How the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD championships can be won (now)
As we mentioned in our breakdown of the many championship battles in play at Petit Le Mans, they were subject to change slightly going into qualifying. The GTP title is wrapped up – but now the picture is clear in LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD.
Jeremy Clarke, Tom Dillmann, and Inter Europol Competition have seen their leads grow from four to 10 points over George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, and CrowdStrike Racing by APR. It’s still winner-take-all, but it now means that they can finish the season level on points, which would favour Inter Europol and its two wins over CrowdStrike/APR’s one win.
Both Daniel Goldburg (#22 United Autosports USA) and PJ Hyett/Dane Cameron (#99 AO Racing) both sit 105 points behind: If either car wins the race, they’d need the #43 to finish seventh or lower, and the #04 to finish sixth or lower. If either car finishes second, the #43 has to finish 10th or 11th, while the #04 has to finish ninth or lower.
Over in GTD, Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, and Winward Racing now lead Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley by 15 points, while Eduardo Barrichello and Heart of Racing Team now trail by 126 points. It now means that Turner Motorsport has to finish at least one position, if not two, better than Winward Racing to outscore them and win the GTD title.
Barrichello and Heart of Racing, meanwhile, have to finish no lower than fifth to have a chance at the championship; if they win, they need the #57 Winward Mercedes-AMG to finish outside the top eight, and the #96 Turner BMW to finish outside the top seven.
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ #4 car of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg can now clinch the GTD Pro championship by finishing either first or second.
Connor De Phillippi/Neil Verhagen (#1 Paul Miller Racing, now -42) can still win the title with a win and a third-place or lower from the #4, and Andrea Caldarelli/Sandy Mitchell (#9 Pfaff Motorsports, now -60) would need a win and the #4 to finish fourth or lower. The #1 and #9 can finish no lower than ninth or eighth, respectively, to have any chance.
Meanwhile, the #65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 (Mies/Vervisch, -134) must finish at least second, while the #64 Ford (Olsen/Barker, -158) and #77 AO Racing Porsche (Tandy/King, -158) have to win the race AND have the #4 finish lower than 11th, the #1 lower than seventh, and the #9 lower than fifth.
The #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus has been eliminated from contention, leaving just six cars in the hunt.
IMSA YouTube hits 2 million!
IMSA’s YouTube channel continues to grow rapidly. It has now surpassed two million subscribers.
“You’ve watched live races. Followed Win the Weekend. Joined us in chat. Gone behind the scenes. Explored IMSA Labs. Discovered the stories, shared the moments and kept coming back for more,” IMSA’s social feed said.
“Everything we create starts with one thing: bringing you closer to the sport, people and cars you love. Tell your friends.
“Thank you for watching. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for being part of IMSA.”
Acura adds another pole to its tally
Acura Meyer Shank Racing may need to make another alteration to the #93 ARX-06’s livery before tomorrow’s race after Tom Blomqvist captured Acura’s 45th IMSA pole in the modern era, and the 15th for the ARX-06, which bows out at the end of the year.
Blomqvist’s 1:09.703 missed his own 2025 GTP course record (1:09.628) by only 0.075 seconds.
“Everyone knows, obviously, it’s kind of a last hurrah,” Blomqvist said after winning the pole on Friday afternoon. “Just doing things like that we did today is obviously fantastic for everyone in the team. Huge team effort, as always.”
It’s Acura’s 45th pole in IMSA since 2017, across all categories of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and the 15th pole for the outgoing Acura ARX-06. The #60 of Blomqvist, Colin Braun, and Scott Dixon will line up next to the sister #93 of Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, and Álex Palou.
“We know our car is generally very good over a lap,” Blomqvist continued. “I generally enjoy this place, especially in qualifying. It’s always good to me. So, I think today was about executing more than anything.
“The expectation was to fight for pole, so obviously the team did a fantastic job with the one-two there. Things like today go a long way for everyone, for the mood, putting smiles on people’s faces so late in the program; it’s fantastic.
“The last two events, qualifying has been very good. It’s just nice to get out of the car and see everyone so happy. It hasn’t been the smoothest of weekends. We had something go wrong yesterday, and the guys worked super hard late into the night to make sure everything was good for today.
“To get a little win today, as we did just there with the pole, is super important for everyone. I’m really excited for that.”
That said, Blomqvist – a two-time overall winner of Petit Le Mans – knows very well that the 10-hour race to come is another challenge entirely.
