IMSA GTP – Season Mid-Point

IMSA GTP – Season Mid-Point

By Eddie LePine. Photos by Jack Webster

The 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season started with a record entry and
record crowds at Daytona International Speedway in January for the running of the Rolex 24.
The race was won overall by the Porsche 963, entered and managed by the Porsche factory
team of Penske Racing. Felipe Nasr, Laurin Heinrich and Julien Andlauer combined for the win
and all were rewarded with Rolex watches.

Next up was the traditional Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The historic central Florida airport
circuit once again provided a challenge to teams and drivers to “respect the bumps” to earn
victory. The Porsche Penske factory team dominated to win once again – with the same three
drivers who won Daytona! Florida had been very good to both Porsche and Penske. Two races, two overall wins. Porsche
and Penske were victorious in the “unofficial” 36 Hours of Florida.

Traveling from the east coast to the west coast was next for IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship, where the series followed up the two longest races of the year with the shortest
– a 100-minute sprint through the streets of Long Beach, California. The Acura Grand Prix of
Long Beach was fittingly won by Acura. Meyer Shank Racing took the victory with Nick Yelloly
and Renger van der Zande sharing the driving duties. However, the 2026 season looks like it will
be the last (at least for the foreseeable future) for Acura, as they have announced that they will be
leaving the IMSA GTP championship at the end of the year.

After the short race at Long Beach the west coast swing continued at WeatherTech Raceway
Laguna Seca where once again Porsche finished on the top step of the podium – but not the factory Penske team that had dominated in Florida. The privateer JDC Miller MotorSports
Porsche 963 took the overall win, with Daytona winner and Porsche factory driver Laurin
Heinrich moving from Penske to JDC and sharing the drive with Tijmen van der Helm which was
very popular both in the paddock and with the fans.

JDC Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 won at Laguna Seca

…on the schedule is another 6-Hour contest – this one at
fan and driver favorite Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

After the California swing, it was back east, this time to the Motor City, Detroit, Michigan for
another 100-minute contest on a Saturday in support of IndyCar at the Detroit Grand Prix. The
concrete canyons and tight corners of downtown Detroit seemed to favor the normally
aspirated V8 engine of the Cadillac, as the Whelen Cadillac of Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber
proved fastest in practice, qualified on pole and then dominated the race to take the first win of
the season for the GM brand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the street race in Detroit, the series took its normal mid-June break so that many of
the IMSA teams and drivers could head to France to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As a
matter of fact, more than half of the 186 drivers who are participating in this year’s race in Le Mans have had at least one IMSA WeatherTech start this season! Also, 15 of 22 full season GTP
drivers in IMSA have rides at Le Mans in either Hypercar or LMP2.

Three IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP teams also have 24 Hours of Le Mans
programs. Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing is the single “IMSA only” addition to the field of 17 full-
time Hypercar entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship, but that group does include
two teams that run GTP/Hypercars programs in both series: The Heart of Racing Aston Martin
Team and BMW M Team WRT.

A total of ten IMSA GTP pilots are at Le Mans going for the overall win in Hypercar. Ross Gunn
and Roman De Angelis will be racing for Aston Martin (cars #007 and #009), Louis Deletraz will
be in the #12 JOTA Cadillac, Detroit Grand Prix winners Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber will share
driving duties on the #38 JOTA Cadillac, Dries Vanthoor will be in the #15 BMW, Sheldon van
der Linde will drive the #20 BMW, and WTR regular teammates Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor and
Filipe Albuquerque will share the drive in the #101 WTR Cadillac. It works out that all full season
IMSA GTP teams have at least one of their drivers racing at Le Mans.

 

In addition to the GTP drivers and cars from the IMSA Championship taking part at Le Mans, a
large number of regular IMSA competitors have also made the trip to the historic French circuit
to participate in the race in other classes.

After Le Mans, IMSA still has 24+ hours of competition left for the GTP class before determining
the winners of the driver, team and manufacturer championships.

Returning from France, it’s immediately back to work at Watkins Glen for the next endurance
race on the IMSA WeatherTech schedule, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. For the first time
since Sebring, all four IMSA WeatherTech classes will be racing together – GTP. LMP2, GTD-PRO
and GTD.

 

Following the Glen, the next GTP race on the schedule is another 6-Hour contest – this one at
fan and driver favorite Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Fans have been lobbying for an
endurance race at this historic 4+ mile fast circuit for years, and this year they get their wish
granted. A huge crowd is guaranteed for what will certainly be a very popular, fan friendly
event.

Following the 6-Hours of Road America, the IMSA circus makes it annual stop at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where all the classes will take part in a two hour and forty-
minute contest. Last year the race was six hours, but with Road America getting the endurance
race, Indy remains on the schedule, but with a shorter event.

After Indy is Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the classic 10-hour
endurance race that marks the conclusion of the 2026 IMSA season. For the final time in 2026,
all four IMSA WeatherTech classes will be doing battle to determine the final championship
standings for drivers, teams and manufacturers in each class (GTP, LMP2, GTD-PRO and GTD).

It is most likely that, just like in past years, the GTP champions (as well as the other classes) will
not be finalized until the last turn of the last lap of Petit Le Mans. Also, just as in past years, we can hardly wait to see how it all comes out.

In the meantime, we will see you in the races.