welcome race fans to krazyaboutracing.com the leader in motorsports coverage on the world wide web we are now in our 24th year

WE MAY NOT HAVE ALL THE WHISTLES & BELLS OF OTHER SITES , hOWEVER  have THE most complete MOTORSPORTS COVERAGE on the web !

(HOME)  (CONTACT US)  ( THE PIT )  (LOCAL RACING)   (PREVIOUS NEWS)  (PREVIOUS RACING)   (SITE NEWS)  (MEET THE STAFF)   (HALL OF FAME)  (MULTIMEDIA)   (SPECIAL EVENTS) (ANNUAL AWARDS)  (DRIVER & TEAM RELEASES) (LOCAL TRACK NEWS) (MISC RELEASES)

 

 

  

 

    

for more coverage on the series click on the series lOgo

International Motor Sports Association    Lamborghini Super Trofeo series

International Motor Sports Association 

super trofeo series

 

  www.imsa.com 

photos courtesy Imsa

About the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)

International Motor Sports Association, LLC (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 and owns a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, as well as four one-make series: Ferrari Challenge North America, Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and Porsche Carrera Cup North America. IMSA – a company within the NASCAR family – is the exclusive strategic partner in North America with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The partnership enables selected IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Balogh, Grist Earn Strategic Win in Airbnb Endurance Challenge at VIR

No. 30 Toney Driver Development Teammates Overcome Opening-Lap Incident, Play Pit Strategy Perfection En Route to Victory


 

June 21, 2026

Staff Report

IMSA Wire Service

Race Results


 

ALTON, Va. – As Ari Balogh slid off course in Turn 3 following contact from Farhan Siddiqi in the No. 87 FastMD with Remstar Duqueine D08 on the first lap of Sunday's two-hour IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge race at VIRginia International Raceway, he likely didn't expect to find himself standing in victory lane two hours later.


 

But that's exactly where he wound up alongside his No. 30 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 co-driver Garett Grist thanks to heady strategy from Toney Driver Development Owner Nathan Toney and a well-timed full-course caution period. The first-lap incident put Balogh at the rear of the field, but the first of the race's three full-course cautions for debris just four minutes into the race enabled him to catch back up to the rest of the field.


 

"After the first lap, I got spun out," Balogh said of the incident, which drew Siddiqi a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility. "The car was vibrating. I wasn't even sure we were going to make it."


 

Shortly after achieving minimum drive-time, Balogh made the first of the team's two required pit stops to turn the car over to Grist for the remainder of the race. The turning point came for Grist and the No. 30 team with 46 minutes left.


 

Grist entered pit lane for his second required two-minute, 15-second pit stop before the final full-course caution came out to retrieve Wyatt Brichacek's No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 and Patrick Liddy's No. 86 Forte Racing Ligier from the tire barriers at VIR's famed "Oak Tree" turn.


 

He ultimately rejoined the field one lap down to the first- and second-place runners, Oscar Tunjo in the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D09 and Danny Soufi in the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine, but both Tunjo and Soufi still needed to make their final pit stops after the full-course caution period ended.


 

With lap times in the 1-minute, 44-second range, Grist managed to unlap himself and build more than a 30-second lead at the end of the pit stop cycle. Grist took the lead with 16 minutes to go and pulled away over the remaining distance – despite substantial damage to the right rear of the car from the opening-lap incident – to win by 40.611 seconds over Soufi.


 

"There's quite a bit of damage to the back (of the car)," Grist said. "I mean, engine cover, floor. There was a little bit of vibration, but Nathan made a real strategy call."


 

"Really, this is a team sport, of course, (in) these endurance races," Balogh added. "The team is awesome, and Nathan on strategy is the best. The best."


 

Balogh and Grist became the third different winners in three Airbnb Endurance Challenge races this season, but for much of the race, it appeared Tunjo and co-driver Valentino Catalano would be celebrating their second victory after taking the season opener at Sebring in March.


 

Catalano led throughout his stint after starting the race from the pole position and Tunjo reclaimed the lead once he took over. But the timing of his final pit stop put Tunjo well behind and a brief off-course excursion with 16 minutes to go promoted Soufi to second place, where he finished alongside co-driver Jake Williamson.


 

Catalano and Tunjo came home third but unofficially remain atop the Airbnb Endurance Challenge point standings with 950 points, 20 more than No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P325 co-drivers Brian Thienes and Patrick Kujala – who finished fourth in Sunday's race – and 40 more than Grist and Balogh.


 

Those margins will make it an all-out battle for the inaugural Airbnb Endurance Challenge championship at the season finale at Road America on Aug. 16.

 

 

Catalano Secures First Pole of Season in IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge Qualifying at VIR

2025 VP Racing SportsCar Challenge LMP3 Champion Continues Strong Run for Gebhardt Team


 

June 20, 2026

Staff Report

IMSA Wire Service

Qualifying Results


 

ALTON, Va. – Valentino Catalano already had fond memories from his first visit to VIRginia International Raceway when he swept all three races of an IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge tripleheader last August.


 

He added another one in Saturday's 15-minute qualifying session by securing the pole position for Sunday's two-hour IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge race at the 3.4-mile circuit on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Driving the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA, Inc. Duqueine D09, Catalano claimed his first pole position of the season with a best lap of 1 minute, 42.626 seconds (114.707 mph) in the car he shares with co-driver Oscar Tunjo.


 

It should be noted that this also was the first qualifying session of the season for Catalano, the 2025 VP Racing Challenge LMP3 champion who is only competing in the Airbnb Endurance Challenge races this season. Tunjo qualified the car on pole for the first two endurance races of the season to go with three additional poles from the sprint race portion of the VP Racing Challenge season.


 

It will be a familiar view out of the windscreen for Catalano. He started all three of last year's races at VIR from the pole position, including one that served as a makeup for a weather cancellation at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park a month earlier.


 

"It's a nice track," said Catalano of VIR. "I love it here. Last year, I got three wins here, so it's good to come back. It was a bit tricky now because we have a new car with a V6 Biturbo (engine) and we didn't have a lot of practice with it. So, we improved over the weekend now, the past two practice sessions. Now the car got better. There is still some work to do, but I am happy with the job that Gebhart Motorsport did. Let's see how the race pace will be. I think we're in a good position."


 

Catalano and Tunjo are looking for their second victory of the Airbnb Endurance Challenge season after taking the season opener at Sebring International Raceway in March prior to a third-place showing at Circuit of The Americas last month. They enter Sunday's race with a 10-point lead in the Airbnb Endurance Challenge standings over No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P325 co-drivers Brian Thienes and Patrick Kujala.


 

Kujala posted the second-quickest time in Saturday's qualifying session but had his times disallowed as the team was penalized for working on the car during qualifying. Nevertheless, the No. 77 teammates will have two hours to match or exceed the second-place results they achieved in both of the season's Airbnb Endurance Challenge races thus far.


 

The penalty to Kujala moved Farhan Siddiqi to the outside of the front row in the No. 87 FastMD with Remstar Duqueine D08. Siddiqi posted a best lap of 1:43.468 (113.774 mph) in the car he shares with Jagger Jones.


 

Lincoln Day rounded out the top three with a best lap of 1:44.127 (113.053 mph) aboard the No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 he shares with Wyatt Brichacek. The top-three qualifying performance was a nice rebound for the team after Brichacek crashed in Turn 1 just after taking the checkered flag in Friday's lone practice session.


 

Sunday's two-hour race takes the green flag at 10:35 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on the IMSA Official YouTube Channel. 

 

Vanthoor, BMW M Team WRT to Lead Field from 24 Hours of Le Mans Pole

IMSA Stars, Teams Feature Near Front of All Class Grids


 

June 11, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Hyperpole 2 Hypercar Results

Hyperpole 1 Hypercar Results

Qualifying Hypercar Results


 

Hyperpole 2 LMP2/LMGT3 Results

Hyperpole 1 LMP2/LMGT3 Results

Qualifying LMP2/LMGT3 Results


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dries Vanthoor made a habit of qualifying on pole throughout 2025 in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition with four straight poles to start the season. He’ll now have the same vantage point for June’s major endurance sports car racing classic, the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans. 


 

Vanthoor starts first overall and in the leading 18-car Hypercar category aboard his No. 15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 which he’ll share with Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen. 


 

Linear distribution of the race is available on MotorTrend and TruTV with digital distribution available via Max, FIAWEC+ and HBO MAX, with radio coverage all week via Radio Le Mans. The race starts at 4 p.m. local and Central European Time (CET) on Saturday, June 13 (10 a.m. ET).


 

The Belgian qualified second on the road, what had been just 0.005 of a second behind Jack Aitken’s last-lap flyer in his No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R. Aitken’s 3:22.559 lap only barely eclipsed Vanthoor’s 3:22.564.


 

However, race officials deleted the No. 38 car’s times in the final Hyperpole 2, 15-minute session, which was set to determine the pole position. The car was placed under investigation for not respecting Race Director instructions as it emerged at the head of the queue at pit out.

“That is a great surprise!” said Vincent Vosse, Team Principal of BMW M Team WRT. “I am very happy to be on pole position for the first time in Hypercar. I take that, of course, but at the same time congratulations to Cadillac and Jack Aitken for putting on a great show! Overall, we at WRT can be extremely happy with the qualifying results. Now let’s focus on the race.”


 

It promotes BMW to the top spot in qualifying for the first time in the race’s history. BMW last won the race overall in 1999.


 

“To have now secured BMW M Motorsport’s first ever pole position at Le Mans is simply fantastic!” said BMW M Motorsport Head Andreas Roos. “Congratulations to Dries Vanthoor on a brilliant lap and many thanks to everyone who has worked on this project over the years. This is a fantastic reward for their efforts. We’ll relish seeing our BMW M Hybrid V8 right at the front of the grid on Saturday. But now we’re focusing fully on race preparation.”


 

Vanthoor added, “I’m super happy to be on pole in Le Mans! This is such a great event and now being on pole here and giving everyone in the team what they deserve is awesome. At the same time our goal is to win the race, so we need to keep it clean over 24 hours to be right there on Sunday.” 


 

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s second entry moves up to the front row, with Norman Nato, Will Stevens and Louis Deletraz sharing the No. 12 Cadillac.


 

The No. 35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 (Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, Antonio Felix da Costa) led Wednesday’s preliminary qualifying practice and Hyperpole 1 and slotted into third ahead of the second BMW (the No. 20 car of Rene Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns). 

Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing will fly the IMSA flag from fifth with the trio of Ricky and Jordan Taylor alongside Filipe Albuquerque sharing the No. 101 Cadillac V-Series.R.


 

Here’s how some key members of a sizable IMSA contingent racing at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans fared in qualifying:

 


 

Heart of Racing Team Scores LMGT3 Pole


 

The Heart of Racing Team scored its second straight Le Mans pole in LMGT3. The team runs parallel programs in both IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship and one of its two LMGT3 entries, the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 Evo, flew to pole in the hands of Mattia Drudi for a second straight year.

The Italian set a best time of 3:52.433 in the car he shares with IMSA veterans Zacharie Robichon and Ian James.



“It feels really great and it’s nice to be here on pole after last year,” Drudi said. “The car has been so good. Zach and Ian too. The car is quick. We are feeling really quick. The race is another story. But it’s always a good starting point.” 


 

The team’s second LMGT3 made it home in eighth, and the pair of Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyries that include IMSA full-timers Roman De Angelis (No. 009) and Ross Gunn (No. 007) will roll from seventh and 11th, respectively, in Hypercar.

 

IDEC Takes LMP2 Pole; Flurry of IMSA Contenders


 

IDEC Sport took the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) pole after a one grid spot penalty was assessed to the class’ fastest car from Forestier Racing by Panis following an infringement in Wednesday’s sessions. Paul Lafargue, Valerio Rinicella and Job van Uitert share the No. 28 IDEC ORECA 07 Gibson. The No. 29 Forestier ORECA that includes Toyota protégé Esteban Masson, who qualified fastest, starts second.

IMSA regulars feature in the next eight cars in the top 10, all ORECAs. David Heinemeier Hansson (No. 24 Nielsen Racing), Tom Dillmann, Nick Yelloly and Jakub Smiechowski (No. 43 Inter Europol Competition), George Kurtz, Alex Quinn and Laurin Heinrich (No. 4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR), Julien Andlauer (No. 30 Duqueine Team), Tobi Lutke, Mathias Beche and Kevin Estre (No. 14 TDS Racing), PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron (No. 99 AO by TF), Ben Barnicoat (No. 183 AF Corse) and Bijoy Garg (No. 343 Inter Europol Competition) are all racing either a full WeatherTech Championship or full IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup program in 2026 and seek to add a Le Mans win to their yearly record.


 

Hyett, the 2025 Jim Trueman Award winner, rolls off eighth as he, Cameron and James Allen seek to deliver AO by TF an encore Le Mans LMP2 Pro/Am win. Kurtz, Quinn and Heinrich’s No. 4 CrowdStrike by APR car is the fastest LMP2 Pro/Am car on the grid. 


 

Hawksworth Rallies After Brief Delay in LMGT3

Among LMGT3 entries, Akkodis ASP had a scare before Hyperpole 2 even started when mechanics struggled to close the left-side door of Jack Hawksworth’s No. 78 Lexus RC F LMGT3. Luckily they got it sorted and the Englishman flew to fourth on the grid, behind the polesitting Aston Martin, No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari and second Akkodis ASP Lexus. 


 

IMSA regulars Parker Thompson (No. 69 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 Evo), Lorenzo Patrese (No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) championship leader Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello (No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin) slotted in sixth, seventh and eighth. 


 

Bob Akin Award recipient Orey Fidani will look to bring 13 Autosport’s No. 13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R forward from 24th in the field in the car he shares with Matt Bell and Lars Kern.


 

BMW Photos Courtesy of BMW M Motorsport

Aston Martin Photo Courtesy of Aston Martin Racing

Pivotal Pit Work Propels Ibiza Farm McLaren to Mid-Ohio Win

Last-Lap Pass from Wittmer Delivers Honda a TCR Victory


 

June 7, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Results


 

LEXINGTON, Ohio – A combination of pivotal pit work and dynamic last-lap drama produced the two winners in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge headlining showcase at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio.


 

Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky scored their second Grand Sport (GS) win of the year in their No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4. Meanwhile, courtesy of a last-lap pass, Karl Wittmer brought Honda to victory lane for the first time this year on its home turf in the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR he shared with LP Montour and Dai Yoshihara.


