Daniel Juncadella fended his way towards maiden LMGT3 victory at the Qatar 1812 km, the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season-opener.

TF Sport’s #33 co-driver Juncadella held off pressure from Gregoire Saucy’s #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 EVO towards victory after 287 laps completed.

For the first time in the 2025 season, the grid of 18 LMGT3 competitors fought around the Lusail International Circuit for a 10-hour endurance event.

Conditions were mildly warm if not noticeably humid, impacting the drivers from a physical aspect to contend with.

United Autosports were clear stars during qualifying and at the race start, they held 1-2 formation with #95 McLaren driver Darren Leung ahead of James Cottingham’s #59 McLaren.

Arnold Robin initially maintained third place in the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F LMGT3, ahead of both AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3s, but exhibited a move on Cottingham on Lap 2.

In fact, Robin was soon able to claim the LMGT3 class lead from Leung. In the other #87 Lexus, their race ended early when Petru Umbarasecu attempted a move on the inside of the #21 Ferrari, of Francois Heriau, but misjudged his attack and spun the Ferrari as a result.

He pitted soon after and the #87 continued back out and served an awarded drive-through (DT) penalty.

Whilst Robin went on to extend a prominent lead, the attention was on the fight for fourth place.

On Lap 13, Thomas Flohr (#54 Ferrari) defended Tom van Rompuy’s #81 TF Sport before Ahmed Al Harthy tried a move on the outside at Turn 7.

Van Rompuy soon became the second retirement due to a broken alternator shaft pulley.

Lexus falls back behind both McLarens

Robin’s prominent lead was diminished during the first round of pit stops, where the #78 Lexus driver emerged in third place behind the two McLarens.

Nevertheless, Robin continued his momentum as to challenge 2023 British GT champion Leung’s #95 in second place whilst his 2023 British GT vice-champion Cottingham led the charge at the front.

The top-four, to be exact, ensued in a tense battle as just two seconds covered the group.

Al Harthy showcased eager form again when he began chasing down Robin for third place, although managed to get into second during a pit stop sequence as Robin continued longer than the others before pitting.

Finn Gehrsitz took over from Arnold as the other Bronze-graded drivers continued going.

During the third hour, Christian Reid lost the rear end of his #61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 and got the rear wheels beached into a gravel trap at Turn 9.

This instigated the first virtual safety car of the race and brought the group of LMGT3s together again.

After the second SC period, declared when the two Cadillacs collided, Al Harthy continued to pressure the #78 Lexus even with Gehrsitz at the wheel.

The other #87 Lexus, meanwhile, became the second retirement of the race primarily induced from the damaging contact it had earlier.

During the fourth racing hour, Ben Tuck of the #77 Proton Ford Mustang LMGT3 fought amidst the leading back.

Sebastien Baud of the #59 McLaren duelled with Gehrisitz’s #78 Lexus, leaving Tuck to make a move for the lead on both of them.

Tuck then defended off the #78 Lexus, unfortunately losing the lead to Gehrisitz as Baud then overtook Tuck into second place.

United Autosports fends lead as Proton suffers heartbreak

The race surpassed the halfway mark with the United Autosports McLarens not in dominant form as they were during the opening stages of the race as the #78 Lexus kept them at bay in the lead.

With his hard work maintaining the top spot, Gehrsitz pitted from the lead to allow Robin.

Valentino Rossi undertook a fierce duel for fourth place in the #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO with Francois Heriau’s #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3.

Rossi put a move on the inside at final corner but Heriau stuck with him on main straight, unable to return the favour.

Robin, a Bronze-graded driver, understandably fell to P5 after Sebastien Baud overtook him in the #59 McLaren.

With five hours remaining and the daylight well and truly gone, the humidity increased to 50%.

United Autosports regular Marino Sato fronted the LMGT3 class for the #95 McLaren on the restart and held off Heart of Racing’s Mattia Drudi and their #27 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO.

