The second half of the WEC season kicks off with early September’s Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, and promises a mix of familiarity and new ground. For Hypercar teams chasing the coveted manufacturers’ title, the revised schedule means strategy adjustments.

The FIA and WEC in late July confirmed the last two rounds will take place at Barcelona on October 18 and Monza Nov 8. The races replace the planned season-opening Qatar 1812, which was skipped, and season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain. Travel and logistical uncertainty linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East prompted the changes.

Crucially, Barcelona and Monza will each be 6 Hours in length, meaning fewer points are at stake than they would be in the longer rounds being replaced.

A 1-2 sweep in this year’s season finale would net the winning team 43 points and a minimum gain of 16 points on the next-best finishers. The same results in an 8-hour round would net the top finishers 65 points--at least 24 more points than anyone else. (Pole positions, worth an additional point, will also factor in.)

Toyota capitalized on the season-finale points opportunity last year, finishing 1-2 in Bahrain. That pushed them past Cadillac and Porsche to second behind Ferrari in the final manufacturers’ table.

Equal points

This season’s modified calendar means Austin starts a post-summer break stretch of four races, not three. Each will award equal points.

The absence of a higher-value race down the stretch means making up ground will be harder. In theory, that’s good news for current leader Toyota Racing and second-place BMW Team WRT, which sits just five points back.

Defending champion Ferrari trails by 44 points. The gap is hardly insurmountable over four races. Ferrari’s bigger challenge will be making up the full gap on Toyota and 39 points on BMW.

Cadillac Hertz Team Jota, 72 points behind the leader, isn’t done yet. But it needs both a string of strong runs and a lot of misfortune in the other contenders’ garages to mount a serious title push.

The mix of circuits does not particularly favor any title contenders.

Ferrari’s two podiums (plus a win by the No. 83 AF Corse team that doesn’t earn manufacturers’ points) would seem to give it an edge at COTA. But both Toyota and Cadillac have posted strong runs in the two years since the track made its WEC return.

Fuji is Toyota Racing’s backyard and also part of parent company Toyota Motor Corp’s portfolio. But since a run of six straight WEC top-class wins and nine of ten was snapped in 2024, the home-town team has struggled. In the most recent two Fuji races, Toyota has just two top-ten results and hasn’t finished higher than seventh.

The other title competitors haven’t fared much better. BMW’s second-place result in 2024 is the only top-five finish recorded by the German brand, Ferrari, and Cadillac combined in the last two Fuji rounds.

The season’s final two stops offer even less certainty.

Barcelona’s layout is similar to COTA, offering something for big straight-line speed cars as well as technical marvels. Both have a long high-speed section into a heavy braking zone and a slow-multi-turn technical stretch.

Back to Italy

Monza—an unexpected second Italian round after Imola—was part of the WEC calendar from 2021-2023, meaning several contenders have race experience on the iconic circuit. Toyota won in 2021 and 2023 and was second and third in 2022. Ferrari was runner up at Monza in 2023, its debut season. It also has tested there as part of Le Mans preparation.

Ferrari’s success at Le Mans, the ultimate low-drag track, suggests it will fare well at Monza, which offers a strong mix of high-speed sections and heavy braking. Cadillac has shown similar potential at Circuit de la Sarthe, but lacks the results.

Toyota’s TR010 won Le Mans in June, making it the only Hypercar to capture the signature race besides the Ferrari 499P. It also has won two of the first four rounds.

BMW Team WRT put its two cars in the top four in Le Mans qualifying this season and brought the No. 15 M Hybrid V8 home second in June. It also has the other two WEC wins.

Of course, the Hypercar field’s competitiveness means pace, while important, is becoming less of a differentiator. Strategy and execution are taking center stage.

Four rounds is an eternity in endurance racing. Given what the Hypercar field has left to sort out, that’s not a bad thing.

From the archives

The blue and yellow Sunoco Porsche 917/30’s spectacular livery alone is enough to place it among motorsport’s legendary rides.

The car’s story? Even better.

Penske Racing and its 917/10 dominated the Canadian-American Challenge Cup--better known as Can-Am--in 1972. The team won six of nine rounds despite losing top driver and de facto chief engineer Mark Donohue in a practice crash before the season’s second event Road Atlanta.

Donohue’s former Trans Am series teammate George Follmer stepped in and--with Donohue’s car set-up help--won three of the next five races.

When Donohue was ready to return, Penske fielded a second car to keep Follmer’s drivers’ championship chances alive. The team won three of the last four rounds; Follmer’s two wins clinched him the full-season title.

Meanwhile, engine rule changes following the 1972 season led Porsche to leave FIA’s World Sportscar Championship, where its Porsche 917s had won three of the last four top-class titles. But Can-Am still welcomed big, fast prototypes.

So when Penske and Porsche executives met in October 1972 to discuss the next season, the company didn’t balk when its key customer made two requests. Penske didn’t want to run a two-car team, and it wanted its one car to be special.

“Part of our deal was an explicit agreement that we would have exclusive use of the new car we developed,” Donohue wrote in his autobiography, The Unfair Advantage. “Anyone else could have a 917/10, but we would work on a 917/30, which would be basically the same except for slight improvements.”

Porsche, with significant input from Penske and Donohue specifically, spent the next three months working to improve the already-dominant 917/10. Engineers lengthened the chassis, widened the front track, and dropped in a larger, 5.4-liter engine compared to the 917/10’s 5.0-liter motor., among other changes.

But the biggest gains came from the new body. French aerodynamics specialist SERA--co-creators of the famous 917/20 Pink Pig design--developed the basic shape. Porsche and Penske added the larger, more integrated rear wing and tail that provided downforce needed to help take full advantage of the other changes.

Donohue and the Sunoco No. 6 were fast right out of the box, and only got faster. The lone 917/30 in the field won all eight poles. A brush with a slower car caused Donohue to limp home seventh in the season-opener at Mosport. In round two at Atlanta, a loose fuel-filler cap forced an early pit stop and put Donohue a lap down. He rallied, but finished second.

Donohue and Penske would sweep the last six races, rolling to the season-long title. One of those wins came at Road America, where the current Team Penske fielded a Porsche 963 painted like the 1973 Can-Am champion. The livery is part of full-season celebrations of Porsche’s 75 years in racing and Penske’s 60th anniversary.

Late in that dominant 1973 Can-Am campaign, Penske’s team began practicing both its primary and backup cars in a bid to solidify its title chances in case something went wrong. It didn’t matter which car Donohue used--either one out-ran everyone else.

This generated complaints from rivals to Porsche, Donohue wrote in his book. If Penske wasn’t racing both cars, another team should run one of them, they argued.

“There were a lot of hard feelings over that,” wrote Donohue. “But we worked hard for our unfair advantage and weren’t going to give it away.”

References

Donohue, Mark, and Paul Van Valkenburgh. The Unfair Advantage. Bentley Publishers, 2000. (Original work published 1975): https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1310615.The_Unfair_Advantage

The Pink Pig: https://www.porsche.com/stories/innovation/what-is-the-porsche-pink-pig/

1972 Can-Am season: https://www.teampenske.com/news/index.cfm/c/666/52923/Throwback_Thursday_-_1972_Can-Am_Championship

From the archives

Winning an endurance race from the second-row is hardly unusual. But the No. 15 BMW Team WRT’s Round 4 victory at São Paulo from fourth on the grid is a first. The two Interlagos winners since the track’s 2024 return to the WEC schedule came from the front row.

It’s the latest sign--albeit a small one--that competition in the WEC’s top class is growing closer by the round. Outright pace and reliability are still keys to winning, of course. But they are becoming less of a differentiator than strategy, mistake-free racing, and luck.

Toyota Racing’s place atop the manufacturers’ standings after Round 4 can be directly linked to savvy strategic calls during the team’s two wins.

At the season-opener in Imola, the call to not change tires on its first two stops gained the No. 8 TR010, which started second, five seconds on the pole-winning No. 51 Ferrari. That was enough to put the No. 8 up front.

Later in the race, Toyota opted to not change tires on the No. 7, allowing it to rejoin in second, just ahead of the No. 51, and help seal the leading sister car’s win.

‘Better execution’

“I don’t believe we were the fastest but we had better execution than others that enabled us to win,” said Toyota Racing Technical Director David Floury. “It was not won on pure pace, just on making no mistakes and executing to a high level.”

Le Mans offers more overtaking opportunities—not to mention 18 more racing hours—than Imola. But Toyota Racing’s Circuit de la Sarthe strategy was aggressive after poor qualifying results left both cars starting deep in the Hypercar field

Toyota brought both TR010s in within the first half hour for energy-only stops. The short first stints allowed both cars to climb into the top five as pit stops cycled through. The moves did not clinch the No. 7’s win and the No. 8’s third place, but they put each car in position to capitalize on opportunities.

A well-timed safety car and some hard luck that derailed the hopes of both pace-setting Hertz Team Jota Cadillacs boosted the Toyotas onto the podium. But absent the early-race pit calls, those breaks may not have mattered.

Right behind Toyota in the full-season Hypercar manufacturer’s title chase is BMW Team WRT. The team rode a bold early-race strategy call to its first WEC Hypercar victory, in Round 2 at Spa. The No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8 short-pitted early in the race, helping René Rast jump from ninth to the race lead.

From there, they got the breaks they needed and won the race.

Both BMWs squeezed extra laps out of their full stints multiple times compared to their competitors. The strategy helped the No. 15 BMW finish second after needing just five pit stops; everyone else in the top 10 made at least six.

In São Paulo, the dice came out early and often. Alpine rolled first, bringing the No. 35 in after just 40 minutes for an energy-only stop--and a partial top-up. The No. 93 Peugeot and No. 20 BMW made similar moves.

An uncharacteristically poor 17th qualifying result drove BMW Team WRT’s plan for the No. 20. The first-stint strategy included stretching energy two laps longer than most of their competitors in a bid to put the car in clean air. But the move backfired when Rast came out just behind the No. 93 Peugeot.

The No. 15 BMW started fourth and quickly moved to second, dropping back only during pit stop cycles. Drivers Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello and Dries Vanthoor stayed up front, stringing together four 42-plus lap stints.

Eight seconds quicker

A safety car-free race allowed strategies to play out, and the No. 51 Ferrari emerged as the No. 15’s main challenger. But the BMW’s steady pace allowed it to wait until there were just 48 minutes left before making its final stop. Calado brought the No. 51 in 12 minutes sooner.

Pitting from the lead and needing less energy than Calado, Vanthoor got the No. 15 in and out eight seconds quicker than the No. 51. Vanthoor kept the lead, coming out five seconds ahead of the Ferrari. He crossed the finish line two seconds ahead of Calado.

“The strategy was fantastic and the car was phenomenal,” Vanthoor said.

None of the strategies are new or particularly novel. But they are more prevalent.

The Hypercar field is both deep, at 17 full-time starters, and closely matched. Five of the seven returning manufacturers—Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Peugeot, and Toyota— completed performance-enhancing evo updates for the 2026 season. Ferrari, the 2025 champions, and Aston Martin brought back last year’s cars, while Genesis joined the grid.

Each has top-10, points-scoring finishes.

The competitiveness makes overtaking a chore, even on spacious circuits. Starting near the back of the class practically requires an alternative strategy to gain track position. The decision becomes not if, but when. The answers appear to favor early-race moves, like the No. 20 BMW at Spa and the Toyotas at Le Mans, that leave time for a Plan B.