 

Honda is the 17th of 18 participating OEMs to win a race in 2026 across eight IMSA- sanctioned series. This is Honda’s first Mid-Ohio IMSA win in the series now known as Michelin Pilot Challenge since 2013, in the Street Tuner (ST) class with RSR Motorsports and drivers Andrew Novich and Tom Dyer. The manufacturer has a plant in nearby Marysville. Acura has won in WeatherTech Championship competition at the circuit more recently.


 

In GS, a slick pit stop propelled Cooper forward five positions into the lead. Once unleashed out front, the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 streaked away to the Grand Sport (GS) class win.


 

Most of the opening two and a half hours of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio ran under green flag conditions and sunny skies after a roller coaster weather weekend. But the race complexion changed entirely following a full course caution with 97 minutes remaining for an incident for the No. 2 car entering Turn 1.


 

Cooper entered the pit lane sixth for the penultimate scheduled pit stop, but a stop more than 12 seconds quicker than the No. 95 Turner Motorsport and 15 quicker than the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVOs proved pivotal to move the No. 44 car to the head of the queue. 


 

Once out front, Cooper ran in clear air to build his lead north of nine seconds before his final stop, then was the first to make his final stop. The Ibiza Farm team’s last stop was also more than six seconds quicker than the BMW pair, and Cooper emerged more than 15 seconds ahead on track.


 

He brought the No. 44 McLaren home to his and Uretsky’s second win of the season (Sebring) by 2.295 seconds despite another full-course caution and another restart. 


 

“Moisey kept us within 10-15 seconds of the leaders in the first two stints, and that was all we needed,” Cooper said. “I got in the car maybe sixth or seventh and we couldn’t pass anyone without straight line speed. But then we had a yellow and a pit stop and jumped everyone, and that was all we needed. I just hit my marks, and we got in clean air – which is what suits this Ibiza Farm McLaren best.” 


 

Uretsky, who started fifth, raced against some of the best in GS in a jumbled starting grid for his stint. While it appeared calm and quiet on paper, he said it was anything but from behind the wheel.


 

“It was not a calm stint!” he laughed. “At this track you have to push every lap, there’s not a lot of cautions. We had the right team and the right strategy, and we figured everything out. This one, everyone had to nail.” 


 

Despite a weekend full of pace, BMW came up shy of the victory even though a trio of the M4 GT4 EVOs finished second through fourth. The championship-leading No. 95 Turner pair of Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars finished second, one spot off the car’s winning ways from Mid-Ohio last year and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last race, while the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 39 CarBahn entry of Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister finished a season-best third. 


 

AutoTechnic Racing banked its fourth top-six finish in as many races this year with Stevan McAleer and Austin Krainz in the No. 27 BMW. Koch-Copeland Motorsports’ trio of Ford Koch, Jaxon Bell and Jeremy Fletcher completed the top five in their No. 23 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. 


 

TCR: Last-Lap Pass Nets Wittmer, Honda an Ohio Win

Preston Brown and Denis Dupont’s form in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge four-hour races is well-known, so much so it would take a superhuman effort to beat it. Karl Wittmer put on the proverbial cape to do so on the final lap of the four-hour race in Mid-Ohio.


 

Despite starting 11th, the resilience of Brown and Dupont was poised to pay off with their fourth four-hour race win. Brown, battling an illness, got out after fulfilling his minimum drive time and turned the No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR over to Dupont for a stint over three hours in warm, mid-80-degree conditions.


 

After starting third and also overcoming a drive-through penalty for tires without crew on a pit stop, the No. 93 MMG Honda rallied with first Yoshihara, then Montour, then Wittmer aboard the car – with Wittmer taking over for the final stint with just over an hour remaining. 


 

Wittmer hounded, dogged and hustled to try to get past Dupont, who delivered a sterling defense both inside and outside primarily heading into Turn 4 at the end of Mid-Ohio’s longest straight.


 

But finally, on the last lap, Wittmer deployed the late race magic he’s known to wield – he put the No. 93 Honda on the podium late at both VIRginia International Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year – to make a move on Dupont into Turn 4 and proceed to capture the checkered flag by just 0.801 of a second.


 

“Denis is such a good driver; he kept me honest and I have such respect for him,” Wittmer said. “I took a launch out of the Keyhole, side drafted him and lunged for it. Props to him for giving it up so clean. It’s a mutual respect thing. It was very hot in the car, everything got hot, but we worked through it.” 


 

Dupont, tired and nearly triumphant, reflected on the battle for the win. 


 

“I tried everything,” Dupont admitted. “I think he knew that he had a little bit more where he could make it happen. In the braking zone he got ahead of me and there wasn’t much I could do. Fair play to him though!” 


 

Behind Dupont and Brown, two more Herta Hyundais finished third and fourth, although not the championship-leading No. 33 entry.


 

The No. 98 Hyundai of Mark Wilkins and Madison Aust finished third, with Aust scoring her first Michelin Pilot Challenge podium. The No. 18 car rallied to fourth with the trio of Harry Gottsacker, Lance Bergstein and Jon Miller. 


 

The new Stallion Motorsports w/GOU team posted its season-best finish of fifth with Celso Neto and Raphael Reis sharing the No. 77 Cupra Leon VZ TCR.


 

IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge teams resume for two-hour races the rest of the season, with the LP Building Solutions 120 next up on Saturday, June 27, at Watkins Glen International.   

 

unjo, Workman Double Up VP Racing Challenge Victories at Mid-Ohio

Tunjo Drives Through P3 Field; Workman Sets GSX Pace

 

June 7, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Results


 

LEXINGTON, Ohio. – Oscar Tunjo and Westin Workman completed weekend sweeps in the pair of IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. At least for Tunjo, it was a different experience compared to his flag-to-flag win from pole on Saturday.


 

Due to the wet weather conditions for qualifying on Saturday morning, the Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) grid was set by the fastest lap times in Saturday’s Race 1 on a damp-but-drying track. Although Tunjo had solid pace in the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D09, his best race lap was only fifth fastest in Race 1 which left him out of position for Sunday’s second 45-minute race of the weekend. 


 

Tunjo gained a spot before the race even started as one car in front of him failed to present to the false grid in time. After the green flag, he leapt to third into Turn 4 on Lap 2, got to second by Lap 3 and then chased down polesitter Gian Buffomante in his No. 30 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325.


 

Buffomante led the opening 10 laps before Tunjo made his move, using his more extensive LMP3 experience to his advantage. As Buffomante was balked exiting Turn 1 catching traffic, Tunjo darted to the inside in the Keyhole (Turn 2) on Lap 11 to secure the lead.


 

Tunjo quickly built his lead and despite a full-course caution that wiped out the lead, drove away on a restart to his fifth total and fourth sprint win of 2026 by 11.337 seconds.


 

“Super happy for this race and result,” Tunjo said. “We’ve been fast but today was a bit strange starting from the back. We made our way forward, and it was good battles up front.” 


 

The battle for second came down to the final lap, although contact occurred between Buffomante and Danny Soufi in his No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine D09. The incident was reviewed with no further action and Soufi made it through into second, while Buffomante was delayed in the gravel. Toney’s second driver made it to the podium with Lincoln Day advancing to third in his No. 95 Ligier JS P325 entry. 


 

“Fun race; I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Soufi, who advanced from sixth on the grid. “I wasn’t sure if the safety car would help me or not. It was full attack mode, and traffic towards the end made it interesting.” 


 

In fourth and capturing the Bronze Cup win was Slade Stewart, making his IMSA P3 debut this weekend in the No. 29 Riley Ligier JS P320. Stewart is a past race winner in IMSA’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series.

 

GSX: Workman Makes it a Six-Pack of GSX Wins

Westin Workman’s win streak continued into the sixth round of Grand Sport X (GSX) competition, following another authoritative victory at Mid-Ohio.


 

In today’s race, he again started from pole, led flag-to-flag, and captured the checkered by a winning margin of one lap in his No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2.


 

He set a new GSX record for fastest race lap of 1 minute, 25.958 seconds (94.566 mph), which was more than 1.6 seconds faster than anyone else in class. 


 

“At the end it was everything I had,” Workman said. “The goal is to improve each race, because if you do the same thing every lap, every race, you won’t get better. I want to be the best one out there and that’s the goal. With Toyota Gazoo Racing and RAFA Racing, what a combo. Super blessed and thankful to be out here.” 


 

The battle in GSX most of the race was a strong three-way battle for second. Bronze Cup winner Rob Walker started and finished second in his No. 53 Kingpin Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, holding off the consistent advances of Justin Di Benedetto and Ismaeel Ellahi in a pair of Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS cars. Di Benedetto finished third in his No. 4 Di Benedetto Racing Porsche ahead of Ellahi in fourth in his No. 25 CSM Porsche. 


 

The LMP3 field heads next to VIRginia International Raceway on Sunday, June 21, for the third two-hour race of the year as part of the Airbnb Endurance Challenge schedule. The next sprint weekend for both P3 and GSX takes place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, July 10-12.

 

 

Tunjo, Workman Deliver Wet-to-Dry Saturday Wins at Mid-Ohio

VP Racing Challenge Points Leaders Both Lead Flag-to-Flag from Pole


 

June 6, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Results


 

LEXINGTON, Ohio. – The “mid” in the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course described perfectly middle-of-the-road conditions directly in-between a gray, cloudy and wet start and clear, sunny and drying finish to the opening IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race of the weekend. What wasn’t “mid,” however, was the performances delivered by both class championship leaders who excelled in the challenging conditions. 


 

Oscar Tunjo in Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) and overall and Westin Workman in Grand Sport X (GSX) maintained their season long form en route to a pair of victories in the 45-minute race.


 

Tunjo had track experience in his back pocket from winning his first VP Racing Challenge event at the Mid-Ohio circuit in 2025 in similar treacherous conditions. But what was new to him this weekend – at least in North America – was his No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D09, a loaned chassis from Duqueine run by Forbush Performance at the most recent IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge race (the endurance portion of the VP Racing Challenge) at Circuit of The Americas. 


 

The Colombian has raced Duqueine’s third generation LMP3 chassis in Europe but made his first start in the new car in the U.S. this race as his primary Duqueine D08 chassis has been sent to France for updates. This weekend has seen Tunjo spend time adapting to the new chassis at this track and learning in real-time through evolving race conditions. 


 

Although Tunjo led flag-to-flag from pole en route to his fourth total and third sprint win this season, he didn’t have it entirely easy. A lead of more than six seconds briefly whittled down to just over two seconds in the final 15 minutes of the race in GSX traffic, before Tunjo expanded the gap back to a healthy 20.415 seconds by the end of the race.


 

“It was a tricky race after a tricky weekend so far,” Tunjo explained. “We had a dry practice, then a wet qualifying, then a wet-to-dry race. We had a good qualifying though. The start was tricky, but it got better when the track dried. It was hectic and hard to know when to push depending on the grip. Great to get another sprint win though!


 

“Today the track dried quicker (than last year), but I learned a lot from last year,” he added in comparing this race to his 2025 win. “We’ll try to maximize the weekend.” 


 

His Gebhardt Motorsport-affiliated teammate, Danny Soufi, posted his best race of the season in his own new Duqueine D09 chassis, the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing entered car. It’s not technically a Gebhardt Motorsport-entered 1-2, but it is the team’s first 1-2 finish in IMSA P3 competition since the first race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta last October when Tunjo led home 2025 IMSA P3 champion Valentino Catalano.


 

In third, Bronze Cup winner Travis Hill delivered an impressive drive in the No. 2 Shopify Racing Ligier JS P325. Hill’s TWOth Autosport team rebuilt the Ligier chassis going into Mid-Ohio and secured his first Bronze Cup win of the season. In the final seven minutes, Hill made a pass of series returnee Lincoln Day in his No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325.


 

“We’ll call this a win for sure,” Hill said. “Happy to get it all together and in one piece. So nice to be on the overall podium. You could tell (Lincoln) was losing the rears a bit, so I tried to wait for an opportunity. I threw a dummy, then I was able to get alongside him.”  

 

GSX: High-Five for Workman to Start Season

Westin Workman’s name can’t be spelled without the word “win.” In the wet-to-dry race, Workman continued his win streak to open the VP Racing Challenge GSX season.


 

The driver of the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 captured his fifth victory in as many races in an unchallenged drive from pole, leading flag-to-flag to win by a lap. 


 

Workman gained experience in the wet for the first time aboard his GT4 Supra at Daytona earlier this year. Though the 3.56-mile combination oval/road course at Daytona and the 2.258-mile rolling, natural terrain Mid-Ohio road course couldn’t be further apart in terms of venue type, Workman figured out how to manage the changing conditions in both easily. 


 

“Honestly it was about managing the tires,” Workman said. “I didn’t start out with a big gap, but as the track dried out, it really showed to find the grip. That was the name of the game, honestly. We kept an eye on the radar. Once the cloud went over and the sun came out, it was game on. I started to push to go from 60 percent to everything I had.” 


 

Series returnees Justin Di Benedetto and Ismaeel Ellahi, both of whom missed the Circuit of The Americas sprint race double in February, completed the GSX podium. Di Benedetto enjoyed a smooth drive to second in his No. 4 Di Benedetto Racing Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS, while Ellahi drove up to and past Courtney Crone for third in his No. 25 CSM Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS.


 

Rob Walker, in his first start of the year, won the GSX Bronze Cup in his No. 53 Kingpin Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 ahead of the top-finishing full-season Bronze Cup entrant, Dan Ammann in the No. 91 VRC Motorsports Group, LLC Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS.


 

Sunday’s second race of the weekend goes green at 8 a.m. ET. It streams on Peacock (in the U.S.) and globally on the IMSA Official YouTube channel and IMSA.tv.

 

Pair of Record-Setting Poles Set for Michelin Pilot Challenge Mid-Ohio Headliner

Westphal, Pasquarella Power to the Top Spots for Four-Hour Race


 

June 6, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Qualifying Results


 

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Jeff Westphal doesn’t qualify frequently in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, so it came as no surprise that it’d been quite a while since he achieved his most recent Motul Pole Award.


 

When told it was 15 years ago at Watkins Glen International just past 15 years to the day, June 2, 2011, in an ST (Street Tuner) class BMW 328i, Westphal summed it up succinctly:


 

“The old dog has still got it!” he laughed.


 

The now 39-year-old drove, fittingly, the No. 39 CarBahn by Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO to something new: a new track record at the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course.


