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Photo: Koch Copeland Motorsports Koch Copeland Motorsports has launched a full-season IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge program, featuring Toyota GR Cup North America graduates Ford Koch and Jaxon Bell. The two rising stars will be joined by Lexus factory driver and 2023 IMSA GTD Pro champion Jack Hawksworth for next weekend’s season-opening race, as well as the other four-hour contest at Mid-Ohio in the team’s Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. Hawksworth, who has competed full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship since the inception of the Lexus RC F GT3 program, will additionally serve as a mentor to both Koch and Bell throughout the season. Bell, the son of former open-wheel and sports car ace Townsend, made his Pilot Challenge debut alongside Koch in the final three races of the season last year with the Dean Copeland-led team, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. “The team is excited and grateful for the opportunity to co...

Photo: Fabrizio BoldoniDPPI Anthony McIntosh is set to pull double-duty between two BMW M4 GT3 EVOs in next weekend’s Michelin 24H Dubai, having been confirmed as part of Paradine Competition’s lineup for the 24H Series Middle East season finale. Confirmed on Friday by the Darren Leung-owned team, the Wisconsin native will join Leung, Ahmad Al Harthy and James Kellett aboard the team’s No. 991 BMW in the Middle Eastern enduro. It comes in addition to his previously announced driving duties in Team WRT’s No. 669 BMW alongside Kelvin van der Linde, Jordan Pepper, Ben Tuck and Fran Rueda. Both teams are defending class winners of the race from last year, with AlManar by WRT taking the overall victory and Paradine claiming GT3-Am class honors, with Leung and Al Harthy part of the lineup. Incidentally, it was Leung who pulled double duty in 2025 between the two entries, claiming a double win. Silver-rated driver Kellett, meanwhile, will continue his journey with Paradine after an im...

Photo: Porsche Nico Pino will step into a full-time seat in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the Chilean driver confirmed alongside the returning Tijmen van der Helm in JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Porsche 963. Announced on Thursday by the Minnesota-based team, 23-year-old Kaylen Frederick will complete the lineup for this month’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona as well as the remaining Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. Pino, who topped the overall time sheets in November’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway, was initially targeting an Endurance Cup seat with JDC-Miller and continuing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Proton Competition. However, Proton’s WEC Hypercar program failed to materialize, helping lead the way for Pino to make his full-season WeatherTech Championship debut. “Joining a team with the history and passion of JDC-Miller Motorsports is a major milestone,” he said. “It’s incredible to be back in the 963 for 2026, es...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA IMSA has established the Balance of Performance for the GTP and GTD Pro/GTD classes ahead of the start of on-track action at Daytona International Speedway. Issued in a technical bulletin on Thursday by the sanctioning body, the first BoP of the 2026 season is effective for next weekend’s Roar Before the Rolex 24 and “applicable until further notice” signaling that it could also be carried over into the Rolex 24 at Daytona race event itself. Unlike previous years, IMSA’s competition department labeled the BoP chart for the “Daytona Roar and Rolex 24 events.” With all LMDh cars having undertaken Evo jokers for the year, and the LMH-based Aston Martin Valkyrie set for its Rolex 24 debut, as well as all cars re-visiting the Windshear wind tunnel for re-certification, the values listed on the chart cannot be directly compared to last year’s figures. Impressively, all five prototypes are separated by just 11 kg in minimum weight. As was typically the c...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Now set for its fifth year, applications are open and being accepted for the 2027-28 IMSA Diverse Driver Development (3D) Scholarship. Up to $300,000 USD in benefits is available to the scholarship recipient with thanks to IMSA and several corporate partners. As in 2026-27, the recipient will be able to select one of four IMSA-sanctioned series in which they can compete. The IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship promotes and empowers drivers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to participate in an IMSA series. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and/or describe how they have overcome obstacles to reach goals. They must possess a strong desire to compete in IMSA, have outstanding previous race results and/or proven on-track potential in junior racing categories, plus the ability to create a compelling strategy to compete in a full season in one of four IMSA-sanctioned series: the WeatherTech Spo...

Photo: Era Motorpsort Former NTT IndyCar Series driver Jacob Abel will join Era Motorsport, filling the third seat in the team’s Oreca 07 Gibson for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, beginning with this month’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona. The former Honda Performance Development Academy driver, who has a previous WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start in an Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 in the GTD class, will pilot the Indianapolis-based team’s LMP2 entry for the five rounds. Abel, who is currently competing in the 2025-26 Asian Le Mans Series season with Vector Sport RLR, will join full season Era driver Naveen Rao and Alpine FIA World Endurance Championship pilot Ferdinand Habsburg, who is also confirmed for the Endurance Cup rounds only. Ex-Formula 1 driver Logan Sargent completes the lineup for Daytona in the No. 18 entry. “I can’t wait to get going in Daytona with the Era Motorsport group,” said Abel. “It’s been a fun experience learning prototype racing, and I’m exc...