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It was a strong finish to the 2026 World Endurance Championship for GM at the Monza finale, where the Jota Cadillac took the Hypercar victory and the TF Sport Corvette team clinched the drivers' title for Jonny Edgar and the teams' title in LMGT3.
Cadillac's Earl Bamber nursed the energy supply in the No. 38 V-Series.R hybrid during his final stint of the six-hour race to edge the Alpine A424 of Victor Martins by 5.607 seconds. Bamber narrowly avoided disaster earlier when he encountered a brace of Mercedes AMGs at the exit of the Parabolica.
Jack Aitken took the lead for Cadillac on the sixth lap of a race dominated by the V-Series.R on the high-speed 3.6-mile circuit that puts a premium on braking and high-end aerodynamics. After rain in practice and qualifying, all the teams were forced to computer calculate their dry settings for the race, a process where Jota and Cadillac excelled. Aitken was followed in the lead by Sebastien Bourdais, driving his final WEC Hypercar race.
"The guys did an amazing drive," said Bourdais. "No running in the dry at all. It was a simulation game." Bourdais looks to be finishing with no overall victory in his hometown race at Le Mans. "It really started to click at Le Mans," he said. "We didn't get Le Mans, but wishing the guys all the best in the future."
Aitken missed the post-race celebration, leaving early to join his wife for the birth of their first child.
"Hopefully Jack gets that baby tonight," said Bamber, who helped Aitken win the IMSA WeatherTech Championship by co-driving eight of the nine rounds. "We've just been over the moon. I think in the future we will be a force to be reckoned with in the WEC."
It was a poignant runner-up finish for the Alpine Endurance Team run by Signatech, which finished its final WEC campaign without a victory this year. Renault has elected to withdraw, although the team maintains its intent to locate another route for entry in 2027. Renault has indicated it will bar any privateer effort by also withdrawing the A424 chassis.
The No. 007 Valkyrie of the Aston Martin THOR team finished third on the track in a bid for the team's first podium, but took a 20-second tire pressure penalty and was under investigation for an energy infringement during its final stint.
Toyota was never in the hunt after clinching the manufacturer's title with one race remaining. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa clinched the drivers' championship over longshot teammates Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway. The latter is leaving the WEC after an impressive 24 career victories.
In their Z06 GT3.R, Edgar, Nicky Catsburg and Ben Keating co-drove to third.NurPhoto - Getty Images
Antonio Fuoco took the No. 50 Ferrari to the pole in the wet, satisfying a strong turnout of the tifosi fans. But a second home race in Italy this season for the Ferrari 499P was not a strong performance after the transition to dry conditions. The No. 51 of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi moved up to the final step on the podium due to the penalty to the No. 007 Valkyrie.
The Bend Porsche 911 GT3 R of Manthey Racing won the LMGT3 class by a scant 0.270 seconds over the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage Evo in a superb final stint by Ricardo Pera, who battled Eduardo Barrichello. Pera was joined by Shahin Yasser and Richard Lietz in the victory. Lietz will not return as a factory Porsche drive following 100 WEC starts and his 16thcareer class victory.
The win was not enough to overtake TF Sport for the teams' title or Jonny Edgar in the drivers' championship.
In their Z06 GT3.R, Edgar, Nicky Catsburg and Ben Keating co-drove to third place for what was the final season-long campaign for the 55-year-old Keating. The Texan will drive a third TF Sport Corvette at Le Mans in 2027.
It was a case of what might have been for the No. 77 Ford Racing entry of Proton Competition. The Mustang GT3 of Seb Priaulx was leading the LMGT3 class with a strong performance by the Mustang in the second half of the race before it was collected by the No. 7 Toyota of Kobayashi following a collision with the No. 17 Genesis GMR-001 of Pipo Derani.
