Tom Emson and Tom Lebbon are the 2026 International GT Open Champions, but the pair of the Elite Motorsport Ferrari had to sweat more than expected to secure the crown in the dying moments of a breathtaking final race in Barcelona. The third position allowed them to keep a one-point advantage on Zac Meakin and Dean Macdonald, their toughest challengers. “It has been a tougher last round than expected, but we made it. The entire team can be proud of what we achieved this season, with the title and the six wins”, said the Toms.
The pair of the Greystone GT McLaren did everything it took, and did it well, taking pole and a dominant win in Race 2, but missing the objective by one little point. “We couldn’t have done more, but that’s racing”, said Meakin and Macdonald, “it’s a little bit frustrating to finish so close, but in a few days we’ll be looking at the season more positively and enjoying the Teams’ title”.
Second in the race and third in the standings is the ZRS Motorsport Porsche of Pietro Armanni and Alex Fontana, the other top protagonists of the season.
The fight in the classes was equally intense. Charlie Bateman, in the Blackthorn Aston Martin shared with Henrique Chaves, had a difficult race, but a sixth was enough to secure the title, while Marcin Jedlinski and Karol Basz in the Olimp Racing Audi took their maiden class win of the year.
Sixth in the Am class was also enough for Joel Monegro, in the Fach Auto Tech Porsche to become the first Dominican driver to win a GT title in Europe, at the end of a race which saw an all-Polish podium of solo drivers, with Korzeniowski (Olimp Racing Ferrari), Mazur (Sendom Lambo) and Adrian Lewandowski (Baron Ferrari).
THE RACE – Suspense is high ahead of the start as the main title challenger, the Greystone GT McLaren, is on pole thanks to Dean Macdonald, and the championship-leading Elite Ferrari seventh with Tom Emson. As the lights go to green (without the Villorba Lambo, which broke the engine in qualifying), Macdonald pulls away ahead of Fontana, Baumann, Götz, Fagg, Basz and Emson. The last two will soon be passed by Mosca.
First corner drama, with a number of cars going very wide off-track, hits the top contenders in Pro-Am, Chaves and Schwarzer, who rejoin among the back-markers, but the Portuguese is still ahead of the German, as in the standings. In Am, the leading Fach Porsche is also ahead of the pack with Thomas Kiefer.
Macdonald tries to build a gap on Fontana, which reaches 8 seconds when the pit change window opens in lap 14, and 12 on Baumann, while Mosca is now fourth ahead of Fagg, Basz, Gazeau, Webb and Kell.
After all stops, Meakin leads with a 1.5-second gap on Armanni, and 9 on Ramirez and Lebbon, who takes third in lap 24, but is seriously challenged by Cresswell in the other Greystone GT car. The two pass each other twice but eventually Lebbon seizes third and maintains it till the end by 0.7 seconds, securing the title.
The Pro-Am fight is equally close, with Fach running in third behind Jedlinski and Milota, with Bateman in sixth fighting with Shibata and Mettler, eventually salvaging the title.
It was tough also for Joel Monegro, champion in Am after a difficult stint concluded in sixth position, with a trio of Polish solo drivers, Korzeniowski, Mazur and Lewandowski, trusting the podium.
