpeed Team JR286 arrived leading the overall GT3 standings following victory at the Nürburgring, while Saintéloc Junior Team, HOFOR Racing and GetSpeed Team PCX Racing all remained in contention. Friday began to show who had the pace. GetSpeed Team PCX topped free practice with the #28 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, while asBest Racing had a much more difficult session when its #102 SEAT Leon Cup Racer crashed heavily enough to rule it out of qualifying.

Qualifying then produced a slightly confusing finish. Ajith RedAnt Racing appeared to have taken pole when the final session ended, its aggregate time just 0.001 seconds quicker than GetSpeed PCX, but that changed shortly afterwards when a previously deleted Q2 lap for Benjamin Paque was reinstated. The #28 Mercedes moved onto pole by 0.289 seconds, with the #93 Ajith RedAnt Mercedes second and the #18 Saintéloc Audi third. Viper Niza Racing took GT3-Am pole, Red Camel-Jordans.nl headed 992, HRT Performance led 992-Am, CP Motorsport took GT4 and Not Only Motorsport topped TCE-TCX, with the sole #701 Vortex entry leading GTX.

That was Friday. The race would move around far more than the grid suggested.

Hours 0-6

Saturday was dry, hot and very humid when the field lined up for the midday start. Maxime Martin led away from pole in the #28 Mercedes, but Mikaël Grenier immediately went after him in the Ajith RedAnt car, staying outside through Turn One before gaining the inside for Turn Two and emerging with the lead. Behind them, Jesse Krohn made a strong start in the Gamota Racing BMW, moving through from fourth and then passing Martin, while Tim Heinemann brought the #88 Up2Race Porsche into the front group almost immediately. Saintéloc stayed close enough to remain part of the early fight.

Martin’s afternoon became more complicated when the #28 received a 10-second penalty for its position during the rolling start. The first Code 60 arrived relatively early and from there the order became increasingly difficult to read. Fuel stops, staggered strategies and repeated neutralisations kept moving the leading cars around, with the timing screens changing constantly as different teams cycled through the front.

There was trouble elsewhere too. Not Only Motorsport’s Ligier developed a fire after refuelling and stopped at Turn Three with smoke coming from the engine bay. The team managed to continue, but its race had already taken a very different direction. THRW Honda Racing then suffered a particularly difficult spell. The #123 Civic spun into the wall and had to be recovered by truck, triggering another Code 60, and shortly afterwards the sister #124 car made contact with the RPM Racing Porsche before going head first into the concrete barriers, bringing out another neutralisation.

Up2Race was already becoming a major factor. Just over four hours into the race, the #88 Porsche was leading overall ahead of Viper Niza Racing and HAAS RT. That order did not last for long. The fuel cycles and repeated Code 60 periods continued to reshuffle the front, and by the six-hour mark Viper Niza had returned to the lead, with HOFOR Racing second, HAAS RT third and Up2Race fourth.

Hours 6-12

Viper Niza Racing became one of the more unexpected stories of Saturday evening. The #65 Mercedes was entered in GT3-Am, yet it found itself leading the race outright. Up2Race remained close with the Porsche and HAAS RT stayed within reach, while the order continued to ebb and flow as the strategies played out. At the ten-hour point Viper Niza was still at the front, with Up2Race second and HAAS RT third.

Then came the night, and with it a difficult period for GetSpeed. The championship-leading #286 Mercedes suffered a gearbox problem while running near the front and required major attention. Not long afterwards, the pole-sitting #28 PCX car was pushed into the garage with a wheel-bearing problem. Two of the cars that had looked strongest on Friday were suddenly losing large amounts of time.

The conditions changed as well. Saturday’s heavy humidity eased as the temperature dropped, although the night remained completely dry. Up2Race had already led during the afternoon, so its return to the front was no sudden breakthrough. The #88 simply kept appearing at the sharp end as the pit cycles worked themselves through, and by half-distance it was leading again.

Midnight also carried championship significance. As the GT3 leader at the 12-hour mark, Up2Race banked an additional 20 points, regardless of what happened over the remaining half of the race.

Hours 12-18

Beyond half-distance, the race began to feel different. Up2Race led, with HAAS RT second and HOFOR Racing third. Era Motorsport occupied fourth with the #81 Ferrari, Saintéloc sat fifth and Viper Niza, which had spent so much of the earlier race near the front, had dropped to sixth.

The circuit had changed too. The crowds had thinned, the paddock was quieter and the cars looked nothing like they had on the grid. Rubber, dirt and the marks of traffic covered the bodywork. Around 30 cars were still circulating after the night running, but the race had already taken a heavy toll.