Michelin’s new tires, used by both WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP teams, are also influencing strategy. The slick compounds are designed to be more consistent throughout stints, and they are delivering.

But drivers and teams are still learning wear characteristics as the tires debut at each WEC circuit. Ferrari calculated that triple stints at Imola were not possible, Sportscar365 reported. Toyota proved otherwise.

Drivers can feel the difference. Surface degradation is improved. Thermal degradation, where exceeding specific temperatures worsens performance, is the new concern.

“Once you go over a certain threshold, you start to lose grip, which I personally find harder than actually feeling a tire lose surface,” Porsche Penske GTP class driver Laurens Vanthoor said during the official 24 Hours of Le Mans broadcast.

Vanthoor said temperature management is now factored into both race pace and track position. Being out front is ideal, but any clean air is better than nose-to-tail racing.

“Whenever you’re drafting behind another car, you’re losing downforce. You’re getting the heat from the car in front. All that [makes it] a lot worse,” Vanthoor said. “That’s why we see these strategies in Spa and now here [at Le Mans] of people wanting to run in clean air, run at their own pace and control the tires.”

Reference

Ferrari on Toyota Imola triple-stint: https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/imola-post-race-notebook-5/

From the archives

This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans is Peter Dempsey’s first as a driver or spectator, but the 40-year-old Irishman is no ordinary newcomer.

Dempsey made a surprise return to full-season racing this year, joining sports car veterans Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluç behind the wheel of the Racing Team Turkey (RTT) by TF No. 34 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The former single-seat specialist-turned race team owner is learning the car, the tracks, and endurance racing as he goes.

The opening two WEC rounds at Imola and Spa showed Dempsey is a quick study.

Tasked with initial qualifying as part of his Bronze driver duties, Dempsey put the No. 34 into Hyperpole at both events. At the Imola season-opener, he topped all Bronze drivers in the opening qualifying session.

Dempsey also showed strong race form. Lap-time data from each race shows he consistently out-paced Yoluç, his more experienced and Silver-rated teammate.

Le Mans presents a whole new set of tests.

“Obviously, learning the track is going to be a challenge,” Dempsey said. “We have simulators and videos and ways to prep that are a huge advantage going there. And I’ve already done plenty of time on the sim, so at least [I] know the track from that perspective.”

Among the requirements for Le Mans rookies is a mandatory session in an approved simulator. Unlike typical simulations that help teach racing lines or setups, these sessions emphasize Le Mans-specific rules.

“I got to learn a lot about how the safety car zones work, slow zones work, where the LEDs and boards are, and all the procedural stuff,” Dempsey said. “It definitely helps you a lot.”

Talented trio

The RTT trio is an unusual combination. Dempsey was downgraded to FIA’s Bronze driver category for 2026 due to his age and lack of full-time racing in recent years. His competitive racing career began in 2004 with his father’s team, Cliff Dempsey Racing, where he once won 33 times in a 43-race Formula Ford season. He climbed his way to Indy Lights (now Indy NXT), the official IndyCar development series.

In 2013, driving for Belardi Auto Racing, he picked up his only Indy Lights victory, going from fourth to first in a spectacular front-stretch battle to the line at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But Belardi, citing a lack of sponsorship, pulled out of the series with two races to go in the season, bringing an end to Dempsey’s open-wheel driving career.

These days, his main focus is Turn 3 Motorsport, the driver development-focused USF Pro 2000 team he founded in 2016. But as Sporstcar365 shared, a chance encounter with fellow Irishman Eastwood at the 2025 Rolex 24 put Dempsey on track to get back behind the wheel. When the FIA downgraded him to Bronze, Dempsey became an intriguing candidate for a GT3 team with an available seat.

Yoluç, who founded RTT in 2021, moved from Bronze to Silver in 2025. When RTT was granted a spot on the 2026 WEC LMGT3 field, it needed a Bronze driver.

Yoluç has a long history with both TF Sport--RTT’s operational partner--and Eastwood. Teamed with Eastwood and Jonathan Adam for TF Sport, he won the GTE AM class at Le Mans in 2020. He also has both European and Asian Le Mans series titles to his credit.

Dempsey and Yoluç provide a strong supporting cast to Corvette factory driver Eastwood-- and expand RTT’s strategic options.

“Our scenario is very unorthodox,” Eastwood said. “I would go as far to say it’s probably never happened that you run the Silver as the Bronze and the Bronze as the Silver – Salih starting each of the races and Peter then going in against the Silvers as a Bronze.”

That’s how RTT tackled Imola and Spa. Yoluç started before Dempsey took over and then handed the No. 34 Corvette off to Eastwood to finish.

“We have a very odd scenario in that regard,” Eastwood said. “I think actually, from our side, it will play into our hands.”

Strategic edge?

Minimum LMGT3 driver time at Le Mans is six hours for both Silver and Bronze drivers, meaning Dempsey and Yoluç will split at least half the race. Dempsey’s ability gives the team the luxury of not being overly concerned with minimizing his time behind the wheel, as is done with most Bronze drivers.

“We’ve seen Peter has got super quick pace and ability, but he is for sure lacking in some aspects of endurance racing as he’s never done it,” Eastwood said. “When you actually look at the [pace difference] that both guys have to a pro or myself, it’s minimal. A normal scenario is the Bronze misses the most amount of [lap] time, Silver misses a bit less, and then you’ve got the pro....We’ve got two guys that are better than all the Bronzes but not as good as the best Silvers.”

Beyond learning the track, Dempsey must adapt to multi-stint endurance racing. His most relevant experience is two 25 Hours at Thunderhill appearances, including a win in the 2019 National Auto Sport Association (NASA) event.

“The year we won it, I did 12.5 hours in the car,” he said. “So I kind of know what to expect.”

RTT’s expectations are straightforward.

“Charlie and I know what it means to win here,” Yoluç said. “We have the right car, the right people and the right mindset. Our goal is clear: we want to fight for the LMGT3 podium.”

How quickly Dempsey adapts to Le Mans could go a long way in determining RTT’s success. The rookie’s strategy includes leaning heavily on both his natural ability and a strong team.

“Having teammates like Charlie and Salih that are previous winners there and have the experience with the event itself is going to be a huge help for me,” Dempsey said. “I’m with a [TF Sport] team that has won the race before, has done 10 Le Mans plus having two teammates that are previous winners as well. [It] gives me a sense of security in many ways.”

References

Eastwood/Dempsey at Daytona--https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/dempsey-loving-unexpected-sports-car-opportunity/

2013 IndyNext season end--https://www.indycar.com/News/2013/09/9-27-Dempsey-season-ends-prematurely

From the archives

Ford Racing’s start to the 2026 IMSA season was the opposite of 2025.

Last year, the two Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3s combined for a class win and four top-six finishes at Daytona and Sebring. This season, the pair’s best finish after two rounds was sixth--and that was with an extensively updated Mustang package.

But the so-so start masked what the team felt was a stronger car than the one that won a series-best three races in 2025, including the season-opening Rolex 24.

The No. 65 Mustang’s triumph at Laguna Seca shows they might be right.

Frédéric Vervish and Christopher Mies inherited the GTD Pro class lead in the closing laps, benefitting from an early race pit stop to change a punctured tire. The move put them on an alternate fuel strategy, setting up a late-race battle with the No. 4 Corvette. The Mustang prevailed.

“I thought, ‘Okay, probably the Corvette will just pass me,’” Vervisch said. “But surprisingly I could keep it in front of him.”

The win put Vervish and Mies fourth overall in the GTD Pro drivers’ standings heading into their home race at Detroit May 30. It also gives them confidence that the Evo package has pushed an already competitive car closer to title contention.

“That’s real proof that the Evo was working,” Vervish said. “That’s a relief. That’s nice to see for Multimatic, for Ford, for all the people working on it. Suddenly now we are back in the championship.”

Wins at Daytona and Indianapolis showed Mustang GT3 is strong at tracks where straight-line speed is paramount. The Evo package focused on adding downforce, a new brake package and more cornering stability. The goal was to give the car more bite through faster turns, and make it more consistent under braking.

Such characteristics are mandatory to compete at Laguna Seca, which packs a mix of fast corners and a famous hairpin in a tight, 2.2-mile layout.

“In the past this has been probably the most challenging track of the calendar for our car,” Mies said. “We came back with the Evo and won.”

Vervisch said the changes are evident behind the wheel. The added downforce helps with both grip and tire wear, while the revamped brakes allow drivers to get through any type of turn more quickly.

“It’s more predictable,” he said. “When you enter a corner, you know a bit more what to expect, which is important. There are drivers who can cope with inconsistency better than others, but I think that in general, you want a car that, when you break in the corner, you know what to expect.”

Vervisch and Mies joined Dennis Olsen, who drives the No. 64 sister car in IMSA, to debut the Mustang GT3 Evo at the Nürburgring 24 hours. They were competitive for most of the race, overcoming an unplanned stop to change a tire to finish eight in the top-level SP9 pro class.

“We’re still not there,” Vervisch said. “But the results we had in the last race in IMSA and even [at] the Nurburgring really shows that that we can compete all around the world.”

From the archives

The quotes needed no interpretation.

“Clearly, we were hoping for better than that,” said BMW M Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse.

“We’re still far away, and that’s not ideal, especially when you look at the package we have here this weekend,” added Dries Vanthoor, driver of the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8. “We should be much closer.”

The two Team WRT Hypercars had just qualified 10th and 11th at Spa. They were out-run by one Ferrari—no surprise there—but also both Peugeots, Cadillacs, Alpines, and Aston Martins.

After posting respectable fifth- and seventh-place finishes in the WEC season opener at Imola, BMW was tracking backwards in year three of its WEC journey. And it was happening on the heels of a major revamp of the M Hybrid V8 driven primarily by lessons learned--and motivation to win--in the WEC.

For Team WRT, which added the IMSA GTP program to its duties in the offseason, it was familiar territory. The updated M Hybrid V8’s debut, at IMSA’s Daytona season-opener in January, started out poorly and went downhill from there. Bad practices, worse qualifying.

For race day, they went back to square one.

It worked.

The No. 24 BMW finished third, putting Robin Frijns, René Rast, Sheldon van der Linde, and Vanthoor on the podium in Team WRT’s IMSA GTP debut. The No. 25 sister car finished eighth.

Strategy shift

At Spa, seeking the BMW M Hybrid V8’s breakthrough WEC win, the team didn’t change the car. It altered its race strategy.

The first hour featured a high-speed parade at the front of the Hypercar field. While some positions were swapped--Kevin Magnussen in the No. 15 BMW jumped from 10th to 6th on the first lap--passing was at a premium.

As the first pit stop window opened, BMW opted to roll the dice with the ninth-place No. 20. Rast followed three other front-runners in, including the No. 12 Cadillac that had led from the start.

While the rest of the field topped up on virtual energy, Team WRT sent Rast out at 60%. With the time savings--he was 16 seconds faster than the No. 12 on pit road--Rast jumped the three cars he followed in. A lap later, the rest of the leaders stopped, and he jumped them, too.

The shuffling left Rast battling Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 Toyota TR010--the only other car on the same strategy. Rast fended Hartley off, protecting the BMW’s clean air in the process.

