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Image: WRT The No. 69 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO will feature a livery in next weekend’s Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas that pays tribute to the 1970s-era BMW E9 3.0 CSL Levi’s car. Revealed on Wednesday, the Anthony McIntosh-led effort, which uniquely features a different design on his LMGT3 entry in each of the eight WEC races this season, will sport the white and red colors of the American clothing company that competed in the European Touring Car Championship and local German series. McIntosh will be joined at the wheel of the car by Parker Thompson and BMW factory driver Dan Harper, who currently sit fifth in the class standings but third in the team order behind the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and No. 91 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo. Image: WRT Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Jenson Brickley FB Reigning TCR Europe champion Jenson Brickley will join Stallion Motorsports for the remainder of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, teaming up with Celso Neto in the No. 77 CUPRA Leon VZ TCR entry. The 22-year-old Englishman will make his IMSA debut following a personal invite from 2025-26 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship recipient Neto. Brickley will sub for team regular Raphael Reis, who is unable to contest the rounds at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta due to previously scheduled racing commitments. Both Brickley and Neto drove for the same team at the Interlagos Super Challenge round of TCR South America, in separate CUPRAs but will unite as co-drivers for the first time. “I have followed Jenson’s career and what he has accomplished in Europe, especially with the CUPRA, and I have a lot of respect for it,” said Neto. “He is a European champion at only 22 years old, and putting us togeth...

Photo: Porsche Porsche has taken the wraps off its new entry-level race car, the 911 Challenge, which will provide a more accessible way to go racing in various sports car racing series globally. Unveiled on Wednesday, the 911 Challenge is largely based on the Porsche 911 GT3 road car, including sharing the same seven-speed PDK gearbox, the steering wheel from the GT3 RS with enhanced, racing-specific functions, and air conditioning. The car, powered by a 4.0-liter six-cylinder boxer engine capable of delivering 508 horsepower, features adjustable driver aid systems such as traction control, ABS and stability control, as well as a multi-stage adjustable Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus system. The 911 Challenge will be eligible to compete in Porsche Sprint and Endurance Challenge North America by Yokohama, Porsche Sprint Trophy Porsche Club of America by Yokohama, and the recently announced Porsche Sprint Trophy Porsche Owners Club, subject to applicable sporting and technical regula...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Kristof Vermeulen/MPS Agency TDS Racing will continue its long-standing partnership with ORECA, having announced that the team will race an Oreca 09 Gibson in when the new LMP2 ruleset debuts in 2028. The decorated French squad, a three-time European Le Mans Series LMP2 championship-winning team, boasts seven class podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and multiple accolades in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, including being the two-time and reigning Michelin Endurance Cup champions in LMP2. It began its relationship with the French constructor in 2015, initially with the Oreca 05 Nissan. “ORECA is an impeccable partner for TDS Racing. Our relationship with the manufacturer from the Var region began in 2011, as soon as we entered LMP2,” said team boss Xavier Combet. “Since then, we have won numerous races and claimed several titles together, on both sides of the Atlantic. “Our collaboration goes far beyond a technical partnership, with a v...

Photo: GT World Challenge Australia Porsche will rejoin the fight for overall honors in GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS in next month’s Sydney Motorsport Park round courtesy of Earl Bamber Motorsport, which has revealed plans to enter a 911 GT3 R in ‘Pink Pig’ colors. EBM will end a two-year absence from the championship in the penultimate round of the season on Sept. 18-20 with a Pro-Am class-entered 991.2-generation 911 GT3 R for series debutants Tom McLennan and Andrew Georgiadis. The No. 81 car will carry a livery paying tribute to the famous Porsche 917 that raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1971, which was revived by the Weissach brand for its Le Mans attack in 2018 and also appeared in the Suzuka 1000km last year. It will be the first time a Porsche has fought in the Pro-Am division since the opening round of 2025 at Phillip Island, although Tigani Motorsport has ensured that the 911 has stayed on the grid this year with a Trophy class effort. ...

Photo: SUPER GT Leading SUPER GT drivers have shared their first impressions of next year’s one-make Bridgestone tires, with Toyota’s reigning champion Sho Tsuboi reporting there is no “dramatic change” from the marque’s current confidential rubber. Bridgestone, which currently supplies all bar two of the 14 cars in the GT500 class, takes over as the top division’s sole supplier beginning next year. Two development tests this month at Fuji and Suzuka have taken place involving the respective test cars of each manufacturer, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. In the most recent test at Suzuka on Monday, which comprised a single three-hour session, Tsuboi shared the No. 90 Toyota GR Supra with Nirei Fukuzumi, the No. 99 Honda HRC Prelude-GT was driven by Tadasuke Makino and Kaku Ohta, and Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi drove the No. 230 Nissan Z NISMO test car. The quickest time of the day was a 1:46.019 set by the Toyota, less than a second shy Yut...

