# On The Apex > In-depth sportscar analysis and insight on IMSA, FIA WEC, GT World Challenge, and Intercontinental GT Challenge. In your inbox every Wednesday. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/about/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T12:00:44.000Z **Only Endurance is one of the largest, and fastest growing independent sportscar outlets in the paddock. Bringing a 'social media-first' approach to covering the wide world of endurance racing, OE has built a strengthened community across multiple platforms by bringing up-to-date news, insight, and content appealing to new and old fans alike.** The OE name came into force in 2023, created by Tim Fullbrook. Tim has been the man behind every single post, caption, and tweet since then. He now welcomes motorsport journalist Phil Oakley onboard as website editor, with the brand expanding to a new platform. If you wish to contact Only Endurance, please send an email to: hello@onlyendurance.com. ## Team ### Tim Fullbrook - founder/creator Tim is the original founder and creator of Only Endurance, creating all the social media content posted on the page for a number of years, and continues as the primary social media creator. A near-lifelong sportscar fan, discovering the world of endurance racing through the early Gran Turismo games, Tim can still be found sim-racing in his spare time. ### Phil Oakley - editor Phil is a long-time sportscar fanatic. With a poster of the BMW V12 LMR from when he was young (and still owns), he became properly enamoured with the sport after watching Audi's Truth in 24 documentary, focusing on the German manufacturer's win at Le Mans in 2008 with the diesel R10 TDi. Phil is an experienced motorsport journalist, possessing FIA and IMSA accreditation and attending races in Europe, the US, and Asia. Follow Phil on Bluesky at [@peoakley.onlyendurance.com](https://bsky.app/profile/peoakley.onlyendurance.com?ref=ontheapex.com). ### Subscribe to On The Apex URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/subscribe/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T10:42:34.000Z _No content available._ ### Sign in to On The Apex URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/signin/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T10:42:15.000Z _No content available._ ### Become an On The Apex member URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T10:42:02.000Z _No content available._ ### Sign up to On The Apex URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/signup/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T10:41:39.000Z _No content available._ ### TotallyMoney: Making credit score changes make sense URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/totallymoney-score-history/ Last updated: 2026-06-17T15:56:57.000Z *How I redesigned 47 reason codes, to help customers understand why their credit score changes.* 💡 ****Project**: Score history ****Timeline**: Early 2023 ****Platform**: Mobile, Android and iOS ****My role**: Sole content designer ****What I owned**: 47 'reason codes', redesigned from scratch and approved through credit report provider ****Aim**: To clearly communicate the reasons a user's credit score changes, in a clear, accessible way ****Outcome**: Measurable reduction in customer queries to operations team on the subject of score changes, tracked post-launch Credit scores are complicated. They're an algorithmic representation of the contents of your credit report, but knowing how that algorithm works and what causes the score to go up or down is very unclear to the general public. Naturally, we wanted to fix this, to show customers when their score changed, and why. By showing the exact reason it changed, we could help users understand *why* it changed, so they could improve it in the future. This would clearly involve a lot of explanatory UX copy. It would have to explain complex topics simply and clearly, in a limited amount of characters and space on a mobile screen. ## What we were dealing with This is what the existing 'score history' feature looked like in the TotallyMoney app. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/IMG_6683_025229.png) It only really showed a literal history of the user's score, captured whenever the user logged in, or when the TotallyMoney service pulls the score. No reasons why or visual representation, or even if it went up or down. Just a list of scores and dates. This clearly was not serving user needs, as customers had no way of knowing why their score changed. ## Explanatory UX copy It quickly emerged that a large part of this project would entail rewriting the 'reason code' copy that TransUnion (TU), the credit report provider TotallyMoney partners with, uses in the API for this feature. When a user's score changes, TU is able to find the reason - usually - and the change gets a code with a reason attached. This might be related to credit usage, the electoral register, new accounts, or (un)missed payments. Whatever the reason, TU had some copy that, for TotallyMoney's purposes, needed rewriting. The rewritten reason codes would be lighter in tone and voice, simple to understand, and accessible. They'd either congratulate the user for positive score movements, or be in a supportive voice if their score had decreased. I decided, along with the rest of the team working on this project, that they'd also be shorter and less wordy than TU's versions. We only had limited space on screen and we knew from both our own research and wider public research that app users only tend to read the first few words of a sentence, or glance at it. Each of the 47 reason codes needed to be simple, engaging, and accessible. ## Rewriting the reasons It was clear from the start of this project that there would have to be some overarching guidelines and standards, to govern the 47 reason codes and make them consistent with each other. I decided that in general, the positive score changes would have a light celebratory tone. The negative score changes, on the other hand, would be supportive and motivational. However, as TotallyMoney is not allowed by regulation to give advice, the reasons would have to stay factual and give information only, at all times. I also decided to try and limit the length to 3 lines if possible, as designed in Figma, for all the reasons. ****TU version** **Your score has improved because the percentage utilisation of your revolving credit has decreased.* The above was TU's original copy for one of the reason codes, for a positive score change due to credit usage. Verbose and very inaccessible. ****My rewrite** **You used less of your available credit than in previous months. Well done!* Another one: ****TU version** **Your score has improved because the number of months since any of your accounts have been 2+ months in arrears has increased.* For customers whose financial literacy may be low, this might not be understandable at all. Part of the issue was the repetition of 'months', which introduced two time periods and just made the whole thing confusing. Another one of my overriding guidelines for the whole project was to have only one timeframe in each rewritten reason code. This decision greatly improved the clarity and made the reasons immediately easier to digest and understand. ****My rewrite** **You've been keeping your payments on track recently. Great job!* It could be argued some of the detail has been removed here, specifically in relation to the '2+ months' part. But I would argue the customer may not be interested in that; the part they care about is whether they've been keeping up with payments, and the fact it's improved their score. And besides, the UI card in the app feature is clickable and takes them through to a screen where they can see a visual representation of their missed payment history. Adding more detail in here would have just made it too busy and hard to understand. And now a 'negative' one, where a user's score has decreased: ****TU version** **Your score has worsened because you have opened new accounts in the last 24 months. Opening new accounts indicates an appetite for credit and this may increase the risk of missing payments.* While this is largely understandable, it's not supportive or engaging at all. This kind of message may turn the user off from using the app altogether. So I rewrote it with my guidelines in mind: ****My rewrite** **In the past two years, you opened a new credit account. Opening too many too frequently can have a negative impact on your score.* The electoral register also contributes to score changes. The TU copy for this negative change was also particularly verbose: ****TU version** **Your score has worsened because the length of time on the Electoral Roll at your current address is less than that recorded 3 months ago.* So I rewrote it to be clearer and simpler: ****My rewrite** Being on the electoral register at your current address for less than 6 months can have a temporary negative impact on your score. While still quite long, the message in my rewritten copy is more understandable and accessible, especially when reading at a glance. It's also more supportive, as the word 'temporary' is doing a lot of work, which TU had not included. ## Working within the API constraints Each of the rewritten 47 reason codes needed approval from TU, which threw up some interesting challenges. Generally speaking, their feedback fell into a few consistent themes. In a few places, terminology needed to be more consistent, for example 'county court judgment' becoming just 'judgment' to cover other types of legal record. In a handful of cases, TU corrected TotallyMoney's collective interpretation of what a specific code was actually measuring. This meant in those cases, I needed to rewrite the copy from scratch around a different premise. There were also some occasions where the content I'd written strayed into financial advice territory. As TotallyMoney cannot give financial advice by regulation, this needed fixing before the feature went live to customers. I corrected these instances to simply give the facts, rather than telling a customer, or even implying, which actions to take. Finally, TU occasionally pushed for more explanatory detail than I had originally included. Adding more information made the content longer than I had intended, so in many of these cases I pushed back against TU's feedback, or found a compromise. In each instance here, negotiation was required. I had to balance TU's requirements against my own guidelines and boundaries, to keep the content short, accessible and compliant with TotallyMoney's own legal team, who were involved in the process throughout. ## Responding to customer feedback When the feature went live, it quickly became a key feature in the TotallyMoney app. It served user needs - *why has my score changed?* \- and was well designed, both the visual product side and the written side. It significantly reduced customer support queries, because instead of needing to ask why their score had changed, they could see directly in the app. 🗣️ **App easy to use and helpful to see how your credit score evolve. They show the score history and you can see what influence your credit rating.* [Paul Ursu, Trustpilot](https://uk.trustpilot.com/reviews/626fb4f6f03a9893e9810fcb?ref=ontheapex.com) 🗣️ **I can now see movement month since l first started using back in 2020 which is great, but what's more, I get summary of the potential reasons for the change and can drill down in to more detail.* Lockmonstors, iOS App Store However, not all the feedback we received was positive. Specifically, one reason code, around credit usage, was causing issues. Multiple customers were getting in touch because the copy we were using, approved by TU, implied they were getting close to their total credit limit, when in fact they weren't. While this was technically true, what I'd neglected to mention was this change actually took place 6 months prior. So, while their credit usage may have increased 6 months ago, it affected the score 6 months later, making customers think their usage was increasing when we told them, and not 6 months ago. I used multiple bits of customer feedback, plus spoke with TU, to figure out how to reword this to be more understandable, while still within TU's API constraints. That ended up with the wording going from: ****My original rewrite** **You’re getting close to your overall credit limit. Using too much credit can have a negative impact on your score.* To: ****Final version after customer feedback** **Six months ago, your credit usage, excluding any mortgages, increased. This higher usage has had a negative impact on your score.* ## The outcome Since launch in Q2 2023, hundreds of thousands of customers have used score history to find out why their score goes up or down. It is also a significant driver to have customers download the app, as it is a mobile app exclusive. Below is a visual representation of the feature, with the timeline/graph and the reason codes below it for each score change. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/current-month---multiple-changes@2x.png) There are times when TU cannot find a reason for a score change, typically if the change is less than 5 points. In these instances we display a message relaying this to the user. ## What I learned and what I'd improve As I was given fairly rigid existing content, it was sometimes difficult to get the meaning of the original TU copy across, while hitting the right tone and level of detail to meet the overall feature's aims. If I was doing this project again with the knowledge I have now, I'd come at it from a slightly different angle of storytelling for the user's score. Rather than treating each reason code in isolation, I'd have framed them as a narrative. This would begin with where the user's score started, the journey that shaped it, and where it stands now. This approach would make the score history more personal for each user, better fulfilling the user need of helping them intimately understand the reasoning behind their score changes. TotallyMoney's tone has also changed a bit since this project, so I'd refresh the copy accordingly. Over time it has become more supportive and helpful, so especially for the negative score changes, I would aim to reflect that more, encouraging the user that small dips to credit scores are perfectly normal. Thanks for reading. ### TotallyMoney: How to improve your credit score URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/totallymoney-improve/ Last updated: 2026-06-10T20:06:12.000Z 💡 ****Project**: Credit score improvement ****Timeline**: Ongoing from 2021 ****Platform**: Mobile, Android and iOS ****My role**: Sole content designer ****What I owned**: Designed eligibility factor content, next best action content, and Improve tab detail pages ****Aim**: To give users tangible ways to improve their credit score, delivered through simple, clear, accessible content ****Outcome**: Thousands of users improving their credit score each month, with tens of thousands viewing the 'Improve tab' "How do I improve my credit score?" is one of the most-asked questions on UK financial forums and in the r/ukpersonalfinance subreddit. No matter that improving your score in and of itself is largely pointless, since it's a gamefied engagement feature to keep you coming back to use whatever app you're using to check it. People want to improve it because when it goes up, you get that hit of dopamine. It feels like you're making progress. I suppose if anything, it confirms the engagement tactic works. During my 5 years and 8 months at TotallyMoney, I worked on multiple projects on how to help users improve their credit score in the app. One of these I've already written about, looking at score history. [TotallyMoney: Making credit score changes make senseExplaining credit score changes to customers in a simple, accessible way.