The veteran German driver then pushed his lead to nine seconds before his second stint ended.

“I was stuck in traffic at first, but the team worked a miracle with its strategy and brought me to the front,” Rast said. “With a clear track, our car just flew.”

With four and a half hours of racing left, Rast turned the No. 20 over to van der Linde. The No. 20 rejoined the field in 14th, with four new tires and full energy.

Team WRT knew it had the car to run up front. Keeping it there required clean air and some racing luck.

The field stayed green through the next pit stop cycle. Within half an hour, the No. 20 was back up front.

“Our strategy was risky, because if the next yellow phase had come at the wrong time, we would have dropped to the back of the field,” van der Linde said. “But it worked out perfectly.”

The yellows eventually came, but their timing favored the No. 20’s strategy, and BMW Team WRT notched its first Hypercar-era win.

Meanwhile, the No. 15 team leveraged the M Hybrid V8’s superb efficiency and its own racing luck to make it a 1-2 Team WRT sweep.

While most of the Hypercar field ran 25-lap green flag stints, the BMWs logged 26 laps multiple times.

Fewer stops

With the No. 20 on an alternate strategy, Team WRT let the sister car go until it needed to stop. The No. 15 caught a massive break with two hours to go thanks to a yellow flag period right as its energy was running out.

The blend of strategy and luck meant the No. 15 needed just five pit stops. Each of its full-distance competitors--including the winning sister car--made at least six.

Add in the newly updated BMW M Hybrid V8’s improved consistency, and Team WRT hit on a winning formula.

“With our update for this season, our goal was to make the car more consistent,” said BMW M Motorsport head Andreas Roos. “We achieved that, and that was the key to victory today, because as soon as we had a clear track ahead of us, we were able to set very fast lap times and pull away.”

BMW finished fifth overall in each of its first two Hypercar seasons.

The Spa showing put BMW atop the WEC manufacturers’ standings after two rounds—its best start in the Hypercar era. But not by much--last year it stood second after Round 2.

“We still need to work hard, but we’re progressing well, especially in the race,” said Vanthoor.

“The drivers did a perfect job, and the team was fantastic with the right strategy calls at the right time,” added Vosse. “Next up is the big highlight at Le Mans. We couldn’t go there with a better feeling.”

From the archives

Laurin Heinrich has established two things in his young career.

He can flat-out drive and he doesn’t miss opportunities.

Four races into the IMSA WeatherTech season, he’s in the thick of his greatest opportunity yet--and he’s capitalizing.

Heinrich led JDC-Miller MotorSports to its first IMSA GTP-era win--and the first by any non-factory team--on May 3 in just his second outing with the Minnesota-based squad. The stunning victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca puts Heinrich atop the full-season drivers’ standings thanks to back-to-back wins at Daytona and Sebring as the co-driver of the Porsche-Penske No. 7 factory ride and a sixth in his JDC-Miller debut at Long Beach.

The 24-year-old wasn’t supposed to run a full IMSA schedule this year, his first as a Porsche factory driver. Porsche’s corporate-level decision to leave the WEC for financial reasons and Porsche Motorsport’s deep roster of more experienced and accomplished drivers left Heinrich without a full-time ride. Instead, he was penciled in at Porsche-Penske to drive the three longest IMSA endurance rounds and enter select GT3 events

But in early April, Porsche Motorsport and JDC-Miller worked out a deal to let Heinrich join the customer squad and share its lone Porsche 963 alongside Tijmen van der Helm for the IMSA sprint rounds.

Two races later, the Heinrich/JDC-Miller combination looks like a threat to win every time out.

“He brings some great experience,” JDC-Miller Managing Partner John Church told IMSA Radio soon after the checkered flag fell in StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship. “He’s been a key element to the last couple of races. He drove that thing to the front today. What a drive.”

Long Beach clues

The No. 5 Porsche’s win was unexpected. But signs of the team’s potential--and Heinrich’s value--were evident right away at Long Beach.

Heinrich posted the fastest lap of the race, 1:12.918, on just his third trip around the circuit. It was the only sub-1:12 lap of the race, and was faster than 11 other GTP drivers ran all weekend, practice and qualifying included.

A mid-race tangle for position with Phillip Eng in the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 left Eng in the wall--and penalized for overly-aggressive blocking that led to the incident. It also sent a message to the rest of the GTP field: JDC-Miller may not be a factory team, but it will race like one.

At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the team put Heinrich in a position to fight for the win, and he took advantage.

Van der Helm qualified the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 11th overall and started the 240-minute race. Faced with coming from the back of the GTP field, the team elected to gamble on strategy.

They pitted just 38 minutes in, put on a set of scrubbed tires, and topped up on energy. That opened the door for a short final stint that would require less energy—and less time on pit road during a third and final stop.

It also got Heinrich behind the wheel early--no small detail given his pace and the No.5’s starting spot.

The team took four new tires on the second stop, giving Heinrich the option to save some rubber for late-race battles.

Third to first

The third stop went as planned. Heinrich came in with 38 minutes to go and took energy only. The No. 25 BMW, just ahead of the No. 5, was on the same strategy.

They were both chasing Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R--the only car in front of them that didn’t need to pit.

“I didn’t know that I was [in third place] at the time,” Heinrich said of his last stint. “John [Church] told me over the radio, and I knew that we have some pace in the car. I just need to get past the other cars. We struggled quite a lot in dirty air and we had a well balanced car in the clean air, and also a car [that] was good on tires.”

Heinrich hounded Marco Wittman in the BMW for the next 25 minutes before muscling his way into second place. He was still four seconds behind Bamber, but was faster.

Heinrich caught Bamber with five minutes left, igniting a classic battle.

“The [No. 5] just appeared out of nowhere,” Bamber said. “When I heard the rate that it was coming, half a second a lap, then I knew it was going to be tough to hold him off. “

Early in the final lap, Heinrich executed a sublime switchback move to take the lead out of turn four, leaning on the last bit of his tires to get around Bamber and out-run the Cadillac to the line

“They just had a lot better grip under them,” Bamber said. “It was impressive, the deg. We were better than the rest of the field except that car. I think it was a super impressive job by that team and by Laurin to carve through the field and do what he did. It was a hard fight, but it was a clean fight.”

The win was JDC-Miller’s fifth in IMSA, and van der Helm’s first.

It was Heinrich’s eighth victory in 24 IMSA starts, including three this year in four GTP outings. Not bad for someone who was out of racing just eight years ago after early-career struggles attributed at least in part to a lack of funds.

He returned in 2019, driving a borrowed car to six class wins in 10 Porsche Sports Cup Germany races to claim his first title--and earn backing.

Three years later, he became a Porsche contracted driver, leading to a spot with IMSA’s AO Racing--then in its second year-- for 2024.

Early IMSA heroics

Heinrich came in as the No. 77 Porsche 911 GTD Pro entry’s No. 2 driver alongside Sebastian Priaulx. Then Priaulx left mid-season to fill other commitments. Porsche filled his seat with other drivers, but Heinrich became the team’s constant behind the wheel.

He led the team to the GTD Pro title in spectacular fashion, teaming with Michael Christensen to win the second-to-last race, a rain-soaked Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis. The No. 77 was fastest in qualifying but started last in class due to a technical violation. The worst-to-first victory, Heinrich’s third of his rookie season, solidified what had been a slim 17-point lead entering the race.

That same day, the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 finished third, earning its first GTP-era podium.

Eighteen months later, the potential flashed on that rainy Indianapolis afternoon combined to kick off an improbable title run.

JDC-Miller, which finished last among full-time GTP teams in each of its first two full seasons, sits fifth in the 11-team table after four rounds. With a lot of Heinrich and a little luck, they could stay in the title fight.

Heinrich will earn drivers’ title points no matter what GTP car he drives. He’s committed to race in four of the five remaining rounds with either JDC-Miller or Porsche Penske.

The only exception is the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen. That falls on the same weekend--June 25-28--as the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which is on Heinrich’s Porsche Motorsport-authored to-do list compiled before the JDC-Miller deal.

“Leading IMSA is something very special [but] it’s still very early in the season,” Heinrich said. “Being due to miss a race puts us into a weird spot...but there are some smart people over there [at Porsche Motorsport] who will figure it out I’m sure.”

The Porsche Motorsport people are smart enough to find Heinrich full-time, in-house work as soon as possible.

On May 6, they confirmed Laurens Vanthoor will step into Heinrich’s role as a Porsche-Penske endurance-round specialist in 2027. Heinrich, who first tested a prototype last October at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, will have a full-time GTP ride at Porsche-Penske.

By then, he may have already joined his teammates on IMSA’s exclusive list of GTP champions

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From the archives

After two signature IMSA events and 36 hours of racing, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports knows what it has this year.

Its No. 3 and No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs are strong enough to win. And despite some opening-race misfortunes at Daytona, they’ve put themselves in solid positions to challenge for the GTD Pro full-season title.

With eight races left on the 2026 GTD Pro schedule starting with WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Sunday, the wins may come. But any risks of climbing up the podium will be weighed against falling down in the full-season standings.

Last season, the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche and the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW each won twice. But the No. 4 Corvette and full-season drivers Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims claimed the GTD Pro crown while winning just once.

The No. 3 Corvette had a rougher 2025. Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner started the season with four straight finishes of sixth or worse, all but putting them out of full-season title contention. They finished strong, with three podiums in the last five rounds--good enough to salvage sixth overall in the final standings.

This season’s storyline is off to a different start.

The No. 3 Corvette rolled into Laguna Seca second among full-season challengers, 30 points behind the N. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW squad. (The No. 911 Mathey Porsche squad, second in the standings after two races, is only running the longer Michelin Endurance Cup events.) The No. 4 squad is 107 points back of its stablemate--hardly out of title contention.

Neither will pass up a chance to win at Laguna Seca, where Corvette Racing has an IMSA-best eight class victories since its 1999 debut. But last year’s lessons mean the team will not automatically risk a solid points day for a higher podium spot.

“The goal at times last year was just trying to get race wins,” said Milner. “This year, both Nicky and I sort of agreed that just getting points is more important than always going for outright race wins.”

At this year’s Rolex 24, the No. 4 team was reminded of the perils that going all-out for victory can bring. Milner put the car in front with four hours to go before handing it over to endurance-round driver Nico Varrone.

But a run-in with the No. 23 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari knocked the Corvette off track. The Ferrari was penalized, while Varrone and Catsburg rallied to salvage fourth place in class.

Similar misfortunes a season ago led to frustration for the No. 4 team. Milner and Catsburg are determined not to make the same mistakes this year.

“I feel like we need to capitalize on the good position we have in the championship and just make sure we don’t have any low point results...no major risks,” said Catsburg. “Of course we’re going to try to win when we can,” he added.

“We had good races last year, but for one reason or another, we didn’t get a result to show for it,” said Milner. “Then as the year builds, that frustration grows a little bit...and you start to reach a little bit to to make something happen. That becomes your focus--just getting those wins, which obviously for us didn’t work last year.”

Milner hasn’t won in IMSA since 2021, when he contributed to three class wins--including Corvette Racing’s last win at Laguna Seca--and a second-place overall finish in GTLM.

Milner hasn’t been shut out since then--he won nine times in GT World Challenge America two years ago and once in WEC’s LMGTE class in 2022. Yet an IMSA top step has been elusive.