In 2023, Blomqvist, Braun, and Hélio Castroneves led Meyer Shank Racing to a win at Petit Le Mans, in the team’s final race before a one-year hiatus. Everyone, from team founder and co-owner Michael Shank to his current drivers, mechanics, and engineers is hoping that his team can run it back in the team’s final race before a more indefinite pause in its IMSA activities.
Gossett crowned MX-5 Cup Champion
Parker DeLong (#42 PDR Racing) mastered a two-lap dash to the finish line for the victory, and Bobby Gossett (#44 BSI Racing) did his best to stay out of trouble and finish the race as the 2026 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion in yesterday’s Mazda MX-5 Cup season finale.
A win in Thursday’s race gave Gossett a comfortable points lead over Justin Adakonis (#23 McCumbee McAleer Racing) coming into the final race of the season. This safety net was further widened when Adakonis opted to go to a backup car for Friday’s race, which meant he had to start last instead of from pole.
It meant that with a ninth-place finish, Gossett hoisted the 2026 MX-5 Cup Championship Trophy in victory lane.
“I can’t believe it,” Gossett said of his championship. “I think my mentality, it was almost like a switch, honestly, from last year to this year. There’s a lot of mental stuff when it comes to MX-5 Cup and just being confident in yourself and being aggressive. I think that just switched. Also, I changed teams and BSI is great. I think getting third at Daytona, which is kind of more of a luck track, gave us more confidence. I think if that didn’t happen, this year could have gone way different.”
Gossett’s twin sister Ellie (#77 BSI Racing) scored the $1,500 that goes to the highest-finishing female, while Jameson Riley (#66 JTR Motorsports Engineering) claimed the Takumi Award. Jared Thomas (#96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) scored the Penske “Shocking Performance” award for his run to sixth at the finish.
Race 1 pole sitter Frankie Barroso came home 20th, but nonetheless closed out the season as the Rookie of the Year.
Georgia native Maxson sweeps Porsche Carrera Cup North America weekend
Porsche Motorsport North America Junior driver Tyler Maxson (#77 Topp Racing) swept this weekend’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America races at Road Atlanta, the home track for the Lawrenceville-born, Athens-based driver.
In both races, Maxson beat Aaron Jeansonne (#24 Kellymoss), who finished second ahead of Callum Hedge (#9 JDX Racing) in third. Jared Thomas (#96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) was fourth in Race 1 on Thursday, while Janne Stiak (#40 ACI Motorsports) rounded out the top four in Race 2.
The wins for Maxson give him a 27-point lead heading into the season finale at Circuit of the Americas on 23–25 October, two support races for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
“What a weekend,” Maxson said. “Topp Racing doing what they do best, keeping this car on top. Double pole, double race win, just about everything we could have asked for on this weekend. It was a great points week and it comes down to COTA. Our full focus is there and we feel really, really confident. All thanks goes to the team, these guys do such a great job.”
Meanwhile in the Masters class, Canadian driver Marco Cirone swept both races and clinched the series championship; it’s the second championship won this year by Chattanooga-based ACI Motorsports, whose Pro-Am driver Patrick Mulcahy ran unopposed in the class this weekend.
Cirone’s #88 car finished ahead of 2025 Masters Class champion Scott Blind (#45 Ruckus Racing) in Race 1, while Rob Walker (#53 JTR Motorsports Engineering) took runner-up honours in Race 2.
V8 LMP3 bows out
This weekend’s VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races marked the final start in the series for a V8-powered, second-generation LMP3 vehicle.
Slade Stewart ran a Ligier JS P320 for Riley in the final round, finishing fifth overall in Race 1 and third among LMP3 Bronze Cup competitors.
Unfortunately, Stewart withdrew from Race 2, making Thursday’s race the last for the previous-gen LMP3 in VP Challenge. From 2027, all LMP3 competitors will be required to use the V6-powered, third-generation LMP3s introduced to the series this year.
Don’t forget the Spotter’s Guide!
Andy Blackmore’s spotter’s guide for Petit Le Mans can be downloaded from his official website, that way you won’t miss any of the cars in the field – even the ones with new liveries this weekend!
Tandy reflects
In 2015, Nick Tandy won Petit Le Mans overall, beating out all the prototypes in a rain-soaked race. 11 years later, Nick sits down with Marshall Pruett to recap this incredible win.
Images © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com, IMSA, Mazda
