IMSA Honors Champions at End-of-Season Ceremony

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

After the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was capped off by record-setting attendance at Motul Petit Le Mans, champions took home their trophies, and special timepieces, at Sunday’s WeatherTech Night of Champions held at Chateau Elan Winery & Resort just a few miles away from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

For the first time, the season champions across all four WeatherTech Championship classes received specially engraved Rolex timepieces at the end of the night’s proceedings.

Those recipients included Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell in GTP, Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett in LMP2, Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims in GTD Pro and Russell Ward and Philip Ellis in GTD.

All the championship-winning elements were highlighted, including the manufacturer, driver and team champions and the Michelin Endurance Cup champions in all four WeatherTech Championship classes.

The Jim Trueman Award (Hyett in LMP2) and Bob Akin Bronze Cup Award (Orey Fidani in GTD) were also presented.

IMSA officially welcomed the newest members of its third Hall of Fame class, including inductees Bob Akin, Dan Gurney, Don Panoz, Rob Dyson, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Bob Tullius and the BMW CSL, Jaguar GTP XJR-5 and XJR-7 and Lola T600 race cars.

Those inductees received an IMSA Hall of Fame medallion in addition to special artwork created by longtime motorsports artist Jim Swintal.

In addition, several special awards were handed out to start the night, including the VP Racing Front Runner Award, Motul Pole Award, CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork & Speed Award, BDO Knows Strategy Award, the Michelin All-Hands for the Win Award, the IMSA Team Marketing Award and IMSA Marketing Achievement Award.

A full rundown of champions honored is below:

WeatherTech Championship Class Champions

GTP: Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell (Driver), Porsche Penske Motorsport No. 6 (Team), Porsche (Manufacturer)
LMP2: Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett (Driver), AO Racing No. 99 (Team)
GTD Pro: Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims (Driver), Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports No. 3 (Team), Chevrolet (Manufacturer)
GTD: Russell Ward and Philip Ellis (Driver), Winward Racing No. 57 (Team), Mercedes-AMG (Manufacturer)

IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Champions

GTP: Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr (Driver), Porsche Penske Motorsport No. 7 (Team), Porsche (Manufacturer)
LMP2: Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea (Driver), TDS Racing No. 11 (Team)
GTD Pro: Dan Harper and Max Hesse (Driver), Paul Miller Racing No. 48 (Team), BMW (Manufacturer)
GTD: Alessandro Pier Guidi, Lilou Wadoux and Simon Mann (Driver), Af Corse No. 21 (Team), Ferrari (Manufacturer)

Trueman/Akin Champions

Jim Trueman Award: PJ Hyett, No. 99 AO Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, LMP2
Bob Akin Bronze Cup Award: Orey Fidani, No. 13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R, GTD

Special Awards

VP Racing Front Runner Award:

GTP: No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R (Chris Mitchum)
LMP2: No. 99 AO Racing Oreca 07 Gibson
GTD Pro: No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO
GTD: No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3

Motul Pole Award:

GTP: Dries Vanthoor, No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8
LMP2: PJ Hyett, No. 99 AO Racing Oreca 07 Gibson
GTD Pro: Giacomo Altoe, No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3
GTD: Jack Hawksworth, No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3

CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork & Speed Award:

Season: No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3

BDO Knows Strategy Award:

Season: No. 99 AO Racing Oreca 07 Gibson

Michelin All-Hands for the Win Award:

GTP: No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963
GTD Pro: No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3

IMSA Team Marketing Award:
Presented to all teams as universal participants as part of Resilient Racers program that debuted at Battle On The Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Physical awards were presented to representatives from Austin Hatcher Foundation and Camp Boggy Creek – IMSA’s two proud charities – who partnered with IMSA for Resilient Racers.

IMSA Marketing Achievement Award:

Season: BDO (Charles Henderson of BDO)

Source: Sports Car 365