Garage 59 has confirmed its drivers for its 2026 GT World Challenge Europe campaign, with the British outfit set to field two McLaren GT3 Evos in the series this season.
Its Pro class #59 entry will feature three McLaren factory drivers: Marvin Kirchhöfer, Dean MacDonald and Joseph Loake.
Kirchhöfer and MacDonald will contest the full season together, whilst Loake will join them for the Endurance Cup events. This means that both Kirchhöfer and Loake have retained their respective roles from 2025, whilst MacDonald is stepping up from the Endurance Cup drive in the team’s Gold Cup entry he had last year.
“It feels great to go into the new GT World Challenge season with a full McLaren factory driver line-up,” Kirchhöfer said.
“Both Dean and Joseph were outstanding last year. Considering Joseph was in his rookie season of GT3 racing he was very fast and super consistent so I’m excited to see his progression continue. Dean is a good friend of mine so I’m very happy to finally be sharing a car with him.
“I think we have an exciting season ahead of us. We have a strong car and I firmly believe this is the strongest McLaren line-up we have seen for a long time. Let’s see what we can do!”
The sister #58 McLaren will once again be entered into the Gold Cup, and driven by new McLaren GT3 Junior Drivers Louis Prette (pictured below) and Tom Fleming full-time, with McLaren factory driver Benjamin Goethe joining them for the Endurance Cup.
Prette and Fleming shared a Garage 59 McLaren during the final three Sprint Cup events of last season, earning three class victories and putting together a late title challenge. Goethe, meanwhile, is stepping back from the full season drive he had last year, when he shared the Pro #59 with Kirchhöfer.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back in the Garage 59 McLaren this year,” Prette commented.
“We finished last season on a high with several class wins and an overall victory in Barcelona, so the momentum is definitely there. Teaming up with Tom across both Sprint and Endurance looks very promising—we already showed strong pace together in Sprint—and having Benji join us for the Endurance rounds makes it feel like we’ve got a really strong lineup. I can’t wait to get the season started at Paul Ricard.”
For the first time since 2022, Garage 59 will field only two cars in the Endurance Cup, with its #188 McLaren not set to return this season.
2025 proved to be a standout campaign for Garage 59 and McLaren in GT World Challenge Europe, as the team converted the pace it had shown previously with the GT3 Evo into several major results.
The team earned McLaren’s maiden pole position and best-ever finish at the 24 Hours of Spa, before going on to win three races outright in the second half of the season – ending a nine-year winless streak for both team and manufacturer in the process – and challenge for multiple titles. Kirchhöfer and Goethe won Sprint Cup races at Misano and Magny-Cours, whilst MacDonald, Prette and Adam Smalley dominated the Endurance Cup finale at Barcelona.
In 2026, Garage 59 will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship alongside its GT World Challenge programme, with the British squad serving as McLaren’s nominated team in LMGT3. Multiple drivers will perform double duty between the two programmes, with Fleming, Kirchhöfer and Goethe all also featuring in its FIA WEC line-up.
The 2026 GT World Challenge Europe season begins at Circuit Paul Ricard with a six-hour Endurance Cup event, on 10th to 11th April 2026.
Images courtesy of SRO/JEP