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Hello 👋 I'm PhilPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/New-feature---non-app_035931.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/totallymoney-score-history/) But in this post I want to focus more on the improvement itself, and the features I was involved in building from a content design and UX perspective. ## Eligibility factors The first version of what became known as the 'Improve tab' in the TotallyMoney app featured the 'eligibility factors', which showed customers what they could do to improve their credit score. 💡 ****The age of your accounts** Your oldest account is 20 months old. Having an account older than 12 months is typically seen as evidence of financial stability. 💡 ****Your credit usage** You've used 47% of your available credit. Keep it below 25% if you can, as lenders prefer you not to be close to your credit limit. It was important to me, when writing the copy for these, that they were as helpful as possible while sticking to the facts. Like other credit brokers and credit reporting services, TotallyMoney is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This means that TotallyMoney is not allowed, legally, to give financial advice. The eligibility factors - their internal name - had to be entirely factual. We couldn't say things like 'You should try to keep your credit usage below 25%' or 'Don't close your oldest account, as this shows stability to lenders', because we're encouraging or telling the user to do something. As a result, the factors had to be positioned very carefully. The content had to present the facts and let users make up their own mind about what to do as a result. The content of these factors were essentially a prototype for what came next. One problem with them was the header copy. While it signposted what users could expect to find in the card body – good for at-a-glance skim reading – it wasn't readable on its own. When reading it you can't immediately know what to do; it needs the body content for the actual 'facts'. ## Rewriting the factors and 'next best action' While the first version of the factors were getting good feedback from customers, they was more we could do. Around a year after the eligibility factors release, we started work on upgrading the feature to add in 'next best action'. This is powered by an API provided by TotallyMoney's credit report provider, TransUnion (TU), to show users the next action they can take which will have the biggest impact on their credit score. Alongside needing to design new content for each next best action, this also offered an opportunity for me to rewrite what we already had, fixing the problems raised above and improving the tone of each and making them impactful and actionable. 💡 ****Oldest account is 20 months old** Keep this account open if you can. The older an account, the more stable you may be seen by lenders. This is clearly more understandable than the 'oldest account' content above. It's more succinct, has the info you need to know in the header than in the body, has a suggestion, which did not qualify as advice, and a reason why it improves your score. It's also in a more supportive and empathetic tone. Some users may not be able to keep their oldest account open, for entirely understandable reasons. While we can't address each user's individual situation, we can try and be encouraging and understanding. 💡 ****Using 47% of your available credit** Check your usage. Keep it below 25% if can, as this looks good to lenders. This one for credit usage fixes many of the same issues. The header tells you exactly what you need to know, and the body says what you need to do. I also changed the 'lenders' bit on recommendation from TotallyMoney's compliance team, who preferred the new wording. Because the new credit report overview tab had now been developed – which I was also involved with – tapping on the cards would now take users through to see their credit usage, missed payments, electoral register status, or a number of other factors contributing to their credit score. This meant that the content on each card just needed to give a high level overview, rather than more detail. ### Next best action On the other hand, next best action was a whole different ballgame. Much like in the score history project, TU provided us with some copy that needed rewriting and formatting to suit TotallyMoney's tone of voice and the digital space we had on screen. ****Original TU copy** **Having a credit account (e.g. a credit card), where you can demonstrate that you can spend and manage repayments within an agreed credit limit, can help to improve your credit score. However, we recognise that credit accounts are not always needed, or appropriate, but it is helpful to understand how such a facility could positively contribute to your credit score.* Clearly this could be improved upon. Like with score history, I put in place guidelines on writing these so they'd be a consistent set, although you'd only ever see one at a time. They also had to be consistent with the rewritten eligibility factors, as the two sets would be appearing on the screen at the same time. Each next best action should contain, in some way or form, an action for the user to take. Clearly not being able to give financial advice would make this tricky, and would require working closely with TotallyMoney's own legal and compliance team, plus with TU, as they would need to approve the content and the wider implementation of the API. Alongside this, each next best action would be supportive, encouraging, relatable, and optimistic in some way. These themes run throughout TotallyMoney's global tone of voice, which I was deeply involved in setting up, on the product side, throughout my time at the company. ****My rewritten version** ***Get an account with a credit limit** **Responsibly using an account with a credit limit can help improve your score, as you can show you’re a reliable borrower. However, think carefully whether you need credit before applying.* To make the next best action messages consistent with the eligibility factors, I added a header to each. Due to the inclusion of the last sentence, a requirement from both compliance teams, this didn't qualify as financial advice. The first sentence in the body copy was entirely factual and in line with TU's original content, albeit clearer and more concise. **Your profile suggests that you may be finding it difficult to make your repayments. If so, you may find it useful to contact your lender(s) to discuss what options are available to you. Wherever possible try to make your repayments on time, as missed payments can significantly impact your credit score and how lenders view you.* While this next best action message from TU is understandable, it's quite wordy and could be clearer. It could also be more supportive and empathetic. 💡 ****My rewrite:** ***Contact lenders about missed payments** **If you're struggling to make payments on time, contact your lender(s). They may be able to help set up a payment plan that works for you. A missed payment can impact your score for up to 16 months.* The problem with missed payments is there's very little an app like TotallyMoney can actually help with. It's up to the user to talk to lenders and figure something out, ultimately. But what we can do is be understanding, supportive, and present the facts and options. For the last sentence, which isn't in TU's original version, I asked TU for the data, as I wanted to demonstrate how damaging a missed payment can be, while still presenting it in a supportive tone. TU version **You are using more than 50% of the available balance on 3 of your accounts. Reducing the balance on these accounts to below 50% of the available credit would help to improve your credit score.* ****My rewrite** ***Try to use less credit** **Try to reduce the balance on 3 of your accounts using over 50% of your available credit. This could help improve your eligibility.* The key thing to note here is how the message has been flipped to make it more immediately actionable. The user can see the accounts using over 50% of their limit on the credit usage screen in the app; we don't need to tell them. Instead, the message becomes actionable and active, with the second sentence telling them the effect it might have. ### Content design case studies portfolio URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/content-design-case-studies-portfolio/ Last updated: 2026-06-10T20:27:56.000Z Over the 5 and a half years I worked at TotallyMoney, I established the content design function, developing standards and guidelines, becoming the sole point of contact for product content. In this time I worked on content in most areas of the app, including the homepage, credit report overview, score history, the Improve tab, and the offers experience. Working as the sole content designer meant owning the content end to end across each project, collaborating directly with product designers, PMs, engineers, and researchers to ship complete features. This involved designing content within a tightly regulated space, working closely with legal and compliance stakeholders to ensure content remained both compliant and genuinely useful to customers. The features I worked on have helped thousands of customers improve their credit score or be accepted for a credit product, with the app used by hundreds of thousands of customers each month. ## Feature case studies [TotallyMoney: Making credit score changes make senseExplaining credit score changes to customers in a simple, accessible way.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--ff2a32a0-44ec-4948-9357-20e5ab8deddd.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/New-feature---non-app_035931-051a292a-6399-4e0d-8d27-4012dc522d4e.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/totallymoney-score-history/) [TotallyMoney: How to improve your credit scoreMaking credit score improvement accessible and understandable, with personalised insights and actions to take.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--db105524-e01d-4b86-8efb-f5295f05476f.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Screenshot_20260508-224747-1-73920a65-87cd-45f6-b811-7bb33df3f20a.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/totallymoney-improve/) ## Posts ### Ferrari and Peugeot test new 2027 Hypercars URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-499p-peugeot-9x8-test-new-2027-wec-hypercars/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T09:42:11.000Z We've still got 4 races left of the 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship season, albeit shorter in racing hours due to the war in the Middle East, but two Hypercar manufacturers have already started testing their new challengers for 2027. ## Ferrari - 499P Evo testing Ferrari announced at Le Mans that the 499P would be getting a major update in 2027, using 3 jokers. The car's been competing essentially unchanged, apart from a joker to address and improve brake cooling, since 2023\. So with most of the Italian manufacturers' rivals having brought updated cars in 2026, the 3-times Le Mans winner and current world championship car was due an update. Quite what these updates are addressing, we don't know - Ferrari remained coy on that subject, understandably. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Ferrari_499P_0555_4ee55087-be0b-4e74-816d-e1d2baf6784f.jpg) The 2027 Ferrari 499P testing at Monza on Tuesday. Image: Ferrari But, they've been out testing the new car at Monza on Tuesday, adorned in camouflage livery which is doing a good job of obscuring the details. Antonio Giovinazzi, Antonio Fuoco, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Miguel Molina did the driving, with James Calado and Nicklas Nielsen seemingly absent. Ferrari'll be testing again on Thursday, so keep an eye out online for more photos. It seems the entire rear end is getting an update, with a very different diffuser (unpictured by Ferrari, but unofficial shots show this) and a stepped 'H' rear wing. The area behind the front wheel also seems different, with the mounting for the wing mirror seemingly having some changes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Ferrari_499P_00624_72dc5a20-9dbb-4e3a-863f-b75e22370fcd.jpg) The 2027 Ferrari 499P testing at Monza on Tuesday. Image: Ferrari Of course, the updates could be to things under the bodywork - suspension, transmission, engine, cooling, etc. But it seems reasonable to expect that at least 1 is an aero update. I'll try and do some more analysis of this at some point. I'm interested in the rear end updates and changes behind the front wheels. Like Toyota's changes, in an era of Balance of Performance nullifying some updates, the aim is probably to make the car more driveable and raceable, reducing tyre wear or increasing top and/or cornering speeds. While BoP can restrict engine power, it can't restrict how efficient your aerodynamics are, which is largely what Toyota's updates for this year aimed to do, and achieved. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Monza-test-rv----01055-edited-v3_bf6591df-9f9e-4f8b-940c-3852e78687f6.jpg) The 2027 Ferrari 499P testing at Monza on Tuesday. Image: Ferrari ## Peugeot - a new, new 9X8 Poor old Peugeot have been through the doldrums. They entered WEC in 2022 with a radical, ambitious, rear wing-less car. Instead of having a rear wing generating downforce and pushing the rear tyres into the track, it used ground effect to generate areas of high pressure and suck the car towards the ground. Unfortunately, for reasons both within and without Peugeot's control, it didn't work as intended on-track. Just goes to show what works in the wind tunnel/CFD/simulator doesn't always work in the real world. Anyway, they introduced a new car in 2024, adding a rear wing and making a whole host of other changes, which supposedly - they refuse to confirm this - used all 5 of their allowed jokers in one go. However, the regulations say a manufacturer can homologate two cars in the homologation period. It's believed this is what Peugeot have done for 2027. The only image Peugeot have shared of this is a fairly obscured CGI shot of the new car in raw carbon fibre. