24 Hours of Le Mans – Le Mans

Jack Doohan and James Allen in LMP2 and Yasser Shahin in LMGT3 summarised Australia’s representation at the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans over the weekend at Circuit de la Sarthe, following positive runs of form respectively in the lead-up.

Making his Le Mans debut, Doohan impressed throughout qualifying in the #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca. Teammates David Heinemeier Hansson and Ed Pearson progressed the car through qualifying and Hyperpole 1, which preceded Doohan delivering a superb 3:33.510 lap in Hyperpole 2 to secure third on the LMP2 grid.

The race, however, proved to be tougher. Mechanical problems hindered the Nielsen Racing entry during the 24-hour session, costing significant time in the garage and dropping the car well down the order.

Despite reaching the finish, Doohan, Heinemeier Hansson and Pearson were classified last in the LMP2 field, ultimately finishing 20 laps behind the class winners.

Shahin arrived at Le Mans in strong form, leading the LMGT3 championship alongside Manthey Racing teammates Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera after podium finishes at Imola and Spa. The #92 Porsche qualified 15th in class after failing to progress beyond Hyperpole 1.

In the race, Shahin and his co-drivers looked capable of moving forward before a tie-rod failure hampered their challenge.

The issue left the Manthey Porsche several laps down and restricted the trio to 13th in LMGT3 as a result, six laps behind the class-winning Corvette of American Ben Keating and Briton Jonny Edgar.

James Allen produced an outstanding result on his return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, helping the #99 AO by TF Oreca 07-Gibson secure a podium finish in the LMP2 Pro-Am class.

Called a month before the event to replace driver Louis Delétraz, Allen quickly integrated into the team alongside PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron.

Their efforts were rewarded with third place in LMP2 Pro-Am, giving Allen a deserved class podium at one of the world’s most prestigious endurance races.

Looking ahead to the 2027 edition, it was also announced over the weekend that 2025 Motorsport Australia Gold Star recipient Matt Campbell would make the sensational switch to Ford Racing’s Hypercar program next season, after more than a decade with Porsche.

Formula 1 – Barcelona

Oscar Piastri endured an encouraging Barcelona Grand Prix weekend, showing strong pace throughout practice and ending the second leg of the European leg of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship with a top-five finish in Sunday’s race.

The Australian was among the quickest drivers from the outset, finishing second in both FP1 and FP3. However, qualifying failed to deliver the result he was chasing.

Despite looking competitive in the early stages, Piastri struggled to extract the same pace in the decisive Q3 shootout and could only obtain seventh on the grid. George Russell secured pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli, while Piastri lined up alongside Kiwi Liam Lawson on the fourth row.

In the main race, Piastri produced a solid recovery drive. While unable to match the pace of the frontrunners, he steadily moved forward and avoided the mechanical dramas that struck several rivals.

Piastri eventually crossed the line in fifth place, finishing behind race winner Hamilton, Russell, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. Piastri ended the race 58.661 seconds behind Hamilton and collected 10 championship points in the process.

Next up for Piastri and the rest of the grid will be the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg in a fortnight’s time.

Formula 3 – Barcelona

James Wharton enjoyed one of his strongest FIA Formula 3 weekends of the season in Barcelona and one of his biggest in his career.

The PREMA Racing driver secured a place inside the top 12 in qualifying, putting himself in contention for a strong result in both races and earning a front-row start for the reverse-grid Sprint Race.

Saturday’s Sprint Race proved to be the highlight of the weekend. After briefly dropping positions in the opening laps, Wharton fought back, overtaking Freddie Slater and then Gerrard Xie to take the lead by lap five.

From there, the Victorian controlled the race to secure his second career FIA Formula 3 victory and his first win with PREMA Racing.

The triumph also marked PREMA’s first F3 victory in almost two years.

Starting further back for Sunday’s Feature Race, Wharton was unable to replicate his Sprint Race success, but managed to battle inside the points-paying positions and added to his weekend tally with another solid finish.

The Sprint Race win was a timely reward for Wharton, who has shown increasing pace throughout the 2026 campaign and has battled with injury following his early-season crash at the Australian Grand Prix.

Formula 3 follows Formula 1 to Austria for Round 4 of the Championship.

GT World Challenge America – Atlanta

Tom Sargent and American co-driver Kyle Washington tallied a productive GT World Challenge America weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, continuing their push for the Pro-Am championship aboard the #32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo.

The pair arrived in Georgia carrying the championship lead after their victory at Sebring and immediately looked competitive from the event’s get-go.

The weekend began with two practice sessions on Friday, where the GMG Racing entry consistently featured among the leading Pro-Am contenders.

Qualifying followed on Saturday, with Washington and Sargent securing a solid starting position on the third row in sixth.

Race 1 proved challenging, with the duo battling over 29 laps against the front-running Pro-Am runners.

In Race 2, the GMG Racing combination again demonstrated strong pace, navigating the demanding endurance format and heavy traffic around Road Atlanta to finish fourth outright and third in Pro-Am.

While they were unable to add another class victory, the pair collected important points and maintained momentum in the Pro-Am title battle.

Porsche Supercup – Barcelona

Sam Shahin and Caleb Sumich tackled the latest round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the Circuit de Catalunya, where both Australians endeavoured to optimise their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machinery.

Qualifying saw BWT Lechner Racing’s Sumich place 16th on the grid after a tightly contested session where just fractions of a second separated much of the field. Shahin qualified 25th outright.

In Sunday’s Feature Race, Sumich produced a solid drive to finish 15th, maintaining his position in the race order.

Shahin’s race ended after just one lap, following an incident involving 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve.

Both drivers will look to continue their development as the season rolls on with the next round to head to Spielberg, Austria at the Red Bull Ring.