IMSA has released the provisional entry list for the BMW M Endurance Challenge At Daytona, the four-hour season-opener for the 2026 Michelin Pilot Challenge season, taking place on Friday, 23 January.
51 cars have entered, 35 GT4 cars in the GS (Grand Sport) class, and 16 TCR touring cars, equaling the mark for this event in January 2020.
The GS (Grand Sport) class features nine BMW M4 GT4 EVOs, eight Ford Mustang GT4s, six Porsche 718 (Cayman) GT4 RS Clubsports, five Aston Martin Vantage GT3s, four Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2s, two Mercedes-AMG GT4s, and the lone McLaren Artura GT4 entered by Ibiza Farm Racing, who won last year’s Endurance Challenge At Daytona.
Reigning GS champion team RS1 has moved on to focus on its new IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup effort in GTD, but last year’s champion drivers will be on the grid at Daytona to open the 2026 season.
Luca Mars has moved to Turner Motorsport, driving the #95 BMW M4 GT4 EVO with Dillon Machavern as part of Turner’s two-car operation. As he helps RS1 prepare for its Rolex 24 At Daytona debut, Jan Heylen will also drive the #83 BGB Motorsport Porsche, sharing the car with Spencer Pumpelly and Thomas Collingwood.
Heylen, Pumpelly, and Machavern are among the drivers in the field who’ll be pulling “double duty” in this race and the Rolex 24 which starts the following day.
Fellow Turner Motorsport driver Robby Foley in the #96 BMW will do the same, as will new Random Vandals Racing driver Robert Megennis in the #92 BMW – as teammate to 2026/27 IMSA Diverse Driver Development (D3) Scholarship winner Nicky Hays. Jack Hawksworth joins Koch-Copeland Motorsports in the #23 Toyota (shared with Jaxon Bell, son of Townsend).
Bill Auberlen, the winningest driver in IMSA history, makes his return to the paddock at Daytona for the first time since 2023, joining fan-favourite Samantha Tan in the #38 ST Racing by Random Vandals BMW. Tan is one of a few drivers moving up the IMSA pyramid as the 2025 VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GTDX Bronze Cup winner makes her Pilot Challenge debut.
Brazilian Kiko Porto, last year’s VPRC GSX Champion, will move up to GS with RAFA Racing, driving the #12 Toyota with ST Racing alumnus Varun Choksey.
Ford Racing Junior Team driver Robert Noaker will make his full-time GT4 debut in the #13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford; coming off a historic perfect season in Mustang Challenge North America, Noaker will race alongside Nate Cicero.
Other notable new entries include perennial MX-5 Cup standout BSI Racing entering the #67 Toyota, Heart of Racing Team bringing its #26 Aston Martin to Pilot Challenge for the first time, fellow GT4 America graduates VPX Motorsport (#7 Porsche), and the new VRC (Vintage Racing Company) Motorsports Group.
VRC’s #91 Porsche includes the very-much-not-retired(!) Owen Trinkler, making his return to full-time racing since a testing fire at Daytona in December 2023, and 2009 Rolex 24 overall winner Darren Law.
The TCR class currently features five Hyundais, four Cupras, four Hondas, and three Audis. Bryan Herta Autosport (BHA) will run four of the Hyundai Elantra N TCRs, and will also offer technical assistance to the fifth, entered by Rockwell Autosport Design.
Reigning TCR champion Harry Gottsacker will move from the #98 BHA Hyundai to the #18 car to partner Jon Miller and Lance Bergstein, and his co-driver for most of 2025, Mason Filippi, will now pilot the #33 car with Bryson Morris and Joshua Buchan. Filippi will also pull double-duty as he prepares for his first Rolex 24 with DXDT Racing.
Newcomers worth noting include Stallion Motorsports with Gou’s all-Brazilian #77 Cupra León VZ TCR driven by Celso Neto (the 2025/26 IMSA D3 Scholarship recipient) and Raphael Reis; Mario Farnbacher is back in a Honda, driving the #72 Pegram Racing Civic FL5 TCR, and two-time FEL Radical Cup Canada champion Kenny Riedmann moves up to TCR with Baker Racing in the #56 Audi RS 3 LMS.
Of the 51 cars, 49 of them will participate in preliminary testing during the Roar Before The 24 this weekend.
Images © IMSA