Still, the 20-time IMSA winner understands how racing works, including what is in the team’s control, and what is not.

“I’ve been doing it long enough now that you realize that, as [legendary Corvette Racing Team Manager] Doug Feehan always says, racing is 50%, great team, great driver, and great preparation, and 50% luck,” Milner said. “Oftentimes, if you’re trying too hard to make something happen, you’re not achieving what you’re setting out to do.”

From the archives

Ferrari’s blistering start to the 2025 WEC season set the stage for the team’s first Hypercar title. But without consistency the rest of the way, the three wins and four podiums in the first three rounds may have been but a footnote in somebody else’s championship story.

Ferrari’s path to the Manufacturers’ Championship included just two rounds where the No. 50 and No. 51 499Ps failed to score at least 25 points. The team’s three best rounds saw it score at least 41 points.

Nobody else came close, which is why the newest factory Ferrari livery includes a 2025 Hypercar Champions badge.

Who is best positioned to challenge Ferrari for the 2026 badge?

Porsche would have been a popular pick. But the German carmaker shuttered its Hypercar team at the end of last season in a corporate-level cost-cutting move.

Remember them?

Nearly every returning competitor will bring significantly updated cars to the season opening weekend at Imola April 17-19.

Arguably the most intriguing will be Toyota.

Entering 2025 as six-time defending series champions, Toyota Gazoo Racing had a decent start to the season. Its two GR010s combined to score at least 18 points in each of the first four rounds.

But any hope of extending its championship streak all but faded during a three-round run that saw the team fail to score double-digit points. A 1-2 finish in Bahrain to end the season bumped Toyota to second in the final manufacturers’ standings, providing some solace in what was an otherwise disappointing campaign.

This year, the rechristened Toyota Racing WEC team brings a revamped (and re-named) car to the grid. The TR010 Hybrid Hypercar’s external changes are significant, encompassing all major aerodynamic elements, including the front, rear, side pods, and wing.

Work began in mid-2024 and the car was originally supposed to debut in 2025. But Toyota could not get the car into the official FIA wind tunnel in time for 2025 homologation, due in part to Audi taking ownership of the former Sauber facility as part of its new Formula 1 program.

High expectations

The delay gave Toyota some additional development time ahead of the new car’s debut.

“This year our expectations are high,” said Team Principal and TR010 No. 7 driver Kamui Kobayashi “The previous car was fast but also had limitations, so last season was a big challenge, particularly considering several of our competitors made performance steps.”

Toyota clearly has the pedigree to claim a WEC Hypecar title. Last season, Cadillac showed it had the pace.

Team JOTA Sport’s first season as a Cadillac factory-backed team produced three poles, matching Ferrari’s two works Hypercars. But race day was less rewarding, with three single-point rounds and only two that netted 25 or more points.

A win at São Paulo--Cadillac’s first in the WEC--showed Team Jota is on the right track, due in no small part to closer collaboration with the manufacturer’s IMSA GTP entrants.

Experience matters

A full year of experience marked with some success should benefit Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in 2026. So should changes to the V-Series.R, which--much like Toyota--touch nearly every aerodynamic surface.

Yet another plus: No. 38 driver Sebastien Bourdais will come to every track with relevant, recent experience. The Le Mans, France, native has plenty of sports car experience, but most of it in recent years has come on the IMSA calendar.

He’s competed at WEC staples such as Spa and Imola, but not in years. That made 2025 somewhat of a familiarization tour as Bourdais learned how the V.-Series.R--which he drove in IMSA--gets around the WEC’s circuits.

“It’s still experience, but it’s long ago,” Bourdais told On Motorsport during last September’s Lone Star LeMans weekend. “When you haven’t been to a place in like, 10-15, years, it’s a pretty distant memory.”

An admitted “old school guy,” Bourdais said simulator work gets him only so far.

“I’m driving with my butt. With the simulator, is a completely different exercise, and you’re driving with your eyes,” he said. “I struggle very much to make both kind of merge and make it fruitful for me. For me personally to learn from the simulator sessions, it’s much harder [than] at a track.”

Now Bourdais has the benefit of last year’s race weekends across the entire WEC schedule. He’s also no longer doing double-duty, having walked away from his Tower Motorsports LMP2 commitments in IMSA after January’s Rolex 24 to focus on his Hertz Team Jota commitment.

BMW leads the rest?

BMW rolls into Imola with a revamped M Hybrid V8 LMDh Hypercar following an 18-month development process. Team WRT is hopeful it can replicate last year’s solid start that found it second in manufacturers’ points, and deliver similar consistency the rest of the way. Rounds 3-8 included no single race weekend with more than 10 combined points and two rounds with zero points.

Early results from IMSA’s first two rounds offer some hope. Team WRT, which took over BMW’s IMSA GTP program this season, overcame early-weekend struggles at both Daytona and Sebring to log decent finishes: third and sixth, respectively. Whether it transfers over to WEC remains to be seen, but having one team running both programs should accelerate the lesson-learning process.

Alpine, which finished sixth, one point behind BMW, in the 2025 manufacturers’ battle, is determined to make its last season a memorable one. The team confirmed in February that its Hypercar program will end after this season. The move stems from a shift in parent company Renault’s priorities, which includes leaning on Formula 1 to push brand awareness via motorsport.

Despite the imminent demise, Alpine could surprise. The No. 35 A424 won the penultimate round in Fuji last year, putting it in a class with Ferrari, Cadillac, Porsche, and Toyota as 2025 race winners. The car is largely unchanged for 2026, but the team has been pushing to unlock more performance.

“Our test at MotorLand Aragón was an important step in our preparation, building on the work completed at Le Castellet and Portimão,” Team Principal Philippe Sinault said last month. “Running the Alpine A424 in its 2026 configuration over a 24-hour endurance format allowed us to complete an intensive program with both crews together for the first time. “

Peugeot’s 9X8 is also unchanged aside from small aerodynamic tweaks. The team gained momentum as the 2025 season went on, scoring 70 of its 84 points in the second half of the season.

“This winter, we worked in continuity with 2025 to optimize a base we already know well,” said 9X8 No. 94 driver Loïc Duval.

“The off-season allowed us to work in depth on the car and on how we exploit every detail,” added new Team Principal Emmanuel Esnault. “The level in Hypercar is extremely high. To be competitive, you have to be precise everywhere: in execution, in strategy, and in consistency. That’s where we want to take a step forward — and the results will follow.”

Future stars?

Second-year team Aston Martin and newcomer Genesis will be hard pressed to push for podiums, let alone full-season titles.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie showed improvement throughout its first season, getting 22 of its 24 points in the last two rounds.

Genesis Magma Racing takes Aston Martin THOR’s place as the Hypercar newcomer.

“As a new entrant, we know that we are not in a position to pursue performance at the start of the season,” said Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul. “Instead, our focus will be on things we can control in our reliability and operations, making sure we can do the small things right first, before we can expect performance and race results. A successful weekend in Imola will be if we get both our GMR-001 Hypercars to the finish with minimal technical problems or penalties and the entire team working well together.”

Dani Juncadella, who will make his Hypercar debut at Imola in the No. 19 Genesis GMR-001, signaled the team is up for the journey.

“I’m massively excited, but I’m not expecting much in terms of results, but it’s not our main focus,” he said. “There’s a lot of things we need to work on before focusing on pure results.”

From the archives

IMSA’s schedule offers no easy break-in time to fine-tune off-season changes. Starting out with the two longest races on arguably the most demanding tracks quickly exposes weaknesses.

This season, most GTP-class teams brought modified cars to Daytona, courtesy of off-season tweaks that target improved on-track performance. But each team has one new component in common: Michelin’s new Pilot Sport Endurance medium-compound tire.

Michelin’s main on-track targets for the new primary tire that both IMSA GTP and WEC Hypercar teams will run included improved durability throughout runs, particularly double stints on the same tires. Another major goal was faster warm-up times--and by extension faster out laps--following tire changes.

All this had to come without sacrificing peak performance that dictates team strategies while factoring in the French tire-maker’s sustainability goal of using 50% recycled or renewable material.

Extensive testing

An extensive on-track testing program, including sessions at IMSA staples Sebring and Watkins Glen, yielded promising results. November’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona, which saw all GTP teams run the new rubber, delivered more positive feedback.

But there’s testing and there’s racing.

January’s Rolex 24 was the tire’s most important outing to date, and it did not disappoint.

“The warmup has been better everywhere since we got this new Michelin tire,” said Felipe Nasr, co-driver of the No. 7 Porsche Penske 963 that won its third straight 24 Hours of Daytona. “I also felt the durability of the tire was quite good looking back at Daytona.”

Jack Aitken, co-driver of the runner-up No. 31 Whelen Cadillac, lauded the tire’s performance across a typically Daytona variety of weather conditions.

“We had a wide range of conditions with dense fog overnight, really humid and slightly moist, to the heat [Sunday],” Aitken said. “On Sunday morning, it got right up there in temperature, the hottest we’d seen all week. We were able to run the medium tire through all of those different conditions. It handled the variety really well, showed it had a good range.”

While three years of testing and a Rolex 24 debut have exposed the tire to a wide range of conditions, a full race at Sebring means a few more new challenges.

The 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit’s abrasive surface and iconic bumps are tough on tires, particularly in warmer temperatures. The tire degradation means the track surface changes throughout a 12-hour race, with high daytime temperatures and cooler nighttime conditions adding more variables for teams and drivers to manage.

‘A good baseline’

Last month’s Sebring test gave teams some idea of what to expect. But 12 hours of racing that starts in the morning and ends at night will be new ground.

“I think we learned a lot in that test,” Nasr said. “I won’t say we’re fully happy with the car, but we definitely have the race weekend there to learn. That track changes a lot, especially the grip level that builds up over the weekend. But I feel like we’re in a good baseline to start and take it from there.”

A second full weekend of race activity also will give drivers more experience with getting faster on new tires and shaving a few seconds off out laps.

“You could really feel that the car was much easier to keep on track on the out laps,” said BMW M Team WRT driver Sheldon van der Linde after a third-place run at Daytona.

“You need to make the most of the tire... even though they’re still cold,” Nasr said. “That’s what I see all the time in GTP, where drivers make a difference. It’s extracting the tire. The out lap is still pretty significant in terms of gaining a position or not.”

From the archives

Bathurst may be 10,000 miles and 10 time zones from Germany, but the Mount Panorama Circuit might as well be part of the autobahn.

German makes have dominated both the lineups and the podium in the iconic track’s signature sports car event, the Bathurst 12 Hour. This year’s win by the No. 88 Mercedes-AMG Team GMR entry means German machines have scored overall victories in 10 of 15 races since the field opened to GT3 cars in 2011. To be fair, the pro class fields have been mostly Porsches, Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs, and Audis in recent years--a trend that has helped fuel what is now five straight wins and nine consecutive poles.

Johor Motorsports Racing (JMR) is no stranger to German-powered success at Bathurst. The six-year old Malaysian team, founded and led by Prince Jefri Ibrahim, scored three straight Pro-Am class podiums in 2022-2024.

This year, they brought something different to The Mountain--and nearly conquered it.

JMR, which signed to be a Corvette customer racing team in 2025, entered a pair of Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs. While a Corvette has turned laps at Mount Panorama before, this year’s 12 Hour--the five-round Intercontinental GT Challenge series opener--marked its first Mount Panorama points race.

