Maxime Martin crowned Intercontinental GT Challenge champion

Belgium's Maxime Martin is the 2026 Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) champion. After the Indianapolis 8 Hour, the final round of the season, he wins by four points from Germany's Maro Engel, according to La Dernière Heure.

A fifth place that was enough

Martin shared the #34 Mercedes of the JMF team with Grenier and Stephens. The crew finished 5th overall in a race won by the #32 Porsche 911 GT3 R of GMG (Guven, Pera, Washington), ahead of a McLaren (Telitz, Fleming, Coleman) and a BMW (Foley, De Phillippi, Rothberg). His aim was to finish ahead of Luca Stolz, a title rival also driving a Mercedes: according to La Dernière Heure, Stolz retired after about ten minutes following a crash by his co-driver Lin Hodenius.

A three-way fight before the finale

Before Indianapolis, according to Motorsport-Magazin, Maro Engel (Mercedes) led, Luca Stolz was second, 7 points behind, and Maxime Martin third, 1 point behind Stolz. Engel, winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour and the Nürburgring 24 Hours, could not defend his position in Indiana: he was racing in the DTM finale at Hockenheim the same weekend. A sixth place would have been enough for Stolz to overtake Engel, provided he finished ahead of Martin.

A season in five rounds

The 2026 calendar had five rounds: Bathurst (Australia), the Nürburgring (Germany), Spa (Belgium), Suzuka (Japan) and Indianapolis (United States, 8-10 October). According to La Dernière Heure, Martin won in Australia and Germany and also took a podium at the 24 Hours of Daytona and one in the European Le Mans Series, despite a difficult WEC season. The Indianapolis finale gathered 29 GT3 cars from nine manufacturers, per Motorsport-Magazin.

The other Belgians at Indianapolis

Jan Heylen took 7th overall (4th in Pro-Am) in an RS1 Porsche, and Alessio Picariello finished 11th (5th in Pro) in a Porsche 911.