Source: Sports Car 365

Track temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit, an abrasive track surface and long green-flag runs placed a premium on tire consistency and degradation management throughout Sunday’s two-hour 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. For overall winners Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell, the Michelin tires helped the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 stay strong through those demanding conditions. “It’s tough for the tires for sure,” said Caldarelli. “It’s such a hot day, the track is really abrasive, so degradation is not easy. But we had a really, really good car with the tires. “They worked really nice and we didn’t have much degradation, which was what we were really looking for.” That consistency became increasingly important as the race progressed. The final two hours and 20 minutes ran under green, creating extended stints and putting additional emphasis on how well teams could manage tire performance over time. Drivers a...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Pfaff Motorsports gave the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 its second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Sandy Mitchell took the No. 9 Lamborghini to a 1.517-second win over the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Ben Barker to deliver a controlling win for the new-for-2026 GT3 car, only one race after its first victory in global competition at Road America. Pole-sitter Andrea Caldarelli stretched into an early lead following a first-lap full-course caution for a violent accident from the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Alexander Sims, whose GTD Pro entry was nearly overturned after a heavy impact with the tire barriers. While Sims climbed from the car under his own power and was released from the trackside medical center, the final 2 hours and 20 minutes of the two-hour and 40-minute contest ran caution-free. It ma...

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford Will Lucas claimed his first career Mustang Challenge North America victory after title contenders Cole Loftsgard and Devin Anderson collided in dramatic fashion in Race 2 at Virginia International Raceway. Lucas, in the No. 34 Wheelhouse Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse R, finished ahead of second-placed Sandy Satullo in the 45-minute race, which ended under full course caution after a late-race accident for Chris Clarke. There was also drama at the front of the pack early on as the No. 22 TechSport Mustang of Anderson and Loftsgard’s No. 42 Round 3 Racing entry came together while battling for the lead on Lap 5. Loftsgard spun into the Turn 1 grass as a result, with Anderson handed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility, which dropped Anderson to eighth at the time. While Anderson charged back to finish fourth, Loftsgard recovered to third, extending his championship lead despite having his worst finish since Race 2 at WeatherTech Ra...

Photo: Wes Duenkel/Ford Gregory Liefooghe led home a Ford Mustang GT4 1-2 finish following a dramatic conclusion to Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway. Liefooghe, in the No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing Mustang, passed the No. 60 KohR Motorsports entry of Mike Skeen on the inside of Turn 1 with three minutes to go, just moments before the GS championship-leading No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Mustang of Robert Noaker was spun by a Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO and lost pieces of his car’s rear bumper, leading to a caution for debris. The two-hour contest ended under full-course caution as a result. It marked the first IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge win for the longtime California-based team, with Liefooghe sharing driving duties with Sean Quinlan. Additionally, it was the Mustang GT4’s first series win since Road America 2025. Luca Mars and Dillon Machavern took over the GS points lead with a third place resu...

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA Westin Workman regained his spot atop the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GSX field in the first of two 45-minute sprint races at Virginia International Raceway. From pole, the driver of the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 led all 22 laps around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn course. As the race ended under full-course caution, the margin of victory was not reflective of the 14-plus second lead he built prior to the yellow. It’s his eighth win of the season in nine rounds, and a welcome recovery after an early race mechanical issue sidelined him in the second race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Workman sought consistency over the course of the race and regularly gapped his opponents by several tenths per lap. A Lap 7 pass exiting the final turn, Turn 17, netted Caio Chaves second place in the No. 98 Panam Motorsport Toyota ahead of Courtney Crone in third in her No. 35 CarBahn Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 EVO. The Bronze Cup championship battle took a...

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA Danny Formal put the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 on top of the time sheets in the second and final IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice session prior to qualifying for tomorrow’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway. Formal reeled off a 1:45.591 lap time in the GTD class entry to outpace the GTD Pro class pace-setting No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg by 0.062 seconds. The No. 59 Team RLL McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Max Esterson made a late-session improvement to third quickest overall and second in GTD Pro. Andrea Caldarelli and Casper Stevenson completed the top-five in their Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 and DragonSpeed Corvette, respectively. Robby Foley was sixth overall in the Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO, while Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 showed a return to form with Jack Hawksworth credited ...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Fred Vervisch paced the opening practice session for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, leading a 1-2 in the GTD Pro class for the factory Ford Mustang GT3 EVOs. The Belgian in the No. 65 Mustang reeled off a chart-topping 1:46.065 to edge out the GTD pace-setting No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Frederik Schandorff by just 0.003 seconds. Tom Gamble slotted in third quickest overall in the GTD points-leading No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, followed by the No. 64 Multimatic Motorsports-run Mustang of Dennis Olsen in fourth. The GTD Pro championship-leading No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Neil Verhagen completed the overall top-five but had a sizable accident in Turn 14 that brought out the session’s only red flag. Verhagen returned to the track in the final 12 minutes with a fully repaired car after sustaining mostly front bodywork damage in his off-course moment. ...

