Ajith Kumar’s racing team collected a second-place class finish at the Michelin 12H Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, the opening European round of the 2026 24H Series, after a late penalty dropped them from provisional victory. The entry crossed the finish line first in GT3 Pro-Am, but a 20-second post-race sanction for an overtaking infringement by co-driver Yannick Redant moved it to P2 in class. Overall honours went to Optim Motorsport’s McLaren.
The car, an #93 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO running under the Ajith RedAnt Racing banner, was shared by Ajith Kumar with Kobe de Breucker, Yannick Redant and Ayrton Redant. The switch to the Mercedes from last year’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is the most visible change in AKRT’s 2026 programme. The season opener at the 24H Dubai in January ended in an engine fire and no result; Spa is therefore the team’s first podium of the year and its fourth across 24H Series events since it began campaigning in January 2025.
Ajith was back on the podium stage with the Indian flag. AKRT’s social channels ran through the weekend’s images, and Suresh Chandra, Ajith’s manager, posted the podium clip on X. “A proud moment for Indian motorsport,” read the caption shared across AKRT and Chandra’s handles. “Ajith Kumar and his team secure a remarkable P2 podium finish at the prestigious Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. A testament to passion, precision, and perseverance on the global racing stage.” A follow-up post noted the fan turnout in the paddock. “The crowd swells, and so does the love. People of Belgium form a beeline to meet their idol. In cinema and sports, #AK continues to spread positivity wherever he goes.”
For Ajith, motorsport is not a hobby project. The season-long calendar reflects that. He finished seventh in the GT4 European Series Am Cup last year on a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, is currently running in the Asian Le Mans Series and the 2026 Le Mans Cup in LMP3, and collected the Philippe Charriol Gentleman Driver of the Year at SRO Motorsports Group’s Venice awards last December, presented by SRO founder Stephane Ratel. Spa is the circuit where AKRT’s first class podium of last season came too, in the old Porsche; repeating the result on a new car makes the arc neat.
The racing commitments also explain the slippage on his film calendar. His next outing with director Adhik Ravichandran, widely reported as AK64, was scheduled to roll in February but has since been pushed to the second half of 2026, with the 2026 European racing schedule citing dates across France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the UK through the summer. The project is being set up with Anirudh Ravichander on music and Mythri Movie Makers continuing as producer, and Sreeleela has been rumoured for the female lead. Adhik himself publicly echoed the AKRT congratulations this week. Good Bad Ugly, the previous Ajith-Adhik collaboration, finished its theatrical run in the Rs 200 to 248 crore range after an April 2025 release, and remains one of Ajith’s highest-grossers.
What Spa also signals is a particular kind of racing-first pattern: podiums and retirements, steady progress, no short cuts. AKRT is in its second full year of endurance racing, running with Bas Koeten Racing as technical partner and a rotating line-up of European co-drivers. The work is slow, and the scoreboard moves slowly with it. The class silverware from Sunday is the latest line on that scoreboard.