 

Westphal’s best lap of 1 minute, 25.216 seconds (95.390 mph) on his eighth lap not only broke but smashed the previous mark of 1 minute, 26.262 set in June 2024.


 

The CarBahn team of Westphal and Sean McAlister, which finished second in the 2025 Grand Sport (GS) championship, has had an abnormally and uncharacteristically difficult start to the 2026 campaign. With a best finish of 13th through three races, the No. 39 pair enter Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio (12:15 p.m. ET on Peacock and IMSA Official YouTube channel) 30th in GS points, 670 points out of the lead. 


 

There are still seven races to go in the season and the team figured it should switch something up for the second four-hour race of the season. McAlister usually qualifies and so with Westphal aboard for qualifying, things appear on the up ahead of Sunday’s race. 


 

“I’m elated with the effort of this CarBahn team; they gave me a great BMW,” Westphal said. “This puts us in such a great position to start the four-hour race. It’s a boost in momentum as it’s something the team needed, given we’ve had a rough start to the year.” 


 

One of Westphal’s longtime series sparring partners, Stevan McAleer, also took the opportunity to qualify and promptly positioned his No. 27 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO second on the grid. McAleer was 0.375 of a second in arrears. He and Austin Krainz are in search of their first victory together but have been one of the GS field’s most consistent finishers of late, including with three top-six finishes to start 2026 to sit fourth in points.


 

Van der Steur Racing qualified a season-best third with Allen Patten and Trenton Estep sharing the team’s No. 66 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo. With the top Toyota and McLaren fourth and fifth, four GS manufacturers finished in the top-five of the stacked 30-car class. The top eight cars in GS beat the previous track record.

 

TCR: Pasquarella Plants His Honda on Pole with New Track Record

In Touring Car (TCR), the qualifying track record fell too – and in similar fashion as it did in 2025.


 

Last year, Karl Wittmer broke his own mark in the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR of 1:26.747. This year, another Honda beat that lap, as Rocco Pasquarella took his No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Honda to the best lap of 1 minute, 26.564 seconds (93.904 mph).


 

Pasquarella’s pole only slightly beat Bryson Morris’ flyer in the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Morris ended just 0.008 of a second adrift, but is still in strong shape to build on his and Mason Filippi’s 110-point lead.


 

The No. 5 car has qualified in the top three in all four Michelin Pilot Challenge races this year but has finished between fifth and sixth in the first three races. Pasquarella is hoping to convert his second pole (Sebring) into a win or podium along with Tim Lewis Jr., and return the KMW team to victory lane with its new manufacturer. 


 

The longtime Alfa Romeo squad switched to Honda ahead of the 2025 season and is racing on the manufacturer’s home turf this weekend, which Pasquarella had a chance to experience earlier this week.


 

“The car was on absolute rails; massive thank you to KMW for the car,” Pasquarella said. “This week I got to tour the MAP (Marysville Auto Plant) Honda plant; huge thanks to American Honda for that. I know our car will be fast in the race. 


 

“I think it’s super important. There’s a lot of Honda signs around this track, and I’ve seen some people at the track this week that I met at the plant. Obviously a lot of support out here, and we’ll try to get them a win.” 


 

Wittmer’s No. 93 MMG Honda qualified third in the hands of Dai Yoshihara, the third driver alongside Wittmer and LP Montour, and also got under Wittmer’s previous mark. Cupra completed the top five with the pair of Victor Gonzalez Racing entries, qualified by Tyler Gonzalez and Steven Clemons, respectively.

Cadillac Whelen Scores "Hometown" Victory in Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic

Aitken, Bamber Team Up for Seventh Straight Podium and Championship Lead


 

May 30, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Race Results


 

DETROIT – American muscle was on full display Saturday as Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R dominated the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, the 100-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race through the streets of downtown Detroit as part of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear.


 

Motul Pole Award winner Bamber started the race and comfortably led the first 33 minutes before handing over to Aitken, who built a 14-second lead until a full-course caution was called for debris on the track with 20 minutes remaining. That late-race reset offered a final glimmer of hope to the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class competition.


 

But it was unfulfilled hope, as Aitken aced a pair of late-race restarts and was able to pull away during the final stages while chaos broke out behind him. The No. 31 Cadillac built a 6.023-second gap before crossing the finish line ahead of the No. 25 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 shared by Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann.


 

Compounding the joy for General Motors in its corporate hometown at an event it sponsors, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque took a season-best third place in GTP in the No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R., while Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports notched the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) PRO class victory.


 

“My team absolutely nailed it, and to do it here at the home of GM and Cadillac, with so many friends and family with us…it really doesn’t get a lot better than that,” Aitken said. “It’s a win that we’ve been searching for for a while. With so many people involved in the program here, it was really meaningful. It’s pretty overwhelming, but amazing.”


 

“It was pretty nervy with those last yellows, just watching,” Bamber added. “I'm just really happy for Cadillac, and happy for the Corvette guys also, to finally get the win here in our home race. We had a great Cadillac this weekend that was super quick from the moment it hit the track. That’s a pretty perfect weekend.”


 

With seven consecutive podium finishes dating to a win at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September 2025, the Cadillac Whelen team is on a hot streak unprecedented in the four years of the current IMSA GTP era. The victory was the fourth in IMSA competition for Aitken and the 11th for Bamber.


 

Cadillac has now won five times in Detroit, but the first four came at the old Belle Isle circuit (2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022).


 

Other than working through GTD PRO traffic, Aitken pretty much had the 1.645-mile Detroit track to himself for most of his stint. Two cautions in the final 20 minutes did little to dampen his confidence.


 

“I’ve been lucky to be in that position a few times before, but especially on a street circuit, you really need to keep your focus and keep pushing – stay in that rhythm and not think too far ahead,” Aiken said. “Frankly, you know there’s a high chance of a yellow that will bring things together again and create that knife-fight to the finish.


 

“I tried not to think too far ahead,” he continued. “But on Sector 3 of the last lap, I let myself realize, ‘This is going to be pretty cool!’”


 

The No. 25 BMW earned its second consecutive podium finish. Eng credited BMW M Team WRT for a late-stopping strategy that helped them overcome a loss of two positions in the hectic opening laps.


 

“Marco drove fantastically and we didn’t make any mistakes,” Eng said. “But the No. 31 Cadillac was just out of reach for us this weekend.”


 

Meanwhile, Taylor and Albuquerque earned the first trip to the rostrum this year for Wayne Taylor Racing in a year that has seen the No. 31 Cadillac finish on the podium every race.


 

“Huge relief here in Detroit,” said Ricky Taylor. “We got very unlucky in qualifying and that could have changed our day, so the team was on the back foot again at the start of the race. I’m glad everything worked out as planned and the team was flawless.”


 

With the win, Aitken unofficially took over the lead for the GTP drivers championship by 144 points over Laurin Henirich, whose title hopes took a turn for the worse at Detroit with an 11th-place finish. Heinrich incurred a stop-plus-60-seconds penalty for incident responsibility that dropped the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 two laps down after he forced the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie into the wall.


 

Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer, who rallied to finish fifth at Detroit after starting 10th, are third in the driver standings, 10 points behind Heinrich. Cadillac has leapfrogged Porsche to lead the GTP manufacturer standings by 17 markers.


 

The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, June 25-28 at Watkins Glen International. In the interim, nearly three dozen full-time IMSA drivers will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from June 10-14.

 

 

Corvette by Pratt Miller Captures Elusive Detroit IMSA GT Win

Garcia, Sims Deliver a GTD PRO Victory in Front of Chevrolet Brass

 

May 30, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Race Results

 

DETROIT – For Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, winning in Detroit was an important milestone to achieve. The team had not delivered an IMSA points race triumph in the city since 2008 on the former Raceway on Belle Isle Park.


 

They did so on Saturday in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. But despite leading 73 of 79 laps in the fourth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) season, Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia did not have it all easy in their No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R.


 

Sims led the opening 24 laps from pole position and pitted 32 minutes into the 100-minute race, turning the car over to Garcia. As he explained, he had the easy part.


 

“I was honestly pretty nervous going into the race, because of knowing how much mayhem can unfold that's outside of your control around here,” Sims said. “Once the race got off to a clean start for us, I was able to maintain position after the first corner and our Corvette was working really, really well. The tires switched on nicely and I was able to, you know, sensibly pull out a pretty good gap. Even with one restart, it was fairly smooth sailing, to be honest. That also reduced the amount of times the GTPs came past me.


 

“But then with GTP traffic and the restarts at the end, it was mad to watch.”


 

Garcia’s stint covered the “mad” portion of the race in Motown.


 

In the middle portion of the race, the Spaniard lost a significant chunk of his multiple-second lead behind the tail end of the GTD PRO field. A snarling pack of rivals behind, including Jack Hawksworth in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3, gave chase but were unable to make a move past. The gap fell to under a second before he was able to get past and then expand the lead.


 

“It's part of managing and knowing how fast he is, and defending against the cars behind you,” Garcia explained. “So, you also need to know how much you can push him in order to be as fast as possible. Because there were laps where I was really on him, and he was really defending very hard, but I knew when you do that, you lose a lot of time.


 

“There was a point where they were getting really close, so I had made a move. I mean, I know I'm the leading car. They don't want to lose a lap, and I also knew once I cleared them that he didn't care anymore.”


 

Garcia, too, had to dodge the outward-leaning walls of the 1.645-mile Detroit Street Circuit and drove most of the second half of the race with a loose right hand driver’s side mirror. He then also had to navigate what he thought was fluid on the track, and as the first car through, had to tiptoe through.


 

A pair of late-race full-course cautions increased the drama and the respective heart rates.


 

At one stage, it appeared Hawksworth had made a pass of Garcia after contacting the rear of the No. 3 car and emerging ahead exiting the tight and narrow Turn 1.


 

But that pass was negated after it was deemed to have been completed after the full-course caution started. A subsequent reorder put the No. 3 Corvette ahead of the No. 14 Lexus, and with a drive-through penalty then assessed to the No. 14 car for incident responsibility, it dropped down the order.


 

“I was completely on top of oil,” Garcia said. “Out of Turn 9, last corner, he had a good run, but as soon as we went across the line, I saw the yellow flags and in my dash with the flag, too. I didn’t know how our car is right now, and that's something that I didn't know also on the next restart, how the car would behave after pretty heavy contact we had on that situation.”


 

Upon a final restart, Garcia was able to streak away to the checkered flag by 1.935 seconds.


 

This secured Garcia’s 32nd IMSA win, tying him with a trio of sports car veterans in Allan McNish, Ricky Taylor, and Sascha Maassen for 18th on the all-time sports car winners’ list. But it’s his first at Detroit. For Sims, it’s his ninth win.


 

The podium positions changed drastically in the final 10 minutes as nearly the entire rest of the GTD PRO field leaned into Detroit’s propensity for fisticuffs, set against the prominent Joe Louis “The Fist” that sits inside the Turn 3 hairpin.


 

At the final restart, the order was Garcia, Nicky Catsburg in the sister No. 4 Corvette and Aaron Telitz in the sister No. 15 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3. Contact between Cars 4 and 15 in Turn 3 saw Car 4 assessed a drive-through for incident responsibility.


 

Another incident between Cars 59 and 64, also in Turn 3, saw the No. 59 car assessed a drive-through for incident responsibility.


 

“It was a bit of a Mario Kart scene behind my rearview camera,” Garcia laughed.


 

Two blue cars that ran otherwise quiet races and stayed out of the wars benefited as a result. The Lamborghini Temerario GT3 scored its first IMSA podium in second with Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell second in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entry. Then Ford Racing made it back to the podium with Monterey winners Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies in third in their No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3.


 

To reflect how chaotic the finish was, the No. 9 car and No. 65 car took the final restart from fifth and seventh places and wound up on the podium.


 

The points also are in close quarters leaving Detroit. Catsburg and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette unofficially lead Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO by 18 points, Mies and Vervisch by 20 and Detroit winners Garcia and Sims by 31.


 

The No. 4 Corvette finished seventh and No. 1 BMW finished fourth on the roller coaster day.



The next GTD PRO round is part of the next all-class WeatherTech Championship race, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, June 28. 

 

 

Cadillac, Corvette Double Up for GM Brands in IMSA’s Detroit Sprint

Bamber, Aitken Win Overall with Whelen; Sims, Garcia Break Through in GTD PRO


 

May 30, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Results


 

DETROIT – Against the backdrop of its former headquarters and with an armada of its key stakeholders in attendance, both General Motors brands delivered a key double victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.


 

The No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber controlled the 100-minute race in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and overall, with the Renaissance Center in the backdrop of the 1.645-mile Detroit Street Circuit that runs along the Detroit Riverwalk.


 

Meanwhile the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) saw Chevrolet join Cadillac atop the Detroit podium. Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims brought it home in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, while the rest of the GTD PRO field had a chaotic finish behind it.


 

Cadillac most recently won an IMSA race in Detroit in 2022 (this was its fifth, adding to previous triumphs in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022). Chevrolet Corvette’s last GT points win in Detroit came in 2008, although the team did win a GT Le Mans non-points race in 2021. 


 

“To do it here at the home of GM and Cadillac with so many friends and family with us, you know, my team absolutely nailed it,” Aitken said.


 

Garcia added, “Super happy to be on victory lane in Chevrolet land, underneath the towers, I think all the big bosses will be very happy as we are. So fantastic drive by Alex, putting it on pole, opening up a big gap which made driver change was a little bit less stressful, and yeah. Great race overall.”


 

Both Motul Pole Award winners captured the checkered flag, which was relatively calm and controlled for the first 80 minutes of the race before a pair of late-race cautions jumbled the order and the field as the gloves came off. 


 

The GTP race was largely a strategic battle, with those entries opting to run longer for their first and only scheduled pit stop leaping up the order behind the otherwise dominant No. 31 Cadillac, which also scored its seventh consecutive GTP podium finish. 


 

The No. 25 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 and No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R completed the podium in class, with the fourth-place finishing No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 capturing the IMSA Michelin Sustainability in Racing Award. That marks the second race running where that award was achieved by a car that did not win the race.


 

In GTD PRO, Garcia nearly lost the lead late when prior to a final yellow flag, Jack Hawksworth attempted a pass into Turn 1 in his No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 but collided with Garcia. 


 

The No. 14 car was assessed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility, one of three GTD PRO cars dinged for the same infraction inside the final 10 minutes.


 

But Garcia withstood the final restart in order to secure his first Detroit win, adding a new venue to his rolodex of 32 IMSA victories. 


