Hofor Mercedes-AMG Wins Caution-Filled 12H Paul Ricard

Hofor Racing took advantage of a flurry of late-race cautions to snatch victory in the Michelin 12H Paul Ricard.

The No. 11 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Torsten Kratz, Maximilian Partl, Alexander Prinz and Michael Kroll crossed the line 36.598 seconds ahead of the No. 28 GetSpeed Team PCX Racing entry.

Hofor took both the overall and GT3-Am class win.

The Team PCX crew claimed both the Pro-Am class win and the championship lead, finishing ahead of title rivals Ajith RedAnt Racing and the sister GetSpeed Team JR286 squad.

Fuel stop tactics were crucial to Hofor’s victory, as it practiced an alternative strategy to the Team PCX car which had been dominant for much of the weekend.

Hofor started the six-hour race with a benefit over the rest of the field as the only car other than the first-place No. 73 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo to be on the lead lap when the race resumed on Sunday morning.

Additionally, it had more fuel than Proton’s Porsche as it pitted before the overnight intervention on Saturday.

The No. 11 squad decided to pit several times under Code 60 caution periods throughout the race.

This meant that, while Hofor was only able to fill up with a quarter of its regular fuel allowance under cautions, it spent far less time in the pits than some of its rivals.

It was able to serve its final scheduled pit stop under a Code 60 with just over an hour-and-a-half left of the race. Meanwhile, the rival Team PCX car was forced to pit later during green flag conditions.

This put the Hofor squad in first ahead of Maro Engel in the No. 28 car. It still appeared under threat as driver Kratz had to save fuel to be able to reach the chequered flag.

Engel, however, made use of a full tank of fuel to produce consistent fastest laps in an attempt to catch up to Kratz’s Mercedes-AMG.

Luck was on Hofor’s side as a lengthy caution with less than an hour to go allowed the team to pit one last time to take on enough fuel to comfortably reach the finish without sacrificing its lead.

Mercedes-AMG stalwart Engel chipped away at Kratz’s advantage but was unable to overcome the 50-second deficit to the No. 11 car. A final Code 60 in the dying moments of the race guaranteed a Hofor victory.

12H Mugello winners Sainteloc Junior Team kept its championship hopes alive with a third place finish. The No. 18 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II mirrored Hofor’s pit stop strategy, and a rapid final stint from veteran Audi driver Pierre Kaffer saw it grab the last step on the podium.

Era Motorsport enjoyed a much more promising result compared to a pair of DNFs in the opening two rounds of the season.

The sole Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo in the field finished in fourth place and third in the GT3 Pro-Am standings. It too was caught out by the back-to-back caution periods at the end of the race, as well as a time penalty for causing a collision. Pro driver Ryan Dalziel fought back up the order in his final stint to secure a top-five finish for the team.

Title contenders Ajith RedAnt Racing ended the race in fifth place after driver Yannick Redant diced with both Kaffer and Dalziel in the final laps of the race. The team also picked up a 30-second penalty for not respecting the speed limit at the end of the final Code 60 caution period.

The No. 286 GetSpeed car delivered a strong recovery drive after a rear puncture on the first lap of Sunday’s race. The team finished sixth overall and second in the GT3-Am class.

The Proton Porsche which started Sunday’s leg of the 12H Paul Ricard in the lead finished in seventh after being slapped with a penalty for causing a collision.

Red Camel-Jordans.nl delivered a triumphant 992 class win in its No. 909 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup after a lengthy battle with points leaders Mühlner Motorsport and the No. 928 HRT Performance Porsche.

The HRT entry also took the 992-Am class victory even after losing radio contact with its driver in the final hour of the race.

Vortex continued its clean sweep of GTX class wins in the 2026 season, though it was the only GTX class car entered in this weekend’s event.

Circuit Toys took the GT4 class win, also as the only car in its category.

The TCE-TCX class win went to asBest Racing despite mechanical troubles for its No.102 Seat Leon Cup Racer.

Results: Race Part 2