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Peugeot-9X8-Development.png) The only image shared by Peugeot of the 2027 Peugeot 9X8\. Image: Peugeot But if you look online you'll find images of the car testing at Paul Ricard this week. Those images show a fairly conventional-looking LMH/LMDh car, at least compared to both versions of the 9X8, the 2022 car and the 2024 machine. It has a standard rear wing and fin arrangement, a conventional splitter and front nose section, unlike the current 9X8, standard side pods and entries for cooling, and a 'normal' or regular diffuser arrangement. Perhaps most notably, the 'tail' of the car seems to be quite long, harking back to 'long tail' cars of previous decades. It'll be interesting to see if this stays on the car next year. What I worry about for Peugeot here is that they're going to be behind the curve yet again. With the exception of the long tail, this is what the Ferrari 499P and Toyota whatever-they're-calling-it-this-year looked like two years ago. They've moved on since then considerably - just see above for Ferrari, or look at the current Toyota TR010 compared to the old GR010. It's still early in development so maybe there's more to come from Peugeot. Let's hope so. I'd like nothing more than to see them fighting at the front in WEC. That said, I've heard the new car broke down this week at Paul Ricard. Not a particularly good sign of things to come... 😬 ### Charging in 4 minutes: InMotion's electric Le Mans dream URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/charging-in-4-minutes-inmotions-electric-le-mans-dream/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T13:38:09.000Z Hydrogen-powered cars may be the technological fashion at the moment, but we mustn't forget about all-electric cars either. Formula E's rapid progress in the last decade or so, from cars slower than a Formula 3 car which couldn't hold enough charge for a race distance, meaning drivers had to swap cars mid-race, to the 'Gen 4', due to be introduced later this year, which the series [says](https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/formula-e-gen4-unleashed?ref=ontheapex.com) will be similar-ish in performance levels to Formula 1, has been meteoric. But the challenge for battery electric racing cars now isn't necessarily speed. It's longevity and endurance. And one team is working on that very challenge, with the dream to race their fully electric car at Le Mans in the Garage 56 class in the future. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/InMotion-Action-Pictures.jpg) InMotion's car, named the Revolution, is based on a modified Ginetta G58 LMP3 chassis. Image: InMotion ## Resetting the aim I originally spoke to the team behind InMotion, at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, way back in 2019\. Unfortunately the website I wrote that article for no longer exists, but the gist of it was their aim to race at Le Mans in 2023 with a battery electric car, in Garage 56. Obviously that didn't happen. Instead the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 NASCAR raced in the experimental or innovative class that year, becoming an immediate fan favourite. And, before that, team members in 2015 were targeting a 2017 entry to the race, according to an article by [Motorsport.com](https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/electric-le-mans-racer-eyes-garage-56-entry/651017/?ref=ontheapex.com). So there is a degree of scepticism here. Multiple targets have been continually missed. [How Ferrari came within seconds of victory at InterlagosJames Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi started 11th in the #51 Ferrari. 6 hours later they finished 2nd on the podium. How?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--63aafcf9-b4fc-41a0-9286-0d2abc8edf34.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Calado-DPPI-Image-00004738-f614f5eb-9571-48ec-a27c-236f39a66a84.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-interlagos-second-place-analysis/) But, current team manager Niek van Dam is keen to note the unachievable aims set by InMotion alumni. Note that because all team members are students, these are different team members than when I spoke to InMotion 7 years ago. 'We've hurt ourselves a bit in the past by setting timelines that were just unrealistic,' said van Dam. 'We're a student team. Every year we switch over, so we're not an official racing team with 20 years of experience in the industry. We really don't want to say 'we'll be there in a couple of years.' It's a dream for us, especially because it's such a cool event, and it really showcases our technology in the harshest conditions.' In 2019, the team had recently acquired a Ginetta G58 LMP3 chassis and was equipping it with their battery electric technology, instead of the V8 engine usually inside one of these cars. Currently, they still have this car, now with the battery and electric motors inside the car. Van Dam explains more: 'We worked on our battery pack for three or four years, and now it's in the car. Our car is the Revolution, a Ginetta G58\. 'We took the V8 out of it and built the battery pack and the cooling systems into the car. Right now we're driving and testing with this car. 'This year we're building a more reliable and more robust version of the battery pack, because we had some challenges in previous years and we've tried to tackle those and take them into account in the new pack.' 'We were still deciding on our battery cell partner. We've since switched to a different one, Desten. We're currently able to charge in 4 minutes. We're trying to get as close as possible to a regular refuelling time, like you'd do at Le Mans.' 'For racing, Le Mans is our end goal, our dream, but it's still far off. It's 24 hours of endurance racing and we're not quite there yet. 'So our first goal is to drive a one-hour race in the near future, and then afterwards we're going to aim for a four-hour endurance race. That way we gradually build up towards the 24 Hours of Le Mans,' he said. 0:00 /0:09 1× The InMotion Revolution in action at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Video: InMotion ## 1 hour race the aim for now When I spoke to previous team members in 2019, the aim was charging in 2 minutes for a 10-lap stint at Le Mans, with lap times around the 4:12 mark. For now at least, the charging time aim has dropped to 4 minutes, double the original goal. A regular Le Mans pitstop is around a minute and a half for a 'full service ', driver, tyres and fuel, so even 2 minutes is a substantial increase on that, let alone 4, well over double. For context, the current Hypercars lap the track in the race at around the 3:26 mark. The LMP2s are around 13-14 seconds slower than that on average, while the LMGT3s are a further 20 seconds off. So compared to their competition, even if they were running to GT3 pace, as is the aim, they'd lose more than 2 minutes in the pits every stop. At Le Mans that's a bit more than half a lap. At a track like Zandvoort, they'd lose well over a lap. With Le Mans being re-targeted as a dream for now, Van Dam didn't disclose current lap time targets for the French endurance classic, or stint length. This one hour race will be in the [Supercar Challenge](https://www.supercarchallenge.nl/?ref=ontheapex.com) series, which has a range of classes within it and races twice a year at Circuit Zandvoort, roughly two hours from Eindhoven. 'We're aiming to enter the Supercar Challenge,' said van Dam. 'It doesn't have many regulations, which makes it easier for us to take part. They do have different classes, and the closest one to us is something like GT3, but we don't really fit into any existing class. 'They're looking at how to make it work safely, and they're trying to get to the point where they let us race, rather than just slotting us into a category that doesn't really fit. It'll end up being something similar to Garage 56 at Le Mans in that sense. We're aiming to have GT3-level race pace.' [GT3’s creator on why its own success is its biggest riskStephane Ratel tells On The Apex about the paradox between GT3’s unparalleled success as a sportscar ruleset, and how that could lead to its own downfall if left unchecked.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--2b75891b-ea9f-43d6-9c9c-7030b3eff752.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Stephane-GTWC-Europe--1--1-c38c92e7-d629-4122-aa55-74c21aeeb757.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gt3-creator-stephane-ratel-sro-success-biggest-risk/) ## The tech So, how are the InMotion team achieving those 4 minute recharging times? I'll let van Dam explain. 'The battery pack consists of eight modules, and each module has 48 cells. We don't make the cells ourselves; we get them from our partner. What we do is cool in between each individual cell: we add a cooling layer, and because of the large surface area, the heat comes out very quickly. That's how we cool it. 'Each module runs at 200 volts. The cells themselves are 4.2 volts each. We combine two strings of four modules, which is why the battery runs at 800 volts in total.' 'One module is around 36 kilograms. The whole car, everything included, comes to around 1,300 kilograms, which is significant. It adds a lot of load to the back of the car, because the monocoque is at the front and the battery is at the back, that makes the car more difficult to drive.' A Ginetta G58 usually weighs around 900kg, so 400kg extra is a significant, considerable amount to add on to the car. Regarding power levels, the team says the two electric motors, one on each rear wheel, can deliver peak power of 324kW to the rear wheels, while the battery pack is 800 volts. This gives a top speed of around 320kph (just under 199mph). However, during that one-hour Supercar Challenge race, the car would have to stop twice to recharge, at 4 minutes each, or maybe even three times. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/InMotion-Press-Kit-1.jpg) The car currently takes 4 minutes to charge its battery. Image: InMotion 'Every four minutes, yes,' said Van Dam when I asked how long a stop would take during the one-hour race. 'It's quite something to hear from the simulations. We catch up to everybody during the actual driving time, then we go into the pits and lose that back. The other cars in the series have a rule that they have to pit at least once too, so compared to them we effectively have one extra stop to make up time on elsewhere.' ## The challenges of racing Ahead of the Supercar Challenge race in what van Dam termed as 'the near future', unwilling to put a date on it and not set expectations, he told me there are multiple hurdles to overcome first. 'Both endurance-based and performance-based challenges, really, from both perspectives,' he said. 'On the performance side, the regular fuel cars we'll be racing against aren't electric, so they can drive an hour without having to refuel. With our current capacity, we'd have to charge maybe two or even three times in an hour, so we'd have relatively more downtime than them. That's really our biggest hurdle performance-wise. On track itself, we can drive the same speeds, if not faster, than our competitors in that race.' 'For endurance, we're really noticing two main things: the reliability of the battery pack, which we hope to have resolved with the second iteration, and the system integration and embedded software. 'There's so much software involved, and our error handling is such a tricky component. We hope to have these challenges dealt with by the end of the year, but we really don't know exactly when the race itself will happen.' [Exclusive: The inside story of FIA WEC’s return to SilverstoneSilverstone exited the WEC calendar in 2019 amid the global pandemic and contract uncertainties. Its return in 2027 is a story of relationship-building and collaboration.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--9064420a-87a6-4ca7-b48a-a44a5d412de6.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPI-02119010-355-1-829b217c-bc15-41f9-bbe6-e5ce953a3cf9.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/silverstone-fia-wec-return-inside-story/) This second battery pack iteration, replacing the one currently in the back of the Ginetta G58, has been designed to fix the problems with the first iteration InMotion built with their battery partners, Desten. Van Dam told me the new pack would be 'more robust.' I asked him to explain what that means. 'Partly mechanical,' he said. 'It's also about testing and understanding more. The error-handling and software challenges we're facing for the one-hour race are still things we're working through, and we've never driven longer than 20 to 30 minutes continuously, so we don't really know what to expect over four hours. 'We don't know, for instance, whether temperatures gradually build up over that time and start affecting performance. There's still a lot unknown. We hope that once the next battery pack, which we're building right now, is in the car, we'll get more clarity on what's ahead.' 0:00 /0:22 1× The InMotion Revolution in action at Circuit Zolder. Video: InMotion ## The realities of a student team InMotion is a purely student team, with the members working on the project alongside the studies. Van Dam, for instance, is studying for an MSc in Operations Management & Logistics. This means the team will rotate again in September when a new cohort of students starts work on the InMotion project. 'Every year we start in September with a completely new team,' said Van Dam. 'We run full transfer weeks, two of them, plus handover days, where new team members work alongside the outgoing team to absorb their knowledge. At the start of every year, you notice the team ending has a lot of knowledge, and the new one doesn't yet. 'What we do is keep a big alumni network of former team members, and they come back, every Wednesday, for example, to give advice and pass on their knowledge to the new team. 'That way we try to keep the knowledge within the team and keep growing, instead of starting from zero every year. There's also a lot of documentation. Big decisions and engineering choices are all written down.' 