 

With multiple contenders shuffled out, the resulting fracas promoted the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 to the new car’s first podium finish with Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell second, and Ford Racing’s No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3 of Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch to third.


 

Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac has unofficially moved into the GTP championship lead while the No. 4 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner retains the GTD PRO lead, albeit by a reduced margin. 


 

All four WeatherTech Championship classes resume with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen from Watkins Glen International on Sunday, June 28. 

 

Unofficial Results, Points & Post-Race Nuggets | WeatherTech Championship

Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic

Detroit Street Course - Saturday, May 30, 2026

Unofficial race results available at results.imsa.com.


 

Unofficial points available at pitnotes.org/points.

GTP

No. 31 Cadillac Whelen (Action Express Racing)

  • 32nd IMSA class win
  • Last win was in October 2025 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in GTP with car No. 31
  • Fourth IMSA class win in GTP
  • First IMSA class win at Detroit Street
  • Previous best finish at Detroit Street was sixth (1 times) last in 2024 in GTP with car No. 31
  • First IMSA class win in 2026


 

Earl Bamber

  • 35y 10m 21d from Wanganui, New Zealand
  • 11th IMSA class win in 87th start
  • Last win was at 2025 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in GTP, 3 starts between
  • First win at Detroit Street in second start
  • Previous best finish at Detroit Street was 10th in 2025 in GTP
  • First win in 2026 season in fourth start
  • Previous best finish in 2026 was second (2 times) last at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in GTP


 

Jack Aitken

  • 30y 8m 7d from London, England, United Kingdom
  • Fourth IMSA class win in 27th start
  • Last win was at 2025 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in GTP, 4 starts between
  • First win at Detroit Street in third start
  • Previous best finish at Detroit Street was sixth in 2024 in GTP
  • First win in 2026 season in fifth start
  • Previous best finish in 2026 was second (3 times) last at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in GTP


 


 

GTD PRO

No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports

  • 119th IMSA class win
  • Last win was in August 2025 at VIR in GTD PRO with car No. 3
  • Sixth IMSA class win in GTD PRO
  • First IMSA class win at Detroit Street
  • Previous best finish at Detroit Street was second (1 times) last in 2025 in GTD PRO with car No. 3
  • Last win for Pratt Miller Motorsports at the Detroit was in 2008 (Belle Isle) in GT1
  • First IMSA class win in 2026


 

Antonio Garcia

  • 45y 11m 25d from Madrid, Spain
  • 32nd IMSA class win in 218th start
  • 32 wins is tied with Allan McNish, Ricky Taylor, and Sascha Maassen
  • Last win was at 2025 VIR in GTD PRO, 5 starts between
  • First win at Detroit Street in third start
  • Previous best finish at Detroit Street was second in 2025 in GTD PRO
  • First win in 2026 season in fourth start
  • Previous best finish in 2026 was fourth (2 times) last at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in GTD PRO
  • 15th different track that Garcia has won at


 

Alexander Sims

  • 38y 2m 15d from London, England, United Kingdom
  • Ninth IMSA class win in 58th start
  • Last win was at 2025 VIR in GTD PRO, 5 starts between
  • First win at Detroit Street in third start
  • Previous best finish at Detroit Street was second in 2025 in GTD PRO
  • First win in 2026 season in fourth start
  • Previous best finish in 2026 was fourth (2 times) last at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in GTD PRO

 

Practice Results | WeatherTech Championship

Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic

Detroit Street Course - Saturday, May 30, 2026

Practice 3 Results


 

Qualifying Results


 

Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results


 

Additional results are available at results.imsa.com.

 

 

 

 

Big Day for GM as Cadillac, Corvette Claim Detroit Poles

Bamber, Deletraz Sweep GTP Front Row at Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic


 

May 29, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Qualifying Results


 

DETROIT – General Motors basked in the Motor City sunshine Friday as its entries earned the Motul Pole Award for both IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes competing at the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.


 

Earl Bamber was fastest in both practice sessions in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, and he converted that speed into the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class pole. Meanwhile, Alexander Sims sped to the top starting spot for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class.


 

Bamber was delighted with the balance in his Cadillac after no less than three and half hours of practice time. The 35-year-old New Zealander was correct in his confidence that he could break Nick Tandy’s two-year old track-record for the tricky 1.645-mile street course along the Detroit Riverwalk in the shadow of the Renaissance Center, GM’s former corporate headquarters.


 

Bamber was one of five drivers who lapped under one minute, 6 seconds, finally lowering the benchmark to 1:05.313 with four and a half minutes remaining in the 15-minute session, for an average speed of 90.670 miles per hour. That was quick enough to top Tandy's previous track record of 1:05.390.


 

Bamber and his competitors might have gone even faster, before the session met a premature end. Felipe Nasr ran wide at Turn 1 in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and his teammate Kevin Estre in the No. 6 Porsche slapped the wall in avoidance.


 

Louis Deletraz secured the outside front row staring berth in the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R (1:05.635/90.226 mph), ahead of Nick Yelloly in the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 and Marco Wittmann in the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 fielded by BMW M Team WRT.


 

This is Bamber’s third pole position in IMSA competition, but first in GTP or any prototype class. His last start from the top spot came in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class at the 2015 Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.


 

“It’s been a great weekend so far,” Bamber said. “I loved the old Belle Isle track, but as soon as I drove here, I really clicked with this place and we decided to shake it up a bit this weekend and have myself run the qualifying, and it’s really nice to get my first GTP pole. 


 

“The car has been fantastic all weekend, and obviously it’s really cool for Cadillac to get pole position at our home race – and Corvette too, with ‘Simmsy,’” he added. “Hopefully we can just run away and hide and stay out of trouble. But we know this race has brought a lot of surprises over the years.”


 

The difficulty of the “concrete canyon” street course in the heart of downtown Detroit was on display during practice, when no fewer than 40 reports of spins or runs down escape roads were reported. But qualifying was clean until the Porsche Penske drivers experienced the double disaster that will leave them starting eighth and 10th in the 11-car GTP field. 


 

The No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 qualified by Tijmen van der Helm and co-driver Laurin Heinrich may look to pull a strategic gamble to leapfrog from P11 and repeat its last-to-first win achieved last time out at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca; Heinrich enters this race at Detroit atop the GTP points. 


 

But Bamber and his co-driver Jack Aitken are on a hot streak, starting the 2026 season with four consecutive podiums after wrapping up ’25 with a pair of wins. Detroit would be the ideal venue to find their way back to the top step of the podium. Aitken entered the weekend second in points, 21 behind Heinrich, and with Friday’s qualifying result is unofficially only six back to start Saturday’s 100-minute race. 


 

“We’ve sort of got a motto in the team that if we keep knocking on the door, if we’re in that top two or three all the time, then eventually it opens,” Bamber said. “We’re racing against some great teams. It’s never easy to win one of these things, but we’re staring up front and hopefully we can lead and execute. 


 

“We just have to our thing the best we can,” he smiled. “Today we converted it; we’ll see if we can do the same thing tomorrow.”


 

The Chevrolet Detroit SportsCar Classic will be broadcast live on NBC and streamed domestically on Peacock, with the green flag set for 4:10 p.m. ET Saturday, May 30. International streaming options include the official IMSA YouTube Channel and IMSA.TV.

 

3-4 Equals 1-2 for Chevrolet in GTD PRO Qualifying in Detroit

Sims Beats Catsburg as Corvette by Pratt Miller Locks Out IMSA’s Motor City

Front Row

 

May 29, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Qualifying Results

 

DETROIT – The Chevrolet vs. Ford – and the rest of the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class – manufacturer battle is finely poised in Motor City for Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic, Round 4 of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.


 

Last year, pole position proved pivotal for Seb Priaulx’s No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 en route to his and Mike Rockenfeller’s win in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) on the downtown Detroit Street Circuit. For Alexander Sims in his No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, he’ll be hoping that pole produces the same result this year.


 

Sims set a best lap of 1 minute, 9.354 seconds (85.387 mph) around the 1.645-mile, nine-turn circuit to secure the Motul Pole Award. Sims will share the No. 3 Corvette with Antonio Garcia as the 100-minute race airs live Saturday, May 30 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.


 

Chevrolet was already in good shape heading into qualifying. The manufacturer led both practice sessions with Nicky Catsburg atop the 90-minute morning session in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R and Sims faster in the two-hour second session in the sister No. 3 car. There is also a short practice session available Saturday morning for teams.


 

Sims’ team opted to change its set of Michelin tires early in the session and the grip – and pace – improved the longer the 15-minute session ran. The Englishman set his best time on his 11th lap of the circuit.


 

Catsburg then proceeded to qualify second, only 0.043 of a second in arrears of Sims, to ensure a Corvette 1-2 on the grid. Catsburg and Milner lead the championship points heading into this weekend’s race, while Sims and Garcia sit fifth.

“I was exploring the limits!” Sims said. “That was really close actually. We want to win them all to be honest. It’s lovely coming here. Pratt Miller is just up the road, and it’s GM’s home race. So, a Corvette lockout is pretty special. It lines us up nicely, but the Ford cars are right there. I thought they’d edge us in qualifying. But it’s an awesome job by the whole team.”


 

The 1-2 result in qualifying has been a trend of late in Motor City GT qualifying.


 

It’s the third year in a row where a single team locked out the front row at Detroit in GTD PRO, as Garcia led a Pratt Miller 1-2 in 2024 while Priaulx led the way with the then-Ford Multimatic Motorsports team (now called Ford Racing) in 2025.


 

Additionally, this is the fourth pole for Pratt Miller between Belle Isle and the Detroit Street Circuit (they won the pole in 2007 and 2008 in GT1 at Belle Isle). All those four poles were also front-row lockouts, and each was the No. 3 car on pole followed by the No. 4 car. Coincidentally, a Corvette GT car has not won an official IMSA points race in Detroit since that 2008 GT1 triumph.


 

Behind the pair of traditional yellow Corvettes, Ben Barnicoat qualified third in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 with the pair of Ford Racing Mustang GT3s – now in their Evo version – in fourth and fifth. After an incident in practice, Paul Miller Racing performed a rebuild of its No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO and Neil Verhagen lines up sixth.

 

Qualifying Results | WeatherTech Championship

Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic

Detroit Street Course - Friday, May 29, 2026

Qualifying Results


 

Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results


 

Additional results are available at results.imsa.com.

 

Practice Results | WeatherTech Championship

Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic

Detroit Street Course - Friday, May 29, 2026

Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results


 

Additional results are available at results.imsa.com.

 

Practice Results | WeatherTech Championship

Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic

Detroit Street Course - Friday, May 29, 2026

Practice 1 Results


 

Additional results are available at results.imsa.com.

 

MSA’s Summer Stretch Features a Quartet of Hot Tickets

Great Racing, Atmosphere Set for Fans to Enjoy Across Watkins Glen, CTMP, Road America and VIR

 

June 18, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – IMSA’s annual summer stretch of fun feature four traditional, historic, natural terrain road courses that form how the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season narrative comes together. 


 

The trips to Watkins Glen International, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Road America and VIRginia International Raceway all showcase an aspect of the IMSA calendar unique to each venue. 


 

“Once you get to Watkins Glen, Mosport (CTMP) and beyond, it’s my favorite part of the year,” said Roman De Angelis, co-driver of the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s flagship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class. 


 

“Once you get past Daytona and Sebring, it gets more aggressive in the sprint races, the races come quicker, and you’re finally in a good rhythm.” 


 

Four track leaders of the upcoming quartet of races weighed in on why their date is a “hot ticket.” Two of the six at Watkins Glen and Road America feature six-hour WeatherTech Championship races, while CTMP and VIR have different class structures for standard-length two-hour, 40-minute WeatherTech Championship races. 


 

To secure your own tickets for any or all of these upcoming races, visit TheGlen.com, CanadianTireMotorsportPark.com, RoadAmerica.com and VIRNow.com.  


 

High Demand


 

The anticipation is high and sales are strong for each, starting with the first of the four events, next week’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International. It’s the third of five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. 


 

“The entire weekend is looking great,” said WGI president Dawn Burlew, who noted Watkins Glen’s historic aspect in the community as the birthplace of road racing and Sahlen’s longstanding commitment. “Going into it, our year-over-year with tickets, sales and camping is right on where it needs to be.”

Next up is the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, for IMSA’s annual trip to Canada and its host of rabid yet quintessentially polite fans. The WeatherTech Championship Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) is the headliner for the third consecutive year along with both GT classes.


 

“CTMP is anticipating the largest crowd in the IMSA history at the track with reserved RV camping spots sold out months ago,” said CTMP president and general manager Myles Brandt.


 

Then comes Road America, with the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix. IMSA fans have long desired this race’s expansion from the two-hour, 40-minute standard race length up to six hours, where it will serve as the fourth IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round. 


 

“I think the demand is high and everything we’re seeing is pointing in the right direction,” said Road America president and general manager Mike Kertscher, who was keen to thank Motul for its increased presence. “Fans are excited and people are talking about it. It’s just energy. People have been asking for this in our fan surveys, the IMSA event included, asking what does a full-scale endurance race look like at Road America and when can it happen? In this particular instance the stars fell into place, and we get to do it here in ’26.” 


 

The last of the four in the summer stretch is the WeatherTech Championship’s lone GT-only showcase, the Michelin GT Challenge for Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), and a staple on IMSA’s calendar for the region.


 

"This is truly a year for motorsports all around,” said VIR CEO Connie Nyholm. “We're headed into our IMSA race this August with an increase in ticket purchases over this time last year and expect a great turnout. We can't wait to share another amazing weekend with fans!”


 

Fan Engagement Events


 

For fans in the area, the kickoff to the weekend comes with several promotional fan engagement opportunities ahead of on-track activity.


 

At Watkins Glen, there’s a new IMSA Preview Party at Seneca Lodge on Thursday, June 25, in addition to “Donuts with Dawn” Saturday morning at-track. 


 

“We're doing a preview party on Thursday night at the Seneca Lodge, which is a little different for us this year, so very we're excited about that,” Burlew explained. “And then some drivers are going to help serve dinner, so that ought to be a fun evening!”


 

The annual Clarington Race Fest comes ahead of the CTMP round on Wednesday, July 8, the first portion of the Canadian-centric round of festivities.

At Road America, the second IMSA Elkhart Lake Welcome Party will be held Thursday, July 30, in downtown Elkhart Lake. The first took place last year around Siebkens, which along with Seneca Lodge is renowned as one of the most fabled racing taverns anywhere. 


