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Photo: Jonathan Grace DragonSpeed’s move into full-time IMSA GTD Pro competition with Ferrari might be considered “the most important step” in the team’s diverse history according to team principal Elton Julian. The longtime sports car operation, which has most recently enjoyed success in LMP2 competition, is set for a season-long WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign with a Ferrari 296 GT3 under a technical alliance with Risi Competizione. The car, owned by longtime DragonSpeed driver Henrik Hedman, will contest the full season with Albert Costa and a yet-to-be-determined professional co-driver. Costa is joined by Ferrari factory drivers Davide Rigon, Miguel Molina and Thomas Neubauer for next weekend’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona. Speaking with Sportscar365, Julian explained the tie-up with Risi, which makes up roughly half of the crew, including engineer Rick Mayer, along with several pieces of equipment. “The fun part of the story is that it all started at Pet...

Photo: Michelin Tom Blomqvist set the pace for Acura Meyer Shank Racing in the first Roar Before The Rolex 24 test session on Friday. The British racer steered the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 to a best lap of 1:35.827 in the opening, 75-minute session at Daytona International Speedway. In the process, he outpaced the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Marco Wittmann by 0.276 seconds, with Gianmaria Bruni third behind the wheel of the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963. Philipp Eng slotted into fourth in the second Team RLL-entered BMW, with Mathieu Jaminet rounding out the overall top five aboard the No. 6 Porsche. CrowdStrike Racing by APR topped the LMP2 ranks, thanks to a 1:55.680 reeled off by Malthe Jakobsen at the wheel of the No. 04 Oreca 07 Gibson. The Dane went 0.133 seconds faster than the No. 2 United Autosports car with Ben Hanley at the wheel, who led Pecom Racing’s Nicklas Nielsen and Inter Europol Competition driver Tom Dillmann. In GTD Pro, Andrea Caldarelli posted a 1:...

Photo: TF Sport Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen expressed excitement over the prospect of teaming up in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the former Supercars rivals sharing a car for the first time in their respective careers. The two New Zealanders will pilot the No. 91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R alongside Ben Keating and Connor Zilisch for the 63rd running of the Florida endurance classic. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener will mark the first time that the two drivers, both three-time champions in the Australian series, will team up aboard the same car. They both made their name in Supercars, with McLaughlin then embarking on a new career trajectory in the NTT IndyCar Series, while Van Gisbergen competed in a variety of races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “Since we both left Supercars, we’ve been wanting to do something together,” Van Gisbergen told Sportscar365. “Whether it’s an endurance race li...

Photo: IMSA NBC Sports will present more than 160 hours of IMSA coverage this year, headlined by the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship across NBC, Peacock, and USA Network, including live comprehensive coverage of next weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. NBC Sports’ 2025 WeatherTech Championship schedule includes 17 hours on NBC broadcast network and 12 hours on USA Network, including network coverage of the Rolex 24, the Monterey race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 11, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 22, the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 21, and the season finale Motul Petit Le Mans from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Oct. 11. Peacock will serve as the streaming home of the WeatherTech Championship with flag-to-flag live coverage of all races as well as exclusive coverage for portions of select endurance races, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with all 12...

Photo: Porsche Klaus Bachler says he expects a “very challenging’ task for AO Racing to defend its GTD Pro crown in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the Austrian personally joining after a title-winning FIA World Endurance Championship season. Bachler will partner Laurin Heinrich aboard the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R starting at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with Alessio Picariello completing the lineup for the endurance races. For Bachler, the move represents a return to full-time WeatherTech Championship competition as the reigning LMGT3 world champion, having won the title last year with Manthey PureRxcing. The Austrian’s last full season in the U.S. came in 2023 with Pfaff Motorsports, finishing fourth in the GTD Pro standings. “I’m really happy to be here back in IMSA for full time,” Bachler told Sportscar365. “I drove here in 2023, we came up short, we could not finish [in the top three]. “We won the Sebring 12 Hours, so this was a season highlight. We [scored...

Photo: MPS Agency Christian Ried will make his full-season FIA World Endurance Championship return to join the Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 effort. The German Bronze-rated driver will pilot the No. 61 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the globetrotting championship, which kicks off with the Qatar 1812km next month. Ried initially stepped away from full-season WEC competition when GTE-Am was replaced by LMGT3 at the end of 2023, prior to which he was the only driver to have competed in every round of the championship since its 2012 inception. He subsequently made two stand-in appearances at the wheel of a Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 in Sao Paulo and Fuji. Ried’s Proton squad has a relationship with Iron Lynx through previous collaborations in both WEC and the European Le Mans Series. Proton remains represented on the WEC grid through both its customer Porsche 963 and two-car Ford LMGT3 programs. Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth said they’re both looking forward to their respective IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title battles despite being split up as full-season co-drivers at Vasser Sullivan for the first time. Barnicoat will remain in the GTD Pro class No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 with new co-driver Aaron Telitz, while Hawksworth moving to the No. 12 GTD entry alongside the returning Parker Thompson. The shakeup was announced last week ahead of the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, ending a driving partnership that began with the launch of the GTD Pro class in 2022 and delivered the 2023 drivers’ title to the pairing, Vasser Sullivan and Lexus. Hawksworth will embark on his first full GTD campaign since 2021. “I’m super excited about it,” he told Sportscar365. “I think we’ve got really good lineups across both cars. “For me, I’m excited for a new challenge. I’ve been with the team for a long period of time and Lexus for a long period of ...