'But you do notice there's an exponential growth in efficiency and development pace throughout the year, as the new team gets further into it. That's also part of the beauty of it, though. You're teaching a group of 25 students not just how to build and run a car, but how to actually apply what they've learned during their studies, in reality.' When I spoke to the team in June, they were almost 10 months in, so they're now 11 months into the project, well into the knowledge transfer process for the incoming team. 'We're really busy trying to hit our goals before the end of the term. We've already started transferring knowledge to the incoming team.' My final question was on how this process works. Getting deeply into an exciting project, but having to stop working actively on it after a year. 'Honestly, it's bittersweet,' said van Dam. 'But you know it's coming, and every team goes through it, so you're aware of it going in. There are also alumni groups you can join, so you stay in contact and stay informed about the project, just not as deeply involved as before.' While the project is, at least in my mind, genuinely interesting, multiple deadlines have been missed in the past. Put this together with the current team unwilling to put a date on when they'll race in Supercar Challenge, I am somewhat uncertain of whether InMotion will reach Le Mans. Especially since currently the Ginetta-based Revolution hasn't run for more than 20 or 30 minutes continuously. But, the world's premier 24 hour race was founded on the premise of technological development, and while that may be less of a focus for the established manufacturers and cars today, it's still an important part of the race's history and future. And an all-electric prototype would fit right in there. Let's hope it happens. ### How Ferrari came within seconds of victory at Interlagos URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-interlagos-second-place-analysis/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T12:06:03.000Z The fourth round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Sao Paulo was a race dictated by strategy, with all 8 Hypercar manufacturers relatively closely packed together on pace around the 4.309km circuit. But one car came through the field and seemed well-placed to take victory, right up until the last few laps: the #51 Ferrari of James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi. Let's take a look at how the trio achieved a second-place finish, just over 2 seconds adrift of the winning #15 BMW. ## Stellar pace No two ways about it: Ferrari were quick in Sao Paulo. When you look at the 20% average pace, the two factory Ferraris were both quicker than the #15 BMW, although by incredibly small margins. 2026 WEC Sao Paulo 6H Hypercar 20% pace#12 Cadillac#38 Cadillac#35 Alpine#009 Aston Martin#36 Alpine#50 Ferrari#51 Ferrari#15 BMW#83 AF Corse Ferrari#007 Aston Martin#19 Genesis#17 Genesis#7 Toyota#20 BMW#94 Peugeot#8 Toyota#93 Peugeot1:26.0231:26.165, +0.1421:26.184, +0.0191:26.203, +0.0191:26.260, +0.0571:26.265, +0.0051:26.285, +0.0201:26.290, +0.0041:26.311, +0.0221:26.356, +0.0451:26.422, +0.0661:26.425, +0.0021:26.476, +0.0511:26.495, +0.0191:26.515, +0.0201:26.522, +0.0071:26.630, +0.1081:26.0001:26.1001:26.2001:26.3001:26.4001:26.5001:26.600 It should be noted that Cadillac were the quickest team on average, specifically the #12 car. Alpine too were quick, and Aston Martin were right up there. All three weren't able to take victory for various reasons: Cadillac dropped the ball on pitstops and were changing tyres more frequently than rivals (which may be contributing to having faster pace); Alpine gambled on a strategy requiring a safety car that never came; and both Aston Martin's cars started too far down the order after lacklustre qualifying. ## Giovinazzi does the hard yards The #51 Ferrari started 11th in the hands of Giovinazzi. By the second lap he was up to 9th, and by the end of his first stint in the car, on lap 43, he was up to fourth, although this was partially due to the pit stop cycle. Once the cycle had shuffled out, he'd dropped back to 11th. Methodically, the Italian worked his way back up to 2nd by lap 85, before handing the car over to teammate Pier Guidi. During that first 43-lap stint, Giovinazzi's pace was around half a second off the leading #12 Cadillac of Will Stevens. The gap to Stevens, meanwhile over those 43 laps, did widen, but Giovinazzi was able to keep it relatively stable, closing at 11.7 seconds on lap 41, before either car pitted. After the stops had shaken out the order, Ferdinand Habsburg in the #35 was leading. Again Giovinazzi was able to keep the gap stable, just under 30 seconds adrift of the lead, while moving up to second by the end of the stint. 2026 WEC Sao Paulo 6HHypercar lap chart laps 1-85GridL10L20L30L40L50L60L70L80P1P2P3P4P5P6P7P8P9P10P11P12P13P14P15P16P171238361550359419830071751893009207P1P2P3P4P5P6P7P8P9P10P11P12P13P14P15P16P17 ## Pier Guidi's charge forwards When Pier Guidi replaced Giovinazzi on lap 86, he fell back to seventh after an 84.6 second stop. During his first stint in the car he was able to retake second. He closed the gap up to one of the leading cars, the #15 BMW of Raffaele Marciello, massively, from 20 seconds when he climbed in to 3.1 when he climbed out on lap 159. 2026 WEC Sao Paulo 6H Gap evolution laps 85-15915355135+90.9s51+3.1s150.0s (ref)L90L100L110L120L130L140L150+80s+60s+40s+20s0s\-20s\-40s\-60s\-80s He was helped here by a 9-second quicker stop on lap 126\. Most of the work catching Marciello was done in this next stint, from lap 127 to 160\. Marciello was also catching the leader in this period; Antonio Felix da Costa in the #35\. They fought on track for the lead, with Marciello overtaking off-track at turn 4 then being told by his team to give it back, lest the stewards penalise him for overtaking off the racing surface. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Calado-Image-00004738--1-.jpg) Fast work in the pits helped Ferrari gain positions at Interlagos. Image: DPPI/WEC ## Calado battles with Vanthoor When Calado climbed in, then, he sat third behind Charles Milesi, who'd replaced Da Costa in the #35 Alpine when the former stopped on lap 153, and Marciello, who'd pit on lap 169, nine laps after Calado got into the #51 Ferrari. Hindsight tells us that Alpine's strategy gamble of banking on a safety car didn't play out, with the race running almost fully green, apart from two brief full course yellows in the course of six hours. This essentially made it a race between Calado and Dries Vanthoor, now in the #15 BMW, in the last two stints, although none of the three teams were to know the race would run green and take *Les Bleus* out of contention. These long, in-depth posts take a lot of time and effort to put together. If you'd like to show you like these posts and want more, the best thing you can do is support us. We're fully independent and are committed to not running Google ads. You can support us for £1/$1/€1 a month. Thank you! [Support OE ](https://www.onlyendurance.com/membership/?ref=ontheapex.com) Regardless, once the fourth pit stop cycle had shaken out, on lap 171, Milesi led from Calado and Vanthoor in third, with the Ferrari around 8.5 seconds off and Vanthoor a further few seconds adrift. The gap actually widened here, with Milesi pushing hard to build as big a gap as possible in preparation for his final stop. His average 20% pace during this period, running in relatively clear air at the traffic-heavy Interlagos circuit, was over 3 tenths a lap quicker than Vanthoor and Calado, who were both virtually identical. 2026 WEC Sao Paulo 6H 20% average pace box plot laps 171-213#38 Cadillac#35 Alpine#12 Cadillac#51 Ferrari#15 BMW1:25.6001:25.8001:26.0001:26.2001:26.4001:26.600 ## Alpine's fuel strategy gamble The Frenchman needed to make two stops to reach the end, whereas Calado and Vanthoor only had to make one more each, so the race was on to open that gap. He pitted for the penultimate time on lap 193\. Calado pitted 8 laps later, an 81.1 second stop, whereas Vanthoor's stop a further 8 laps on was shorter, 74.2 seconds, almost 7 seconds quicker. Calado pushed hard to close this gap in those interim 8 laps, to the tune of being 3 tenths quicker a lap on average than Vanthoor, but it wasn't enough. The Belgian exited the pits after his final stop almost 4 seconds ahead of Calado. Milesi led, but it was now clear he wouldn't make the end. 2026 WEC Sao Paulo 6H Gap evolution laps 190-242 🏁121535385135+57.0s38+7.7s12+6.7s51+2.3s150.0s (ref)L20L40L60L80L100L120L140L160L180L200L220L240+100s+50s0s\-50s\-100s Milesi pitted for his final stop on lap 213, a 50 second stop caused primarily by a slow puncture. He needed to stop for a fuel splash anyway, but this may have been pushed later towards the end of the race if it wasn't for the puncture. His virtual fuel tank went from 53% full when he stopped to 75% when he exited the pits. Both Vanthoor in the lead and Calado were pushing hard to either retain the lead, or in the Ferrari driver's case, to catch Vanthoor. But the Belgian's pace was better, to the tune of just under 2 tenths a lap in 20% average pace terms (a car's fastest 20% of laps, averaged out to a single lap time value), and so he was able to win. Calado did have a late surge in the last couple of laps to halve the gap down to just under 2.3 seconds at the flag, but it was too little too late. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Vanthoor-Image--1-.jpg) Try as he might, Calado couldn't catch Vanthoor at the end of the race. Image: DPPI/WEC So in the end, what enabled Ferrari to take that podium? Good work in the pits; the #51 spent the second least amount of time in the pits compared to their rivals. The #15 was virtually identical to the #51, just half a second in it. The #35 Alpine pitted six times instead of five on its offset strategy, short-fueling in the first stop to gain track position. ## Cadillac's woes The two Cadillacs, incidentally, lost out because they spent far longer in the pits compared to the #15 and #51\. The #38 Cadillac spent 9.5 seconds longer in the pits than either, while the #12, which finished third, spent 27.6 seconds longer in the pits. Both their first stops were considerably longer than their rivals, as the crew dropped a wheel nut during the #12's stop, costing them time, and the #38's Earl Bamber didn't stop square in his box for the car's first stop, meaning the crew had to reposition the car before servicing it. 2026 WEC Sao Paulo 6H Cumulative pit stop times#51 Ferrari#15 BMW#38 Cadillac#12 Cadillac#35 Alpine413.5s total (5 stops)414.0s total (5 stops)423.0s total (5 stops)441.1s total (5 stops)458.3s total (6 stops)0s100s200s300s400s Given the #12, in the hands of Will Stevens, was just 6.7 seconds adrift of Vanthoor at the flag, with the #38 of Jack Aitken a further second off... shoulda, coulda, woulda for Cadillac. This extra time in the pits by Cadillac was what essentially enabled Ferrari to claim the runners-up spot on the podium. Ferrari's efficiency and competency in the pits, alongside their strong pace, just 0.011 slower per lap than the #15 BMW on average, got them that second place and almost helped them towards a first win in 2026. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/DPPI-Production-Stevens--1--1.jpg) Spending longer in the pits denied Cadillac the win in Brazil. Image: DPPI/WEC As it is, they'll have to wait until the race in Austin, Texas at Circuit of the Americas to try and get that first win of the year, in an attempt to retain their manufacturers' title from 2025. ## Sign up for On The Apex In-depth sportscar analysis and insight, in your inbox every Wednesday Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Aston Martin tops average pace in Interlagos practice URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-long-runs-interlagos-wec-practice-ferrari/ Last updated: 2026-07-11T05:50:19.000Z With the second half of the WEC season now upon us, in terms of hours of racing (36 hours gone, 36 left assuming the almost-certainly-relocated Middle Eastern races run to 8 and 10 hours), it's time for a very different challenge compared to Le Mans: the bends and banking of Interlagos, the classic Brazilian circuit. Quick one: On The Apex is now on Instagram. To get bite-size data analysis, driver quotes, and other bits and pieces, follow at [on.theapex](https://www.instagram.com/on.theapex?ref=ontheapex.com). Thanks! And we are asking a very important question: Could Interlagos be the venue of Aston Martin's best FIA World Endurance Championship race with the Valkyrie Hypercar? It certainly seems possible based on the two free practice sessions from Friday. It's even possible they could win the race, although that may be getting ahead of ourselves. When looking at per-manufacturer pace charts, the two Valkyries combined have the quickest 20% average pace across both sessions, with a 1:25.839. Aston Martin Valkyrie Ferrari 499P Cadillac V-Series.R Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar Alpine A424 Peugeot 9X8 BMW M Hybrid V8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid 1:25.839 1:25.904, +0.064 1:26.142, +0.238 1:26.146, +0.004 1:26.163, +0.017 1:26.228, +0.065 1:26.366, +0.138 1:26.471, +0.105 1:25.900 1:26.000 1:26.100 1:26.200 1:26.300 1:26.400 1:26.500 FIA WEC 2026 Sao Paulo 6H FP1/FP2 Hypercar manufacturers 20% average pace This is just 0.064 faster than the three Ferraris combined, which together set a 1:25.904\. Keep in mind, though, that the #83 AF Corse Ferrari had a significant amount of laps deleted for pit lane speeding infringements in the first practice session. Not that this affects their actual lap times. It appears to be incredibly close in the midfield between Cadillac, FP2 session toppers Genesis, and Alpine, with 0.021 separating all three on average across both sessions. Peugeot are less than a tenth back. BMW and Toyota, the current championship leaders, are the last two, with Toyota 0.631 on average adrift of Aston Martin. ## Sign up for On The Apex In-depth sportscar analysis and insight, in your inbox every Wednesday Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. It's key to note that Aston Martin have been impressive in Friday practice in the past in WEC, but when it comes to qualifying and the race, have dropped back. The difference here is Aston have rarely been amongst the fastest, or even outright fastest, in long run or average pace on Friday. Add to that the consistency, which we'll come to in a minute, and things may look promising for the Anglo-American squad. Either way: it's all very close. When looking at individual cars the British manufacturer is even further ahead, with the #007 0.173 ahead of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari. Toyota are once again slowest in this metric, with