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Photo: Kristof Vermeulen/MPS Agency TDS Racing will continue its long-standing partnership with ORECA, having announced that the team will race an Oreca 09 Gibson in when the new LMP2 ruleset debuts in 2028. The decorated French squad, a three-time European Le Mans Series LMP2 championship-winning team, boasts seven class podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and multiple accolades in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, including being the two-time and reigning Michelin Endurance Cup champions in LMP2. It began its relationship with the French constructor in 2015, initially with the Oreca 05 Nissan. “ORECA is an impeccable partner for TDS Racing. Our relationship with the manufacturer from the Var region began in 2011, as soon as we entered LMP2,” said team boss Xavier Combet. “Since then, we have won numerous races and claimed several titles together, on both sides of the Atlantic. “Our collaboration goes far beyond a technical partnership, with a v...

Photo: GT World Challenge Australia Porsche will rejoin the fight for overall honors in GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS in next month’s Sydney Motorsport Park round courtesy of Earl Bamber Motorsport, which has revealed plans to enter a 911 GT3 R in ‘Pink Pig’ colors. EBM will end a two-year absence from the championship in the penultimate round of the season on Sept. 18-20 with a Pro-Am class-entered 991.2-generation 911 GT3 R for series debutants Tom McLennan and Andrew Georgiadis. The No. 81 car will carry a livery paying tribute to the famous Porsche 917 that raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1971, which was revived by the Weissach brand for its Le Mans attack in 2018 and also appeared in the Suzuka 1000km last year. It will be the first time a Porsche has fought in the Pro-Am division since the opening round of 2025 at Phillip Island, although Tigani Motorsport has ensured that the 911 has stayed on the grid this year with a Trophy class effort. ...

Photo: SUPER GT Leading SUPER GT drivers have shared their first impressions of next year’s one-make Bridgestone tires, with Toyota’s reigning champion Sho Tsuboi reporting there is no “dramatic change” from the marque’s current confidential rubber. Bridgestone, which currently supplies all bar two of the 14 cars in the GT500 class, takes over as the top division’s sole supplier beginning next year. Two development tests this month at Fuji and Suzuka have taken place involving the respective test cars of each manufacturer, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. In the most recent test at Suzuka on Monday, which comprised a single three-hour session, Tsuboi shared the No. 90 Toyota GR Supra with Nirei Fukuzumi, the No. 99 Honda HRC Prelude-GT was driven by Tadasuke Makino and Kaku Ohta, and Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi drove the No. 230 Nissan Z NISMO test car. The quickest time of the day was a 1:46.019 set by the Toyota, less than a second shy Yut...

Source: Sports Car 365

Track temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit, an abrasive track surface and long green-flag runs placed a premium on tire consistency and degradation management throughout Sunday’s two-hour 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. For overall winners Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell, the Michelin tires helped the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 stay strong through those demanding conditions. “It’s tough for the tires for sure,” said Caldarelli. “It’s such a hot day, the track is really abrasive, so degradation is not easy. But we had a really, really good car with the tires. “They worked really nice and we didn’t have much degradation, which was what we were really looking for.” That consistency became increasingly important as the race progressed. The final two hours and 20 minutes ran under green, creating extended stints and putting additional emphasis on how well teams could manage tire performance over time. Drivers a...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Pfaff Motorsports gave the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 its second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Sandy Mitchell took the No. 9 Lamborghini to a 1.517-second win over the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Ben Barker to deliver a controlling win for the new-for-2026 GT3 car, only one race after its first victory in global competition at Road America. Pole-sitter Andrea Caldarelli stretched into an early lead following a first-lap full-course caution for a violent accident from the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Alexander Sims, whose GTD Pro entry was nearly overturned after a heavy impact with the tire barriers. While Sims climbed from the car under his own power and was released from the trackside medical center, the final 2 hours and 20 minutes of the two-hour and 40-minute contest ran caution-free. It ma...

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford Will Lucas claimed his first career Mustang Challenge North America victory after title contenders Cole Loftsgard and Devin Anderson collided in dramatic fashion in Race 2 at Virginia International Raceway. Lucas, in the No. 34 Wheelhouse Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse R, finished ahead of second-placed Sandy Satullo in the 45-minute race, which ended under full course caution after a late-race accident for Chris Clarke. There was also drama at the front of the pack early on as the No. 22 TechSport Mustang of Anderson and Loftsgard’s No. 42 Round 3 Racing entry came together while battling for the lead on Lap 5. Loftsgard spun into the Turn 1 grass as a result, with Anderson handed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility, which dropped Anderson to eighth at the time. While Anderson charged back to finish fourth, Loftsgard recovered to third, extending his championship lead despite having his worst finish since Race 2 at WeatherTech Ra...