A fourth safety car was deployed due to the #77 Ford which caught fire at the wheel of Bernado Sousa.

Smoke filled the cockpit as he drove down the main straight, prompting him to park the car at Turn 1– the team having previously suffered a fire during the Prologue with a new chassis to take on the season-opener as a result.

Sato and Gelael hold ground for the #95 McLaren

Marino Sato kept his form clean but strong in his defensive work which was relieved after Drudi faced a drive-through penalty for a previous unsafe pit stop release.

Juncadella piloted the #33 Corvette in third place but looked positive on virtual energy with more than those around him.

Ahead of the Spaniard, a fight for second ensued when Alessio Rovera (#21 Ferrari) chased Kelvin van der Linde’s #46 WRT BMW, before the #46 pitted and Rossi returned to the wheel.

Sean Gelael held a promising lead with smooth pace, having earned the Goodyear Wingfoot Award for his efforts during his driving time.

United Autosports’ controlled lead eventually came to a close at the beginning of the ninth racing hour; Gelael served a DT for an unsafe pit stop release in front of the #10 Racing Spirit of LeMan Aston Martin.

The #95 McLaren lost their winning chances with 1-hour and 26-minutes remaining, yet the fight for the lead continued with the #31 WRT BMW of Augusto Farfus ahead of Zach Robichon’s #27 Aston Martin, Jonny Edgar’s #33 TF Sport Corvette and Saucy in fifth place for the #59 McLaren entrant.

Quickly after Juncadella took over from Edgar, Saucy began his surging pressure on the Corvette in what would end up perpetuating right to the checkered flag.

Juncadella resists Saucy’s pressure for first win pursuit

Both TF Sport and United Autosports had yet to claim victory in the fairly new LMGT3 era of the WEC.

It became a closely matched, intense fight between the #33 Corvette and the #59 McLaren – especially with the McLaren crucially in position to return a win after United claimed pole – even if it was with the #95 McLaren.

Timur Boguslavskiy of the #31 BMW held the lead by 20-seconds over the fighting duo behind, but was significantly lower on virtual energy in comparison to the #33 and #59, therefore was destined to pit.

Back to the lead fight, #33 Juncadella in front had 10% more virtual energy than #59 Saucy and so evidently fended off the McLaren.

The pair duelled just 0.2 seconds between them as Saucy numerously stuck on Juncadella’s tail, occasionally looking for a window of opportunity.

There was pressure to make a move whilst not throwing away 10-hours of hard work by the #59 crew, and so Saucy tried a move but could not make it stick.

TF Sport wins tense fight for maiden LMGT3 win

After 287 laps, Juncadella won the LMGT3 class for TF Sport and Covette with his co-drivers Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating.

Saucy claimed second place under half a second behind the #33 at the finishing line – with his #59 McLaren co-drivers Sebastien Baud and James Cottingham, followed by the #31 WRT BMW trio of Timur Boguslavskiy, Augusto Farfus and Yasser Shahin in third.

Ben Barnicoat took fourth position for the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus crew along with Finn Gehrsitz and Arnold Robin.

Alessio Rovera finished fifth for the #21 AF Corse Ferrari crew including Simon Mann and Francois Heriau.

Heart of Racing took sixth with their #27 Aston Martin and co-drivers Mattia Drudi, Zach Robichon and team principal Ian James.

Marino Sato secured seventh place in the end for the #95 McLaren team along with team-mates Sean Gelael and Darren Leung.

The other AF Corse, the #54 Ferrari, finished eighth with Davide Rigon, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr.

Racing Spirit of Leman came home in ninth with Valentin Hasse Clot, Eduardo Barrichello and Derek Deboer as Proton Competition’s #88 Ford trio of Dennis Olsen, Giammarco Levorato and Stefano Gattuso rounded out the top-10 finishers.

See the full classification of results here.

READ MORE: Ferrari sweep podium with dominant 1-2-3 at Qatar

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Corvette’s Tommy Milner was displeased with BMW’s Augusto Farfus, who blocked him in his fight to retain the lead with the #1 BMW late at Daytona.