the #8 just over a second off the leading Aston Martin. The sister #7 car fares slightly better, 0.733 off. 007 83 50 36 51 12 009 19 94 17 38 7 35 20 15 93 8 1:25.593 1:25.766, +0.173 1:25.884, +0.118 1:26.065, +0.181 1:26.068, +0.003 1:26.070, +0.001 1:26.079, +0.009 1:26.105, +0.025 1:26.146, +0.041 1:26.216, +0.070 1:26.276, +0.060 1:26.326, +0.050 1:26.363, +0.037 1:26.371, +0.008 1:26.372, +0.001 1:26.409, +0.036 1:26.599, +0.190 1:25.600 1:25.800 1:26.000 1:26.200 1:26.400 1:26.600 FIA WEC 2026 Sao Paulo 6H FP1/FP2 Hypercar 20% average pace But we all know by now that Toyota can never be counted out. We saw at Le Mans how the #7 car battled through the race with a recurring sensor problem causing the car to go into 'safe mode', limiting power output until the team found a workaround, going onto win despite leading the least laps of any of the five cars. Long run-wise, it's actually Alpine who have the quickest long run over both practice sessions, a 1:27.298 on median average. BMW and Aston Martin are within a tenth of that, while Ferrari are just over a tenth on average out. Even Peugeot are only just over two tenths off on average, while Toyota again sit last, around half a second off Alpine's average pace. FIA WEC 2026 Sao Paulo 6H FP1/FP2 Long runs per manufacturer, smoothedL2L4L6L8L10L12L14L16L18L20L22L241:26.0001:27.0001:28.0001:29.0001:30.000 However, while others may have a slight edge, Aston Martin appear to be more consistent over the practice session in general. Ferrari sit significantly more inconsistent as runs progress, while Aston may be able to keep the tyres alive for longer. FIA WEC 2026 Sao Paulo FP1/FP2 Overall lap consistency Fast & inconsistent Fast & consistent Slow & inconsistent Slow & consistent 1:27.200 1:27.400 1:27.600 1:27.800 1:28.000 0.9s 1s 1.1s 1.2s 1.3s 1.4s 1.5s 1.6s Average pace (clean laps) Std deviation (s) So it's a bit of a toss up, and seems anyone could take this. The field is incredibly tightly packed - just over 6 tenths between 8 manufacturers on 20% average pace is a very very tight field spread whichever way you look at it - so even Toyota, winners of two races so far this year and championship leaders, could leave Brazil victorious. Back to Aston Martin: #007's Harry Tincknell, who set the fastest time in FP1, a 1:25.457, was positive about team's Friday performance, even if he's not feeling so good personally. 'It's not bad day,' said the Briton. 'I'm feeling a bit under the weather to be honest. Anyway, we were quickest in the first session and third in the second session, which was really good. 'The car is, more importantly on the long runs, looking strong compared to last year. We made some really good improvements so we're really proud of all the team. We were confident coming in that the car was going to feel better. 'But yeah, was really nice to drive the track today. We seem to be really good in the traffic as well. Plus a short track, that's going to be vital come the race. All very positive.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/007-Valkyrie-kerbs.jpg) #007's Harry Tincknell was happy with Friday, despite feeling under the weather. Image: Aston Martin In closing: it does appear to be anyone's game at Interlagos, but Aston Martin will leave Interlagos feeling happy with the day's work, and confident for the weekend. As ever at the classic Brazilian circuit, weather could mix things up, with rain potentially expected on Sunday for the race. I'll leave you with a quote from Tincknell's teammate in the sister #009 car, Alex Riberas. 'Obviously it's great to start the session in FP1 with one of the cars on the top of the charts,' said the Spaniard. 'So I think it's very optimistic and everybody is very enthusiastic for what's to come this weekend. 'There's obviously some rain coming potentially on Sunday which might make everything exciting but I think we have a good shot tomorrow to be at the front, and the car feels really good,' he concluded. These long, in-depth posts take a lot of time and effort to put together. If you'd like to show you like these posts and want more, the best thing you can do is support us. We're fully independent and are committed to not running Google ads. You can support us for £1/$1/€1 a month. Thank you! [Support OE ](https://www.onlyendurance.com/membership/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GT3's creator Stephane Ratel on why its own success is its biggest risk URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gt3-creator-stephane-ratel-sro-success-biggest-risk/ Last updated: 2026-07-08T10:20:35.000Z GT3 has been, almost unarguably, the most successful sportscar ruleset ever in terms of the sustained manufacturer involvement and the renewed attention it has brought to GT racing since the class's introduction in 2005. However, despite the category sticking around much longer than its contemporary sportscar rulesets, GT3 has changed enormously in the 20 years it has existed. In a conversation with *On The Apex,* Stephane Ratel claimed that GT3's own success as a class is what endangers it most. He's been outspoken in the past about his belief that GT3 racing has four fundamental pillars. Now, he says they are at risk of crumbling as the 2020s enters its second half. ![Cars at the start of the 2026 Spa 24 Hours, with the leaders turning into La Source hairpin as the rest of the field snakes its way down the main straight](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Start-51-RE1-2049--1-.webp) SRO-organised series are known for their large GT3 grids. Image: SRO/JEP ## Pillar #1: Cost 'The first \[pillar\] was cost,' he told me. 'It was at half the price of GT2 and this is the key reason why it was so successful. Number one.' 'This has vanished because when, basically, with the end of the GTE category, some GTE cars, not to name them, have been rebadged GT3 with the price tag being almost identical.' The ACO's GTE class evolved from GT2 and began formally racing in 2011 as the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup's top GT class, before the FIA World Endurance Championship was created for 2012. [How Cadillac led half of Le Mans 2026 and still lostCadillac Team JOTA led 48.3% of Le Mans in 2026\. Yet they only finished fourth in what team and drivers described as ‘disappointing’. What happened?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--d6f49327-3889-4518-a422-4ab821f4791c.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Cadillac-Image-0462-1-9796582b-b1c2-4860-b216-28bd3e64bc31.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2026-cadillac-toyota-bmw-data/) Initially the cars were road-going GT machines, such as Aston Martin's V8 Vantage, Ferrari's 458 Italia, and Porsche's 911 GT3 RSR. However, by the class's final year of competition in 2023, it had diverged significantly from the original premise. Cars were now much closer to prototypes, with less road-going relevance. The Ferrari 488 and Aston Martin Vantage were possibly what Ratel was referring to here. These cars, introduced late in GTE's lifespan as a class, were "convertible" between GTE and GT3 spec. When GTE ended, they were simply rebadged as GT3 cars. 'The 2022 FIA technical regulation gave the manufacturers more freedom and has made the cars suddenly a lot more expensive,' said Ratel. 'Plus the post-COVID inflation; suddenly you went from cars that were 400 to 500,000 euros to cars that are 700 to 900,000 euros. So you had a huge jump in cost, both in purchase price and in running cost.' ![A Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3R on the apex at La Source corner in Spa](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/GTWC-Europe-Gallery-0H5A0374.webp) Modern GT3 cars cost huge amounts of money. Image: SRO/JEP It's believed the Ferrari 296 GT3 costs between €620k and €750k for a new, race-ready chassis. A new Mercedes-AMG GT3, meanwhile, may cost nearer a million euros, despite its age, with an all-new model due to be introduced next year. With GT3 being a customer class, this is a worrying trend as it risks customer teams, who are often small, cash-strapped operations, not being able to afford the cars. It does have to be noted, however, that the SRO's entry fees do stack up considerably. This undoubtedly adds to the cost for the smaller teams competing in SRO championships, especially GT World Challenge Europe, arguably the organisation's headline series, where the fees can run well into six figures before car costs are even considered. ## Pillar #2: Road car DNA GT3 is, or was, fundamentally a road car class. Look at pictures of the cars when they were introduced in 2005. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Aston-Martin-GTWC-Europe.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/k2609w2000h1338n44_BELLOC_DEMAN_LEMERET_LIV.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Lambert-Lefort-Palttala.jpg) The Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche GT3 cars from 2005\. Images: DPPI/SRO The road car DNA shines through here; they were clearly road cars converted into race cars. This is no longer the case. Ratel told me: 'Second pillar was they were cars that were all road cars developed for racing. 'Now we see with the new Toyota, we will see with the new AMG, that they become specials. 'They are race cars which find a way to match the regulation by having road car obligations and by producing the number of cars they need to be on the market.' Both the new Toyota and new Mercedes-AMG models are due to be introduced next year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/AMG-Track-Sport-Image.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/Toyota-GR-GT-World-Premieres.jpg) The new Mercedes-AMG GT3 (in red camo) and new Toyota GR GT3\. Images: Mercedes, Toyota Compare them to the original GT3 models above and the difference is clear. These are race cars first, road cars second. 'This is something we've seen in '96 with the Porsche GT1,' continued Ratel. 'This is something we saw in 2004 with the Maserati MC12\. It is something we saw later with the second generation of the Ford GT in GTE. That's usually not a good sign.' Ratel continued expanding his point: 'What the FIA will need to be extremely careful about is that even if they are specials, they are still within the spirit of the GT car. Not that they become like the Porsche GT1 was, like what we call GTP, GT-kind-of-prototypes homologated for the road.' Ratel's 'not a good sign' comment links to how the GT1 class he described became, over time, race cars homologated for the road through loopholes in the homologation regulations. Take the Porsche 911 GT1\. Introduced in 1996, it revolutionised what a GT1 could be. It had very little in common with anything road-related at the time, with a completely different rear subframe based on the German manufacturer's 962 Group C thoroughbred prototype, and with a hugely modified engine architecture compared to the 993-type road-going 911. 'I say this pillar is in danger, but it can stand if the FIA makes really sure these cars do not get an advantage by being special in their definition, in their architecture,' he finished. [Lionspeed GP’s journey from pitlane start to Spa 24H winOn lap 1, Lionspeed GP were 66th after a pitlane start due to a pre-race engine change. 24 hours later, the team won. Here’s how it happened.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--53cd05b7-dfdd-4c96-958a-0bb2d0cbe0db.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/GTWC-Europe-Gallery-80-1-8f0b4a2a-ad5d-47fc-992d-0f6c2047ccd2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/lionspeed-gp-spa-24-hours-win-pitlane-to-podium/) ## Pillar #3: Exclusivity Ratel's third pillar centres on brand positioning for both GT3 and the manufacturers involved. GT3's appeal has historically depended on the grid being populated by what he sees as "exotic" brands, but this risks erosion in the future. 'Initially GT racing was for what the Americans would call exotic cars: either prestige brands or iconic models,' he told me. 'With the introduction and acceptance of the BMW M4, while the M3 was always rejected for 20 years, with the acceptance of the Mustang... it's another pillar of exclusivity that has been crumbling.' What he means by this is the idea that the Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches of this world, entering the likes of the 296, Temerario and 911 GT3R, won't want to be beaten by a BMW M4 or a Ford Mustang. That this isn't a good look for them, and his worry that their brand positioning as premium or exotic brands will be in danger if they're beaten by cars not deemed to be on the same level of exoticness or prestige. ![A Ford Mustang leads a Ferrari 296 and other cars at Monza](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/GTWC-Europe-ALP30229.webp) GT3 racing is one of the only places you'll see a Ferrari racing a Ford Mustang. Image: SRO/JEP He gave me an example. 'I have an extensive experience because I was also involved in the Super Racing Weekend in the year 2000, and at the start of ETCC that became WTCC. So I know the phenomenon. 'You start with Alfa Romeo against BMW. They're very happy to compete against each other. Then they will rebadge Chevrolet, then you have Ladas and all seems to collapse. Alfa stays one year, BMW a few more years, then they go.' What can the SRO do here? The exclusivity problem is, admittedly, a bit of a paradox. The mix of brands and cars means more fans are interested, more teams, more drivers. But if the mix is diluted too far, the risk is that the exotic manufacturers leave because they don't want to be beaten by a less premium brand or model costing a fraction of the more exotic model. And if some manufacturers do leave in the future? Ratel doesn't seem fazed. 'Even if we were to have at some point fewer manufacturers, it wouldn't mean that we would have fewer cars. You would have more cars of each rather than fewer cars,' he said. ## Pillar #4: Customer racing Finally we come to Ratel's fourth pillar, the only one he believes is still standing firm: customer racing. 'Customer racing is essential to the category. Customer racing is what allows these cars to be widely distributed.' This is what Ratel's original vision was founded on and is, arguably, the most important of all the pillars, maybe alongside cost. 'GT3's success comes from the fact that these cars were sold massively,' he said. 