 

Camping Outlook 


 

The camping atmosphere is a big part of all four tracks, but particularly at the lengthier Watkins Glen and Road America circuits which measure out at 3.4 and 4.048 miles, respectively. VIR (3.27 miles) is of similar length while CTMP is a bit shorter (2.459).


 

“I always say with camping that each little area is a neighborhood,” Burlew said. “Some of these folks have been camping 20-30 years with the same group. Their kids have grown up, they’ve got married, they’ve got children of their own and it’s two, three or four generations! They’ll show up Wednesday, won’t leave 'til the following Monday and make a true vacation out of this.”


 

Kertscher added, “We’ll typically sell out of reserved sites, but we’ll continue to sell overflow sites and look to open up new areas for that. Those are good problems to have, and the camping actually helps on race day. If there’s more folks already on property that have stayed here, it’s a lot easier for traffic management planning and things like that. We did a test after last year’s race to do a fan track walk, and it was really popular. Fans are encouraged again this year to stay late for an hour or two, open up the track, walk the course and check out it. There are always some treasures out there!”  


 

What’s Not to Love? Staying in Only One Spot

Most fans at these venues are repeat visitors who make it a key part of their summer. Still, it can’t hurt to learn more about the facilities. Burlew and Kertscher offered some tips for any first-timers who may not have been to Watkins Glen and Road America.


 

“Come early,” Burlew said. “The IMSA paddock area is just amazing to walk through and you just see all the teams, drivers and everyone out and about. I think that’s the biggest ‘awe’ part of the IMSA weekend, besides the racing. It’s all on the flat, so you can see it and move from one location to another.” 


 

Kertscher added, “Road America is known for its parklike atmosphere. Fans came here year after year and still explore and find things they haven’t seen. I’d advise folks to get here early, jump on the shuttle, take a tour and try some food whether it’s corn on the cob at the Lions' concession stand, street tacos at Turn 1 and anything in-between. If you go here and just sit at Turn 5, we love you, but we don’t want you to miss out! It’s all about variety, just like it is with IMSA and all the car manufacturers.”  


 

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

Brandt noted Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is excited to host Canada's largest sports car experience featuring the WeatherTech Championship.


 

And Nyholm brought it home, noting the impact of what IMSA races do for the region. 


 

"Motorsports is revitalizing our Southern Virginia region,” she said. “There's a lot of growth happening around us, including ticket counts over this time last year! We can't wait to engage with familiar fans and new faces this August.


 

“We're seeing motorsports all over trending and taking on new life, so with all the growth happening in the industry, in our locality, and internally, it's only up from here!”

 

Entry List Notebook – Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen

54 Cars Take to Upstate New York as IMSA Resumes Michelin Endurance Cup Schedule


 

June 17, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The summer stretch of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action intensifies with the run of four straight historic, natural terrain road courses starting with next weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International. The race is also the third of five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.


 

Among the 54 cars in four categories, a number of endurance-specific entries and drivers return, including Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring GT class winners Manthey and Af Corse USA, both with tweaked lineups. There’s also a handful of new faces dotting the four classes. 


 

The sixth of 11 weekends in the 2026 season marks Round 6 for Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Round 3 for Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Round 5 for both Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). Here’s what else you need to know heading into the weekend in upstate New York:

 

Fast Facts

Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen

Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, New York

June 26-28, 2026


 

  • Race Day/Time: Sunday, June 28 – 12:10 p.m. ET
  • Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE: Flag-to-flag starting at noon ET (streaming on IMSA.TV, IMSA Official YouTube Channel outside the U.S.)
  • Qualifying Stream: Saturday, June 27 at 3:30 p.m. (Peacock in the U.S., globally via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel and IMSA.TV)
  • IMSA Radio: Selected sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; XM live race coverage on XM 206, Web/App 996
  • Circuit Type: 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course
  • Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), GT Daytona (GTD)
  • Race Length: 6 hours

 

Track Social Media: 

 

Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #Sahlens6HRS

 

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

  • GTP: Renger van der Zande, Acura ARX-06, 1:31.558 / 133.685 mph, June 2025 qualifying (DPi track record: Tom Blomqvist, Acura DPi, 1:29.580 / 136.637 mph, June 2022)
  • LMP2: Gabriel Aubry, ORECA LMP2 07, 1:31.735 / 133.427 mph, June 2019 qualifying
  • GTD PRO: Daniel Serra, Ferrari 296 GT3, 1:44.203 / 117.463 mph, June 2024 qualifying
  • GTD: Loris Spinelli, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, 1:44.430 / 117.207 mph, June 2023 qualifying


 

2025 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winners

  • GTP: Tom Blomqvist/Colin Braun, No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 
  • LMP2: Daniel Goldburg/Paul Di Resta/Rasmus Lindh, No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07
  • GTD PRO: Max Hesse/Dan Harper, No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO
  • GTD: Casper Stevenson/Tom Gamble/Zacharie Robichon, No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo


 

2025 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Motul Pole Award Winners

  • GTP: Renger van der Zande, No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06
  • LMP2: PJ Hyett, No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07
  • GTD PRO: Andrea Caldarelli, No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2
  • GTD: Zacharie Robichon, No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo


 

Storylines

  • Rolex Championship Pursuit: Watkins Glen marks the halfway point of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, as it is the sixth of 11 race weekends. Rolex, the Official Timepiece of IMSA, will award a special Rolex timepiece at year’s end to each WeatherTech Championship title-winning driver. The championship battles are fairly close with just 3 points separating the LMP2 leaders, 18 in GTD PRO, 140 in GTD and 144 in GTP heading into the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
  • GTP Parity: Three different brands (Porsche, Acura, Cadillac) have won in GTP this year and three different brands (Acura, Porsche, BMW) have won the last three years at Watkins Glen. BMW and Aston Martin seek their first GTP win of the year, while Cadillac seeks its first Watkins Glen win in the GTP era, having last won at the track in 2021. 
  • 31 Points Cover GTD PRO Top Four: Just 31 points cover the No. 4 Corvette, No. 1 Paul Miller BMW, No. 65 Ford and No. 3 Corvette in GTD PRO heading to Watkins Glen. The No. 4 car is the only one of the four that hasn’t won. The No. 77 AO Racing Porsche is lurking in fifth.
  • GTD Back in Action: There’s been four winners from four different brands (Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari, Lexus and Lamborghini) to start the GTD season through Monterey with a driver from a fifth, Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello in an Aston Martin, out front in the driver’s standings. Ferrari leads Aston Martin by just three points in the GTD manufacturer championship. 
  • So is LMP2: It’s been an even longer layoff for LMP2, returning for the first time since Sebring. Though CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s No. 04 and United Autosports USA’s No. 2 ORECA LMP2 07s have won the first two races, it’s United’s No. 22 leading the points by just three over the CrowdStrike No. 04.
  • Pumpelly Set to Hit 250 Top-Level Starts: Magnus Racing returns for the first time since its runner-up finish at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and Spencer Pumpelly is set to hit a milestone. If he takes the green flag he’ll achieve his 250th top-level sports car career start. Pumpelly, a two-time Watkins Glen GT winner, will share the No. 44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with John Potter and Mario Farnbacher.
  • Michelin’s Endurance Cup and Sustainability in Racing Championship Battles: The Michelin Endurance Cup resumes with Round 3 and points awarded at the three- and six-hour marks. Point leads range from four to 12 points across the four classes. The IMSA Michelin Sustainability in Racing Award, through Round 5 in GTP, is quite close as the No. 31 Cadillac (17.30), No. 7 Porsche (17.94) and No. 93 Acura (17.96) are covered by just 0.66 of a point. 
  • CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award: Multiple teams will be recognized in pre-race ceremonies for winning the CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award at previous events. The No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 (Sebring), No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (Monterey) and No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R (Detroit) all will be recognized for wins in their class’ most recent race. 


 

Who’s Hot?

  • No. 31 Cadillac Whelen: The GTP points leaders have scored a class record seven straight podiums dating to Indianapolis 2025. Earl Bamber and Jack Aitken got their first win of 2026 in Detroit aboard the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R.
  • No. 25 BMW M Team WRT: Back-to-back podiums and the IMSA Michelin Sustainability in Racing Award at Monterey see the first-year full-season IMSA squad on a bit of a roll at the track where BMW’s M Hybrid V8 won its first GTP race in 2023.
  • No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin: Three podiums in four races for the GTD points leaders position them strongly at a track the team has historically done well at. 

 

Who’s Good Here?

  • Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin: Heart of Racing Team has four Watkins Glen wins across two GT classes in the last four years. They swept both GTD PRO and GTD in 2022, won GTD PRO again in 2024 and won GTD again in 2025.
  • Felipe Fraga: The Brazilian won three straight LMP3 races from 2021 through 2023 here and has added second and fifth-place finishes in LMP2 the last two years. He’s now seeking a strong result aboard the No. 16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3.


 

Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winners in 2026 Field (43)

  • Felipe Fraga (3): LMP3 – 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Filipe Albuquerque (2): P – 2017; DPi – 2022 
  • Colin Braun (2): PC – 2014, GTP – 2025 
  • Dane Cameron (2): GTD – 2014; GTP – 2024 
  • Antonio Garcia (2): GTLM – 2014, 2021 
  • Ross Gunn (2): GTD PRO – 2022; 2024 
  • Spencer Pumpelly (2): GT – 2007, 2010
  • Ricky Taylor (2): DP – 2011; DPi – 2022 
  • Harry Tincknell (2): DPi – 2019, 2021 
  • Renger van der Zande (2): PC – 2015, 2016 
  • Scott Andrews (1): LMP3 – 2021 
  • Ben Barnicoat (1): GTD PRO – 2023 
  • Tom Blomqvist (1): GTP – 2025 
  • Roman De Angelis (1): GTD – 2022
  • Connor De Phillippi (1): GTP – 2023 
  • Paul Di Resta (1): LMP2 – 2025 
  • Indy Dontje (1): GTD – 2024
  • Philip Ellis (1): GTD – 2024 
  • Mario Farnbacher (1): GTD – 2019 
  • Robby Foley (1): GTD – 2021 
  • Tom Gamble (1): GTD – 2025 
  • Misha Goikhberg (1): P – 2018 
  • Daniel Goldburg (1): LMP2 – 2025 
  • Joey Hand (1): GTLM – 2018 
  • Jack Hawksworth (1): GTD PRO – 2023 
  • Max Hesse (1): GTD PRO – 2025 
  • Trent Hindman (1): GTD – 2019
  • Oliver Jarvis (1): DPi – 2021 
  • Mikkel Jensen (1): LMP2 – 2022 
  • George Kurtz (1): LMP2 – 2023 
  • Rasmus Lindh (1): LMP2 – 2025 
  • Dillon Machavern (1): GTD – 2018
  • Frankie Montecalvo (1): GTD – 2023 
  • Felipe Nasr (1): GTP – 2024 
  • Zacharie Robichon (1): GTD – 2025 
  • Alexander Sims (1): GTLM – 2017 
  • Casper Stevenson (1): GTD – 2025 
  • Nick Tandy (1): GTLM – 2019 
  • Jordan Taylor (1): GTLM – 2021 
  • Aaron Telitz (1): GTD – 2023 
  • Parker Thompson (1): GTD – 2023 
  • Russell Ward (1): GTD – 2024 
  • Nick Yelloly (1): GTP – 2023 


 

Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Pole Winners in 2026 Field (18)

  • Colin Braun (2): PC – 2014; P – 2018 
  • Antonio Garcia (2): GTLM – 2019, 2021 
  • PJ Hyett (2): LMP2 – 2024, 2025
  • Daniel Serra (2): GTD PRO – 2023, 2024 
  • Jordan Taylor (2): GT – 2011, 2012
  • Ricky Taylor (2): DP – 2011; DPi – 2021 
  • Renger van der Zande (2): PC – 2016; GTP – 2025
  • Tom Blomqvist (1): DPi – 2022 
  • Andrea Caldarelli (1): GTD PRO – 2025 
  • Connor De Phillippi (1): GTD PRO – 2022
  • Louis Deletraz (1): GTP – 2024 
  • Mario Farnbacher (1): GTD – 2016 
  • Joey Hand (1): GTLM – 2017 
  • Jack Hawksworth (1): GTD – 2018
  • Trent Hindman (1): GTD – 2019 
  • Oliver Jarvis (1): DPi – 2019 
  • Zacharie Robichon (1): GTD – 2025 
  • Parker Thompson (1): GTD – 2024  


 

Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winning Teams in 2026 Field (14)

  • Action Express Racing (4): DP – 2012, 2013; P – 2016, 2017 
  • Heart of Racing Team (4): GTD PRO – 2022, 2024; GTD – 2022, 2025
  • Riley (4): GTD – 2015; LMP3 – 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Meyer Shank Racing (3): GTD – 2017, 2019; GTP – 2025 
  • Turner Motorsport (3): GTD – 2014, 2018, 2021
  • Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (2): GTLM – 2017; GTP – 2023 
  • Corvette Racing (2): GTLM – 2014, 2021
  • PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (2): LMP2 – 2019, 2022
  • Vasser Sullivan Racing (2): GTD PRO – 2023; GTD – 2023 
  • Wayne Taylor Racing (2): DP – 2011; DPi – 2022 
  • CrowdStrike Racing by APR (1): LMP2 – 2023 
  • JDC-Miller MotorSports (1): P – 2018 
  • Team Penske (1): GTP – 2024 
  • Winward Racing (1): GTD – 2024 


 

Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winning Manufacturers in 2026 Field (10)

  • Porsche – 54 
  • Chevrolet – 18
  • BMW – 11
  • Ferrari – 8 
  • Ford – 6 
  • Lexus – 5
  • Acura – 4
  • Aston Martin – 4
  • Cadillac – 1
  • Mercedes-AMG – 1 

 

 

Airbnb Endurance Challenge Field Set for VIR Two-Hour Race

LMP3 Competitors May Have to Battle Sweltering Conditions


 

June 16, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge field discovered a swing in conditions over the course of its most recent two-hour race at Circuit of The Americas in May. As the series heads to VIRginia International Raceway this week, it’ll likely encounter a similar weather rise once more.


 

The last endurance round at COTA in Austin started with temperatures in the low 70s but crested into the mid-80s by race time. VIR is notorious for muggy, sweltering conditions in the summer and it’s likely similar weather will greet the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) field this go-around.