Speaking after he completed his stint, Milner said: “That’s not what IMSA is about, sports car racing is about.

“First and foremost, the driver should be embarrassed, the team should be embarrassed… with that kind of racing.

“It is team racing here but not like that.

“They have a car that’s laps down out of the race whose only job is basically only to help the teammate, and not like that.

“Lap after lap, blocking, blocking, blocking, waiting for me … It’s disappointing.

GTD Pro class leader in the 22nd racing hour of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 24 Hours of Daytona, Milner, fended off the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO driven by Connor de Phillippi.

De Phillippi tried to pass the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R having used the side-draft and head-on slipstream to keep within distance of the yellow machine.

The pair came across the #48 BMW of Farfus, who was 57 laps down due to earlier misfortune in the race.

Blue flags notified Farfus of the pair behind although he was not obligated to surrender his track position with immediacy as per IMSA etiquette.

Given the existing challenge for a GT driver to overtake another GT car under racing circumstances, race control noted and penalised Farfus with a drive-through penalty for blocking Milner for providing an advantage to their #1 team-mate car.

Milner on the repercussions of his clash

“I don’t have an issue with #1 car. Those guys are in their own race. It’s just the sister car that’s out there just to be a nuisance.

“Poor sportsmanship, poor driving, just embarrassing on their part.

“… In the end what hurt us the most was to continue to stay out after they had a blocking penalty to block more.

“Whoever was in the #48 really slowed me up in (Turn) Three and got me a little bit crossed up and put me into the #1.

“The car isn’t totally right for sure,” he alluded to the rear-end damage to his #4 Corvette, “There’s lasting damage from all of that for sure, not to mention the problems we had with the bumper.

“… It’s a shame for us to work that hard to put us into contention to have a good result and for it to be spoiled like that was pretty pathetic.”

BMW’s statement from Augusto Farfus added: “The situation with the Corvette and our sister car was very difficult.

“My intention was to support my teammate in the sister car in the fight for victory.

“I was aware that it was hard racing.

“The situation that led to the collision between the Corvette and Connor De Phillippi behind me was very unfortunate – but I had nothing to do with it directly.

“I stayed on my inside line.”

Milner and his co-drivers Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg finished in seventh place by the end with the sibling #3 Corvette on the GTD Pro podium, splitting the two Mustangs.

READ MORE: Ford’s Dennis Olsen wins against Corvette for victory at Daytona 24H

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Ben Keating and Jonny Edgar have joined TF Sport for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season in the #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R.

Keating took the last GTE Am championship title with Corvette Racing in 2023 along with the Le Mans 24 Hours victory.

After a one-off return at the 2024 Lone Star Le Mans, Keating has returned to the WEC full-time in Corvette machinery again – albeit of the LMGT3 kind.

He has driven numerous machinery during his years of racing and competed with TF Sport for the 2021 and 2022 WEC seasons, gaining his first Le Mans class win in the latter campaign.

Edgar has a preexisting relationship with TF Sport having driven in their European Le Mans Series LMP2 campaign, where they partnered with AO Racing.

The 20-year-old became the 2024 ELMS LMP2 champion with co-drivers Robert Kubica and Louis Deletraz, and so will make his WEC debut next year.

“I am so excited to be back in the FIA World Endurance Championship family,” said Keating who will co-drive with Edgar and Daniel Juncadella.

“I have missed all the people and places I have come to love.

“I am also thrilled to be back with TF Sport many of the same reasons.

“This will be a new car for me, but I am excited to race in the same Corvette that I sell at Keating Chevrolet.

“I am grateful to be able to come back.”

Edgar’s excitement for his WEC and Le Mans debuts

Edgar added: “… It is great to be racing with TF Sport again after the success we had together in the ELMS in 2024.

“Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an amazing opportunity for me and I am looking forward to my first GT3 racing season.