Neither JMR nor Chevrolet came to mess around. Full-time Corvette Racing factory drivers Alexander Sims and Nicky Catsburg teamed with Cadillac factory veteran Earl Bamber in the No. 2 Pro class entry.

The team’s No. 99 Corvette ran in the Pro-Am class with drivers Ben Green, Jordan Love, and brothers Jefri Ibrahim and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim.

After qualifying 14th in the 16-car pro class, the No. 2 quickly worked its way to the front, improving with each stint.

“Our Corvette is working pretty darn well in race trim,” Sims said following one early stint. “After the first five or six laps the car seems to come alive a bit.”

Tests on The Mountain

Mid-race brought tests. A safety car just after a scheduled pit stop cost the No. 2 track position. A mistake during a subsequent safety car brought a drive-through penalty.

Each issue knocked the No. 2 team from a podium spot to outside the top five. Each time, it responded.

With a bit more than two hours to go, Catsburg had the No. 2 Corvette headed back to the front. Shortly after posting what would hold up as the race’s fastest lap, the Corvette veteran moved up in an intense battle for third place between No. 46 Team WRT BMW and the No. 95 Optimum Motorsport McLaren.

As the fight moved through turn one, Catsburg slid by them both, flexing the Z06 GT3.R’s straight-line speed in one of the circuit’s fastest sections.

Just 15 minutes later, trouble found the No. 2. A fuel pick-up issue slowed Catsburg, costing him five spots and forcing him to pit.

“There was no alarm, but we seemed to be out of fuel,” Catsburg said soon after handing the car over to Bamber. “Everything that I gained, we lost again. We have to see what Earl can do now. It’s a real shame. We have a fast car.”

Bamber got right to work, but his podium-spot push ended quickly. Ten minutes into his stint, a broken rear suspension took him for a ride.

“I turned off Skyline and got a big snap from the rear and took the escape road,” Bamber said. “I tried to turn through the next corner but had nothing on the rear, so I just slowly spun and stopped.”

Bamber’s unplanned loop ended JMR’s overall win chances. But down a level in the Pro-Am class, the No. 99 overcame some early challenges to claim second in class and a solid 14th overall.

“We had a few little issues with the car that cost us a little bit of time, but it was an absolute rocket, Green said. “The boys did an amazing job getting the car ready and set up for the first race.”

While the Pro class outcome brought some disappointment, the overall showing demonstrated JMR’s progress. Bathurst was just the second Pro-class race for JMR and its No. 2 Corvette, following a third overall last fall in the Suzuka 1000K with Sims, Catsburg and Scott McLaughlin behind the wheel. The Ibrahim brothers were part of a third-place class finish in the same race by the No. 99.

‘It’s not easy’

The No. 99’s run proved the Corvette can stand up to the half-day of punishment that Bathurst delivers, while the No. 2 showed pace is not a problem.

“We are not very nice on the cars here,” Catsburg said. “We’re hammering them over curbs and against other cars. It’s not easy. We clearly had a fast car. I feel like we should have been fighting for the win today.”

“This is a debut for us and we couldn’t ask for more,” added Jefri Ibrahim. “Hopefully we’ll come back next year.”

JMR, which just completed a full Asian Le Mans schedule, has time to finalize its 2027 12 Hour plans.

Among its nearer-term priorities is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Key JMR team members will combine with TF Sport’s technical staff on an LMGT3 entry. The Z06 GT3.R --one of three Corvettes TF Sport will back at Le Mans this year--will see Green, Jefri Ibrahim, and Afiq Ikhwan share driving duties. The entry will carry JMR’s familiar No. 2.

References

TF Sport/JMR at Le Mans—https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2026-24-hours-of-le-mans-entry-list-team-reactions-60333

From the archives:

The stunning multi-car crash that halted the 2026 Bathurst 12 Hour Feb. 15 marred what was otherwise a spectacular race.

It also raises some relevant questions.

Chief among them: How could a blocked track collect a car at race speed that was running nearly 30 seconds behind the initial shunt?

And, what can be done to prevent similar occurrences?

The No. 77 Team Craft Bamboo Mercedes AMG squad, whose driver Ralf Aron broke his back in the crash, is among those seeking answers.

“We have requested a review of the flag and safety procedures with Race Control to drastically improve safety in this area,” the team said in a Feb 16 statement.

Aron’s initial post-accident update carried a similar theme.

“The situation in Bathurst was a serious one, and for that reason I would like to have a meeting and open discussion with race control to share my experience and perspective,” Aron posted on social media. “This is not about pointing fingers. It is about understanding what happened and making sure we can prevent situations like this in the future, so that racing at this beautiful track can be as safe as possible for everyone.”

Aron and Johannes Zelger, driver of the No. 79 TSUNAMI RT Porsche that spun and was broadsided by Aron’s Mercedes, were fortunate to escape without more serious injuries.

Race officials, organizers and others responsible for track safety at Mount Panorama Circuit may conclude fingers need pointing.

But a close examination of the entire accident sequence shows this was no routine racing scenario. Rather, it required a complex and unfortunate combination of by-the-book regulations and just plain bad racing luck.

Full accident sequence from official mid-race recap video

The safety car

The sequence that led to the Aron/Zelger crash started with a single-car shunt involving the Team BRM Audi some 40 minutes before the Aron/Zelger collision.

The resulting safety car prompted a routine round of pit road activity. Many cars took advantage, including the No. 79, which boxed for tires, fuel and a driver change, with Zelger getting back behind the wheel.

The No. 77 Craft Bamboo team opted for track position over servicing the car, and told Aron to stay out. But radio issues prevented Aron from getting the message. Assuming he was to pit, he brought the car in. His surprised crew waved them through--and into the lead.

Aron’s pit-road detour played no role in the accident. Since the cars ahead of him stopped for service, he was inheriting the lead whether he stayed out or cut down pit road. But the reason he came in--the balky radio--may have been a factor.

The wave-by procedure

As the safety car period came to a close, race control started the wave-by procedure.

The steps are clear, as laid out in the rulebook. When the wave-by command comes, cars one or more laps behind the leader pass the lead pack and safety car. At Bathurst, the procedure takes place at Forrest’s Elbow, the 18th of 23 turns along the 3.86-mile track.

Once past the safety car, the wave-by cars can pull away from the lead pack, but are supposed to stay in line until they take the green flag. The only exceptions are if a car “slows with an obvious problem” and a faster driver “cannot avoid passing it,” the rules say.

The rules also state the race director “may” delay the restart to let the lapped cars join the rear of the cue, but this isn’t normally done. By design, the wave-by is meant to back-markers a boost, but not a full-lap advantage.

The wave-by pack that preceded the Aron-Zelger crash totaled 18 cars. Zelger led the back-marker pack in the No. 79 Porsche.

With the wave-by pack past the leaders, the race director orders the safety car lights off. It then speeds away from the pack and into the pits, leaving the leaders to take the green flag--and chase down the back-markers.

The re-start

Aron got a strong restart. Within a few corners, he was nearly a second ahead of Luca Stolz in the second-place 75 Express No. 75 Mercedes.

Up ahead, Zelger wasn’t fairing as well. His Porsche brushed the wall near McPhillimay Park (Turn 10). As he worked to get back on pace through the winding mountaintop section, wave-by cars began to work past him. Those that didn’t get by bunched up behind the slow-running Porsche.

Kai Allen in the No. 100 Grove Racing Mercedes was right behind Zelger, and was worried about who was behind them.

“I was very concerned about us getting plowed in the back considering the leaders would be coming through soon,” he said on the official TV broadcast.

The Porsche slowed and “I accidentally hit him,” Allen explained.

The contact sent the Porsche sideways in Turn 17, at the top of the Elbow. The Porsche slid along the inside groove and came to rest, perpendicular to the wall.

What was now an eight-car pack behind the No. 79 jostled to get by. Fourth in line was Damien Hamilton in the No. 14 Aston Martin. As the rest of the pack jumped to open track on the outside of the stopped Porsche, Hamilton was boxed in. He stopped and waited for the pack to clear.

“When the Porsche spun, I was just trying to hold back and see which direction I’d go to get out of there,” Hamilton said. “I had to stop. I couldn’t get back. I was just getting [into] reverse and getting out of there as quick as I could.”

Once the track was open, Hamilton slowly guided his Aston-Martin around the Porsche.

Meanwhile, the lead pack raced towards Turn 17, with Aron out front, extending his lead.

Race control

Whether and how much race control contributed to the accident is up to officials to determine.

Television replays and driver reactions suggest that for a few critical moments, confusion reigned.

The race broadcast’s initial shot of Zelger sideways at the exit of Turn 17 shows 3:41:57 left on the race clock. By then, only Hamilton in No. 14 Aston was left from the eight-car jam-up behind the Porsche.

Hamilton backed his car up and began to steer around the Porsche, blocking the outside of the track in the process. Zelger moved forward, but had only a few feet between the front bumper and the barrier.

Aron arrived, at or near racing speed and on the racing line, and struck Zelger with 3:41:40 on the clock.

A second fan video posted online shows the impact occurred 25 seconds after Zelger’s car came to rest.

The TV feed shows a marshal stationed just before the accident scene waving double-yellow flags. But at the previous marshal post, no flags were displayed. Aron passed this stand about three seconds before impact.

The drivers’ perspective

The extended red-flag period gave pit-lane reporters the opportunity to ask multiple drivers about the accident sequence. A common theme among lead-pack drivers: team radio communication provided more effective warning than marshals flags.

“There were green flags, yellow flags, green flags as we came over Skyline [Turn 11], and then it was green, and then I just heard the engineer on the radio,” said Team WRT No. 32 BMW co-driver Jordan Pepper, who was ninth in the lead pack. “He pretty much saved us, screaming, ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’”

Matt Campbell in the Absolute Racing No. 911 Porsche, running sixth, and Jaxson Evans in the No. 26 Arise Ferrari, running 11th, also credited radio calls for giving them warnings.

Closer to the front, second-place Stolz said a radio call and plain luck got him through unscathed.

“I heard there was a car in Forrest’s Elbow so I took out a little bit [of throttle],” he said. “But even though I took out some, it was probably not enough. I was just lucky.”

He’s right. When Aron hit Zelger, the Porsche spun across the track and then rolled steadily down the hill, while the instantly slowed and totaled No. 77 Mercedes stayed along the inside wall. The impact created a gap that gave Stolz and the other front-running cars just enough room to get through, preventing an already terrible situation from getting worse.

The updates from Aron and Team Craft Bamboo do not discuss the accident’s circumstances, so it’s not clear whether a balky radio or other unusual factors affected the No. 77.

The aftermath

Calls to review Bathurst track safety began before the 12 Hour ended--and not just from fans and pundits. WEC Hypercar team Genesis Magma driver Daniel Juncadella, who has raced for Craft Bamboo and considers Bathurst among his favorite tracks, took to X to air his frustration.

“No yellow in previous marshal post, full track blockage...We get hammered as drivers when we [misbehave] under yellow flag/interventions, so I’m hoping someone takes accountability for this as it’s unacceptable,” he posted. The double yellow flags just before the track blockage were “too late for the driver to notice as a ‘first’ warning,” he added.

Emergency response is also sure to be scrutinized.

