{ "title": "A BELGIAN VICTORY ON THE WORLD ENDURANCE STAGE: ", "modified_at": "2026-04-20 06:00:58", "published_at": "2026-04-20 00:21:00", "url": "https://team-wrt.prezly.com/a-belgian-victory-on-the-world-endurance-stage-team-wrt-delivers-in-italy", "short_url": "http://prez.ly/xFCd", "culture": "en", "language": "EN", "subtitle": "TEAM WRT DELIVERS IN ITALY", "slug": "a-belgian-victory-on-the-world-endurance-stage-team-wrt-delivers-in-italy", "body": "

The Belgian team wrote the first chapter of what promises to be an exciting 2026 world campaign, claiming an outright victory in the GT class while demonstrating the strength of the squad with its second car finishing in the top five.

The #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO took the top step of the podium at the end of a hard-fought race. Belgian GT Chief Engineer Wim Everaerts recalls the tension that built up over the closing stages: "The virtual safety car mid-race was bad for us. We had to stay out because we were at the front at that moment, and some cars could benefit quite a lot from it so we had to avoid an extra stop and manage our tyre life at the same time."

Drivers Anthony McIntosh (USA), Dan Harper (IRL) and Parker Thompson (CAN) rose to the challenge, executing a near-flawless stint strategy to stay ahead of the chasing pack. The decisive moment came at the final stop, where a bold call by the engineering side proved to be the race-winning move. As Belgian race engineer Simon Vandercoilden explains: "We decided at the last stop to only change two tyres compared to four for the others. That gave us the win."

The sister car #32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Augusto Farfus (BR), Sean Gelael (ID) and Darren Leung (UK) showed strong pace throughout, underlining the competitiveness of the package as a whole, and ultimately secured fifth place after a strong comeback in the closing stages. The double top-five result left no doubt about WRT's ambitions for the 2026 season.

For Belgian GT Program Manager Kurt Mollekens, the double result sends a clear message ahead of the rest of the season: "P1 and P5, two cars in the top five, and a win in the opening race, that's exactly what we needed to kick off the championship. The car proved to be very reliable, especially compared to some others."

The Bierset-based team maximised everything it had this weekend, and the timing could not be better: Spa-Francorchamps is next on the calendar on May 9th. Team WRT takes this hard-earned momentum straight into their home race, on one of the most iconic circuits on the calendar.

Find below a media gallery with photos free of charge.

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\n\n \n Media gallery: WEC IMOLA \n \n
\n 14 images - Credits: WRT
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\"Luna
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\n Luna de Wilde\n Press Officer, W RACING TEAM\n \n
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