“My teammates are great too, with Ben having already won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship with Corvette and Dani having had a lot of success in GT3 racing; I’m sure I can learn a lot from both of them.”

In the other #81 entrant, the driver lineup has remained the same with factory drivers Charlie Eastwood and Rui Andrade joining Tom van Rumpuy.

The team consistently fought towards the top end of the LMGT3 class and have made numerous Hyperpole appearances during the 2024 WEC season.

Next year’s Qatar 1812 km on 28 February will mark the second campaign for the LMGT3 category and crucially, for the Z06 LMGT3.R.

READ MORE: Trackhouse Racing partners with TF Sport for Daytona 24H entry

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Robert Wickens will contest the five GTD sprint rounds of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship with DXDT Racing in a Corvette Z06 GT3.R, it has been announced.

Thirty-five-year-old Wickens will race the car at Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Road America, and VIRginia International Raceway. His co-driver will be announced in due course, with Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc, and Alex Udell also racing for DXDT over the full Sportscar Championship campaign.

The Canadian has been racing for the past three seasons in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge series, in a Hyundai Elantra N TCR car, run by Bryan Herta Autosport. He and co-driver Harry Gottsacker took the IMPC TCR championship in 2023, with seven podiums, before finishing as runner-up in 2024.

He’s now ready to take the next step into the headline IMSA championship in 2025.

The former Indycar driver was injured in 2018 in a crash at Pocono. This injured his spinal column and left him a paraplegic.

It was three years before the Canadian was able to race again. He uses a hand control system, which is able to be switched off to allow an able-bodied co-driver to race the car as well. 

The system, designed by Bosch, will be adapted for use in the Corvette GT3 car, in partnership with General Motors. Wickens is hoping to get his first laps in the car in the coming months, before debuting at Long Beach in April.

‘The next step’ in Wickens career

“It’s an amazing day,” said Wickens in a call with select media, including Motorsport Week.

To finally move up to top tier competition, moving up to the IMSA WeatherTech series, racing in GTD with DXDT with the Corvette car. 

“Growing up a hero of mine was always Ron Fellows. So that the fact that I’ll be driving a Corvette, like he made so famous to many Canadian drivers. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I can’t thank DXDT enough for the opportunity, and Bosch, for frankly making it all possible. 

“I’ve been wanting to move up into WeatherTech for quite some time. I felt like I was fairly transparent in that messaging, but it was always a difficult predication of trying to convince the OEMs or or the the team owners to one, put me in the car like in the racing driver and then say, oh, by the way, you have to design a whole braking system that doesn’t exist. 

“So the fact that Bosch came to the table with with their technology. It’s already proving that it’s given me the opportunities that that I want in my career, not only in this next journey, moving up into the WeatherTech series, but, we already raced it in the TCR category for the final two rounds of the Michelin Pilot challenge series with great success,” he concluded.

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DXDT Racing has announced Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Alec Udell as their IMSA SportsCar Championship Endurance Cup drivers for 2025.

The trio of drivers will co-pilot the #36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in next year’s Endurance Cup rounds, in the GTD class.

The IMSA endurance sub-schedule will commence with the 24 Hours of Daytona IMSA season-opener on January 28-29.

Yoluc, a former GTE-Am class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will join General Motors factory driver Charlie Eastwood and team regular Udell.

DXDT are yet to confirm their fourth driver for Daytona plus their drivers for the IMSA sprint races.

Udell said: “Joining Salih and Charlie for this programme will be a treat – Salih has great experience competing in IMSA and around the world, and Charlie is a huge asset to any team he’s on.

“This, paired with the experience and personnel that David [Askew – team owner], Erin, and Bryan [Sellers] have brought together, makes for an awesome programme.

“We proved last season that the team has what it takes to put a Corvette in the front in the GT3 category, so we’re looking to continue on that path in the next year.”

Eastwood added: “To have the opportunity to race a Corvette in America as a factory driver is an honour and I hope, alongside my WEC campaign, we can win some big races in the amazing Z06 GT3.R.”

