Watch Full-Length Replays of Rounds 6, 9 & 10 at Road America
Source: Sports Car 365
Posts
HSR IMSA Classic Exhibition Race to Return to Rolex 24 Event
Photo: IMSA The annual HSR IMSA Classic will be held for the third straight year during the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. HSR and IMSA officials announced today that the featured era for the popular exhibition will be IMSA GTP, GTO and GTU cars from 1981 through 1993. Setting the stage for the 65th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 30-31, the HSR IMSA Classic will feature IMSA golden era, welcoming competitors with authentic and period-correct sports cars to apply for entry. The eventual field of 16 cars selected to compete in the event will once again be determined by a selection committee. A three-day event – Thursday through Saturday – on the Rolex 24 schedule, the main IMSA Classic races are 30-minutes long on Friday evening and Saturday morning. “The debut in 2025 further planted the HSR IMSA Classic flag and next year’s exhibition races will continue to set the stage for the Rolex 24 at Daytona and will be must-see sprints for race fans and the IMSA paddock ...
Porsche: Two Wins “Not Enough” to Consider GTP Year a Success
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach said that two wins in a season is “not enough” for the brand to consider its factory participation in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship a success. Laudenbach’s comments come following Porsche’s new “Sportwagenschmiede 35” brand strategy, revealed last week, that will see a restructuring of its executive board departments and a reduction of 5,000 jobs by 2035, among a number of other changes. Details on how the German manufacturer’s new strategy could affect its motorsport involvement, specifically in sports car racing, remains unclear, although Laudenbach stressed that nothing has changed for the time being, having reconfirmed plans to continue its works involvement in the WeatherTech Championship. He also reaffirmed Porsche will not be back on the WEC Hypercar grid in 2027, with no current plans to return to the world championship following its exit at the end...
Da Costa: “Brave” Career Move Right Despite Uncertainty
Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI Antonio Felix da Costa believes it was “100 percent” the right decision to leave the Porsche Formula E squad to join the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar field this year with Alpine, despite uncertainty surrounding his future. Da Costa took five Formula E wins in a three-season spell with Porsche but opted to quit the German manufacturer at the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign to join Jaguar, which also opened up the opportunity for him to compete in the top class of the WEC for the first time with a factory squad. However, fewer than four months after being announced as an Alpine WEC driver, the French manufacturer revealed it would be departing the series at the end of the year. Philippe Sinault, boss of the Signatech squad that runs the Alpine A424s, has subsequently been working on plans to keep the cars on the WEC grid into 2027. Despite all of the uncertainty, da Costa is adamant that he made the right decision for the long...
AO Enters Suzuka 1000km With ‘Bushi Rex’ Porsche
Photo: AO by Absolute AO Racing will make its Intercontinental GT Challenge competition debut with a Pro class Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo entry for next month’s Suzuka 1000km. The Chicago-area based team will join forces with top Chinese outfit Absolute Racing to field a Porsche for Laurin Heinrich, Alessio Picariello and Julien Andlauer, while debuting a new AO character in the form of ‘Bushi Rex’. It comes as Porsche leads the IGTC manufacturers’ championship following Lionspeed GP’s victory in last month’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. AO team principal Gunnar Jeannette commented: “AO is excited to partner with Absolute Racing and Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific for the 2026 Suzuka 1000km. “With a stellar driver line-up and an amazing new character, we are very much looking forward to putting on a show for our Japanese fans. “This will be our first foray into Intercontinental GT Challenge, and we believe we have all the pieces in pla...
Pourchaire Likely to Exit Peugeot to Focus on Opel Duties
Photo: Opel Theo Pourchaire looks set to exit Peugeot’s FIA World Endurance Championship lineup to focus on his new Formula E commitments for sister marque Opel next season. Formula 2 champion and ex-IndyCar Series driver Pourchaire became the first official signing for Opel’s new Formula E team on Tuesday, having already been part of the broader Stellantis family via his work for Peugeot in the WEC since last year. The Frenchman will prioritize the all-electric series, which features a single clash with the 2027 WEC schedule between the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo and the Shanghai E-Prix in July. That follows the rescheduling of the Monaco E-Prix, also confirmed on Tuesday, which had been set to clash with the WEC’s Spa round in May. An Opel spokesperson confirmed to Sportscar365 that Pourchaire is scheduled to be present for all Formula E rounds in 2026-27. This presents an issue for Peugeot, which requires at least four of the six drivers on its WEC roster to not be active in F...