Aron exited his burning car under his own power, crawled behind it, and laid down. But as the fire worsened just in front of him, he struggled to get to safety, which meant crossing the track and tumbling over the wall.

Aron made it off the track as the initial emergency response vehicle pulled up, about 70 seconds after impact. It took nearly another minute for firefighting to begin.

What now?

Dailysportscar reports that three organizations would be involved in any post-race safety investigation: governing body Motorsport Australia, race organizer Supercars Events, and the Bathurst City Council, which has track safety responsibilities.

While a formal probe had not been announced as of Feb. 17, discussions among Supercars Events and the city council began immediately after the race, the report said.

Race officials may ultimately determine mistakes contributed to the accident.

Regardless, it’s clear the drivers and race control faced an unusual set of circumstances that helped set the stage for the crash.

A shunt at the front of a large wave-by pack led to a logjam that triggered blocked-track scenario. It happened immediately after a restart that had marshals waving green flags. Radioed warnings reached at least some lead-pack drivers approaching the blocked track area, but radio problems may have prevented the leader from getting word. And the only reason the lead car was out front was a pit-strategy call that put him into the lead.

Aron said in his update that he’s determined to get back behind the wheel soon and return to the mountain in 2027.

Here’s hoping that return is accompanied by much better luck--and any appropriate safety improvements.

References

2026 Bathurst 12 Hour sporting and technical regulations (.pdf)—https://assets.ctfassets.net/jxsy204u8e5z/5LElejLNhDbwz28GuNtjCQ/3018d5218e3222a26cf8feecee9f00c4/2026_-_Bathurst_12_Hour_-_Further_Supplementary_Regulations_-Issued_3rd_February.pdf

Juncadella’s favorite tracks—https://motorsport.hyundai.com/manufacturer-programmes/wec/daniel-juncadella

Dailysportscar post-race update—https://www.dailysportscar.com/2026/02/17/safety-discussions-underway-after-aron-zeglers-huge-bathurst-accident.html

Fan video 1 via Louie Velovski (25-second gap from 79 spin to impact)—

Fan video 2 via Tom Prichard (full accident sequence and aftermath)—

The Rolex 24 is never easy for any team. Pile on a new organization running the program and a new-ish car making its race debut, and BMW’s GTP squads headed into the IMSA season opener with measured expectations.

Yet at the end of 24 hours, the No. 24 team found itself in victory lane, celebrating a surprising third-place run.

“To be honest, this is a very unexpected podium,” said Dries Vanthoor, who both started and ended the race. “After the Roar, the practice sessions and qualifying, we weren’t particularly optimistic and never thought that we could even fight for victory.”

The race marked BMW M Team WRT’s IMSA GTP debut. The team participated in the BMW M Hybrid V8’s development and fielded it in WEC since its 2024 debut in that series. But Team RLL ran the car in its first three IMSA campaigns.

But last September, just four months before the Rolex 24, BMW M Motorsport decided to consolidate its prototype racing program and tapped WRT to take over in IMSA as well.

Meanwhile, BMW and Team WRT were busy updating the car, an 18-month effort to apply lessons learned from its IMSA and WEC outings. BMW’s second official EVO joker update focused on aerodynamic changes to help make the car more consistent through stints.

‘Super bad’

Feedback from testing, notably the official pre-season shakedown at Daytona in November, was positive.

But the optimism dimmed once official Rolex practice started.

“Our [Roar Before the Rolex 24] and our practice before the race, it was super bad,” Vanthoor said on the Over the Limit podcast he shares with brother Laurens. “We couldn’t last. We couldn’t do a proper double stint on the tire. It was just not fun to drive.”

Vanthoor, who also drives the car for Team WRT in WEC, likes setups with “a lot of oversteer,” he explained. But the revised No. 24 had “too much” in the days leading up to the Rolex 24. “We had a lot of issues with entry and stability,” he said.

Qualifying validated the team’s concerns. The BMWs came across eighth and ninth fastest in the 11-car GTP class.

“We were a second off,” Vanthoor said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, this is gonna be a long race.’”

Running out of ideas and practice time, Team WRT changed its approach. Instead of looking for a series of incremental, data-driven improvements, the team went back to basics, Vanthoor explained.

“The last [practice] session before the race, we did a big change on the car,” Vanthoor said.

Among the changes was a differential adjustment that added more suspension preload, which affects the car’s power distribution through corners, Vanthoor explained.

‘Quite okay’

The tweaks didn’t put the BMWs on top of the speed charts, but the cars became more drivable.

“We did a lot of basic stuff, and this actually helped,” Vanthoor said. “The car felt quite okay.”

The No. 24’s turnaround bid nearly ended seconds into the race. Vanthoor looped the car in turn three on the opening lap, and was fortunate not to collect anyone running behind him.

Disaster narrowly avoided, Vanthoor pressed on, completing a double stint to start the team on what would become a memorable journey that ended with the BMW M Hybrid V8’s tenth IMSA podium.

“This is one of the most surprising podiums of my career,” said No. 24 co-driver Sheldon van der Linde. “I don’t think anyone expected us to be able to fight for victory before the race. Everyone was a bit unhappy about the pace the car had – but we knew that the team was incredibly strong in the race.”

BMW M Motorsport head Andreas Roos lauded the expanded Team WRT’s perseverance.

“To build such a great team in North America in such a short time and then to make it onto the podium at the first attempt with a revised car is simply fantastic,” he said.

Vanthoor echoed Roos’s sentiments on how well the newly formed team performed.

“Hat’s off to them, because they started the whole thing in September,” he said. “They didn’t have any people, they didn’t have any trucks. They had nothing.”

Vanthoor is clearly pleased with his IMSA team’s progress. But the veteran BMW driver came to the post-race debrief with a specific request.

“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what you guys did, but try to understand and make sure we can replicate it for the next race,” Vanthoor told the team. “Put it in your agenda. I don’t [care] what you do, but make sure you understand, because at the end, [the car] was nice to drive.”

References

Over the Limit podcast--https://laurensvanthoor.be/pages/podcast

From the archives

“He should get a penalty,” Nico Varrone snapped over the radio.

The Argentinian had just guided his No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R back onto the track following an involuntary trip through Daytona’s West Horseshoe grass, courtesy of James Calado in the No. 033 Ferrari.

“Copy,” came the reply. “We’ll call it in.”

Calado got his penalty. But that didn’t help Varrone and his Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports teammates.

The post-restart incident with just over two hours to go in the 64th 24 Hours of Daytona shuffled Varrone from third place--and pushing Calado for second--to 11th. Varrone battled back, picking up five spots before the lap was through. Along with co-driver Nicky Catsburg, who finished the race, Varrone helped salvage a fourth-place finish.

The IMSA season-opener could have been worse for Corvette Racing. But it could have been a whole lot better, too.

“I just feel sorry for the team because we had a great car and we executed perfectly,” Varrone told SportsCar365. “Whether you win or not depends on circumstances in the end, but we had a car for at least the top three. That’s why it hurts a bit more.”

A promising start

Endurance racing’s crown jewels produce great theatre. But for every story that will define a Rolex 24 or 12 Hours of Sebring for years to come, many more are soon forgotten, derailed by moments that instantly change the narrative from memorable to misfortune.

Led by the Porsche Penske No. 7 car’s third straight win and the Crowdstrike No. 04’s rally to victory following a first-lap spin, this year’s Rolex 24 produced several enduring storylines.

Corvette Racing’s tale veered into the “misfortune” category.

The No. 3 team--the defending full-season class champions--started from the pole, while the No. 4 rolled off eighth. At the 35-minute mark, they were running 1-2.

Despite some fuel-savings, each spent most of the next 10 hours at or near the top. They were running second and third at the start of what would be a 6-hour, 33-minute caution for fog overnight.

When racing resumed with just more than six hours to go, the yellow and black Z06 GT3.Rs picked up right where they left off. At least one of the factory entries challenging for Corvette Racing’s fifth Rolex 24 win seemed like a foregone conclusion.

But with five hours to go, misfortune hit Pratt Miller’s Corvette operation harder than it has in a while.

Running second behind its sister car, the No. 3’s right rear suspension failed heading into turn six--the same area Varrone would later have his run-in.

Antonio Garcia nursed the wounded Corvette around into the garage. Pratt Miller’s mechanics had the car race-ready in 46 minutes.

By then, however, the No. 3 team’s fight was not for the podium, but points and pride. It came home 13th in class--a factory Corvette’s worst IMSA result since the 2024 Petit LeMans season finale.

Down, but not out

The mechanical malfunction knocked Corvette Racing down, but hardly out.

While Pratt Miller was fixing the stricken No. 3 Corvette, Tommy Milner was behind the wheel of the No. 4, squaring off with other emerging GTD Pro class win contenders, led by the No. 911 Porsche and the No. 1 Paul Miller BMW.

A round of full-course yellow pit stops halfway through hour 19 left Milner fourth when the green flag reappeared. A penalty for jumping the restart knocked the No. 77 Porsche out of the top three.

With four hours to go, the No. 911 Porsche and the No. 1 BMW went head to head for the lead.

Milner had other ideas.

As the Porsche and the BMW raced side-by-side into Daytona’s iconic tri-oval, they left a gap to the outside. Milner squeezed his Corvette through it, taking the lead just before the flag stand.

“It almost didn’t work because a GTP car was coming around me right when I wanted to pop out on the BMW,” Milner said shortly after turning the car over to Varrone. “I was sort of disobeying orders a little bit. I was told to hit an energy target but I wanted to push a little bit when those guys were fighting. They ran side-by-side, which punches a massive hole in the air that I was able to take advantage of.”

Milner knew he had a run and clean air to work with, which would offset the Corvette’s understeer.

“That helps the balance,” he said. “Little stuff like that...you make an executive decision on track. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. This one was pretty good.”

Recover and rebuild

For about 90 minutes, Milner’s pass looked like the move of the race. He kept the lead for the remainder of his triple stint. Varrone took over with three and a half hours to go and kept the No. 4 up front until a full-course caution an hour later.

Varying pit stop strategies shuffled the field. Varrone came out fourth, behind the No. 911 Porsche, Calado’s No. 033 Ferrari, and the No. 1 BMW.

Varrone wasted no time after the restart, quickly moving by the BMW. He pulled alongside the Ferrari, opting for the outside heading through the turn five West Horseshoe. Calado slammed the door--too hard, the stewards determined--and in an instant, the No. 4’s podium hopes were gone.

Corvette Racing shifted its strategy back to saving fuel, cutting a stint short in a bid to minimize pit time later in the race. The move helped Varrone and race closer Catsburg salvage fourth place.

In the end, a solid start in a bid to keep the full-season title in Corvette Racing’s camp. But given how most of Rolex 24 week went, it was a forgettable result.

“The No. 4 Corvette was flying,” Varrone told Sportscar365. “Now we have to recover and rebuild for Sebring.”

From the archives

References

Varrone on Calado incident--https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/corvettes-varrone-hits-out-at-dirty-driver-calado/

Hans Herrmann’s contribution to Porsche’s first overall win at Le Mans capped a sparkling career with a storybook ending. But the 1970 win’s significance came within a few car lengths of being undercut a year earlier.

The 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans was one of the greatest editions in the iconic event’s history. Jacky Ickx won the race, rallying from eight laps down thanks to the Ford GT40’s reliability and others’ misfortune.

