Sports car racing has, for many decades, flourished thanks to the participation of enthusiastic amateur drivers. And that’s still the case today. They have a presence in many major series including the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challenge, European and Asian Le Mans Series, IMSA, and more.
The very best of the best have been valuable contributors not only as financial backers, but as competitive drivers behind the wheel, with the dedication to maintain a high standard – even if racing isn’t their primary profession. There’ll be a new winner of the award this year, with 2024 Amateur Driver of the Year, Aliaksandr Malykhin, upgraded to Silver status at the start of the year.
Once again we were fortunate enough to have seen some of the very best competing from all corners of the world. But we were particularly struck by the depth of talented Bronze drivers from the United States.
AO Racing’s PJ Hyett enjoyed a stellar 2025 season headlined by LMP2 Pro/Am class honours at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, his first LMP2 race win. Hyett then followed it up with back-to-back IMSA LMP2 victories at Mosport and Road America, en route to the 2025 title, and a European Le Mans Series LMP2 Pro/Am Championship with five podiums and a victory at Imola.
But he didn’t run uncontested to the IMSA championship: Dan Goldburg had a breakthrough season with United Autosports USA, highlighted by wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Six Hours of Watkins Glen. Though he missed out on the championship and a Le Mans invitation, Goldburg and his crew are poised to make another deep run.
Another American driver, Dom Bastien, also deserves a mention – if for no reason other than the fortitude that it took to test an LMP2 car for the first time at the tender age of 79!
There was also a deep field of standout American Bronzes in the GT ranks. Dustin Blattner, for instance, had a “Triple Crown” season in GT World Challenge Europe for Kessel Racing, taking the Bronze class titles in the Sprint, Endurance, and Overall championships – with class wins at Spa and Indy to top it off.
Ryan Hardwick was back at home in a Porsche, driving his 1st Phorm-sponsored Manthey 911 (LM)GT3 Rs to victory at Le Mans, clinching the WEC LMGT3 Endurance Trophy with relentless consistency down the stretch, and let’s not forget runner-up in the Asian Le Mans Series to go with it.
Blake McDonald‘s first full season of GT3 racing saw him and DXDT Racing make a serious challenge for the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am title, giving him the confidence to step up to the ACO’s regional championships with TF Sport.
And while Anthony McIntosh impressed in many different series this year, it was his stellar WEC LMGT3 debut at São Paulo with Racing Spirit of Léman that got the attention of many people within the paddock. He was rewarded with a full-time deal at Team WRT for the upcoming WEC campaign.
Daytona 24H GTD winner Orey Fidani represented his home country of Canada with pride, taking AWA (now 13 Autosport) to Le Mans for the first time and earning another invitation by way of winning the IMSA Bob Akin Award in a year-long duel with Brendan Iribe.
Over in Asia, back-to-back GT World Challenge Asia champion Bob Yuan (or Yuan Bo) solidified himself as the leading man amongst China’s current wave of ambitious amateur drivers, reinforced by victories in the Shanghai 8H, 12H Malaysia, and his first ALMS podium in Sepang.
Then there’s Hiroyuki Ogawa – professionally known in the racing world as Bankcy – who took the Super Taikyu ST-X (GT3) championship, was a misjudged passing attempt at Suzuka’s hairpin away from winning the SRO Japan Cup title, and is now starting to break into ACO racing as the calendar turns over to ’26.
In British GT, each of 2 Seas Motorsports’ Bronze drivers contributed to a magnificent season for the team as a whole. But the edge goes to GT3 Champion Charles Dawson: Now a dual-class champion in the series, and so outstanding in his role as a Bronze that he may well have been the inspiration for the incoming Bronze Plus categorisation!
Morgan Tillbrook also earns a mention through his consistency throughout the season in the Optimum Motorsport McLaren that he shared with Marvin Kirchhöfer.
Beyond Hardwick, there were a fair number of noteworthy Bronze drivers competing in LMGT3, both in WEC and ELMS. Though he wasn’t part of the crew that gave United Autosports and McLaren their first WEC victories in COTA, James Cottingham came close in Qatar, finishing second to start the season and remaining fairly steady as the season went on.
WRT’s LMGT3 season was somewhat disappointing, but that can’t be blamed on Ahmad Al Harthy: The Omani driver was rapid relative to his peers and played a big part in the #46 BMW’s pair of podiums, particularly at Imola.
Martin Berry showed what was possible for Iron Lynx and Mercedes-AMG: He took two podiums and three poles in ELMS, then capped off the year by getting the first Mercedes podium in WEC with a second place in Bahrain.
When it came to Bronze drivers in LMP3, nobody impressed more than Paul Lanchère: He was the anchor of a near-perfect European Le Mans Series LMP3 title-winning run for CLX Motorsport, with five wins in six races aboard the #17 Ligier.
And then there’s the maestro of LMP2 Pro/Am qualifying, Giorgio Roda – between the European and Asian Le Mans Series, he took nine pole positions in the calendar year and was perfect in qualifying during the 24/25 ALMS campaign. Perhaps one day, the Italian’s sheer speed will be rewarded with a win in an LMP2 car.
2025 DSC Amateur Driver of the Year: PJ Hyett
It came down to Hardwick versus Hyett when we discussed which driver should ultimately win the award. Either of the two Le Mans class winners would have been a worthy recipient, joining 2023 winner Ben Keating, and the aforementioned Malykhin.
Ultimately, we went with Hyett, who has improved so much since his first GT World Challenge America races at Watkins Glen in 2022. Since he shifted from GT to prototype racing in 2024, Hyett has had incredible speed, his four straight IMSA pole positions were a testament to that, but there was always room to improve.
Adding a full season of ELMS racing on top of his IMSA commitments, Hyett made the most of the additional experience, matching his pace with more consistency.
Hyett’s first LMP2 win really should have come at Daytona until an unfortunate mechanical issue, and for that matter, a late-race breakdown at Barcelona was the only thing that kept AO by TF from a clean sweep of LMP2 Pro/Am podiums in Europe. But once he won Le Mans, the wins kept rolling in all summer long on both sides of the Atlantic.
What Hyett has already achieved as AO Racing’s team owner is incredible on its own: He’s built a successful, championship-winning team with a large fan following thanks to the popularity of characters like Rexy and Spike.
He finally got to enjoy that same level of success as a driver, and with plans to run it back in 2026, there’s every chance that he could win this award again with another season of championships and major endurance victories.
Images © Jack Webster, David Lord / dailysportscar.com
