Jaubert and Genesis Pole by the numbers
Mathys Jaubert’s effort makes it two 21-year-old pole winners in a single season. Malthe Jakobsen’s Peugeot pole position at Spa made him the youngest overall pole sitter at that point, but the even younger Frenchman moves the needle even further.
Jaubert is also the first-ever Silver-rated overall pole sitter.
Genesis meanwhile became the 11th manufacturer to set an overall pole position in FIA WEC history after Audi, Toyota, Porsche, and Rebellion in LMP1 and Alpine, Glickenhaus, Ferrari, Cadillac, Peugeot and BMW were added (as well as Toyota and Porsche again) in the Hypercar era.
The Genesis GMR-001 becomes the fourth LMDh and the second based on the Oreca spine to set a pole position.
And Genesis takes a first-ever overall pole position for a South Korean manufacturer in any FIA World Championship.
Promoting ELMS
The fan zone behind the main grandstand features an information stand promoting next season’s 4 Hours of Barcelona, the 2027 ELMS season opener on 13-14 March.
The stand features the Forestier Racing by Panoz LMP2 ORECA and a Team Virage Ligier LMP3 car
WEC Barcelona Preview
The WEC’s YouTube channel has posted a preview for tomorrow’s race with Sam Smith and Shea Adam.
Spotted in the paddock
DSC has spotted a few significant faces in the paddock this weekend, including 2026 ELMS LMGT3 Champion Alec Udell, who is targeting a WEC drive in the near future.
Nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen is here as a Rolex Brand Ambassador and presented the Hyperpole medals.
James Barclay, McLaren’s Hypercar team boss, is also in Spain. He gave reporters an update on recent testing progress, which you can read about on DSC in the coming days.
Team Penske president Jonathan Duiguid is also in the paddock today and tomorrow.
Le Mans winner and ex-F1 and Champ Car star Mark Blundell, meanwhile, is on site supporting his long-term client Mike Conway after the Toyota star announced this week that he will retire from racing after this season.
Ex-Minardi F1 racer Luis Perez Sala is here and no doubt cheering on his nephew Dani Juncadella, the Genesis racer, one of three current Hypercar drivers who were taken under the wing of the Joves Pilots del Circuit de Catalunya programme in their youth, for which Perez Sala was a leading light.
Ferrari’s Miguel Molina and Aston Martin Alex Riberas also came through the talent development programme based at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
No immediate further plans for Norris to drive McLaren Hypercar
There are no further plans for Lando Norris to get behind the wheel of McLaren’s MCL-HY LMDh prototype as it stands, according to McLaren’s sportscar team boss James Barclay.
The reigning Formula 1 world champion sampled the new-for-2027 FIA WEC-bound Hypercar both at the Goodwood Festival of Speed back in July and more recently during a track test in Portimão. But for now at least, there’s no expectation he’ll be on track again with the sportscar team in the short term.
“For now, no,” Barclay told reporters during this weekend’s WEC meeting in Barcelona, when asked whether he had plans to test the car again. “Of course, we’d love to have him back. He’s got a very busy programme and a very clear priority on Formula 1. But yeah, it was great that he drove with us, and for sure, never say never.
“He wants to come and jump in the car again, and I know he’d like that if schedules allow. But no more than that for now.”
Barclay described Norris’s involvement in the ongoing test program for the car as “awesome”.
“The fact that he wanted to drive the car and really push it was great,” he added. “It shows how attractive the category is to the world’s top drivers at the moment. And of course, he gets in the car and does a fantastic job. His quality is clear; it was great to see him in the car and straight on the pace.
“It was also really interesting, his feedback, because it’s the first time he’s driven a car like this. Of course he raced at Daytona, so it’s not a completely unique space for him. But we got a good barometer of where the Hypercar is, its areas of strength and where we can make gains. It was really positive, and so much so that he had a flight to catch and he almost missed his flight because he was enjoying debriefing with us!”