'About 3,000 GT3 cars have been built in the last 20 years, and manufacturers were producing always 20, 50, 100, 200\. I think Mercedes went up to, with the last car, 300 cars.' The customer aspect has fundamentally changed over the years though. The rise of factory-supported teams – WRT for BMW, AF Corse for Ferrari, GetSpeed for Mercedes, Manthey for Porsche – and then the smaller teams that don't get this same support and funding risk the category and the series which race it becoming two-tier. ![Two BMW M4 GT3 Evos in the pits, some crew members around them, with the cars raised on wheeled dollies](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/07/30-Q3A0705.webp) BMW and Team WRT are one of the most prominent 'factory-supported' customer teams in GT3 racing. Image: SRO/JEP It's not clear if Ratel has a plan to counter the rise of 'factory GT3' teams. But he did say he is trying to 'preserve' customer GT3 racing. 'The customer racing element is absolutely essential and it's something I'm really trying to preserve by convincing the FIA to have strong rules to preserve this criteria.' What these strong rules look like aren't clear, but one thing is: Ratel's commitment to his class, his biggest contribution to global motorsport. 'The FIA needs to make sure when it comes really to GT3 that the cars remain affordable, that the cars remain exclusive, and that the concept is completely guaranteeing that it's built for customer racing,' he concluded. [Exclusive: The inside story of FIA WEC’s return to SilverstoneSilverstone exited the WEC calendar in 2019 amid the global pandemic and contract uncertainties. Its return in 2027 is a story of relationship-building and collaboration.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--13a44d81-843c-4901-8735-b25a4f9cf531.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPI-02119010-355-1-98a464a9-243d-4ffd-b7f3-c645d7d1d82e.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/silverstone-fia-wec-return-inside-story/) ### Lionspeed GP's journey from pitlane start to Spa 24H win URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/lionspeed-gp-spa-24-hours-win-pitlane-to-podium/ Last updated: 2026-07-01T13:41:42.000Z A pitlane start to a win in any race is incredible, but to do it in a 24 hour race with 69 cars and a lot of attrition is a huge achievement. And yet that's exactly what Lionspeed GP achieved in this year's Spa 24 Hours. Bastian Buus started the car from the pitlane, and by the end of lap 1 was 66th. Ferrari factory driver and 2024 Le Mans winner Nicklas Nielsen, in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, was leading. Buus, though, was already moving forwards. By the time the safety car came out for the multi-car crash in the second sector in the first couple of laps, Buus was 62nd. When the race went green again almost 20 minutes later, he was 52nd, by virtue of cars pitting under yellow. At this point, the young Dane in the #80 Lionspeed GP car was just over 50 seconds off the lead, which was still held by countryman Nielsen in the (effectively) factory Ferrari. By lap 97, getting on for 5 hours into the race, Buus and his teammates, Porsche works driver Thomas Preining and Audi refugee Ricardo Feller had got the car into 15th position, around 22 seconds off the lead. This was the lap Nielsen had the puncture which put him a lap down and meant he and teammates Alessio Rovera and Tommaso Mosca had to fight back up the order through the remaining 19 and a bit hours. 0 20 40 60 80 100 60 50 40 30 20 10 1 #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche #51 AF Corse Ferrari Lap-by-lap position, #51 vs #80, Spa 24 Hours 2026 Lap Position Looking at the average pace for this portion of the race, Buus, Preining and Feller were not the fastest in the 18-car Pro class, but fought their way through the Golds, Silvers, Bronzes and Pro-Am cars to get into the Pro class mix by the time quarter of the race was done. That's almost certainly due to the amount of cars the 3 drivers had to pass in that first quarter. However, from that point on until the end of the race, they were marginally quicker than the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, which realistically had the pace to win if it wasn't for that disastrous puncture Nielsen suffered, metres after the pit entry in the bus stop chicane. This meant he had to do an entire lap at slow speed to avoid damaging bodywork or suspension, putting the car a lap down. ## Sign up for On The Apex In-depth sportscar analysis and insight, in your inbox every Wednesday Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. From there until the end of the race they stayed within the confines of the Pro class. By hour 15, they were third behind the #48 MANN-FILTER Mercedes and the #51 AF Corse Ferrari in the lead, which had worked its way back up the field. Preining initially took the lead on lap 348, in the 16th hour of the race. He stayed there for 13 laps until #48 Mercedes's Maro Engel regained it. The Austrian retook the lead on lap 419, and apart from brief periods during pitstop cycles, Buus, Feller and Preining led for the vast majority of the 122 laps until the end of the race. #80 351 378 405 432 459 486 513 541 🏁 Spa 24H lead history, laps 351-541 Lap number #32 WRT BMW #46 WRT BMW #34 Walkenhorst Aston Martin #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche #51 AF Corse Ferrari #48 MANN-FILTER Mercedes If we look at the 40% race pace (taken the top 40% of laps in this period for each car, to remove laps done under yellow flag or safety car) for these laps between the top 3, we can see that the #51 Ferrari, with Rovera, Nielsen and Mosca on board at various points, was pushing hard. Their minimum lap time in this period, a 2:17.340, set by Rovera on lap 406, was quite a bit quicker than Preining's 2:17.840, set 6 laps later on lap 412. 80 51 48 2:17.000 2:18.000 2:19.000 2:20.000 #48, #51, #80 race pace, laps 352-451 Spa 24H 2026 But, the median lap times between the two for the same period are very, very similar: 2:18.755 for the #80 Lionspeed Porsche, and 2:18.828 for the #51 Ferrari. The #51 Ferrari was running in third for most of this period, where they would finish, 12.938 seconds behind the winning #80, with the #48 Mercedes in between, just 0.650 ahead of the Ferrari. The Mercedes in this period was quite a bit slower in the box plot graph than the other two, when 40% laps are considered. But, Auer, Stolz and Engel had just enough time in hand by the flag to take P2, although given another few laps and it's surely possible or even likely the Ferrari may have taken the position. 350 400 450 500 541 🏁 −150 −100 −50 0 50 100 Gap evolution, laps 351-541, Spa 24H 2026 Lap Number Gap to leader (s) #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche (reference) #51 AF Corse Ferrari #48 MANN-FILTER Mercedes In conclusion, based on the #51 Ferrari's pace all race, without that catastrophic puncture with Nielsen in the car on lap 97... what could have been. But thanks to it, we got an incredible story of pitlane to podium, top step no less. A great win which will likely go down in history as one of the great 24 hour race victories. These long, in-depth posts take a lot of time and effort to put together, with data analysis, writing, and graph creation. If you'd like to show you like these posts and want more, the best thing you can do is support us. We're fully independent and are committed to not running Google ads. You can support us for £1/$1/€1 a month. Thank you! [Become an On The Apex supporter ](https://www.ontheapex.com/#/portal/signup) ### Exclusive: The inside story of FIA WEC's return to Silverstone URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/silverstone-fia-wec-return-inside-story/ Last updated: 2026-06-24T08:54:44.000Z Support On The Apex's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.onlyendurance.com/membership/?ref=ontheapex.com) When Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) president Pierre Fillon visited Silverstone for the 2024 British Grand Prix, it was at the personal invitation of British Racing Drivers' Club chairman Peter Digby. This is a visit Digby believes contributed to re-building the relationship between the ACO, the BRDC, owners of the 'home of British motor racing', and Silverstone's circuit management. Two years later, Silverstone was [announced](https://www.fiawec.com/en/news/fia-world-endurance-championship-confirms-silverstone-return/13597?ref=ontheapex.com) as returning to the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar, overseen by Fillon's ACO, for 2027. 'Pierre came to the \[British\] Grand Prix as my guest, and just saw what had happened at Silverstone in the last six or seven years since he'd been there,' said Digby, when I spoke to him about Silverstone's return to the WEC schedule. 'It really allowed Pierre to see Silverstone for what it was in 2024\. He was pretty much knocked out when he saw the improvements we've made to the track, with the [hotel](https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/bhxssgi-hilton-garden-inn-silverstone/?ref=ontheapex.com), the bridge, [Escapade](https://escapade.silverstone.co.uk/?ref=ontheapex.com). So he realised that it would be great. 'Pierre was also made an honorary member of the BRDC, which he was and is very proud of.' The BRDC chairman was emphatic about the historic circuit's return to the world championship calendar, with a new four-year deal, starting in 2027, to run until 2030. 'We're all incredibly excited about \[Silverstone's return to WEC\], I must say,' he said. 'I follow \[Le Mans and WEC\] very closely, I've been going for the last 20 to 25 years. I've become quite close to the ACO, mainly via the technical division, but you come across Fillon via that.' WEC, too, wanted the circuit to return to its calendar, as did fans on social media. 'Each time I go on the socials, on the WEC posts, every time I see some comments, "maybe you should return to Silverstone". So it was a dream for us, and I think it was kind of a dream for the UK fans,' said FIA WEC CEO Frederic Lequien to *On The Apex* after the announcement at Le Mans. ## Silverstone's sportscar history Silverstone was on the first ever WEC calendar when the series was brought back in 2012, after the original World Sportscar Championship's demise prior to the 1993 season. It hosted 6 hour races from 2012 until 2018, which by all accounts were successful in both sporting and commercial terms for the series and circuit. With WEC going through a lull or fallow period with the departure of Audi and Porsche from the manufacturer LMP1 class, in 2019 race was shortened to 4 hours. Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle, who I spoke to at Le Mans for this *On The Apex* article, told me this was a series decision, and not Silverstone's. ![Stuart Pringle, Silverstone's managing director, stands in front of the 24H Le Mans logo, holding a microphone. In front of him is a trophy with the 24H Le Mans logo on it. ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/24-Heures-du-Mans-2026-ACO-Press-Conference-1.jpg) Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle at the ACO's pre-Le Mans press conference. Image: DPPI / WEC 'That's what they \[the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and WEC\] wanted,' he said when I asked why the race was shorter that year. 'To be honest, I'm pretty sure the contract allows them to set whatever they want. Or that contract did. I don't think we had a right to six hours.' The ACO's relationship with Silverstone and the circuit's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), goes back almost a century, with Le Mans forming a very important part of the club's creation. 'Silverstone is owned by the British Racing Drivers' Club. The BRDC was essentially was formed out of the success of the British drivers at Le Mans in the 1920s,' said Pringle. 'The BRDC's relationship with the ACO goes back years. It'll be 100 years in the course of this contract,' he added. For the BRDC, having a sportscar race at Silverstone is key as well, Digby told me. 'I think there's going to be quite an audience that really wants to come and see some good long distance, pure motorsport where you can wander around the track and see the cars in action at one minute at Copse and then going through Maggotts and Becketts,' said the BRDC chairman. Quick one: On The Apex is now on Instagram. To get bite-size data analysis, driver quotes, and other bits and pieces, follow at [on.theapex](https://www.instagram.com/on.theapex?ref=ontheapex.com). Thanks! However, Pringle said that the only reason the circuit dropped off in the first place was unlucky timing and the global pandemic. 'We only dropped off the calendar because of COVID,' he said. 'Our contract was going to expire in 2020 or 21, and actually when we ran the last one in 2019, COVID stopped \[things\]. Then they were looking to slim down, and we've been really trying to find our way back onto the calendar ever since.' 'When the championship came back \[after COVID\], it was significantly smaller. They needed to thin down from eight to six, and we dropped off. If they had a contract with other people, then they can bump us, it was as simple as that.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/WhatsApp-Image-Jun-11-2026.jpeg) The Wing will once again host the teams in 2027\. Image: DPPI/WEC ## The long-term aim for a ninth round As Pringle alluded to, then, ever since the Silverstone round of WEC dropped off the calendar, the circuit has been trying to get back on the schedule. It's taken some time, though, with the championship focusing on sustainable growth and a consistent calendar year-on-year, with an identical eight-race calendar for three years running. But, amongst the ACO and WEC management, there was still a desire to have Silverstone on the calendar, as a ninth round, even as far back as 2024. 'At the moment, let's say that we are happy with this calendar and I know that the paddock is happy too. The consensus is clear, eight is enough,' Lequien said in 2024, after that year's ACO press conference the day before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But he hinted at the time that 2027 could see calendar expansion. 'I do not believe that in 2026, we have more races,' he said in response to my question about calendar expansion post-2025. 'Maybe in 2027; it depends on many different parameters. Once again, we have to pay attention to the budget side and when we will stabilise everything. Then we'll have a discussion with the paddock. If the paddock agrees to add the ninth round, we'll do it.' With the addition of Silverstone announced just a couple of weeks ago, though, this time Lequien was clear that 2027 presents an opportunity to add a ninth round. ![Frederic Lequien at a race track in a dark blue suit, hands behind his back, smiling and looking at the camera](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/DPPI-Production-00003553.jpg) Frederic Lequien is WEC CEO at Le Mans Endurance Management, the ACO-owned company which oversees the series. Image: DPPI/WEC 'It's the time to add one more round, and one in Europe, in the UK,' said Lequien. It's the first option to return \[to Silverstone\]. There was no other second option.' 