Yuloc said: “I was impressed with their effort in GTWCA last season, and I think they have a great handle on this car as they move into IMSA.

“Alec knows the team well and Charlie knows the car through his work in Europe.

“We’ve had some success together before, and I hope we can do the same in IMSA this year.”

The challenge of the IMSA Endurance Cup

The iconic and gruelling 12 Hours of Sebring on March 15 will follow directly after Daytona.

Then two six-hour events will continue – the Six Hours of the Glen and the Battle on the Bricks.

Finally, the 28th annual running of Petit Le Mans will conclude the season with a 10-hour race at Road Atlanta.

Besides driving in the 2024 Daytona opener, Udell has experience from DXDT Racing’s successful 2024 GT World Challenge America season in Corvette machinery.

DXDT claimed three pole positions and won all seven races in the Pro class before their second-placed finish in the standings.

The trio of drivers will join the team in Daytona Beach, Florida this weekend for the end-of-year IMSA-sanctioned test.

READ MORE: Alessio Rovera rates ‘fair fight’ with Corvette towards Bahrain win

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Nicky Catsburg took pole position in the GTD Pro category for the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R as part of the IMSA WeatherTech ‘SportsCar Weekend’ at Road America.

A combined field of 25 GT cars took on the 15-turn, 4.048-mile Road America circuit to fight out for GTD Pro and GTD pole positions.

Most unusually, all 10 GTD Pro cars were all ahead of the GTDs as just 1.390 seconds separated the front and the rear of the Pro field in the end.

For Julien Andlauer, taking the place of Seb Priaulx for the remainder of the season, he would bring the spotlight to the #77 AO Racing ‘Roxy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R as he took on qualifying duties.

Having taken pole last year, the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR showed eager and promising pace to repeat the feat.

Drivers were pushing the limits of their cars, as Franke Montecalvo (#12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F) and Giamarco Levorato (#55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang) found themselves wide onto the grass, though without any further harm caused to their GT3s.

Corvette Racing spent much of the session in 1-2 formation, having achieved that finish at the previous round, the Chevrolet Grand Prix, for the first time with the new Z06 GT3.R package.

Deservedly so from their drivers’ performances, the GM manufacturer claimed 1-2 in qualifying with the #4 ahead of the #3.

Nicky Catsburg claimed pole position and the qualifying track record with a fastest lap time of 2:02.198, with the other car driven by Alex Sims at just 0.194 seconds away with a 2:02.392 lap.

Impressively on Conquest Racing’s GTD Pro debut in their #35 Ferrari 296, Giacomo Altoe qualified third in his first qualifying session outside of the 24 Hours of Daytona, with a 2:02.729.

Fourth was taken by Jack Hawksworth in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus having set a fastest time of 2:02.912.

At just 0.001 of a second behind the Brit in fifth was Mike Rockenfeller, again continuing the competitiveness of the better-performing #64 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 with a 2:02.913.

In GTD, it was the #32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Mikael Grenier at the top with a 2:03.634 lap time.

Second position was narrowly taken by Zach Robichon in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin owing to a 2:03.764.

Onofrio Triarsi took third in the #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 after he put down a 2:03.841, followed by the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Patrick Gallagher and his 2:03.981.

Championship leaders #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 rounded out the top-five in GTD after Russell Ward set a 2:04.150.

See here for the full classification of qualifying for the 2024 IMSA Sportscar Weekend.

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Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia appraised the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win for the new-for-2024 Z06 GT3.R having taken the maiden wins for the former C7.R and C8.R GTLM cars.

The Spaniard is Corvette Racing’s current longest serving driver, having first driven with them in 2009 when he won his first at the 12 Hours of Sebring as part of the American Le Mans Series and his second consecutive Le Mans class-victory in the C6.R GT2 car.

He secured his 30th IMSA career victory in his 200th race start at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, leading a 1-2 for the General Motors outfit in the GTD Pro category.

“This is huge for the entire Corvette program,” he said.

