With IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge racing this weekend, Michelin Pilot Challenge in action next Friday – and of course, the 63rd annual Rolex 24 At Daytona next Saturday and Sunday – there are hundreds of drivers that will race over the next two weeks.
This includes (at least) ten drivers that have previously participated in either of the Canadian national series organised by FEL Motorsports – namely the Sports Car Championship Canada (SCCC) and Radical Cup Canada (RCC), and not just drivers, either! FEL Motorsports founder Chris Bye always envisioned the series as a pathway for Canadian talent to progress to a stage such as the Rolex 24 and its supporting events, and this year we’ll see IMSA newcomers, veterans, and family teams – across three different series, up to the Rolex 24 itself!
Jonathan Woolridge
We’ll start with two who are racing today and tomorrow in VPRC, beginning with Woolridge.
The undefeated 2022 Radical Cup Canada Champion has spent the last three years competing in LMP3 categories across IMSA WeatherTech and VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. In 2023, he scored his first VPRC victory at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, driving a Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier.
After a part-time schedule with Performance Tech last year with two podiums, Woolridge has joined MLT Motorsports to drive the #54 Ligier JS P320. He takes over the seat vacated by reigning LMP3 champion Steven Aghakhani, who swept the Daytona weekend and held off a fierce challenge from Jagger Jones to take the title.
“I am thrilled and excited to join MLT Motorsports for the 2025 season,” Woolridge said upon joining the team. “Having observed the impressive program quality developed by Michael [Thompson, Team Owner] and Eric [VanBibber, Team Principal] from the paddock, I feel a tremendous amount of confidence heading into the first round of the championship. I’m eager to contribute to the team’s success and learn from everyone’s expertise. Here’s to making great memories and achieving big wins together!”
Justin Di Benedetto
The 27-year-old driver, who is also a Business major at York University, made his Michelin Pilot Challenge debut in a CTMP one-off last year, racing alongside Travis Hill at TWOth Autosport.
This year, he intends to run full-time in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, driving for his family’s team in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.
Di Benedetto raced in SCCC’s TCR class from 2022-2023, before moving up to the GT4 category last season. He has five wins and 13 podiums across TCR and GT4 classes.
Marco Signoretti
Multimatic Motorsports’ home-grown works driver and SCCC’s first GT4 champion is making a welcome return to the Michelin Pilot Challenge series for the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona.
Signoretti will join KoHR Motorsports owner/driver Dean Martin and Mustang Challenge graduate Christian Bach in the #60 Ford Mustang GT4. KoHR gave the new Ford Mustang GT4 (S650) its first global competition victory on debut last year, via Luca Mars in VPRC.
Martin and Signoretti first met during a test in October 2023, when Martin, Mars, and Signoretti tested the latest Mustang GT4 in the company of Ford Performance, Multimatic, and Michelin.
Signoretti last raced in the Michelin Pilot Challenge during the pandemic-affected 2020 season, alongside Scott Maxwell at Daytona and Sebastian Priaulx at Sebring in November. He has primarily raced in British GT and the GT4 European Series since graduating from SCCC.
Ron & Megan Tomlinson
The father-daughter duo from Ottawa is stepping up to Michelin Pilot Challenge with Precision Racing LA, in an Audi RS3 LMS touring car that will be a familiar platform to both.
And with Celso Neto and Ryan Eversley in the sister PRLA machine, they’ll have a strong benchmark to measure themselves against!
Ron, who had taken part in every SCCC race since its inception in 2021, finished third in last year’s TCR standings – while Megan finished fifth in TCR after moving up from the TCA category as a driver.
Dean & Sam Baker
Also moving up to Michelin Pilot Challenge is another inter-generational team, Dean & Sam Baker of Baker Racing.
They took part in four races together in MPC last year, scoring a best finish of fifth in class at CTMP, their home track. Daytona will be the first race in a full-time programme with James Vance as their third driver.
Dean Baker’s SCCC career is highlighted by his 2023 TCR class Championship in an Audi RS3 LMS TCR, the same one that he’ll drive in 2025. In 19 races from 2022-2024, he has four victories and 12 podium finishes.
While his son Sam has never raced in either of FEL’s championships, he has worked for the promotion as part of its social media team. He has spent much of his early career in the Canadian F1600 Championships.
Louis-Philippe Montour
“LP” Montour returns to MMG (Montreal Motorsport Group) for a second season in Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR racing aboard their #93 Honda Civic Type R.
Montour scored a pair of seventh-place finishes as his best results of 2024, at Mid-Ohio and CTMP. He also scored pole position in class for the Watkins Glen round.
With additional experience in Trans Am and NASCAR Canada Series, Montour raced in SCCC TCR in 2021 and 2023, scoring three wins and finishing as the inaugural series runner-up behind TWOth Autosport’s Travis Hill.
Mark Wilkins
Mark Wilkins is one of Canada’s most accomplished sports car racers of the early 20th century, boasting class victories at the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours, and Petit Le Mans.
He returns to Bryan Herta Autosport for his seventh season in Michelin Pilot Challenge, with the team that has been the dominant force in the category in partnership with Hyundai. Wilkins was the 2019 TCR Champion and has 13 career class wins, most recently at Road Atlanta to end the 2024 season.
Through Hyundai Canada, Wilkins made a one-off SCCC cameo in the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto event, starting three races and finishing in the top five in all three.
Tobias Lütke
The only FEL alumni in the Rolex 24 At Daytona field is Tobi Lütke, the Shopify co-founder and CEO who is making a significant jump up to the LMP2 class with Era Motorsport, following in the footsteps of his longtime colleague in the tech industry David Heinemeier Hansson.
He ran the Radical Cup Canada triple-header at Calabogie Motorsports Park in 2023, and also shared a car with Travis Hill at the Labour Day Sprints at CTMP last year.
Lütke’s primary focus last year was the HSR Prototype Challenge series, where he won the Am class title alongside Hill in their Ligier JS P315.
A testing opportunity in the same car will be given to the 2025 Radical Cup Canada Champion to help advance their careers. As for Lütke, he’ll be tasked to succeed Dwight Merriman as Era Motorsport’s Bronze stalwart in IMSA – with Merriman now entrenched in a new Creventic 24H Series programme for the team.
Images © Brandon Badraoui, Michael L. Levitt / IMSA; FEL Motorsports, SRO Motorsports Group/JEP, Era Motorsport