'If we have to choose one track, one circuit in the UK, it must be Silverstone. I mean the history is so deep, so strong with endurance racing.' The teams, though, were concerned that nine races would push the limit of their budgets. '\[After COVID\] they've \[the ACO\] been very steady at building back up,' said Pringle. 'This is a championship that's very conscious of its commitment to the OEMs and teams on costs and running mileage. 'Chuck another six hour race in there... the championship has had to get the buy-in from the teams to want to go from eight races to nine. 'I don't think they'd have done a ninth race anywhere. I think they've agreed to the ninth race because it's Silverstone. 'Because Silverstone is an important brand, it's a great track which will work well for it, but it's an important market and it's a historic race circuit that blends very proud history with modern facilities and a challenging track.' In particular, the British teams competing in WEC were pushing for a return to their home circuit too. 'We've had some good support from the UK-based teams especially, such as JOTA and United Autosports,' said Digby. 'They've been right behind us and pushing the ACO as well, and McLaren of course as well.' [How Cadillac led half of Le Mans 2026 and still lostCadillac Team JOTA led 48.3% of Le Mans in 2026\. Yet they only finished fourth in what team and drivers described as ‘disappointing’. What happened?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--0f55cdb7-7c81-4928-99fb-04f98fa12e5b.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Cadillac-Image-0462-1-b8267ceb-7958-428f-9d2d-3ce0a59681e6.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2026-cadillac-toyota-bmw-data/) And in terms of ticket sales and fan numbers, Pringle said he hopes the draw of British manufacturers in Aston Martin and McLaren will help in that regard. 'Having Aston Martin and McLaren in this championship made a direct, material impact on our decision-making. 'It gives us confidence that we can build a crowd, because they're huge brands and they're willing to work with us. Silverstone's a big brand, but they're more emotional, aren't they?' ## Communication and relationships Digby had arrived at the BRDC in 2022 to find the post-COVID relationship still slightly sour between the two organisations. 'As soon as I joined the board and became chairman, I queried as to why we weren't hosting a sportscar race,' he said. 'I heard there were some post-COVID difficulties between the ACO and Silverstone, and I just said let's put that all behind us and get back to having a race at Silverstone'. Fillon's July 2024 visit meant he saw the new additions in person, including the Escapade on-site accommodation, trackside Hilton hotel, and the museum, improvements all made since his last visit that had significantly upgraded the fan experience. 'Silverstone is somewhere people can come for a six hour race. We've got shelter from the weather. We understand about entertainment, we've got the assets that will keep people busy. We're going to be working with Le Mans Endurance Management to make sure there's plenty of entertainment,' said Pringle. From the ACO's side, the project has been quite a long time in the making. 'I started to work on this project when I started in the company, five years ago,' Lequien said. 'It was just collaboration between bosses, with very good spirit during the two years of execution.' ## ELMS: The test for Silverstone So, with discussions under way about Silverstone's return to the WEC calendar, there needed to be some kind of test to see how well UK fans would respond to an international endurance or sportscar race at the circuit. This took the form of a European Le Mans Series race, which returned to the UK after a six year absence in 2025. ![The #99 AO by TF Oreca at Silverstone with the Wing building in the background ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/Oreca-07-Gi.jpg) The European Le Mans Series raced at Silverstone in 2025 as a precursor to WEC's return. Image: FocusPackMedia / ELMS 'It was important,' Pringle said of ELMS's return to Silverstone in 2025\. 'I think there's people involved in that organisation who weren't around when WEC was there before, to turn up and see that cracking racing. 'One of the great quirks of history is that, despite the fact it's just some pencil lines on an old airfield chart, and it's not designed by a German engineering company with CAD and everything, you still get some fantastic racing, because it's a fast track and it works really well with the aero.' However, in the previous incarnation of the Silverstone WEC round, it was a double header, with a four-hour ELMS on the Saturday, and then the six-hour WEC race on the Sunday. That won't be the case this time around, Pringle confirmed to *On The Apex*. 'No, they're separate weekends,' he said. 'ELMS is locked in September and this \[WEC\] is an April date. I would be very surprised if that changes within this first four-year contract period. 'This is just restarting our relationship with the \[FIA\] World Endurance Championship. I'm absolutely looking beyond this four-year deal, and we'll see how things evolve, but this is a genuine partnership with WEC.' Finally, the previous WEC races at Silverstone, from WEC's second season in 2013 to 2019, were run as the RAC Tourist Trophy. This is the oldest global trophy in motorsport, having been first awarded in 1905 to John Napier in an Arrol-Johnston touring car, held on the Isle of Man Highlands Course. I asked Pringle at Le Mans whether the historic trophy would be awarded again to the winners of the new race in 2027. 'You'll have to wait and see. ... it's not a no. It's definitely not a no,' said Pringle tantalisingly. Yesterday WEC [announced](https://www.fiawec.com/en/news/rac-tourist-trophy-to-be-awarded-to-6-hours-of-silverstone-winners/13641?ref=ontheapex.com) the trophy would be awarded again in 2027\. So Pringle was right. At Le Mans, he told me, 'We've got this heritage. Let's play to it'. Awarding this trophy again is exactly the right way to do that. Bravo. ## Sign up for On The Apex In-depth sportscar analysis and insight, in your inbox every Wednesday Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### How Cadillac led (almost) half of Le Mans 2026 and still lost URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2026-cadillac-toyota-bmw-data/ Last updated: 2026-06-17T08:37:33.000Z The #12 JOTA-run factory Cadillac led Le Mans for over a third of the race. The sister car led for another 14.7%, totalling almost 50% of the race, 48.3% to be precise, led by a Cadillac. Another 7 laps, just over half a stint, and the Cadillacs would have led for over half the race. And yet the best-finishing Cadillac, the #12 in the hands of Will Stevens for the final few stints, was only fourth at the flag, 32.381 seconds behind the winning #7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi. So, what happened? What stopped Cadillac and JOTA taking an undoubtedly popular first overall win for both entities? ## Sign up for On The Apex In-depth sportscar analysis and insight, in your inbox every Wednesday Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Fast in the night As predicted in my pre-race analysis, the Cadillacs were the pacesetters during the night. Official sunset was at 21:59 with sunrise 8 hours later at 05:59, correlating with laps 99 to 225. If we look at the top 20% average laps in this period, the Cadillacs were clearly the strongest cars in the darkness, with cooler track temperatures and cooler ambients as well. 207 207.2 207.4 207.6 207.8 208 208.2 #38 Cadillac #8 Toyota #20 BMW #7 Toyota Average 20% race pace Le Mans 2026, Hypercar Laps 99-225 Average Lap Time (s) The lowest track temperature of the race, 20.6°C according to Alkamel, was at 06:28, just over 14 hours into the race. This corresponds with lap 233. #12 Cadillac - Stevens - 3:28.130 #20 BMW - Rast - 3:28.142 #7 Toyota - Conway - 3:29.606 #8 Toyota - Buemi - 3:29.771 The #38 car had, at this point in the race, been pushed back into the garage with the power steering issue which would later cause its retirement from the race at around 8am local time. So while the Cadillac and BMW set very similar lap times at this point in the race, the two Toyotas were around a second and a half or more off. But single lap times aren't hugely helpful in a 24 hour endurance race. The gap evolution and lap position charts for the lap range, 99 to 225, show that while Cadillac and BMW regularly traded the lead, essentially shuffling as each pitted on schedule, they were gradually pulling away from the two Toyotas, who especially towards the end of the stint began to drop back from the leading pair. 100120140160180200220−300−200−1000100200Gap evolution, Le Mans 2026 Hypercar - laps 99-225Lap NumberGap to Leader (s)12 Cadillac20 BMW7 Toyota8 Toyota Ultimately, on lap 225 when the sun officially rose at 05:59 local time, the order stood at: 1. #12 Cadillac - leader 2. #20 BMW - 12.379s behind 3. #8 Toyota - 47.395 behind 4. #7 Toyota - 154.527 behind By lap 233, the coolest time in the race half an hour later, the gap between the BMW and leading Cadillac had slightly shrunk. The gap to the #7 Toyota had shrunk too, the result of a pitstop around 20 seconds faster than the BMW or Cadillac, possibly due to Conway taking tyres while the others did not. On average, then, the #12 Cadillac was around a quarter of a second faster a lap in this period, compared to the #8 Toyota, the leading or fastest Toyota at the time (the #7 Toyota would only come into its own late in the race. Indeed, the #7 only led the race for 11.5% of the race, the lowest of any of the leaders). Over those 127 laps, that quarter-second advantage adds up to 30.7 seconds on the #8\. When looking at the #7, where the advantage was greater, that grows to almost 100 seconds, or 1m39s. And therein lies part of Cadillac's problem. Support On The Apex's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.onlyendurance.com/membership/?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Cadillac's inability to open a meaningful gap Despite the fact Cadillac – and BMW too – was faster during the night, neither team could open a big enough gap that would withstand the race swinging back into Toyota's favour when the sun rose and temperatures increased again. At lap 99, just before sunset, the #38 Cadillac in the hands of Sebastien Bourdais led by 29 seconds from Robin Frijns in the #20 BMW. Ryo Hirakawa sat third in the #8 Toyota, a further 4.8 seconds off Frijns and 33.8 seconds adrift of Bourdais. Fourth was the #12 Cadillac of Norman Nato, another 5.3 seconds away and 39.1 off the teamcar in the lead. Of course, we know now that Bourdais later had issues in the #38 and was quickly dropped out of contention. The #12, meanwhile, would gradually advance through the field during the night to take the lead by early morning. 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Lap chart, Le Mans 2026 Hypercar - laps 99-225 Lap Position 12 Cadillac20 BMW7 Toyota8 Toyota But the gap Nato, Stevens and Delétraz steadily built simply wasn't enough to maintain that lead. You'll notice the #7 Toyota is absent from this top 4 list as the sun set over Circuit de la Sarthe. Conway was in the car at the time, 10th, and just over 3 minutes behind Bourdais in the lead. The #7 had been plagued with sensor issues in the first half of the race, which put the car into limp, safe or backup mode and restricted the amount of power available, until they found a workaround in the second half of the race. Read more on the challenges faced by Toyota in my [report for MotorsportWeek](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2026/06/14/7-toyotas-le-mans-race-was-relentless-with-lots-of-challenges/?ref=ontheapex.com), after I spoke to Kamui Kobayashi in the media mixed zone at the end of the race. ![A Cadillac V-Series.R during the night at Le Mans 2026, taken from the rear as the car drives away](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/Cadillac-DPPIPRODUCTION-4587-0254.jpg) Cadillac were strong in the cooler temperatures during the night. Image: DPPI / WEC The night hours were better for the #7, so much so that the gap closed by sunrise, from 3 minutes, getting on for an entire lap, to just over 2 and a half. Still not great, and would require all 3 drivers to do the hard yards in the morning happy hour and beyond. ## Luck, or not, of the safety car In total the race featured two safety cars over the 24 hours, alongside five full course yellow periods peppered throughout the race. Both impacted the lead battle considerably. ### The first safety car The first occurred shortly before midnight local time, lap 128, when Sebastien Buemi was in the leading #8 Toyota. This safety car actually helped Cadillac considerably. It closed the gap from over 40 seconds for Earl Bamber in third, and almost 85 seconds for the #12 Cadillac of Will Stevens, relative to Buemi in the lead, to 17.2 seconds for Stevens after the race went green again, now in third, and Bamber another second or so behind in fourth. However, while it helped Cadillac with both cars quite significantly, and undoubtedly enabled them to take the lead, and a 1-2, during the night, it helped the #7 Toyota much, much more. Before the safety car Conway sat well over 3 and a half minutes off the lead, and was in significant danger of going a lap down. But, when the race went green again, thanks to the merge and pass around procedure, Conway was now just 22 seconds behind his teammate Buemi in the lead. It's true that he sat seventh, but the gap to the leading cars had been reduced massively. [The 2030 Hypercar/GTP regulations: what the manufacturers are sayingAn inside look at the 2030 top class prototype regulations, examining the compromise, conflict, and uncertainties ahead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--b6a86ac5-9dc5-4fa4-9e5c-b1b3de6d0902.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-6-Hours-of-Spa-2026-d2d30062-f26d-4e60-96eb-c7c61e12eb03.