Ickx’s No. 6 Ford waged an epic battle with the No. 64 Porsche 908 over the race’s final stint. The two cars swapped the lead multiple times, including twice on the final lap. Ickx beat the Porsche to the finish line by about 2 seconds, earning the first of six career Le Mans wins.

Behind the wheel of the second-place Porsche? Hans Herrmann.

While Ickx and Oliver celebrated with their JW Automotive Engineering teammates, Herrmann was “sad and unhappy,” wrote legendary Motor Sport Magazine journalist Denis Jenkinson. “He had been out-driven by the young Belgian and made no excuses, but it was a bitter blow to Porsche, who wanted to win Le Mans above all else.”

The Ford and the 908 were thrust into the spotlight after Porsche’s primary cars, two factory 917s developed specifically to win the event, dropped out. The newest Porsches were fast enough, dominating the race when they were running. But they weren’t reliable enough to make the grueling 24-hour distance; the last 917 surrendered a multi-lap lead with just two hours to go.

Herrmann and co-driver Gérard Larrousse knew their 908, rolled out for the 1968 season, was both fast enough to win and reliable enough to go the distance. A 908 finished third the year before, behind the same GT40 and a Porsche 907.

But Ickx figured out the Ford could stay ahead of the Porsche through the slower parts of the track. As long as the Belgian was ahead at the end of the 3.7-mile Mulsanne Straight, he could beat Herrmann back to the main grandstand and the finish line.

One more lap

With minutes to go, Herrmann easily passed the Ford at the beginning of Mulsanne to take the lead. But Ickx used the Porsche’s slipstream to stay close and slingshot back by before the slow, right-hand Mulsanne Corner.

The pair flashed by the main grandstand just before the 24-hour mark, meaning they needed to run one more lap. Ickx led by some 20 car lengths through the Dunlop Curve, the Esses, and around Tertre Rouge onto Mulsanne.

Herrmann made his move, rocketing into the lead as the pair rolled through the fastest part of the course. But Ickx stayed with the Porsche and, as he had before, re-took the lead before Mulsanne Corner.

Herrmann stayed close, but couldn’t get by.

When sports car racing’s best returned to Le Mans in 1970, Herrmann was in an improved 917. He and co-driver Richard Atwood piloted the No. 23, fielded by Porsche’s Austria-based factory team. The pair cruised to victory, besting its nearest competitor, another Porsche 917, by five laps.

Herrmann, who died January 9 at age 97, locked up legendary status long before his lone Le Mans win. He notched overall wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and Targa Florio. He totaled more than 80 overall and class wins in his 18-year racing career, including five Le Mans class victories.

The Stuttgart native’s accomplishments are so revered that they earned him formal statements of recognition from both Porsche and Mercedes-Benz upon his passing.

Early endurance racing success earned Herrmann a spot on Mercedes’ factory team for the 1954 and 1955 Formula One seasons. While Mercedes provided his first works ride, most of his success--and his most memorable accomplishment--came with Porsche.

Herrmann’s legend grew after the 1970 Le Mans triumph, but not thanks to anything he did behind the wheel.

Before the race, Herrmann told wife Magdalena that if he won, he’d retire from his beloved but admittedly dangerous occupation.

He never raced again.

References

Jenkinson’s 1969 Le Mans recap—https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1969/13/1969-le-mans-24-hours-report/

Porsche statement—https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2026/history/porsche-mourns-the-loss-of-hans-herrmann-41481.html

Mercedes statement—https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/innovation/milestones/gallery-of-legends/nachruf-hans-herrmann/

A race car’s setup evolves from practice to practice, race to race, and even season to season. But when BMW’s M Hybrid V8s take the grid for the Rolex 24 in January, they will be backed by an effort that began 18 months ago.

BMW has spent the second of its five EVO jokers on a significant performance update to its prototype. A smaller design of its iconic kidney front grille as well as changes to the front headlights and splitter make it look like a new car.

“But officially, it’s just an aerodynamic update,” BMW M Motorsport Project Lead Achim Klein told reporters in a 2026 look-ahead briefing held over the WEC’s finale weekend in Bahrain. “It’s really bodywork, aerodynamics, things that are where the air is touching the car.”

Mixed results

The M Hybrid V8 LMDh joined IMSA in 2023 and made its WEC debut in 2024. Race results for the two-car teams have been mixed: a respectable three wins and nine podiums in IMSA, but no wins and two podiums in WEC. Notably, the WEC record includes a best finish of just 16th at Le Mans.

The equivalent of two full seasons of racing convinced BMW that the car could benefit from some changes, particularly in WEC competition.

The first EVO joker, brake material changes, was introduced at the beginning of the 2025 season. BMW’s “first ideas” for the aerodynamic overhaul came in July 2024, Klein said.

“The [drivers’] main wish was, of course, the consistency topic,” he explained. “The ability to drive constant lap times throughout the stint without being forced to pay too much attention to an edgy car.

“You need to get it in line,” Klein added. “This is what the driver then describes as balance, and this is a key performance factor.”

Once a major change’s desired outcome is nailed down, the real--and most time-consuming--work begins. Computer modeling trials to test and refine concepts. Wind tunnel work to validate real-world scale and full-size models. Parts production to put the new idea on a chassis. Then, of course, on-track testing.

“It takes quite some time,” Klein said. “You don’t do this in half a year.”

The refined M Hybrid V8 first hit the track at France’s Circuit Paul Ricard in August. More testing was done at Circuit of the Americas in September. IMSA’s official sanctioned testing ahead of the 2026 season, held Nov. 14-16, offered the most extensive trials so far.

Proper racing is still a ways off, but so far, the results are encouraging.

“There is a clear difference in terms of drivability and in terms of consistency,” Philipp Eng, co-driver of BMW’s No. 24 IMSA entry, told Sportscar365 following his Daytona work. “I think that’s exactly what you need in endurance racing.”

Designing and improving high-performance race cars is largely an engineering exercise. But no amount of CFD modeling and onboard data can convey what drivers feel.

“You cannot exclude the human factor out of driving this car,” Klein said. “We have a lot of sensors, and we can evaluate a lot of topics from the pure technical point of view. [Then] you have feedback from the drivers, which no sensor can give you. You need to have somebody describing the direction of the development of the car, especially in terms of driving behavior,” he added.

Always evolving

For drivers, evaluating technical changes to a car brings an added challenge. While a track’s layout or surface may call for specific settings--such as higher ride heights for bumpier surfaces--a car’s basic set-up will also change from race to race.

“The general concept of the car is always [evolving],” BMW Team WRT No. 20 co-driver René Rast told On Motorsport during September’s WEC Lone Start LeMans weekend. “You find something, you put it in the car, and if it’s good, you keep it in the car. You’re upgrading the setup from race to race, and then you make small adjustments at certain tracks.”

A driver’s perspective can vary based on personal preference and team role. Rast was the No. 20’s designated race-starting driver in 2025. His focus was on longer runs, as opposed to Sheldon Van Der Linde, who was responsible for setting it up for qualifying.

“In the practice sessions, I take the used tires from Sheldon and make my race prep,” Rast explained. “If I start with Sheldon’s qualifying setup, it will be too aggressive for the long runs. We obviously have to drive a bit more conservative for the race.”

Much like setup during race weekend, translating driver input to technical changes is a key part of testing. BMW relies on verbal feedback from the drivers to understand what is working and what needs a second look. The driver-engineer connection must be strong to be effective.

“As an engineer, you need to understand what the driver is telling you,” Klein said. “You need to understand his way of describing car balance. If you have this good relationship, and you know what the technical background is of the change, and he’s telling you if this is fitting into his way of driving, then you can develop the car.”

From the archives

References

Eng on Daytona testing--https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/eng-clear-difference-in-updated-bmw-m-hybrid-v8/

Given Ferrari’s Hypercar-era misfortunes, the Lone Star LeMans incident was a crossroads in its championship quest. The No. 51 went from the lead to out of the points when contact with the No. 6 Porsche left the Ferrari with a punctured left front tire.

Alessandro Pier Guidi nursed the stricken 499P around Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and soon found himself in 13th place, chasing all of the No. 51’s rivals for both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championship battles.

Would the moment’s frustrations boil over into an on-track mistake, penalty, or strategic blunder? Would more hard luck get in the way of Pier Guidi’s push to get back into a top-10, points-paying position?

Or had two-and-a-half up-and-down seasons taught the team when to lean on its abilities and when to depend on resilience?

Abilities and resilience--and a dose of good fortune brought on by a safety car--won out. Pier Guidi salvaged a fifth-place finish for the No. 51 and helped ensure Ferrari extended both its manufacturers’ and drivers’ title leads with two rounds to go.

“It could have been a lot worse,” No. 51 co-driver James Calado said after the race.

Ferrari had changed. The team that took pole in its first-ever Hypercar race back in 2023 at Sebring and captured Le Mans in 2023 and 2024--but didn’t win anywhere else--learned that there’s more to winning championships than winning some weekends.

Equally important is how a team responds when everything doesn’t go well.

“The team have made a massive step compared to last year in terms of performance and the way we approach a weekend,” Calado told On Motorsport the day before Lone Star LeMans. “It’s visibly clear that there’s a big improvement.”

Calado’s words would prove prophetic--and not just at COTA. Pier Guidi’s rally to fifth at Austin gave both the No. 51 499P and the two-car factory team some breathing room ahead of Porsche, Cadillac, and the No. 83 privateer 499P yellow submarine Ferrari in contention for the drivers’ crown.

Good thing, considering what Round 7 at Fuji had in store.

‘Quite united’

Both Ferrari AF Corse works cars ran into trouble and were assessed multiple penalties--including one for each assessed post-race. The dismal Fuji outing resulted in the pair scoring a total of one championship point, and ensured both cars had work to do in Bahrain.

“What we have to keep in mind is that if we are where we are in terms of [the] championship, it’s because we’ve been quite united and worked together as a team,” Ferrari head of performance governance Mauro Barbieri told teammates in a scene captured in Ferrari’s The Red Line video series. “Let’s stay positive and let’s learn from the mistakes.”

Mission accomplished in Round 8.

After so-so qualifying runs--the No. 51 started seventh, four spots ahead of the No. 50--both ran near the front all race, with the drivers’ championship-leading No. 51 spending most the event in the top three.

Calado, Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi combined to bring the No. 51 home second, locking up the drivers’ crown. The No. 50 of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen finished fourth.

Neither car was penalized.

The results meant Ferrari officially de-throned six-time defending champion Toyota and clinched a coveted world sportscar manufacturers’ title--the Italian make’s first since 1972.

“I’m proud to be part of this team,” Calado said. “The journey we’ve taken over these three years has been extraordinary...race after race we proved our ability to progress as a team, as well as to extract the full potential of a fantastic car like the 499P.”

All six drivers started with the Ferrari Hypercar program in 2023.

They conquered Le Mans in successive years, then learned to win--or at least stay in the hunt--at other circuits.

Now, alongside their AF Corse teammates, they stand atop the Hypercar world.

References

Mauro Barbieri quote:

From the archives

Much remains undecided heading into the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain Nov. 8. Each of the four major World Endurance Championship season-long titles—two in Hypercar and and two in LMGT3—remain up for grabs among several contenders.