 

There are two 50-minute practice sessions, one late Friday afternoon and the second Saturday morning. Qualifying takes place Saturday afternoon with the race streaming live Sunday at 10:35 a.m. ET on the IMSA Official YouTube channel.


 

Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. and Toney Driver Development have split the opening two rounds of the four-race season. Oscar Tunjo and Valentino Catalano (No. 1 Gebhardt Duqueine D09) capitalized on a fuel pump issue that took Toney’s pair of Wyatt Brichacek and Lincoln Day (No. 95 Toney Ligier JS P325) out of the lead at Sebring. 


 

However, Brichacek and Titus Sherlock bounced back in style at COTA, navigating a newly implemented rule requiring two mandatory pit stops and showcasing impressive pace all day to secure the win.


 

Tunjo and Catalano, who will share a Duqueine D09 this race after upgrading the previous generation D08, top the Airbnb Endurance Challenge standings by just 10 points (650-640). Brian Thienes and Patrick Kujala, Bronze Cup leaders, sit second after finishing second overall both races in their No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P325. Brichacek sits third on his own, 50 in arrears. 


 

The other podium finishers so far in Airbnb Endurance Challenge rounds have been Ari Balogh and Garett Grist, third overall at Sebring and third in Bronze Cup at COTA in their No. 30 Toney Ligier JS P325, and Jagger Jones and Farhan Siddiqi who were second in Bronze Cup at COTA in their No. 87 FastMD with Remstar Duqueine D08. 


 

One returning entry this weekend is Forte’s second car, the No. 86 Ligier JS P320 of Jon Hirshberg and Patrick Liddy. This car makes its first Airbnb Endurance Challenge start of the year while Hirshberg makes his first LMP3 start since Circuit of The Americas’ sprint round in February. 


 

A handful of LMP3 competitors raced at VIR in 2025 as part of the sprint weekend in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. Catalano swept the three-race weekend in his Gebhardt Duqueine, while both Thienes and Hirshberg scored Bronze Cup podiums. Tunjo, meanwhile, missed the VIR weekend in 2025 owing to a schedule conflict.

 

 

IMSA, ACO and FIA Outline Plans for 2030 Top Prototype Class Technical Regulations

Top Prototype Class to Focus on Single, Two-Wheel Drive Platform; Options for Both Single-Source and Bespoke Chassis and Hybrid Powertrains 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 12, 2026) – As part of the annual Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) press conference held on the eve of this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans, officials from IMSA, the ACO and Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) outlined the framework for technical regulations that will govern the top class of prototype racing beginning in 2030.


 

The technical regulations – which will be used in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar class – will shift toward a single, two-wheel drive platform for all cars in the class. This marks a shift from current regulations that enable both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive prototypes to compete in the same class.


 

All prototypes will continue to use internal combustion engines together with hybrid powertrain systems. Manufacturers will have the option to use a single-source hybrid powertrain, as is the case for prototypes built to the current Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh) platform, or their own bespoke systems developed in-house, providing they adhere to the same specifications. 


 

Manufacturers also will have the option of using a selected constructor to build its chassis – again following the LMDh model (Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic, ORECA) – or develop their own chassis in-house. Homologation of each prototype will be based on tight technical regulations and will be valid for at least five years with no performance evolutions.


 

Technical working group meetings between IMSA, ACO, FIA and the manufacturers and constructors will further define and finalize the regulations that will go into effect at the start of the 2030 season.


 

JOHN DOONAN, IMSA President:  "The current era of prototype racing has demonstrated what's possible when stakeholders come together with a shared vision. Our responsibility now is to carry that momentum forward and create the conditions for long-term success. Today's announcement is an important milestone. 


 

"Having a single, global technical regulation for top-class prototype racing is a win for everyone involved – the sanctioning bodies, manufacturers, teams, drivers, corporate partners, suppliers and, most importantly, the fans. For manufacturers, it creates a clear pathway to compete at the highest level of endurance racing around the world under a common set of regulations. For teams, it brings stability and confidence as they plan and invest for the years ahead. And for the fans, it helps ensure that the world's leading automotive brands continue to compete head-to-head on some of the biggest stages in motorsport."


 

ED BENNETT, IMSA CEO:  "Throughout our discussions around the 2030 regulations, IMSA, the ACO and the FIA remained focused on the same goals:  managing costs responsibly, maintaining manufacturer relevance and creating opportunities for broad participation across the sport. What has been especially encouraging is the spirit of collaboration that has brought us to this point. As we move into the next phase of development, that collaboration will continue through technical working groups that include IMSA, the ACO, FIA, manufacturers and constructor partners. Their input will be critical as we work together to shape the details of the regulations and build on the strong foundation that already exists today. 


 

"Today's announcement gives everyone a roadmap for the future, supports continued value and return on investment and reinforces our collective commitment to ensuring that top-class endurance racing remains healthy, competitive and globally relevant for years to come."

 

 

AO Racing Seeks Smooth Run for “Rockie” In Le Mans Win Defense Effort

Several Tweaks but Core Remains Intact for IMSA’s 2025 LMP2 Champs in AO by TF Le Mans Entry


 

June 10, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The three core characters from AO Racing’s universe have been united in winning in their three-plus years crisscrossing continents on the global sports car racing calendar. While “Rexy,” “Roxy” and “Spike” all have wins to their name, the team’s newest creation – “Rockie” the Pegasus – looks to add its name to AO’s win roster this 24 Hours of Le Mans.


 

The new red-and-white livery developed in collaboration with Mobil 1 seeks to defend the AO by TF win aboard the team’s No. 99 ORECA 07 Gibson in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) Pro/Am division at this year’s race. 


 

“It’s always exciting going back to Le Mans for the 24 hours, but this year is extra special,” said team principal Gunnar Jeannette. “First, (we’re) returning as winners in the P2 Pro/Am category but also introducing the world to the newest AO character. We’ve put a massive amount of effort into bringing Rockie to life, and we can’t wait to see how the fans across the globe react to meeting her at the best racing event of the year!”

PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron continue as a collective unit, as they do in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship where they race the full season in LMP2, after claiming the LMP2 Pro/Am win at Le Mans in 2025. 


 

“Winning Le Mans last year was a dream come true,” Hyett said when the team’s entry was confirmed for 2026. “I cannot wait to go after it again with this phenomenal crew.”


 

Cameron added, “To win last year was an absolute dream come true and I’d love nothing more than to do it again. Nothing is guaranteed but being back and with the support from AO by TF gives us confidence that we will fly high again this year.”


 

The Le Mans win springboarded Hyett into a summer stretch of excellence. Hyett captured the Jim Trueman Award as the IMSA LMP2 champion alongside Cameron in 2025, with a pair of wins midseason at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America. The same pair joined Louis Deletraz to win the European Le Mans Series’ LMP2 Pro/Am title later in the year.

Deletraz was intended to continue but was called up to Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA in Hypercar. He’ll fill in for the injured Alex Lynn in the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R, where coincidentally, he’ll race against his Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing IMSA teammates Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in their No. 101 Cadillac.


 

Left needing a Gold-rated replacement driver for Deletraz, AO astutely prepared for the contingencies and revealed both the new livery and its new third driver in mid-May. AO drafted in James Allen to fill “Rockie.” Allen has won in LMP2 machinery at both the Rolex 24 and 24 Hours of Le Mans and was part of the LMP2 Pro/Am winning lineup at Le Mans in 2023.


 

“AO have proven to be an exceptional team during their time in LMP2 and the results they have achieved in such a short time in the category speak for themselves,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with Dane, PJ and everyone at the team with the goal of repeating their success at Le Mans from last year!”


 

In Sunday’s Le Mans Test Day, the No. 99 car was fifth in Pro/Am in both sessions, 13th and 11th overall among all LMP2 runners. The car also advanced to Hyperpole following Thursday's first qualifying session.

Despite the changes, AO has remained focused and determined to continue its success. The team entered the year with a chance to win a full-season IMSA title in three straight years across two different classes, or potentially, win both class titles in the same season. It won the 2024 GTD PRO and 2025 LMP2 titles, respectively. 


 

AO’s LMP2 performances to start 2026 have seen them up front frequently, just not at the right times. 


 

In the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, the No. 99 car led a race-high 298 of 686 laps at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and a race-high 192 of 338 laps at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, for a total of 490 of 1,024 laps out front. Those laps out front mean the No. 99 car ranks best in LMP2 Michelin Endurance Cup points – up by four over the No. 8 Tower Motorsports and Rolex 24-winning No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR entries. But they are sixth in the overall WeatherTech Championship standings after Sebring. The team sits sixth in European Le Mans Series LMP2 Pro/Am points through its first two rounds, too.


 

There’d be no better place or time to turn its 2026 form around and as Cameron noted, Le Mans is a big part of the AO program and where its 2025 season turned last year.


 

“When I joined the program, I knew obviously Le Mans was likely to be a part of it and doing the stuff in Europe also,” Cameron explained. “Right from the get-go I believed that having Louis and I and PJ together meant that I was eyeing straight away that I thought we could win Le Mans.


 

“It's obviously a bit of a dream until you get there, and it was kind of a dream week for us. That was, yeah, more than I would have expected.” 


 

AO’s fans can go along for the ride at this year’s Le Mans, too. The team will feature a live YouTube stream and team chat, which are free. The team will live stream the in-car feed for qualifying and the race. Beyond the team chat returning, AO will also be doing giveaways periodically during the race. 


 

It adds up to one of the key entries IMSA onlookers should be monitoring in France.


 

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans AO Podium Courtesy of Chris duMond

 

 

13 Autosport Wiser, Better Prepared Ahead of Sophomore Le Mans Outing

Two-Time IMSA Bob Akin Award Recipients Set to Tackle Circuit de la Sarthe

Once More


 

June 11, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For many years, a train horn blaring from a Corvette garage to declare “lunch time!” at Circuit de la Sarthe has stood out as one of North America’s major exports at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.


 

Last year saw the birth of a new North American export to Le Mans – one from Canada – and this year it’s back for a familiar red-and-white encore. 


 

The 13 Autosport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R made its debut at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans after Orey Fidani won the 2024 Bob Akin Award as the top-scoring Bronze-rated driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class. 


 

Sharing the No. 13 Corvette with longtime co-drivers Matt Bell and Lars Kern, Fidani swapped what had been its usual black-and-gold Corvette to an entirely patriotic Canadian maple leaf red-and-white livery that immediately turned heads and headlines as one of the crowd-favorite liveries of the 2025 edition.


 

It took a nail-biting finish at the 2025 Motul Petit Le Mans season finale for Fidani to secure an encore trip back to Le Mans for 2026 ahead of chief rival Brendan Iribe and Inception Racing, another past Bob Akin Award recipient. Fidani survived a first lap skirmish that took out multiple GTD cars, including Iribe, to make it through and eventually home to the finish.


 

“We were devastated to see how they went out; not their fault at all,” Bell said. “But we were equally happy with the outcome. It was a bit of a nerve-wracking moment! Orey did a phenomenal job to avoid it.”


 

The second outing for Fidani, Bell, Kern and the renamed 13 Autosport team at Le Mans – formerly AWA – serves as a crucial and important opportunity to build on the lessons learned from what was a dream scenario to just get to Le Mans in 2025.


 

The team now has a better grip on the Le Mans-specific rules and regulations. It also has a year’s worth of data with the Corvette chassis both in IMSA and at Le Mans, including with a different tire partner for the LMGT3 class at Le Mans.

“We just wanted to go back after doing it the first time, and to have (the Bob Akin Award) secured and to know we're going back is pretty wicked,” Fidani said. “We got the first one under our belt last year, and that came with a lot of challenges with learning a lot of the rules and regs. 


 

“And we feel now that we've done that, we've probably got a better shot this year and a lot of data from last year as well. I'm pretty excited to go back.” 


 

The 13 Autosport team is part of a wider five-car umbrella from TF Sport, a winning European series specialist that will have cars across both LMGT3 and Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2).


 

The TF Sport team runs both full-season Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in the FIA World Endurance Championship and will support both additional Corvettes racing at Le Mans this year. That includes both the 13 Autosport entry and the JMR entry from Malaysia. 

TF also is part of AO Racing’s European effort, which coincidentally features IMSA’s other automatically invited entry, the No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07 of Jim Trueman Award and 2025 IMSA LMP2 champion PJ Hyett. In a twist of fate, the two cars will be lined up in garages right next to each other.


 

Fidani’s comfort level in the Corvette has grown by leaps and bounds, too.


 

“I think a lot of that's just come from spending time driving the car, and then what our engineering team and our crew’s done,” Fidani said. “They’ve done a very good job with the car, which also makes me more comfortable in it, as well. Generally, the more you do things, the better you feel.” 


 

All that’s different for the Canadians, really, is the team name change owing to Fidani’s increased investment that took place over the winter. 


 

“Everyone's pumped,” Fidani said. “The plan was to just take it from what it is and step it up to the next level. I mean, I'm planning to be around for a long time, so I think it just made sense for me to take in all the overhead and take over the team.


 

“Now we can push things a little further. We have a nice new shop that's being built. We will have a lot more resources. Yeah, just trying to make everyone's jobs little easier, cleaner and more comfortable.”

It’s for all intents and purposes the same team, with focus on Le Mans coming up immediately after a tough WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round in Monterey. Iribe leads Fidani by 10 points for the Bob Akin Award this season through four of 10 rounds. 


 

The team shook down its Le Mans chassis at MotorLand Aragón in Spain shortly after the Monterey race to get it ready before Le Mans Test Day action. It was eighth and fourth in the two Test Day sessions.


 

While they weren’t particularly satisfied with a 10th place finish in a 24-car field in 2025 – which was still impressive on debut given the first-year challenges – there are higher expectations for 2026 in a 25-car field, even if they’ll have to carve through the field after qualifying. 


 

“We got the result at this 24-hour race in Daytona (a win at 2025 Rolex 24), but we didn’t get the result at that 24-hour race in Le Mans,” Bell said. “But it was everyone’s first go-around. The Monday afterwards, everyone wanted to do it again straightaway. We know what we left on the table and where we left it. 


 

“We want to be more competitive and we’re charging for the podium there, we really want to win it. It’s a real motivator to perfect everything here (in IMSA) more and take it there.”

 

 

 

 

Detroit Podium Boosts Wayne Taylor and Cadillac WTR Heading to Le Mans

IMSA’s Extra GTP Car at Circuit de la Sarthe Enters French Classic on a High


 

June 9, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Wayne Taylor is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s not difficult to surmise that the last couple years have been tough on the driver-turned-team owner and IMSA stalwart.


