Sportscar365’s Team of the Year

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Sportscar365 is recognizing its top competitors and storylines from 2025, with ‘Team of the Year’ next up.

Team of the Year – AO Racing / TF Sport

While coming off its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title in 2024 with its Porsche 911 GT3 R in GTD Pro, AO Racing doubled up this year, not only claiming the LMP2 championship in the WeatherTech Championship but taking the season-long title in the LMP2 Pro-Am ranks of the European Le Mans Series, the latter in partnership with TF Sport.

In fact, the Tom Ferrier-led team, in its second year campaigning Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, won a championship of its own as well, in the ELMS LMGT3 category with drivers Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Hiroshi Koizumi, making it logical to combine the two teams’ efforts into one given the shared resources in the European LMP2 program.

Dane Cameron, Louis Deletraz and team owner PJ Hyett only finished off the LMP2 Pro-Am podium once in the six-round ELMS season, while the trio also scored class victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which came as Hyett’s first-ever win in pro-level racing and kickstarted a four-race consecutive win streak for Cameron and Hyett, when including the ELMS round at Imola and subsequent WeatherTech Championship races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.

Hyett, who had a mixed maiden campaign in LMP2 last year, was arguably the quickest and most consistent Bronze-rated driver on both sides of the pond, with numerous pole positions. Cameron, speaking to Sportscar365 post-season, credited AO’s core engineering team of Scott Besst and Nico Brisseau, who were in both IMSA and ELMS/Le Mans programs, which provided the needed continuity to help Hyett grow into to a completely new level.

Both programs featured ‘Spike’ the dragon on the pair of Oreca 07 Gibsons, although the WeatherTech Championship season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans saw the Gunnar Jeannette-led AO squad celebrate Halloween early by running skeleton versions of both ‘Spike’ and ‘Rexy’ the dinosaur, which famously adorns its Porsche.

With AO’s partnership with TF set to continue next year in the ELMS with an unchanged lineup, and both Cameron and Hyett also returning to the WeatherTech Championship to defend their LMP2 title, the competition could be set for another tough year on both sides of the Atlantic.

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

Honorable Mentions: 

***Following its class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and championship title in the inaugural LMGT3 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Manthey Racing again repeated but with nearly an entirely different lineup in its Porsche 911 GT3 R. Porsche factory ace Richard Lietz claimed back-to-back Le Mans victories, earning his sixth class win in the French endurance classic, alongside Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick. The trio went on to win the season-long WEC championship. The Meuspath-based squad, currently majority owned by Porsche, also achieved success in DTM in taking the teams’ title courtesy of driver Ayhancan Güven winning the drivers’ championship, Thomas Preining placing fourth and Morris Schuring winning ‘Rookie of the Year’ honors in an expanded three-car effort.

***While its second season in WEC Hypercar competition was one to forget, Team WRT was again one of the benchmark squads in GT3 racing globally. The Vincent Vosse-led operation not only were crowned GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS overall champions but also took victories in prestigious endurance races that was pivotal to BMW scoring its first Intercontinental GT Challenge crown. The Belgian squad kicked off the year with its fourth win in the Michelin 24H Dubai, followed up by top honors in the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour and rounding out the IGTC season with victories in the Suzuka 1000km and Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS. The only major GT3 enduro the team didn’t win that it entered was the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

***Paul Sparta’s Random Vandals Racing operation made history in SRO America competition by winning three season-long championships across two series, all in BMW machinery. Kenton Koch and Connor De Phillippi came out on top in the Pro class of GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, whole Koch was the first driver to win titles in both GTWC America and Pirelli GT4 America in the same year, sharing the Silver class championship with Kevin Boehm. Josh Green and Sam Craven, meanwhile, picked up the Pro-Am class championship in GT4 America, meaning the only title the team missed out on was in GT4 America Am, where the ‘chief raccoon’ Sparta finished sixth despite a class win at Road America.

Source: Sports Car 365