But the results from Round 7 at Fuji ensured this season will see at least one major change from recent campaigns. For the first time since 2017, someone besides Toyota will take home full-season top class manufacturers’ title.

Fuji’s results, which left Toyota a distant fourth in the title race behind Ferrari, Porsche, and Cadillac, mathematically guaranteed what has been a foregone conclusion for some time. Toyota’s lack of pace and bad luck along with perhaps some unfavorable balance-of-performance determinations bumped the team from the title-contender ranks long before its home race.

While others, notably Ferrari, Cadillac, and Peugeot, have shown consistency if not measurable improvement, Toyota’s season has gone in the opposite direction. After posting only one finish worse than seventh in the first four rounds, neither Toyota has finished higher than seventh since.

A dominant run

The team’s steady fade to non-contender status is arguably a bigger surprise than losing its grip on the manufacturers’ trophy. If either GR010 manages a podium finish in the Bahrain season finale, it will be the team’s first of the year--a sharp contrast from recent seasons.

The lack of top-class entries during the WEC’s transition from LMP1 to Hypercar leaves some to discount Toyota Gazoo’s three titles and overall dominance in 2018-2021, when the championship was awarded based on team points. But Toyota then racked up 13 wins and 26 podiums in 2022-2024, maintaining its dominance even as the Hypercar field steadily grew.

The run included a stunning six wins and 11 podiums in the seven-round 2023 campaign that featured debut Hypercar factory teams from Porsche, Ferrari, and Cadillac.

Last season saw Toyota lose its grip on the season-long drivers’ title. The No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 of Kévin Estre, André Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor won the crown, breaking a five-year Toyota streak.

But the manufacturers’ championship battle showed the Japanese team’s resilience.

Toyota rode three wins and five podiums to the 2024 title, locking it up in Bahrain’s last hour when Sébastien Buemi in the No. 7 GR010 took the race lead from Matt Campbell in the No. 5 Porsche Penske 963. Buemi stormed away to a 27-second win and gave Toyota the points it needed to leapfrog Porsche and claim its sixth straight manufacturers’ crown.

About all Bahrain has to offer Toyota this year is a stepping stone to the offseason, when it can turn its full attention to getting better for 2026. The effort is already underway.

The GR010 was introduced in 2021, making it older than most Hypercar teams, let alone car designs. The car’s last major design tweaks came in 2023.

But the team has been testing an updated design, teasing noticeable aerodynamic changes on social media. Sportscar365 reported that the revamp will include powertrain and other modifications.

The 2026 season will tell if the changes are enough to get Toyota back to familiar territory of fighting for wins and titles. For now, the Hypercar era’s most dominant team will have to be content with watching Ferrari or perhaps Porsche claim the coveted manufacturers’ title while it looks to lock up fourth in the overall standings and a season-best finish.

“It’s been a challenging year for the whole team, but we want to end it with a positive result in Bahrain,” said team principal and No. 7 co-driver Kamui Kobayashi.

“Everyone in the team has worked so hard this year, but it’s been difficult, and the results have not been what we wanted,” added car No. 8 co-driver Ryo Hirakawa. “So, let’s push one last time to get a good result.”

From the archives

References

2026 GR010 revamp—https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/toyota-to-test-2026-gr010-aero-package-next-week/

Through no fault of its own, United Autosports was late to the WEC LMGT3 party.

McLaren selected the veteran WEC team to field two 720S GT3 Evos for the new-for-2024 class in October 2023. But amid shuffling up and down the WEC grid--growing Hypercar and LMGT3 fields and LMP2’s elimination--the WEC selection committee didn’t approve the pairing until late November. That left United Autosports just three months to staff a team and shake down the 720s before the 2024 season debut in Qatar. A tall order, even for an experienced team.

The Nos. 59 and 95 McLarens had forgetful debuts, each finishing 15 laps behind the LMGT3 class winner amid a wave of on-track misfortune and technical issues. Both teams showed progress throughout the season, with the No. 95 recording the only podium (third, in Round 5 at Sao Paulo) and pole (Round 8 at the Bahrain season finale).

After a year of learning and some notable runs, things were supposed to be better this season. And for a minute, they were.

The No. 95 won pole and finished seventh in the Qatar season opener, while the No. 59 came home second on race day. But despite both cars consistently showing podium-contention pace, the next four rounds produced as many retirements (3) as top-10 finishes, none higher than eighth.

No surprise, then, that the United Autosports McLarens were not popular podium picks when the WEC came to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for Lone Star Le Mans three weeks ago.

They had no issue betting on themselves.

The McLarens combined to deliver what was easily United Autosports’ best day in LMGT3, stunning the field with a pair of top-four finishes in the six-hour race.

The No. 59 came home fourth.

But the No. 95 stole the show with a memorable run through torrential rain followed by a late-race switch to slicks, crossing the line second. A post-race penalty to the on-track winner, the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, bumped the No. 95 to the top of the podium--a fitting end to a strange day.

First time in the wet

“It was my first time driving the McLaren in the wet,” No. 95 co-driver Sean Gelael told On Motorsport. “The car gave me a lot of confidence to go. I think in the conditions where it was fully wet, the car was really alive.”

Gelael drove the middle two stints, taking over for Darren Leung just more than two hours in. He inherited Leung’s tires, adding even more difficulty to his wet-weather debut in the car.

“He was using more of the front [tires], which I need more for my driving style, so it was difficult,” Gelael said. “In the second stint when we put new tires on for me, the car was alive. It was really good.”

Gelael was running fifth when he stopped for tires. He rejoined in seventh. Twenty minutes later--about seven wet-weather COTA laps--he’d worked his way up to second.

With two hours to go, Gelael handed over a second-place car to Marino Sato. The track was still too wet for slicks but the rain was moving out. That forced each LMGT3 team to make a decision: stay with wets or gamble on slicks.

“It was really 50-50,” Sato said. “From five laps before we had to pit, I was on the radio button, discussing every corner. Is it dry enough or do we have to go with wets? The team had a really big conversation about it.”

Both McLarens opted for slicks, joining what would be the majority of the LMGT3 field, but crucially, not three front-runners. Sato brought the No. 95 in with just 30 minutes to go.

“We were in a position to fight for a podium and a win,” Gelael said. “We just licked the stamp and sent it.”

For a few laps, the decision looked poor. Cars that stayed with wets--the race-leading No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang, its No. 88 teammate, and the No. 92 Manthey Porsche--out-paced their slicks-equipped counterparts. The damp conditions put the McLaren 720s at a further disadvantage. Sato soon found himself in sixth, some 30 seconds behind the leader, with 19 minutes to go.

The 720s “is not the best at producing heat in the tires,” Gelael explained.

Sato persevered--and then he thrived.

“Once it passed that phase and it got dryer, that’s when our car came alive, and that’s where I felt much more confident,” he said. “That’s when I started to hunt down the lead.”

With four minutes to go, Sato was up to second, trailing only the No. 54. He was closing on the Ferrari at the end, but was held up by the normally quicker Hypercars, all still on wets and—unlike the LMGT3 cars—racing without the benefit of anti-lock brakes.

“I really wanted to pass the Ferrari on track. I feel like I had momentum,” Sato said.

Thanks to the penalty—handed out because the Ferrari elbowed past the No. 77 Mustang in the final minutes—what Sato and his teammates had was an historic first win.

“We are not close to perfect, but every round, I think there is huge improvement,” Sato said. “McLaren is working on the system side and the United Autosports team on the performance and engineering side,” he added.

“It’s been a difficult season, but we’ve stayed in there,” said Gelael. “We stayed patient and still had faith.”

Reference

McLaren’s LMGT3 approval—https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/united-to-enlist-new-personnel-lmp3-staff-for-lmgt3-effort/

Michelle Gatting is prepared for a particularly challenging outing at Silverstone in round five of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) Sept. 14. And it has nothing to do with the boot on her right foot.

Gatting has been racing with three fractures in her foot since ELMS round three in Imola nine weeks ago. She broke the foot June 8 in a Le Mans test day pit road mishap.

While Gatting missed Le Mans, she was determined to help her Iron Dames teammates chase full-season LMGT3 titles in both ELMS and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). That meant getting back behind the wheel with less than three weeks' rest to prepare for Imola.

The decision is paying off.

With two rounds to go in the ELMS season, Gatting and Iron Dames No. 85 Porsche co-drivers Sarah Bovy and ELMS rookie Célia Martin roll into the 4 Hours of Silverstone in the thick of two title fights.

They sit one point behind the No. 59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin in the team standings. Just 9 points separate the top seven. The drivers' title picture looks the same.

A championship battle this tight promises tense racing no matter the circuit. Silverstone is back on the ELMS calendar for the first time since 2019, adding an element of unfamiliarity or, for drivers like Martin, downright newness. Throw in that the circuit is in Aston Martin's backyard, and Gatting is bracing for a spirited four hours.

"Silverstone is a new track again for Celia," she told On Motorsport during a recent interview at Circuit of the Americas, where she was competing the WEC's Lone Star Le Mans. "I was in Silverstone in 2019, so it's a long time ago. We're going to Silverstone with Aston Martin. So, we're kind of a little bit worried that it's going to be beneficial for them."

Race-day changes

The team also is adjusting to some race-day changes, Gatting revealed.

"It's at the moment tricky circumstances," she said. "We don't have the usual people around us. We had one engineer in Spa, we have another engineer in Silverstone. Obviously that's something that takes adaptation from the drivers. So our circumstances are more tricky, let's say, than our competitors, because there's been a lot of change."

Then there's that right foot. It's not healing like it would if Gatting wasn't driving. It's a trade-off Gatting was willing to make to stay behind the wheel.

"We knew that the recovery would be postponed due to the fact that I got into the car two and a half weeks after a very broken foot, right?" she said. "It was a risk we took because we are fighting for championships.”

Iron Dames is having a season to forget in the WEC, sitting 16th out of 18 teams after six of eight rounds. But the ELMS title battle is justifying Gatting’s decision to keep driving.

“I would regret it for the rest of my life, not being a part of trying to win the ELMS,” she said.

Gatting said it took a few laps at Imola to get used to driving with the taped foot.

“I was worried about how I could adjust the throttle response,” she said. “We don't just go flat out, right? There's small adjustments. It took a couple of laps, a bit of adjustment with the taping in my shoe. But then afterwards, it was just like driving again.”

Since then, it's been business as usual for the Porsche factory driver and Iron Dames' designated race closer.

“The foot is working the way it should in the car,” Gatting said. “When I drive, I don't have any issues. I'm not thinking about it. I don't have any pain when I drive. For sure, I feel it when I'm done driving, when I'm walking and I have pain, but that's the smallest issue. I can drive normally.”

Iron Dames comes to Silverstone on the heels of a solid run last round at Spa. The No. 85 Porsche, which won the opening round in Barcelona, spent most of the day in the top three before a late-race fuel stop dropped them to fourth. The No. 59 Aston Martin took the win, vaulting the French-Swiss team into the points lead—the third squad to sit atop the ELMS standings in four rounds.

After the uncertainty that Silverstone will bring, the season finale will return to familiar surroundings in Portimão. That could bode well for Iron Dames, which took pole and finished second in last year’s season finale after leading much of the race.

“It's gonna be tough, the last two rounds, no doubt,” Gatting said. “I am sure it's going to be all about the last race in Portimão and last year we proved that we were fast in Portimão.”

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