“I’m glad that we could finally get the first win in IMSA for the Z06 GT3.R and to get my first win with Alex [Sims – his co-driver].

“We just need to carry on like this and build on the things we have been doing. More wins will come.

“This ranks pretty high in my career. I got the first win for C7.R and C8.R, so this is brilliant.

“I’m happy with that. I’m so happy for the team. We’ve been so close.

“The pace has been there all year but we just didn’t quite make it or had issues or we weren’t in the right position.

“We’ve been knocking on the door for a long time.”

The third and final caution period gave way for an intense fight for the GTD Pro victory, leaving just eight minutes for Garcia to fend off the sibling car – the #4 – with Nicky Catsburg at the wheel.

Both Corvettes fought for victory whilst lapping GTD traffic, as Catsburg demonstrated his eagerness to challenge Garcia without compromising the 1-2 formation which the team had.

This was important as Laurin Heinrich of the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R lurked directly behind the battling pair.

“I thought about it right before the yellow,” he anticipated some form of late caution period.

“I think I was being gentle with the tyres that I had so I was able to push at the end.

“It was tough to be in the middle of the GTDs. They were fighting and we were fighting.

“But I was able to stay ahead of him. It was fantastic to bring a 1-2 for Corvette Racing.”

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Tom Dillmann charged to his first IMSA victory at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park which hosted the seventh round of the 2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

It was a thrilling sprint at the championship’s round in Canada as the lead fight narrowed down to just 0.658 seconds at the finishing line.

The race featured cautions, side-by-side racing, and thrilling fights across the whole 35-car field though primarily in the hotly contested LMP2 category.

As the day shone bright with no clouds in the sky at CTMP, a 2-hour and 40-minute affair got underway on a circuit demanding high commitment from drivers, but also consideration of tyre management in light of the hot ambient and track temperatures.

The race start kicked off the intensity with drama already for Ben Keating (#2 United Autosports USA Oreca 07) from seventh in the LMP2 category after he received a drive-through penalty for changing his tyres on the grid.

PJ Hyett retained his lead and asserted the quickest pace in the category, building a gap to four seconds before a replay package clearly showed him moving over and changing lanes before the start-finish line.

Consequently, he faced a drive-through which diminished his lead on Dan Goldburg in the #22 United Autosports USA Oreca 07.

Whilst Goldburg could not chase Hyett, Nick Boulle kept the United driver keen and alert from his #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Oreca 07.

For the #20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca 07 of Dennis Anderson, their difficult weekend which was hampered already by yesterday’s qualifying crash continued from bad to worse after Anderson was put slightly off the circuit by the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 of Stewart Wiltshire into Turn 9.

Anderson saved himself on the grass run-off with only hitting the two advertising boards during his excursion, although pitted to remove them before heading back out.

Unfortunately, as his left headlight was lodged out of place as well as having gathered debris on the back of his #20 Oreca, a black flag for this ensued another pit stop, followed after by Anderson returning to the track and soon after suffering an impact at the fast Turn 3.

He walked away from the car on his own strength having concluded a challenging race weekend for his team.

After a second caution was cleared further on, declared due to two GT cars making contact into Turn 3, many of the LMP2 teams were tasked with adjusting their strategy calculations in planning the remaining stints with reaching the end of the race with as little fuel stops as possible.

Nevertheless, the fight at the front heated up drastically with Boulle keen to defend his lead whilst attempting to lap Danny Formal’s #45 GTD WTRAndretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 at Turn 1.

Whilst realising the gap on the inside closed up for him and Gar Robinson behind in his #74 Riley Oreca 07.

In the midst of this fight, Steven Thomas in the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 made a marvelous and opportunistic climb from fifth to second position.

During the second racing hour, the professional halves of each driver crew made their way into the race seats.

Louis Deletraz got into the #99 AO Racing still finding it challenging to climb back up the field after Hyett’s penalty at the start.

