Special Acura livery commemorates team’s ten-year run in IMSA WeatherTech series
With Acura nearing the end of its ten-year run in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, today the manufacturer and Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) have revealed a special commemorative livery for the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06.
This special paint scheme will debut this weekend at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and will also be used in two weeks at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the 29th Motul Petit Le Mans.
The livery honours Acura/HRC US’ accomplishments with the NSX GT3, ARX-05, and ARX-06 which yielded 33 race victories, 43 pole positions, and 14 team, driver, and manufacturer championships. This includes three victories at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, IMSA’s crown jewel race.
Teams and drivers who contributed to these statistics, and the circuits in which they took place, will also be highlighted on the #93 Acura’s updated livery.
There’s still a chance for drivers Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly to boost Acura’s totals before the ARX-06 program comes to an end: The drivers of the #93 Acura are currently third in the GTP Drivers’ standings, while the #93 Acura itself is currently second in the teams’ standings.
The Acura ARX-06 has not yet won at Indianapolis, something that the #93 team, as well as the #60 of Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun, could still change by Sunday afternoon.
IMSA Resilient Racers programme returns for second year
Last year IMSA launched the Resilient Racers programme, raising awareness and funds towards childhood cancer in collaboration with charitable partners Camp Boggy Creek and the Austin Hatcher Foundation.
As they did last year, all of IMSA’s teams will carry the name of a child on their car – apart from DXDT Racing, who will honour the philanthropic contributions of actor Paul Newman, the founder of Camp Boggy Creek, by placing his name on the car.
Also of note, Car Blanche’s #68 Aston Martin will carry the name of Austin Hatcher “Hatch” Osborn, the namesake of the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer. The foundation was established in December 2006 by Dr. James and Mrs. Amy Jo Osborn, shortly after their son passed away from a rare and aggressive form of brain and spinal tumours.
Going beyond just that token gesture, 25 families will attend this weekend’s race and meet the team and drivers they’ve been paired with, teams will host garage tours for those in attendance and virtual meet-and-greets for those unable to come, and some teams will even include their sponsored child on autograph cards this weekend.
Fans can support the Resilient Racers charity by making a donation on behalf of their favourite team online or by purchasing an official Resilient Racers T-shirt from IMSA’s official website.
This past weekend, IMSA, Grid Finder, and esports community website Traxion.gg collaborated to run the IMSA Resilient Racers 240 esports race through the iRacing simulation.
Rueda to fill in for Millroy at Petit Le Mans
Inception Racing and Optimum Motorsport announced yesterday that Spanish driver Fran Rueda will drive the #70 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo at Petit Le Mans, filling the role of the team’s Michelin Endurance Cup specialist normally occupied by Ollie Millroy.
Rueda made his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut earlier this year, driving at Watkins Glen and Road America for fellow Ferrari customer Conquest Racing. He’ll now switch sides to Inception Racing to aid Brendan Iribe’s bid to win the Bob Akin Award and secure an invitation to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Millroy continues to make progress in his recovery from injuries sustained in a China GT crash in Shanghai on 5 September. Today, Millroy was reunited with Loek Hartog, who intervened to rescue Millroy from his burning Ferrari.
44 entries for penultimate Pilot Challenge race
On Saturday the Michelin Pilot Challenge series will run its penultimate race of 2026, a two-hour sprint with 44 cars – 31 GT4 cars in GS, and 13 TCRs.
Robert Noaker and McCumbee McAleer Racing stumbled out of the championship lead after a disastrous result in VIR, now trailing the #95 Turner Motorsport BMW of Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars by 100 points and sitting third in the standings. Ironically, Stevan McAleer and co-driver Austin Krainz have also leapt ahead, driving their #27 AutoTechnic Racing BMW.
Noaker will once again be joined by fellow Ford Racing junior Finn Wiebelhaus in the #13 MMR Ford, coming one year after Noaker made his GT4 racing debut, off the back of consecutive Mustang Challenge North America championships.
In TCR, Bryson Morris and Mason Filippi are turning the screw towards a championship in their #33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/Agajanian Hyundai. They carry a hefty 260-point lead over teammates Denis Dupont and Preston Brown in the #76 BHA Hyundai, and could mathematically clinch the TCR title before the season finale at Road America.
This week, the MPC field regains the #43 Andretti Performance Porsche of Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves, and past Indy 500 pole winner Bruno Junqueira returns to the #56 Baker Racing Audi TCR. Christine Sloss has returned to competition, now running for RaceWife Racing, in the #10 Aston Martin alongside Glenn McGee. And reigning TCR Europe champion Jenson Brickley will make his series debut in the #77 Stallion Motorsports with Gou Cupra.
The full entry list can be found HERE >>>
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America’s continental finale on support bill
Three one-make series feature on the support bill this weekend: Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin, and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series, running its last races in the US this year before the World Final in Monza on 21-23 October.
Former teammates Elias de la Torre and Will Bamber currently sit No. 1 and No. 2 in the Pro class points, but de la Torre has a 14-point lead over Bamber. This weekend, de la Torre will drive the #29 TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracán ST with former Squadra Corse factory driver Dennis Lind, and Bamber will race alongside Darius Trinka in the #33 XONINE Racing Lamborghini.
Wayne Taylor Racing’s Nick Persing and Hampus Ericsson are also in the fight, 23 points out of first place in the #1 WTR Lamborghini. Up to 32 points are available this weekend, 15 for victory in either race, plus one bonus point to the polesitter.
WTR also leads the Pro/Am standings, with the #10 car of Danny Formal and Graham Doyle in a position to clinch the title before Monza as they carry a massive 49-point lead going into the weekend. Likewise, David Staab (#48 Precision Performance Motorsports) could also clinch the Am championship as he leads the standings by 21 points.
It’s too close to call in LB Cup where Philippe Touchette (#11 TB Autosports) has but a 12-point lead over title rival Rocky T. Bolduc (#99 Topp Racing).
Images © Honda, IMSA, dailysportscar.com