The #88 Porsche continued at the front while the battles behind it shifted. In 992, Red Camel-Jordans.nl had disappeared from contention before midnight. HRT Performance’s #928 Porsche then built a substantial advantage in 992-Am before mechanical trouble ended its race during the seventeenth hour. Saintéloc remained in contention in GT3 Pro-Am and, more importantly, in the championship. There was no dramatic charge, just a steady presence in the right part of the order.

Hours 18-24

Sunday morning arrived dry and warm, although the humidity of Saturday had gone. Despite Up2Race still leading, the race was not settled. With a little over four hours remaining, Viper Niza was only around 15 seconds behind the #88 Porsche and HAAS RT another nine seconds further back. After almost 20 hours, less than half a minute covered the top three.

Then the picture changed very quickly. As the stops and strategy continued to play out, Up2Race moved a lap clear of HAAS RT. HOFOR Racing climbed to third while Viper Niza dropped back through the order. What had looked like a three-car fight shortly beforehand suddenly looked very different.

The closing hours still had their incidents. The #902 Holmgaard Porsche pulled off at Turn Nine with smoke coming from the car after suffering a broken driveshaft, triggering another Code 60. Not long afterwards Dwight Merriman lost the #81 Era Motorsport Ferrari coming out of the final corner and hit the pit wall heavily. Merriman was uninjured, but the Ferrari was finished.

Later, the #71 Juta Racing Audi spun at Turn Five and triggered another Code 60. The timing worked in HOFOR Racing’s favour, allowing the #11 Mercedes to take on additional fuel during the neutralised period and improve its chances of reaching the finish without another full stop.

Even in the final hour, the Porsche classes were not settled. RPM Racing’s #907 was still leading 992-Am late on before a driveshaft failure ended its challenge, leaving Seblajoux Racing to take the class victory with the #888 Porsche. Mühlner Motorsport, meanwhile, brought the #921 Porsche home at the head of 992 and wrapped up the championship.

At the front, there was no final reversal. Tim Heinemann, Fabio Grosse, Alfred Renauer and Oleksiy Kikireshko completed 741 laps in the #88 Up2Race Porsche 911 GT3 R to win the Michelin 24H Barcelona by one lap. It was the team’s first Michelin 24H SERIES victory and came in its first 24-hour race.

HAAS RT finished second overall and won GT3-Am with the #21 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, while HOFOR Racing completed the overall podium in the #11 Mercedes and secured the European GT3-Am championship. Saintéloc Junior Team crossed the line fourth overall with the #18 Audi. That was enough to win GT3 Pro-Am and secure both the class championship and the overall 2026 Michelin 24H SERIES European title. Ajith RedAnt Racing finished fifth, Viper Niza Racing sixth and the pole-sitting GetSpeed Team PCX Racing Mercedes recovered to seventh.

Barcelona decides the season

Up2Race arrived in Barcelona without a 24-hour race victory and left with the biggest result of its young GT3 programme. Saintéloc’s weekend was about something broader. The #18 Audi stayed in the fight while several of its rivals ran into trouble and finished the season with the result it needed.

HOFOR Racing took the GT3-Am title, Mühlner Motorsport secured 992 and HRT Performance claimed 992-Am despite failing to finish in Barcelona. Vortex completed its GTX championship campaign, while Not Only Motorsport’s difficult Barcelona weekend still ended with the TCE-TCX title. CP Motorsport had an especially productive finale, taking race victories in both GT4 and TCE-TCX while also securing the European GT4 championship.

Twenty-four hours earlier the cars had rolled onto the grid clean, tightly packed and with almost everything still to play for. By Sunday afternoon some of the favourites had disappeared, others had spent hours being repaired, and the survivors looked every bit as though they had covered a full day and night around Barcelona.

The gold #88 Porsche was still at the front.

Barcelona class winners: Overall, #88 Up2Race Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) EVO; GT3 Pro-Am, #18 Saintéloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II; GT3-Am, #21 HAAS RT BMW M4 GT3 EVO; 992, #921 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup; 992-Am, #888 Seblajoux Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup; GTX, #701 Vortex 2.0; GT4, #483 CP Motorsport BMW M4 GT4; TCE-TCX, #142 CP Motorsport Cupra TCR DSG.

2026 European champions: Overall and GT3 Pro-Am, #18 Saintéloc Junior Team; GT3-Am, #11 HOFOR Racing; 992, #921 Mühlner Motorsport; 992-Am, #928 HRT Performance; GTX, #701 Vortex; GT4, #483 CP Motorsport; TCE-TCX, #114 Not Only Motorsport.