It was Tom Dillmann who asserted both consistently strong pace and a mistake-free run at the front in the #52 Inter Europol PR1 Oreca, eventually building his lead to six seconds amidst the give-and-take traffic management.

Filipe Albuquerque was finding difficulty in maintaining his pace after being overtaken by Felipe Fraga – who was at the wheel of the #74 Riley Oreca – for P4.

Approaching the final 40 minutes, teams had made their final fuel stops with the end in sight yet so far away with several ongoing fights for positions across the LMP2 midfield.

Dillmann’s commanding lead came down as Scott Huffaker (#11 TDS Oreca) chased his tail.

Meanwhile Deletraz (#99) had a brief half-spin and off at Turn 2 after making right-side contact with Colin Braun’s #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07, as the pair were negotiating a tricky situation in the midst of GTD traffic.

A third caution was declared with 16 minutes remaining after Ryan Dalziel went on the dirt off the racing line, out wide at Turn 8, before burying his #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 into the tyre barrier.

Marshals quickly pulled him out and Dalziel continued to pit lane as his mechanics replaced the front end of the damaged car, which seemingly escaped any major mechanical damage.

Eight minutes later, the final run to the end took place with eight LMP2s on the lead lap.

At the front, Fraga continued to pile the pressure on Dillmann, proposing an unpredictable choice on who would take the win.

Tom Dillmann managed the lead to the 0.658 seconds after 177 laps and secured his, along with Nick Boulle’s, first IMSA win for the #52 Inter Europol PR1 Mathiasen team, with the Centenary LMP2 Le Mans-winning outfit having joined IMSA for this year.

Felipe Fraga took a hard-fought second place with co-driver Gar Robinson in the #74 Riley Oreca, followed by Scott Huffaker and Steven Thomas in third place for the #11 TDS Racing Oreca.

Fourth was claimed by the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca of Ben Hanley and co-driver Ben Keating, followed by the team’s other car in fifth position, the #22 Oreca of Filipe Albuquerque and Goldburg.

Meanwhile in the GTD and GTD Pro categories, their race start was just as intense with the field of GT3 machinery keeping within company of each other.

The only incident concerned #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX driver Sheena Monk who briefly spun at Turn 3 after making contact with #55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang of Giammarco Levorato.

The Proton driver was awarded a drive-through for incident responsibility.

Tommy Milner was showcasing cunning form after making a move into second place on Jack Hawksworth (#14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F), making it a 1-2 formation for Corvette Racing in GTD Pro.

On the other hand, the #12 Vasser Lexus driven by Frankie Montecalvo fell from his GTD class lead down to fifth.

His sudden drop occurred quickly when Mikael Grenier overtook in the #32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, with Patrick Gallagher’s #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 and the #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S both followed behind.

After the first caution, Iribe missed his opportunity to follow the initial pass-around and took opportunity of just the second wave-by, costing nine GTD positions.

A second caution took place when Orey Fidani (#13 AWA Racing Corvette Z06) went off into the wall at Turn 3 after making slight contact with the #1 Paul Miller Racing GTD Pro BMW of Bryan Sellers. The latter driver served a drive-through for incident responsibility.

In GTD Pro, it was a sterling effort yet again by Ford Multimatic’s #64 Mustang showcasing pace back at Watkins Glen before the final rain shower, and now at CTMP with Harry Tincknell passing Hawksworth (#14) and Milner (#4), putting him up to second.

Traffic played a part in keeping the racing close, even between the GTD Pros lapping the GTDs.

More specifically, Alexander Sims – leading – found difficulty in getting past Danny Formal’s #45 WTRAndretti Lamborghini Huracan, which gave Tincknell an encouraging chance to close the gap, before he himself was held by Formal. This returned Sims’ lead to two seconds.

Unfortunately for the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Ben Barnicoat, their day became worse after going off at Turn 8 and returning to the pits with a supposed mechanical problem.

The final stretch to the finish was a comfortable and positive success for Corvette Racing with their first win and 1-2 finish in the new-for-2024 Z06 GT3.R.