 

Taylor himself admits it. 


 

“What’s frustrating me is I haven’t had a win in a year or two,” Taylor remarked between practice sessions at the recent Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. “That’s not easy. It’s a long time, and it doesn’t do your health any good when you live from race to race like this. You’re just struggling along.”


 

It’s been nine years since a WTR entry won an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title (DPi in 2017) and five since the team's last IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup crown (DPi in 2021), while Detroit marked two years since one of its Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) cars last won a race. That’s an eternity for the South African who’s long lived in Florida, who grew accustomed to winning races and titles as a sports car driver and continued that standard of excellence as one of the sport’s most successful team owners.


 

To its credit, WTR has earned two Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class wins since the start of 2025 with its Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 and drivers Danny Formal and Trent Hindman. Its Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America program surpassed the 100-win milestone in that series to end 2025 en route to Formal and Hampus Ericsson winning the overall Lamborghini World Finals in the Pro class. 


 

It’s in GTP where the team desires to match that form, and as Taylor explained, that comes with time.


 

Building Blocks

Taylor ran a single Acura through 2021 to 2023, the last two DPi years and the first of GTP, then undertook what he called a “monumental” effort to expand to two full-time GTP cars for 2024 with Acura. Excitement followed when WTR rejoined the General Motors family to field a pair of Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes in 2025.


 

“We’ve only had this car a year and a bit,” he said. “The others have had their cars for about five years. There are still some teething things we’re dealing with from track to track. It seems to take us longer to get our car set up correctly. But we’ve gone from being way off the pace and seem to have at least closed the gap on them now. We did get a pole, finally, and we now know we sort of have a window we can work with for this car.


 

“For sure, this was the right move I made,” Taylor stressed about the switch back to Cadillac, the marque with which WTR claimed the 2017 IMSA Prototype championship with Jordan and Ricky Taylor as drivers. “It’s just not happening as quickly as I wanted it to.”


 

The WTR Cadillacs finished sixth (No. 10 with full-time drivers Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque) and ninth (the No. 40 driven by Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor) in the 2025 GTP driver’s standings. 


 

To open 2026, signs of progress are evident. The No. 40 car has qualified in the top five for every race, earning the Motul Pole Award at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and securing two other front row starts. Ricky Taylor and Albuquerque notched the team’s first podium of the ’26 season in the No. 10 by finishing third at Detroit in a race their Cadillac stablemates, Cadillac Whelen, won. Wayne Taylor said post-race it was desperately needed.


 

“For me, this is like a win given the absolute bad luck we’ve had all year but today has just turned everything around,” he said. “I am even more excited to go to Le Mans after getting onto the podium. I’m so proud of Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing and all the guys and girls that make this happen. To all our drivers, both on the No. 10 and No. 40 car – Ricky, Filipe, Jordan, Louis - all did outstanding jobs. So happy for Cadillac to have a 1-3 finish with two Cadillacs on the podium. Congratulations to Action Express on their win, and I am just ecstatic at the moment.”


 

Going Back to France

The relationship with FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) full-timers Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA is important because - in the fulfillment of a lifetime dream - WTR is fielding a Cadillac V-Series.R in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second year in a row and JOTA handled the bulk of car development for that race.


 

The WTR crew began to depart to Le Mans, France shortly after the Detroit round as the lone “extra” IMSA GTP team competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year in the 18-car Hypercar class. New aerodynamic updates on the car – particularly a striking, lower new rear wing – should help the team’s odds at the straight-heavy 8.4-mile circuit through the French countryside.


 

“For this year we redesigned the aero package to improve our ability to follow cars closely with less loss of downforce than the previous aero package,” said Cadillac LMDh chief engineer Jeromy Moore. “We also changed brake suppliers which aligns with what is used on our CT5-V Blackwing road cars.”


 

Taylor’s collaboration with JOTA will be paramount for the brand’s success. It builds on the overall Cadillac Racing dynamic employed in IMSA, where the WTR and Whelen teams have worked closer in the GTP era than they did as pure rivals in the 2010s and early 2020s.


 

“This year I feel a lot better about Le Mans because we’ve worked with JOTA for a long time,” Taylor said. “They’ve got a lot more experience in Europe than we have. We’ve now done a year, which was like a learning year. Ricky just did a shakedown of the Le Mans car before it flew over, and he said, ‘They’ve done a really good job with this car.’ I feel good about Le Mans - I’m excited.


 

“The way Cadillac has the program set up worldwide with two JOTA cars, two WTR cars, and a Whelen car, we all have to work together as one,” he added. “It gives us a better chance of winning.” 


 

They’re off to a decent start, too, after leading the first session during the Le Mans Test Day Sunday.


 

“In the first session, we ended up quickest with our sister car and team at Cadillac close by,” Taylor said. “So much has been done this year in comparison to last year when we were rushed to prepare. We knew, this year we would have the time to prepare the car properly. It is good to have one year under their belt with these cars. For everybody from WTR, Cadillac – this is a really good way to start the weekend.”


 

Post-Le Mans IMSA Endurance Race Hopes

The team’s 2025 GTP highlight came at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International, where Taylor saw both of his cars earn podium finishes for the first time, with one of his sons in each. 


 

That race kicks off the final four-race run of GTP races in the post-Le Mans second half of the season, which include two six-hour races at Watkins Glen and Road America, a two-hour, 40-minute sprint at Indianapolis and 10 hours at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.


 

“We seem to be more competitive in the long-distance races, for some reason,” he observed. “In the short races like Detroit, you can’t play a strategy game because there is no strategy. You’ve just to execute and be in the right place at the right time because you can’t pass anybody either. You can be on pole, and 0.3 seconds below that, you could be 10th.”


 

With nearly 40 years of experience in the sports car arena, Taylor contines to play the long game. He’s happy to be competing in the WeatherTech Championship and is bullish on the future for IMSA.


 

“The great thing is that there are so many manufacturers that have gotten on board with us and have stabilized it,” he said. “I’m loving where I am.”


 

2026 24 Hours of Le Mans Cadillac Hypercar Group Courtesy of Cadillac Racing

2026 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Photo Courtesy of IMSA Photo/Lumen Digital Agency
 

 

 

IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Back to Sprint Racing Action at Mid-Ohio

Unpredictable Weather, Roller Coaster Sports Car Course Set to Greet P3, GSX Field


 

June 3, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It will have been more than three months since IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge competitors ran sprint races in 2026 when they arrive at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. But inevitably, a lot of action tends to follow the field around the 2.258-mile rolling road course in central Ohio.


 

Last year’s races were split between a cloudy but clear Saturday and a soggy Sunday morning on a wet track. They also saw six different possible winners from six classes (the three classes times two races) – no winner swept in any of Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3), Grand Sport X (GSX) and Grand Touring Daytona X (GTDX).


 

Oscar Tunjo was one of those six winners last year, and the only one of the six from 2025 who has a chance to double up in 2026. The Colombian scored his first P3 victory in race two last year and is back solo in his No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Inc. Duqueine D08 this weekend.


 

Tunjo has three wins from six starts in 2026, the two sprint races at Daytona International Speedway to start the year and the first Airbnb Endurance Challenge round at Sebring International Raceway in March. He’s finished third in the other three races – two sprint and one endurance, all at Circuit of The Americas – to lead both the overall standings by 250 points (1,950-1,700) and sprint standings by 210 (1,300 to 1,090).


 

Brian Thienes has enjoyed a strong start to the year across both formats in his No. 77 Forte Racing entry, a Ligier JS P320 to start the year before switching to the new generation Ligier JS P325 during the last sprint round at COTA. Thienes has three combined podium finishes – all second-place results – to rank second in overall points and first among Bronze Cup classified entrants.


 

Second in the sprint standings is Danny Soufi, one of Tunjo’s teammates under the Gebhardt umbrella in the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine. He has a best finish of third in Daytona.


 

Toney Driver Development has been the hottest team of the series of late, winning all three COTA rounds with Wyatt Brichacek at the wheel for all three wins and Titus Sherlock joining him for the last. Brichacek raced the No. 30 Ligier JS P325 in sprint rounds and has been in the No. 95 Ligier in endurance races; he sits sixth in the overall standings after not racing Daytona. 


 

Sherlock has deputized for Lincoln Day on three occasions and finished on the podium each time. Day is scheduled to return this weekend in the No. 95 car, while Gian Buffomante of Naperville, Ill. – a finalist for IMSA’s 3D Scholarship for 2027 – is set to debut in the No. 30 car. Buffomante has NASCAR Craftsman Trucks and Trans-Am racing experience. 


 

One other new entrant this race is Slade Stewart, a Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America veteran who will race the No. 29 Riley Ligier JS P320. 


 

The story in GSX has revolved solely around Westin Workman, a perfect four-for-four to start the season in his No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. Workman swept both Daytona and COTA to build a 240-point lead after scoring the maximum number of points through four races. A Toyota entry has won the last 17 GSX races dating to the 2024 season finale weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, with the last win of 2024, all 12 in 2025 and the first four in 2026.


 

Courtney Crone scored her first two podiums in GSX at COTA in her No. 35 CarBahn Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 EVO and will look to break through in class this weekend to stop the Workman win streak. 


 

Rafa Martinez (No. 68 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2) is best of the Bronze Cup drivers ahead of Dan Ammann (No. 91 VRC Motorsports Group, LLC Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) by 40 points. Sean Quinlan (No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4) and Marc Austin (No. 22 Mad Joker Racing by Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4) swept the Bronze Cup rounds at Daytona and COTA, respectively, but neither is a full-season entrant.


 

There are two 40-minute practice sessions Friday with qualifying Saturday morning. The two races are Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET and Sunday at 8 a.m., both streaming on Peacock (in the U.S.) and globally on the IMSA Official YouTube channel and IMSA.tv.


 

Fast Facts

IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, Ohio

June 5-7, 2026


 

Race Days/Times: Saturday, June 6, 12:45 p.m. ET (Race 1) and Sunday, June 7, 8 a.m. (Race 2)

Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag, Saturday, beginning at 12:40 p.m. ET (Race 1) and Sunday, beginning at 7:55 a.m. (Race 2); (available globally on IMSA.tv and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial)

Circuit Type: 2.258-mile, 13-turn Road Course

Classes Competing: Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3), Grand Sport X (GSX)

Race Lengths: 45 minutes


 

VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Track Records

  • P3: Valentino Catalano, Duqueine D08, 1:16.654 / 106.645 mph, June 2025 (Qualifying)
  • GSX: Jesse Lazare, McLaren Artura GT4, 1:26.287 / 94.206 mph, June 2024 (Race 2)


 

2025 VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race 1 Winners:

  • P3: Corey Lewis, No. 36 RAFA Racing Ligier JS P320
  • GTDX: Jake Walker, No. 6 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3
  • GSX: Steven Clemons, No. 76 BSI Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2


 

2025 VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race 2 Winners:

  • P3: Oscar Tunjo, No. 31 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08
  • GTDX: Adam Adelson, No. 24 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
  • GSX: Kiko Porto, No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2

 

Dupont, Brown Seek Fourth Career Four-Hour Race Win at Mid-Ohio

IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Set for Third Four-Hour Headlining Weekend


 

June 2, 2026

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)


 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Whether they embrace it or not, Denis Dupont and Preston Brown are the undisputed kings of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge’s four-hour endurance races.


 

As the series heads back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the third edition of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio, Dupont and Brown are seeking their fourth four-hour race win in the last two years in the No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR in Touring Car (TCR).


 

In five total four-hour starts together in the No. 76 Herta Hyundai, Dupont and Brown have three wins (Mid-Ohio 2024 and Daytona International Speedway 2025, 2026) and two second-place finishes (Daytona 2024, Mid-Ohio 2025). 


 

“No pressure, right?” Dupont laughed. “We love the four-hour races. We seem to do our best there. We stay composed, we execute and we’re there at the end.”


 

They were also unique among BHA’s quartet of entries in sticking to a two-driver lineup at the first four-hour race at Daytona, while each of the team’s No. 18, 33 and 98 cars added a third driver.   


 

“Two years ago we had a third (driver), and we got second,” Brown explained. “That went fine, but I think it’s a case where Denis and I click, and we don’t necessarily want to put more things into the equation.”


 

At Daytona, Dupont’s charge to pass teammate Bryson Morris in the No. 33 Hyundai he shares with Mason Filippi came after several hours of clean but intense racing. 


 

“It was such great TCR racing,” Brown reflected. “The first three cars were nose-to-tail forever. It shows how well IMSA’s doing with this series, and I was so impressed. Denis was biding his time.” 


 

Dupont and Brown have four career wins apiece, with three of them in the four-hour races. Their only sprint triumph came at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025.


 

The pair finished second to teammates Filippi and Morris this year in Monterey after a comeback drive, as the No. 76 car recovered from an early-race flat tire aided by some well-timed caution flags.


 

“When we went green after the second yellow we didn’t have the tires fully warmed up, so I slid off the end of the Corkscrew and got the flat,” Brown said. “Luckily it was a fast tire change, and the debris from a subsequent yellow saved us. With an hour to go, Denis knew he had to make the tires go, and he did it.”


 

The Dupont/Brown pair sits second in the TCR championship, 110 points behind Filippi and Morris, who are off to a strong start with two thirds and a win this year. Filippi and two-time TCR champion (2023 and 2025) Harry Gottsacker won in Mid-Ohio last year in the Herta team’s No. 98 Hyundai. 


 

Always keen to impress not far from its Marysville, Ohio plant, Honda will look to snap the Hyundai win streak at Mid-Ohio with its quartet of cars, including the No. 89 HART Honda Civic FL5 TCR of Chad Gilsinger, Tyler Chambers and Cameron Lawrence. The HART entry was second to start the year in Daytona. Honda of America Racing Team (HART) is a volunteer activity welcoming Honda associates from all backgrounds to enhance their skillsets in the intense, high-speed world of racing.  


 

The No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR won the pole at Mid-Ohio last year as Karl Wittmer set a track record, and Wittmer and LP Montour scored an overdue first podium of 2026 at Monterey. Their midseason run of form last year started in Ohio as they finished third behind the two BHA Hyundais. Honda’s last four-hour race win occurred in Watkins Glen in 2021. Dai Yoshihara resumes as third driver this race. 


 

GS: Turner BMW Has a Pair of Wins to Defend

In GS and overall, Turner Motorsport is riding high heading to Mid-Ohio as the winners of both the most recent 2026 race and last year’s Mid-Ohio race.


