Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella claimed victory in Race 1 of the 2026 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup at Magny-Cours, converting pole position into a dominant win for Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing. The duo controlled the one-hour contest to secure their first Sprint Cup victory of the season.
When the lights went out during sunset in France, Jules Gounon managed to keep his position at the front of the grid, keeping Jewiss Kiern in the #222 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Max Hesse in the #46 BMW M4 GT3 behind. The German driver of WRT didn’t have a good start, as he soon got overtaken by the #48 Mercedes and the #12 Mercedes, dropping back to P6 – also behind the #50 Ferrari 296 GT3 of AF Corse.
The opening phase of the race continued to be tough for the #46 WRT BMW, as a clever Kobe Pauwels in the #7 Aston Martin came through and went for a sensational overtake around the outside. With Thomas Neubauer still in front, Hesse didn’t seem to make up any places soon. WRT team mate and Sprint Cup championship leader Charles Weerts was meanwhile also stuck in traffic further down the grid.
About ten minutes into the race, Gounon found a good rhythm and pulled away from Kiern, managing a gap of three seconds while continuing to clock purple sectors. The Frenchman seems to be on fire after getting that pole position and leaves the #222 Mercedes further behind him with every lap.
Verstappen Racing pulls away rapidly
After about twelve laps, the front runners started to look at their strategies for the race ahead. With the Gounon pushing the gap to over five seconds, his engineer suggested prolonging the first stint to benefit from it later in the race. “I think we should go long in this stint, a maximum of eight laps,” Gounon’s engineer said.
“When the window opens we can come out in traffic, just for information,” he continued. Gounon’s answer was clear: “You do it, mate. I’ll focus on the driving.” The #3 Mercedes was on a very good run, as the sister car behind Gounon was still within a second reach of Lucas Auer in the #48 Mamba Mercedes, with Fabian Schiller in the #12 Mercedes right behind.
Half an hour in the first pitstop sequences followed, with the #48 Mercedes, the #50 Ferrari, #7 Aston Martin and #46 BMW all opting for their first stop in lap 16 or 17. More cars came in, with nearly half of the grid stopping ahead of Gounon. The Frenchman, racing under the umbrella of Andorra, was called in in lap 18. Daniel Juncadella took the wheel for the next stint.
Ferrari rear-ends Audi causes FCY
An incident between the #52 Ferrari and the #84 Audi causes Christopher Haase to run off track with damage, and he needed to leave his car there. There was some bodywork from the Ferrari on track, forcing race control to activate a Full Course Yellow period while the track got cleared and Haase’s car was lifted from the track.
With eleven minutes left on the clock, the race went back to green. Verstappen Racing was still in the lead, with Leclerc having to defend second place while having Thiim right behind him.
Leclerc challenges in the closing stages
With just under ten minutes remaining, the battle for second place continued to develop. Arthur Leclerc gradually pulled away from Nicki Thiim and began closing the gap to race leader Dani Juncadella. At one stage, the AF Corse Ferrari reduced the deficit to 2.393 seconds, but Juncadella responded immediately and extended his advantage back to around 2.5 seconds, keeping the #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG comfortably in control.
Further down the order, Jamie Day came under pressure from Aurélien Panis in the fight for the final Silver Cup podium position. In Bronze Cup, Gabriel Rindone dropped from third to fifth after being passed by Peter Dempsey and Dustin Blattner during the closing stages. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Matias Zagazeta was handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage while running third in the Gold Cup.
At the chequered flag, Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella claimed a dominant Race 1 victory for Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, converting pole position into their first Sprint Cup win of the 2026 season. The #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Arthur Leclerc and Thomas Neubauer finished second, while the #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Nicki Thiim and Kobe Pauwels completed the overall podium. Lucas Auer and Maro Engel brought the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG home in fourth, ahead of the #59 Garage 59 McLaren of Marvin Kirchhöfer and Dean Macdonald.
Class winners
In the class battles, Boutsen VDS celebrated Gold Cup victory with Robin Knutsson and Gilles Magnus in the #10 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Team WRT claimed Silver Cup honours thanks to Ignacio Montenegro and Matisse Lismont in the #30 BMW M4 GT3. Bronze Cup victory went to the #87 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Marvin Dienst and Rinat Salikhov, after the #222 2Seas Motorsport of Charles Dawson and Kiern Jewiss slipped to third following an 18-second penalty for exceeding the Full Course Yellow speed limit.
Race 1 Top 10
- #3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 – Gounon / Juncadella (Pro)
- #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 – Neubauer / Leclerc (Pro)
- #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 – Pauwels / Thiim (Pro)
- #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 – Auer / Engel (Pro)
- #59 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 – Macdonald / Kirchhöfer (Pro)
- #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 – Hesse / Rossi (Pro)
- #32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 – Weerts / Van der Linde (Pro)
- #10 Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 R – Magnus / Knutsson (Gold)
- #2 Boutsen VDS Porsche 911 GT3 R – Picariello / Boccolacci (Pro)
- #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 – Mosca / Zagazeta (Gold)
The Sprint Cup action at Magny-Cours continues on Sunday with Qualifying 2. Group A is scheduled to run from 10:50 to 11:00 CEST, followed by Group B from 11:05 to 11:15 CEST. Race 2 will then get underway at 15:30 CEST, with the one-hour contest running until 16:30 CEST