Photo: Bob Chapman/Ford Wheelhouse Motorsports driver Sandy Satullo was quickest following a pair of practice sessions for this weekend’s Mustang Challenge North America races at Virginia International Raceway. Satullo, in the No. 7 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R, reeled off a chart-topping 1:57.327 in Friday’s second session to outpace Dark Horse points leader Cole Loftsgard by 0.579 seconds. The Round 3 Racing driver’s best time was set in the morning’s 30-minute session, which ran in full dry conditions before heavy rain and thunderstorms blanketed the 3.27-mile circuit in time for IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge’s opening practice. While the second Mustang Challenge practice was shortened by five minutes due to an adjusted schedule, Satullo went quicker in the afternoon running. Will Lucas posted the third quickest time on the combined timesheets in his No. 34 Wheelhouse Mustang, followed by Devin Anderson and Ethan Low, who completed the top-five for Te...

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA Kiko Porto set the quickest time in a rain-affected opening IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge practice session of the day at Virginia International Raceway. The driver of the No. 12 RAFA Racing Team Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 reeled off a pace-setting 1:54.989 lap time on his first flying lap of the session prior to a sudden downpour and red flag at the eight-minute mark of the 60-minute scheduled session. The No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 of Bob Michaelian went off in Turn 14 amid the arrival of heavy rain. The track remained red-flagged for nearly an hour due to multiple strikes of lightning in the area, before IMSA elected to extend the session through the lunchtime break once conditions improved. The session restarted with 53 minutes added to the clock and saw several more incidents in wet track conditions, including an accident for Allen Patten in the No. 66 YRB Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in Turn 1 that brought out a stoppage. Patt...

Photo: Conquest Racing Longtime GT racing driver Cedric Sbirrazzuoli has died at the age of 39. A cause of his death has not yet been disclosed but is understood to not be motorsport-related. News of Sbirrazzuoli’s passing first appeared on AF Corse’s Instagram page on Thursday evening, with the following words: “You were a very talented, determined and professional driver, with that passion and desire to win that only belongs to those who really love racing. “But you were also much more: an authentic, respectful and sunny person, capable of bringing healthy enthusiasm and your own special way of living your passion for motorsport. “It has been a privilege to work and dream together. “Your race stopped too soon. Your memory will keep running forever. We hug your wife, parents and all your loved ones with love.” Sbirrazzuoli, who won the GTD class at the 2024 Motul Petit Le Mans with Conquest Racing, had been a longtime driver and coach i...

Photo: John Dagys ***IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams unloaded on Thursday at Virginia International Raceway for the lone GT-only race of the year. This weekend’s Michelin GT Challenge marks the 10th anniversary of Michelin, the Official Tire of IMSA, serving as the event’s title sponsor, which has seen a large level of activation around the event in the decade since. ***The GR GT3 made its un-camouflaged North American dynamic debut in last week’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with Jack Hawksworth turning laps in the car that’s set to replace the Lexus RC F GT3 next year. Among the interested onlookers included RAFA Racing Team owner Rafael Martinez and team principal Kevin Conway, with the Toyota-affiliated GT4 squad understood to be evaluating a future expansion into the GT3 ranks. ***McLaren’s new MCL-HY LMDh-based prototype, meanwhile, was also on display during Monterey Car Week, in what marke...

Photo: SRO GT racing veteran Andrew Howard will bow out of top-line GT3 competition at the end of the year, it has been announced. The 62-year-old Briton has elected to call time on his full time driving career that yielded two British GT Championship crowns, in 2013 and 2015, when the current series concludes at Brands Hatch next month. He also won the 2016 GTE title in the European Le Mans Series, and made two appearances in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016-17. Howard explained that he is hanging up his helmet mainly because of the changing nature of Pro-Am competition in GT racing, amid the constant arrival of younger and better-prepared FIA Bronze-rated drivers. “In short, despite the competitive fires burning in me just as intensely as 10 or 15 years ago, I just don’t have the time and energy to commit myself 100 percent to racing any more,” he said. “The game has moved on over the past decade and it’s clear that younger Am drivers, who can race weekend after weeke...