 

The commonality between the two is Dillon Machavern, who shared the No. 95 BMW M4 GT4 EVO on both occasions. Machavern watched on the pit box as co-driver Francis Selldorff held off a host of challengers last year while in Monterey and did the same in Monterey this year as Luca Mars brought the No. 95 car home to the win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.


 

Finishes of fourth, third and first have positioned the No. 95 car with the pair of past GS champions leading Daan Arrow and Bryce Ward in their No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 by 30 points (they’ve finished third, second and fourth).


 

Two other cars have opened the year strongly with three top-10 finishes in as many races to sit third and fourth in points. McCumbee McAleer Racing’s Nate Cicero has scored a pair of poles in Daytona and Monterey and along with Robert Noaker, finished sixth, eighth and third to start the year in the No. 13 Ford Mustang GT4. Auto Technic Racing’s Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer have been BMW’s other model of consistency with results of fifth, fifth and sixth in the No. 27 BMW M4 GT4 EVO as they continue to close on an elusive first victory. 


 

Entry List Updates and Weekend Schedule


 

A field of 46 cars is split 30 GS and 16 TCR, with the following changes or tweaks since Monterey:


 

  • Madeline Stewart resumes as third driver in the No. 2 CSM Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS alongside Monterey runners-up Gordon Scully and Morgan Burkhard, as Stewart and Jonathan Browne’s No. 3 car did not enter this race. 
  • Medusa Motorsports is set for its first four-hour race with its new No. 4 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo, having switched from Ford at the previous round in Monterey, and adds Sebastian Saavedra as third driver alongside Hunter Yeany and Athan Sterling. 
  • Third GS drivers Martin Sarukanyan (No. 14 Circle H Racing), Mike Ortmann (No. 26 Heart of Racing Team), and Kris Wilson (No. 64 TeamTGM) rejoin the cars they raced in at the first four-hour race in Daytona.
  • Casey Moyer fills in for Scott Thomson in the No. 30 LAP Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 alongside Clayton Wiliams. 
  • Kingpin Racing makes its first Michelin Pilot Challenge start of 2026 with Rob Walker, Chad Carnevale and Murray Wunderly sharing the No. 53 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2.
  • BGB Motorsports returns for the first time since Sebring with Spencer Pumpelly, Thomas Collingwood and third driver 2025 GS champion Jan Heylen aboard the No. 83 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS. 
  • Gou Racing with Stallion continues with the No. 55 Audi RS3 LMS TCR after moving from Cupra in Monterey.  The team missed this race last year.
  • Shifted TCR lineups this race include new or returning third drivers Maciej Tobola (No. 15 Rockwell Autosport Development), Eric Rockwell (No. 31 RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate), Mario Farnbacher (No. 72 Pegram Racing) and Dai Yoshihara (No. 93 MMG). 
  • Caleb Bacon joins Victor Gonzalez Racing’s No. 21 Cupra Leon VZ TCR this race alongside Steven Clemons. 


 

Michelin Pilot Challenge teams have two one-hour practice sessions, one apiece on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, before qualifying Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s four-hour race rolls off at 12:15 p.m. ET, streaming live flag-to-flag on Peacock and ad-free courtesy of Michelin via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel. 

Fast Facts

O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, Ohio

June 5-7, 2026


 

Race Day/Time: Sunday, June 7, 12:15 p.m. ET

Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 12:10 p.m. ET (available outside the U.S. on IMSA.tv and ad-free globally, courtesy of Michelin via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel)

Circuit Type: 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course

Classes Competing: Grand Sport (GS), Touring Car (TCR)

Race Length: Four hours

 

Michelin Pilot Challenge Track Records

  • GS: Michael de Quesada, McLaren Artura GT4, 1:26.262 / 94.233 mph, June 2024 (Qualifying) 
  • TCR: Karl Wittmer, Honda Civic FL5 TCR, 1:26.747 / 93.706 mph, June 2025 (Qualifying) 


 

2025 O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio Winners

  • GS: Francis Selldorff/Dillon Machavern, No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO
  • TCR: Mason Filippi/Harry Gottsacker, No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR

 

Storylines 

  • Four-Hour Showcase: For a third straight year, the Mid-Ohio Michelin Pilot Challenge race serves as the headline event of a standalone weekend apart from an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event, and the four-hour duration tests strategy, speed and fuel mileage. 
  • Summer Stretch Starting: The Mid-Ohio round kicks off the hectic summer five-race stretch of racing for Michelin Pilot Challenge competitors over the next three months, after three races in the first five months to start the year. 


 

Who’s Hot?

  • Turner and Winward: On weekends where their Michelin Pilot Challenge teams are participating without their WeatherTech Championship programs present, these are the top two GS teams with a combined six top-five results from six starts this year. 
  • Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai: Bryan Herta Autosport’s Hyundai Elantra N TCR car has won two of the first three races to start 2026, split between its No. 76 of Preston Brown and Denis Dupont at Daytona and Mason Filippi and Bryson Morris in the No. 33 at Monterey.


 

Who’s Good Here?

  • Bill Auberlen: The winningest driver in WeatherTech Championship history has five top-level IMSA wins and two Michelin Pilot Challenge wins (back-to-back with Turner Motorsport, 20 and 21 years ago) at Mid-Ohio. Together with Samantha Tan, the No. 38 ST Racing by Random Vandals BMW M4 GT4 EVO will be one to watch in the four-hour.
  • Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai: The team has won the last four Mid-Ohio rounds with its Hyundai Elantra N TCR and four different combinations (Parker Chase/Ryan Norman in 2021, Chase/Harry Gottsacker in 2022, Preston Brown/Denis Dupont in 2024, Gottsacker/Mason Filippi in 2025).  
  • Turner Motorsport: Turner has three of BMW’s eight wins at Mid-Ohio in Michelin Pilot Challenge, including last year in GS. 


 

Previous Michelin Pilot Challenge Mid-Ohio Winners in 2026 Field (13)

  • Bill Auberlen (2): GS – 2005, 2006
  • Harry Gottsacker (2): TCR – 2022, 2025
  • Matt Plumb (2): GS – 2011, 2013 
  • Preston Brown (1): TCR – 2024
  • Denis Dupont (1): TCR – 2024 
  • Mason Filippi (1): TCR – 2025 
  • Chad Gilsinger (1): ST – 2012 
  • Billy Johnson (1): GS – 2012 
  • Dillon Machavern (1): GS – 2025 
  • Spencer Pumpelly (1): GS – 2010 
  • Francis Selldorff (1): GS – 2025 
  • James Vance (1): TCR – 2020 (first race) 
  • Mark Wilkins (1): TCR – 2019 

 

Previous Michelin Pilot Challenge Mid-Ohio Pole Winners in 2026 Field (5)

  • Chad Gilsinger (2): ST – 2012; TCR – 2019 
  • Karl Wittmer (2): TCR – 2024, 2025 
  • Thomas Merrill (1): GS -2025 
  • Chris Miller (1): TCR – 2021 
  • Owen Trinkler (1): ST – 2008

 

Previous Michelin Pilot Challenge Mid-Ohio Winning Teams in 2026 Field (7)

  • Bryan Herta Autosport (5): TCR – 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025
  • KohR Motorsports (3): GS – 2018, 2020 (first race), 2020 (second race) 
  • Turner Motorsport (3): GS – 2005, 2006, 2025
  • Honda of America Racing Team (HART) (2): STI – 2002; ST – 2012 
  • Archangel Motorsports (operates Circle H Racing) (1): GS – 2024 
  • Murillo Racing (1): GS – 2022 
  • RVA Graphics by Speed Syndicate Motorsports (as FASTMD Racing) (1): TCR – 2020 (first race)

 

Previous Michelin Pilot Challenge Mid-Ohio Winning Manufacturers in 2026 Field (9)

  • BMW – 8 
  • Ford – 5 
  • Hyundai – 5
  • Porsche – 5
  • Aston Martin – 3 
  • Audi – 3
  • Honda – 2
  • McLaren – 1
  • Mercedes-AMG – 1

 

Three Takeaways: Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic

Standard of the World; What in the World; and World Class

 

June 1, 2026

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

DETROIT – There’s more flag waving than usual this year in the United States, with 2026 being the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic provided another reason to celebrate the Stars and Stripes, as Cadillac and Corvette swept to overall and class victories on the streets of Motown - the historical hometown of the American automotive industry.


 

Detroiters love their cars, and that was abundantly apparent throughout the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix weekend as large crowds packed the downtown circuit each day. The WeatherTech Championship served up a 100-minute sprint race as the Saturday headliner, and the local fans – especially enthusiasts of General Motors and its marques – had to have liked what they saw.


 

The narrow 1.645-mile track defines the term “concrete canyon,” yet IMSA’s Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) classes staged a compelling race that featured fender-banging action to the very end. Here are three takeaways from the WeatherTech Championship’s version of ‘Motown Madness’:


 

Standard of the World 


 

Cadillac adopted “Standard of the World” as its corporate slogan after winning the 1908 Dewar Award from the Automobile Club of England. And over the last nine months, Cadillac – the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, to be specific – has set the GTP standard in the WeatherTech Championship.


 

Since winning the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course in September 2025, the No. 31’s finishing record is 1-1-2-3-2-2-1. Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber have earned a Motul Pole Award apiece in ‘26, and Aitken has established a comfortable points cushion over Porsche pilots Laurin Heinrich, Felipe Nasr, and Julien Andlauer in the GTP driver’s championship. 


 

During that remarkable seven-race streak capped by the Detroit victory, Aitken and Bamber could or should have won at least one other race. Four weeks earlier at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Bamber lost the lead and the win on the last lap to an inspired move by Heinrich in the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963.


 

Detroit was therefore redemptive – especially when you consider Aitken lost a 14-second lead to a full-course caution with 20 minutes remaining. The bunching of the field caused a bit of nail-biting for the Whelen crew, but such was the No. 31 Cadillac’s advantage that Aitken built a 6-second lead over the last six green-flag laps.

In GTD PRO, Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims enjoyed a similar dominant run at the front in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsport Corvette Z06 GT3.R, completing a memorable hometown event sweep for General Motors. The Corvette victory was especially sweet given that the Detroit GTD PRO class win in 2025 went to archrival Ford and its Mustang GT3.


 

“What a special day for General Motors and Cadillac Racing and Corvette Racing teams in Detroit,” stated GM President Mark Reuss. “Winning both classes of the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on the streets of the Motor City is a tremendous achievement for our motorsports, design, and engineering teams. 


 

“Congratulations to Whelen Cadillac and Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports teams on hard-earned victories at our home race.”


 

What in the World?


 

It’s well-known that the Detroit street course inaugurated in 2023 is short, and at places, extremely narrow. The nature of the track, with a single long straight and an abundance of 90-degree corners places a premium on braking performance. 


 

Perhaps it’s not surprising that IMSA’s Pit Notes – which were not compiled for the first time since 1999 by Lee Driggers, who sadly passed away recently after a short battle with cancer – recorded more than 50 spins or overruns into escape roads during the course of practice. Thankfully, those incidents produced only three red flags. But would the race prove to be so clean?


 

In a word, mostly. After an early caution for debris, the field ran 62 laps under green flag conditions until chaos prevailed in the final 20 of 100 minutes. Most of the “argy bargy” occurred in the GTD PRO class, though in GTP, the No. 6 Penske Porsche Motorsport Porsche 963 lost out on a near-certain podium finish when Laurens Vanthoor got roughed up in the closing lap, requiring a pit stop for a new tail that dropped the entry to an eighth-place finish.


 

Antonio Garcia, who completed the winning anchor stint in the GTD PRO-winning No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, described what unfolded in his rear-view mirror/video feed as “a bit of a Mario Kart scene.”


 

Two cars in the wars were the pair of Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3s, which were in either win or podium contention before a pair of collisions with the two Corvettes. In both cases, the two Lexus cars came off worse to end an unrepresentative sixth and 10th. 


 

World Class


 

It’s well known that the WeatherTech Championship features a stellar lineup of sports car drivers from around the world. There’s a certain appeal to racing in America, whether it’s the perceived laid-back paddock atmosphere and overall camaraderie, or the unique spectrum of racetracks across the U.S. In short, IMSA is a popular destination for sports car pilots.


 

Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann finished second overall and in GTP at Detroit in the No. 25 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8. It was Eng’s 10th podium in IMSA competition, and the Austrian driver was delighted to note that believes he has earned more top-three finishes in the WeatherTech Championship than any other sports car hunting ground.


 

“That really cheered me up,” he said. “The team did a really good job with the strategy, bringing us in before we hit the GT traffic. My job was basically just bringing it to the end – I had the easiest job of everyone. 


 

“Hearing all the chat on the intercom on the strategy channel, I must say, those guys are so clever,” he added. “I’m just happy that I only drive around in circles. It was a masterclass by the team.”

While Eng has competed in IMSA as a Michelin Endurance Cup driver since 2018 and run full-time in the WeatherTech Championship for the last four years, reigning Australian Supercars champion Chaz Mostert ran his first WeatherTech Championship sprint race at Detroit after five previous Michelin Endurance Cup starts that netted a class win in the 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona International Speedway and two other podiums.


 

Mostert joined Toyota’s worldwide driver lineup this year, and the 34-year-old Australian was stoked to be invited to co-drive Vasser Sullivan’s No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 “guest” GTD PRO car on the streets of Detroit with Aaron Telitz. Their podium hopes faded to a 10th-place finish in the hectic closing laps. 


 

“This track is definitely an eye-opening experience, but the Gold Coast track in Australia is pretty gnarly too and keeps your heart in your throat,” Mostert said. “No doubt, the first few laps here in Detroit were the same. 


 

“I’m just super-honored to be here this weekend,” he added. “To come to America and compete in an IMSA sprint race is a box I’ve wanted to check off. The Toyota family is massive in racing, and it’s always fun to drive these GT3 cars. It’s cool to say I was able to drive this Lexus.”

 

International Motor Sports Association    Lamborghini Super Trofeo series  

 Copyright 2002- 2026 Motorsportsgarage productions

no part of site site can be copied or duplicated without written permission from Motorsportsgarage productions

all logos and images are copyrighted to the racing series and used for editorial purposes only

   

         

 

  

follow up on

This site is dedicated to my father " hoot " who introduced me to the Great sport of auto racing when I was a very young child

Thru the years I have befriended several people Thru Racing that have passed on and I honor them here

Larrt Criss. Charlie Patterson. Carrol Horton, Todd shaffer, gary lee and Judy Morris