Antonio Garcia (his 30th win in 200 starts) and Alexander Sims (his seventh win in 40 starts) took victory in the #3, followed by the #4 drivers Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner.

Third place was valiantly taken by Laurin Heinrich’s #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R and his co-driver Seb Priaulx, followed by the #64 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 of Mike Rockenfeller and Harry Tincknell.

Fifth was taken by previous race winner Ross Gunn and his teammate Alex Riberas in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

GTD victory was taken by Heart of Racing’s other competing Aston Martin with Roman De Angelis taking a win at his home circuit with co-driver Spencer Pumpelly.

Philip Ellis and Russell Ward co-drove the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to second position and a further extension on their championship lead, ahead of the #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S duo of Frederick Schandorff and Brendan Iribe.

See here for the unofficial results of the 2024 Chevrolet Grand Prix.

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Sebastien Baud told Motorsport Week about his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut whilst reminiscing his memories as an avid Corvette fanatic, having now fulfilled his dream behind the wheel of a Corvette.

“This is very, very nice because this is my dream,” said the Frenchman.

“And I am very happy to be here with Corvette because I am a big fan of Corvette.

“I came here every year, watching the Corvette in Le Mans and watch the different wins at Le Mans and the championship, because last year Corvette won the championship [and the] 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“This is incredible because this is a French race, also my home race, and we are [having] a lot of fun.

“For me, it’s just incredible and I live 100% in this moment.

“The first part of the track is very nice because we have the famous hill of [Dunlop] Chicane.

“So yesterday in the night practice, we have the Porsche Curves, and we come back on the last part of the track.

[It’s] just crazy and it’s a very fast corner, so it’s a bit dangerous because you are very close to the wall and for me, i like it because you have a lot of adrenaline.”

The 23-year-old spoke about how he grew up locally with memories of seeking autographs of the Corvette crew as a youngster, and for this FIA World Endurance Championship season, finds himself driving the new-for-2024 Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Corvette has been at Le Mans since the 1960s and the iconic Stingray, but it was their factory sportscar programme which ran from 1999 which enforced a following for General Motors’ representation across every edition of the French classic apart from 2020.

For 2024, TF Sport made the switch from Aston Martin to Corvette machinery and specifically with a brand new GT3 car.

Teammate Daniel Juncadella finished third in qualifying practice as the #82 TF Sport crew is set on securing their first Hyperpole position in a Corvette, as Hiroshi Koizumi will gain further experience ahead of the race on 15-16 June.

The post TF Sport’s Baud: From Corvette fanatic to driver appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar have taken the wraps off this year’s Indy 500 pace car, announcing that the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray 3LZ Coupe will lead the 33-car field to green later this month.

The Corvette is the first electrified Corvette ever produced, combining a typical naturally aspirated 6.2 liter V8 with electric all-wheel drive capabilities.

Instead of a typical hybrid production car which trades off between electric and internal combustion, the E-Ray combines the two power sources to create 655 combined horsepower.

The car can accelerate to 60 MPH in just 2.5 seconds, and is more than capable of leading a field of race cars around the IMS oval during the 108th running of the Indy 500.

“As we anticipate another record-breaking Indianapolis 500, it’s only fitting that the quickest production Corvette will pace the field,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said.

“The performance enhancements tested on the track make their way to the street, and the Corvette E-Ray is a prime example of that Chevrolet innovation.”

This year marks the 35th time Chevrolet has been chosen to provide a pace car for the great event, more than any other manufacturer.

Arctic White is the color for this year’s edition, which is accented by jet black and natural carbon fiber elements and, of course, the red Indy 500 logo on the doors.

The car will be fit with additional information and communication hardware to allow Sarah Fisher, the event’s official pace car driver, to be in contact with race control throughout the event.

On track running for the 108th Indianapolis 500 gets underway Tuesday, May 14 for the first of many practice sessions, and culminates in a 200 lap race around the oval on Sunday, May 26.

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