WBC 2026 Report

Over three days at WBC, 24 drivers competed to qualify for the finals on day 4. The final this year was a classic track the group is well familiar with, Spa-Francorchamps. As the flag dropped, it was Don Tatum who patiently waited and navigated around his competitors to his first WBC win.

We raced six tracks over three days of qualifying. Day one saw us racing on Rio de Janeiro and Melbourne. Day two was Spielberg and Greater Noida. The final qualifying heat included tracks from Mogyorod and Montreal.

As the finals got underway, Tatum started from pole but quickly seeded position in the first corner. Coming out of La Source, Keller and Schultz had moved to the front of the field. Their lead was short-lived as well. As the cars accelerated down the Kemmel Straight, Mossman unexpectedly jumped past the leaders and into first place.

Mossman's early charge came at a price. To maintain his advantage, he was forced to push his top speed and the dice were not feeling particularly generous. Mossman broke his top speed on the roll, putting him in a difficult position almost immediately after taking the lead. And because dice have a tendency to beget more dice, he was forced to roll again on the very next turn. His luck didn't improve. A second broken top speed ended his race almost as quickly as he had taken the lead.

With Mossman out, Keller and Schultz were once again at the front, with Tatum staying right with them. Tatum wasn't making a dramatic charge through the field or spending heavily simply to be the car in first place. Instead, he stayed with the leaders while being careful with his wear, never allowing the cars in front to get away from him.

Behind them, the chase pack was having problems of its own. Long had remained with the leaders for much of the opening lap, but was blocked coming out of Fagnes, which cost him dearly. Unable to stay with the cars in front, Long fell back into the chase pack, where he and Fleckenstein would battle for the next lap or so.

Heading into lap two, Keller, Schultz and Tatum had established themselves as the lead pack. Behind them, the rest of the field was trying to close the gap, with Haskell beginning to make his way forward through the field.

Keller, who had been at or near the front since the opening corner, finally ran into trouble of his own in Fagnes on lap two. Forced to push his brakes, Keller broke them but was able to continue. Unfortunately, he found himself pushing those same brakes again when he reached the Bus Stop. The dice were no kinder the second time around, and another broken brake ended his race.

While cars were dropping out around him, Haskell was putting together one of the better drives of the race. Starting well back in the field, Haskell managed to pass most of the cars in front of him over the first two laps. By the time the field crossed the line to begin lap three, his charge had carried him all the way into the lead pack with Schultz and Tatum. Getting there had come at a price, however, as Haskell had used most of his wear working his way through the field.

That left Haskell, Schultz and Tatum at the front heading into the final lap. All three had put themselves in position to win, but they had taken very different routes to get there. Haskell had spent the race charging through the field. Schultz had been among the leaders since exiting the first corner. Tatum had spent all three laps staying with the lead group while conserving as much of his car as possible.

On the final lap, those differences finally began to matter. Haskell was the first of the three to run out of wear. Schultz followed, leaving Tatum as the only driver in the lead group who still had wear remaining.

The three stayed together deep into the final lap, but as they made their way toward the Bus Stop, Tatum finally had the advantage he had spent the entire race building. Haskell and Schultz had used everything they had to get there, while Tatum still had wear available to spend.

After three laps of patiently staying with the leaders, Tatum was finally able to cash in that advantage. He used his remaining wear through the closing portion of the circuit, navigated around his competitors and crossed the line to claim his first WBC championship.

Don's stayed with the lead pack from beginning to end, never fell far enough behind that he had to spend heavily to catch back up, and conserved his wear better than anyone else. When the race finally reached the point where everyone had to show what they had left, Don was the only one left standing.

Congratulations to all 24 drivers who participated this year, to the twelve who made the final, and especially to Don Tatum on a very well-deserved WBC win.