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Spider-Man Livery on No. 24 WRT BMW for Road America

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Image: BMW The No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 will sport a special livery promoting the upcoming ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ film in this weekend’s Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America. Teased by BMW on social media on Wednesday, the Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde-driven GTP entry will feature the special design for the summer blockbuster, which opens in theaters on Friday. It comes as part of a wider collaboration between the two brands. BMW previously announced that both its new iX3 and 5 Series will be featured in the film starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Zendaya as MJ. A one-off iX3 Flow show car with animated E Ink Prism panels will be on display at BMW Welt through September, while owners of compatible BMWs in more than 70 countries can unlock a Spider-Man startup animation in their cars. Image: BMW Source: Sports Car 365

Wickens Receives Late DXDT Call-Up For Endurance Debut

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Photo: DXDT Racing Robert Wickens will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship endurance debut this weekend after receiving a last-minute call-up to tackle the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America with DXDT Racing in place of Salih Yoluc. Canadian racer Wickens has already contested two of the shorter WeatherTech Championship races this year — at Long Beach and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park — in DXDT’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R alongside Mason Fillipi, but will now step in for this weekend’s six-hour contest with Yoluc absent due to a family emergency. Wickens will therefore join Fillipi and Charlie Eastwood at the controls of the No. 36 GTD class Corvette. He has taken a best result of sixth in class from his two previous outings this year, while a fourth place at CTMP was the highlight of his five sprint appearances with the squad last season. Wickens had also been due to contest the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round earlier this year ...

Aron Confirmed for Racing Return in NLS7

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Photo: Gruppe C Photography/IGTC Ralf Aron will make his return to racing in this weekend’s NLS7 following the injuries he sustained in his huge crash during this year’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour. The Estonian driver will drive the No. 80 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo alongside Luca Stolz in Sunday’s six-hour ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen. It will mark his first race outing since the Intercontinental GT Challenge season opener in February, when he suffered two fractured vertebra after slamming into the stationary Porsche 911 GT3 R of Johannes Zelger approaching Forrest’s Elbow. After a period of recovery, Aron has partaken in multiple tests at the wheel of the AMG GT3 in preparation for his return to competition. “From a physical standpoint, I am fit again,” Aron told Sportscar365 in an exclusive interview. “The recovery has been really good. I have been working hard with rehab in the gym and swimming, all sorts of stuff, so I feel re...

Hand Set for Comeback With Gradient at Road America

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Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford Joey Hand will make his return to the wheel of Gradient Racing’s Ford Mustang GT3 EVO in this weekend’s Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America, following a recovery from a fractured pelvis due to a karting accident. The veteran Ford driver will join Jake Walker and Till Bechtolsheimer in the GTD class entry for the six-hour race at the Wisconsin circuit. It comes after Hand was forced to miss the most recent Endurance Cup round , which saw the team’s sprint driver Corey Lewis sub. “I’m thrilled to be back in the race car with Gradient Racing, driving the Ford Mustang GT3 that I know and love so much,” said Hand. “I can’t think of a better place to make my return than Road America. “It’s my favorite race track in the world, one of the greatest places to race, with incredible fans, great food and everything that makes Road America so special. “I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the ...

Yardley, DeFrancesco Complete RS1 Lineup for Road America

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Photos: Jessica Johnk/Forte Racing Ryan Yardley and Devlin DeFrancesco will complete RS1’s lineup for this weekend’s Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America, alongside team veteran Jan Heylen in the No. 28 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo. The Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver, who won last year’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America title, is set for his second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start of the season, after making his Rolex 24 at Daytona and series debut in Muehlner Motorsports’ Porsche. Yardley, who has been focused primarily on SRO America competition, in both GT World Challenge America powered by AWS and Pirelli GT4 America this year, will now get another outing in top-level IMSA competition, after what’s been a rotating lineup within the Florida-based squad’s Michelin Endurance Cup program. DeFrancesco, meanwhile, is set for his first WeatherTech Championship outing since 2024 when the Canadian open-wheel dr...

Ferrari Completes Initial Test of Possible 499P Evo Upgrades

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Photo: Ferrari Four factory Ferrari Hypercar drivers have conducted initial testing at Monza of upgrades that could form the basis of a planned Evo version of the 499P for next season’s FIA World Endurance Championship. The manufacturer confirmed at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans that it would be using some of the performance jokers that it has available to introduce a heavily revised car for 2027. The initial steps towards this began at Monza on Tuesday when Antonio Fuoco, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Miguel Molina completed the first laps at the wheel of an updated 499P that Ferrari said featured a “wide range of technical and aerodynamic solutions.” The manufacturer added in a statement: “This is a step-by-step process that keeps several design options open until final homologation, providing for on-track testing of different configurations as part of the project’s natural evolution.” Images from the one-day test have been ...

WRT Duo Head Record 45-Car Magny-Cours Sprint Cup Entry

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Photo: SRO/JEP Reigning GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS champions Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts head a record 45-car Sprint Cup entry for this weekend’s Magny-Cours event. The Sprint Cup competitors waited over two months between the Brands Hatch opener and the second round at Misano earlier this month, but just two weeks on they are now back in action in France. WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO duo van der Linde and Weerts were unstoppable at Misano, winning both races to open a 14.5-point lead over Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo drivers Maro Engel and Lucas Auer at the head of the field. The 45-strong entry for Magny-Cours is bolstered by the addition of a Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II tackling the Bronze Cup division with International GT Open pairing Jim Pla — who won the 2024 Endurance Cup Gold title with the squad — and Michael Blanchemain at the wheel. However, the Razoon – more than racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo did not tackle the previous e...