GT World Challenge Endurance Cup – Paul Ricard

GTWC Endurance - Optimum Motorsport

The 2026 GT World Challenge Endurance Cup season got underway at Circuit Paul Ricard, marking the opening round of a highly competitive championship.

We qualified 28th overall and P7 in the Gold Cup class, which gave us a solid platform to build on heading into the race. With such a deep and competitive grid, the focus was on staying clean, executing well, and moving forward as the race unfolded.

Unfortunately, our race took a major setback early on. Within the opening 20 minutes, Freddie, who took the start, was involved in contact that resulted in a broken rear-left wishbone. The damage forced the car into the garage for repairs, costing us significant time and dropping us six laps down.

From that point, the race became all about recovery and bringing the car home. The team did a great job repairing the damage and getting us back out, and we focused on maximising each stint and staying consistent despite the deficit.

In the end, we finished 45th overall and P7 in the Gold Cup class. While the result doesn’t reflect the pace we had across the weekend, there are positives to take—particularly the effort from the team to get the car back out and the mileage gained in a competitive field.

A big thank you to everyone involved for their hard work and continued support. We’ll regroup and come back stronger for the next round.

FP1

Paul Ricard 6H Race

Pit Stop during the race in the night