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2030-hypercar-gtp-regulations-what-manufacturers-are-saying/) ### The second safety car If the first safety car helped Cadillac out – even though it helped Toyota considerably more – the second may be a key reason why Cadillac didn't even finish on the podium at this year's 94th edition of the French endurance classic. The second of two safety cars was deployed at just past 10am local time as Ayhancan Guven, in the #91 Manthey Porsche, had had a large accident exiting the first chicane. It lasted almost an hour while the Porsche was recovered and barrier repairs were made. At the time, on lap 290, Louis Delétraz held a 58.7 second lead on the #20 BMW, which had Robin Frijns at the wheel. The #7 and #8 Toyotas were third and fourth, Kobayashi 103.5 seconds back and Hirakawa 119.2 seconds, almost two minutes, adrift of Delétraz. Not only did the #12 Cadillac have its gap completely eradicated, but it slipped to second behind Frijns at the restart, with Nato now at the wheel of the JOTA-run car, less than a second adrift of the Dutchman ahead. ![A Cadillac V-Series.R at Le Mans 2026, rounding a corner with the left-hand side tyres partially on a blue and yellow kerb](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/24-Heures-du-Mans-2026-Race-Sunday.jpg) Cadillac weren't as strong in the daylight, enabling Toyota to catch them. Image: DPPI / WEC Kobayashi and Hirakawa still sat third and fourth, 5.6s and 7.0s off the lead. Not much more to say here – other than the fact it completely wiped the Cadillac's lead. And with Toyota's superior pace in the final six hours... not much Cadillac could do from there. ## Cadillac's pace drops off in the daylight With 5 hours of racing left when the safety car returned to the pits for the final time, things at La Sarthe were hotting up, literally and figuratively. The #7 Toyota turned up the wick at that point and were the quickest car on average in that final five hours. Depending on which metric you look at – 20% top laps to 100% of laps – the Cadillac looks good, to not so good. 206 206.2 206.4 206.6 206.8 207 #7 Toyota #8 Toyota #38 JOTA #20 BMW Average 20% race pace Le Mans 2026, Hypercar Laps 226-381 Average Lap Time (s) But the main thing here is: they didn't have the pace to challenge the #7 Toyota. Even more so, they couldn't challenge the #20 BMW and #8 Toyota for the podium, finishing fourth. That surely isn't a true reflection of their race, as Louis Delétraz noted. 'First of all, a huge thank you to Cadillac Racing and JOTA, all the crew, mechanics, engineers, for the hard work last ten days,' said Delétraz after the race. 'Obviously, it's a great result, but after leading so much of the race and being up front the whole week, it's still disappointing for sure. But I think we did the maximum we could, the circumstances made it that way. We came here to fight for a win, we never gave up, and we'll be back for more because we are hungry to win this race.' 231.5 232 232.5 233 #7 Toyota #8 Toyota #20 BMW #38 Cadillac 100% race pace Le Mans 2026, Hypercar Laps 226-381 Average Lap Time (s) ## Drive-through penalty costs more time The final thing to note for Cadillac's race is a drive-through penalty which occurred shortly before 9am local time, around an hour before the second safety car. Before taking the penalty on lap 271, which was served for a full course yellow infringement, Delétraz had a 13 second lead to Brendon Hartley in the #8 car. The lap after he'd taken it, he'd dropped to third behind Hartley and Sheldon van der Linde in the #20 BMW. Nyck de Vries sat fourth almost two minutes off the lead. A costly penalty. That said, given the lead the #12 Cadillac had when the second safety car came out, it may not have actually mattered, as they may have simply had a bigger gap eliminated by the safety car. Leading for almost half the race only for it to be reset by incredibly unlucky safety car timing with less than a quarter of the race to go is brutal. That's especially true when Cadillac didn't have the pace to respond, when Toyota found theirs in the afternoon sun. Will Stevens summed it up well: 'Pretty disappointing to come away with P4,' he said. 'I think honestly we deserved more than that. The pace we showed we should have been on the podium at least. We are more in the mix than last year which is a positive. 'But coming here we had higher hopes than the result we ended up with, so we can’t help but be disappointed. But we’ll come back again next year stronger.' ### Le Mans practice analysis: Cadillac on top... maybe...? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-practice-analysis-cadillac-alpine-bmw-toyota/ Last updated: 2026-06-13T06:13:44.000Z This is going to be a short post because 1) lots to do 2) I am genuinely shattered. It's been an incredibly busy week here at Le Mans. And the race hasn't even started. Looking at the practice times, a few things are quite clear. ## LMDh cars on top In general, it seems the LMDh cars have, in general, a pace advantage. The top 3 cars when you average out 20% pace from all four practice sessions shows the Cadillac and BMWs are the top 2 manufacturers. The Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac were fastest on average, followed closely by the JOTA-run Cadillacs, the WEC factory team. Cadillac WTR Cadillac JOTA BMW Toyota Alpine AF Corse Ferrari Aston Martin Genesis Peugeot Average 20% pace - Hypercar, Le Mans practice sessions Average Lap Time (s) 205.5 206 206.5 207 207.5 208 208.5 209 3:26.056 3:26.291 3:26.529 3:26.542 3:26.599 3:27.103 3:27.119 3:27.227 3:28.043 3:28.512 The BMWs are a little way behind, but not an awful lot. Keep in mind these two were fastest in qualifying as well. The Toyotas are third fastest on average, yet were nowhere in qualifying, with neither car advancing to Hyperpole 2 for the pole shoot out yesterday evening. Alpine are almost identical to Toyota average pace wise. The LMDh car advantage was reiterated to me by Toyota's Brendon Hartley, off record, before Hyperpole, although he couldn't or wouldn't expand on the reason for that advantage. David Floury, Toyota's technical director, only told media that, 'It's a two class quali with LMDh on top and LMH behind,' and there was 'surely a reason' for this although he declined to expand further. [The 2030 Hypercar/GTP regulations: what the manufacturers are sayingAn inside look at the 2030 top class prototype regulations, examining the compromise, conflict, and uncertainties ahead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--946f8509-ffb3-4a28-bccf-1a74cedd0c90.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-6-Hours-of-Spa-2026-61538df1-b7c8-4d90-a9dd-edda2fb965fc.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2030-hypercar-gtp-regulations-what-manufacturers-are-saying/) ## Ferrari and Toyota are not showing their hand Regardless of whether it's a two class race, I'm convinced that Toyota and Ferrari haven't shown their full hand in practice. If you take just the day time sessions, Ferrari look substantially quicker (well, the satellite #83 does), as do Toyota. Cadillac, BMW and Alpine drop down. Average 20% pace - Hypercar, Le Mans FP1 and FP3 (daytime) Average Lap Time (s) AF Corse Toyota Alpine Cadillac JOTA Cadillac WTR Aston Martin Ferrari BMW Genesis Peugeot 206.5 207 207.5 208 208.5 3:26.787 3:27.100 3:27.483 3:27.518 3:27.533 3:27.909 3:27.948 3:28.079 3:28.142 3:28.418 It makes sense to set the cars up for day time rather than night as the race finishes at 4pm, when it could still be relatively hot. ## It's going to be close-fought Based on practice pace there's not an awful lot between most of the manufacturers. BMW believe Cadillac, Alpine and Toyota are their main competition, according to Robin Frijns. "You just don't know what Cadillac and Toyota are doing. Because I think Cadillac is the team to look look at. I do think that they are the strongest package at the moment. Alpine is one of those teams that are the underdog, I would say, and we are in the mix somewhere up front," the Belgian told me ([see more on MotorsportWeek](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2026/06/11/bmw-frijns-cadillac-the-team-to-look-at-for-le-mans/?ref=ontheapex.com)). Cadillac, meanwhile, remained tight lipped on their chances – perhaps out of a wish not to jinx themselves – but their pace looks very strong. And, as I [reported on MotorsportWeek](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2026/06/11/alpine-more-prepared-for-le-mans-than-in-previous-years/?ref=ontheapex.com), Alpine have said they're more prepared than in previous years here, and their upgrades have fixed their aero balance problems. Let's see what the race brings. I'm really hoping it's as close as we believe it's going to be. ### Le Mans 2026: Hidden BoP, major upgrades, no clear favourite URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2026-unknown-bop-upgrades-toyota-ferrari/ Last updated: 2026-06-10T16:05:34.000Z Based on the first two races of the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, Le Mans feels quite unpredictable in 2026. It really feels like multiple teams may well be in with a shot at victory in the world's premier endurance race, rather than just the classic 'top teams'. After three years on the bounce of Ferrari victories, and then five Toyota victories before that, we could well see another team or manufacturer take the spoils. ## Looking to Imola and Spa for answers The two previous WEC races, at Imola and Spa, were unpredictable affairs, even towards the end of each race. At Imola we had a Toyota vs Ferrari battle for the win, which was close and hard-fought, with the #8 Toyota of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi, and Ryo Hirakawa prevailing by just over 13 seconds from the #51 Ferrari crew. At Spa, BMW and WRT took their first ever WEC overall victory, as well as WRT's first victory with the M Hybrid V8\. Not only that, but the sister car finished second, completing a 1-2. While the #50 Ferrari did finish third in that race, both Ferrari and Toyota, after dominating Imola, were not quite at the sharp end pace wise in Belgium. BMW's winning #20 car at Spa spent around 61.5% of the race in the lead. At Imola, the #8 Toyota was in the lead for roughly 60.1%. Even if you count the single lap the #8 Toyota led at Spa, lap 106 with Buemi at the wheel, this would only increase the percentage by 0.7%. So, in terms of percentage of laps led, BMW actually lead this figure at the moment. Pace wise, BMW were around half a second ahead, when you look at the best 20% laps of each car through the race, of the next quickest in that metric, the #35 Alpine. The #8 Toyota was only a tenth and half or so off the #35 Alpine, but there were multiple cars between them as well in a tight field pace wise. The #50 Ferrari was one of those cars, well under a tenth off. But the BMW was still quite a way ahead. With a lap at Spa being around 2 minutes, half a second is a lot. In 10 laps of a race, half a second a lap faster on average, that could equal a 5-second gap. 124.5 125 125.5 126 #20 BMW #35 Alpine #93 Peugeot #15 BMW #50 Ferrari #009 Aston Martin #83 AF Corse #94 Peugeot #8 Toyota #007 Aston Martin #12 Cadillac #36 Alpine #51 Ferrari #38 Cadillac #7 Toyota #19 Genesis #17 Genesis WEC 2026 Spa 6H Average 20% pace, Hypercar Average Lap Time (s) Spa is traditionally seen as a dress rehearsal for Le Mans. The characteristics of both tracks are broadly similar; long straights, fast flat out corners, and some fiddly, technical bits too. So it seems, based purely on the performance we saw at Spa, that multiple cars, including LMDh manufacturers, might be in with a shot at Le Mans. Despite all this, Ferrari and Toyota remain the favourites for the win at La Sarthe. Both have won the race multiple times before and know how to win the 24 hour classic. But, given the fastest 2 cars on average at Spa were LMDh cars... BMW and Alpine certainly cannot be ruled out either. Cadillac are in the same boat. The #12 led for 44 laps, 29.1% of the race, mainly in the hands of Will Stevens, but also WEC Hypercar debutant Louis Deletraz, who led for 6 laps. The #12 Cadillac was, however, only 11th in the 20% average pace rankings at Spa. With the field so close this only put them just under 2 tenths off a second off the #35 Alpine in second. Again the #20 BMW was way out in front, though. But, that was Spa. And while it's sort of similar to Le Mans in some aspects, Circuit de la Sarthe is a very different beast, which will likely only introduce more unknowns. ## Le Mans is harder to call than ever The honest answer is we have no real idea about what to expect from the 24 hour classic this year, even with two WEC races already done and dusted. While BMW were the clear pace setters at Spa, it didn't feel like that during the race. Alpine had pace, as did Cadillac, at least initially, before dropping off. Peugeot too looked quicker than they have in the past. So, there are multiple unknowns heading into this year's French endurance classic, which makes predictions hard. For one, many of the cars have had upgrades, in the form of jokers, applied for 2026\. Toyota, Alpine, Cadillac and BMW have raced upgraded cars in WEC and IMSA this year, to differing degrees of success. In almost all cases, these updates will have been squarely aimed at winning Le Mans. The Toyota upgrade is probably the biggest, with new or revised aero on almost every surface of the car, designed to reduce high speed drag. With the long straights at Le Mans this will be key. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/Toyota-Image-00004562.webp) Toyota have a heavily-revised car this year at Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC The Cadillac, too, has seen completely revised aero surfaces, also designed to decrease drag and increase top speed. We saw last year at Le Mans that while the JOTA-run V-Series.Rs were quick over a single lap, locking out the front row, they struggled for top speed in the race, getting passed by Porsche's Julien Andlauer for the lead on the first lap. In fact, the #311 Action Express Cadillac was the fastest Cadillac in a straight line, about 3.5kmh down on peak top speed last year during the race, compared to the 2 factory Ferraris. The two JOTA-run Cadillacs were just under 6kmh down on the Italian cars. The Toyota was a further 1kmh or so down on the JOTA Cadillacs. BMW, too, updated their car for 2026, with the changes again squarely aimed at winning in France, as [reported last week](https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/van-der-linde-bmw-evo-joker-definitely-going-to-help-at-le-mans/?ref=ontheapex.com) by Sportscar365's John Dagys. The revised nose, featuring smaller 'nostrils' should result in lower drag, again to achieve those pivotal top speeds on Le Mans' long straights. And Alpine have also revised the aero on the A424, although the modifications are maybe not as large as others. [The 2030 Hypercar/GTP regulations: what the manufacturers are sayingAn inside look at the 2030 top class prototype regulations, examining the compromise, conflict, and uncertainties ahead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--677b5eab-c276-48fe-83e5-926f09e9dd96.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-6-Hours-of-Spa-2026-2d9adc57-8781-4f84-8a31-7f3d3117bcfa.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2030-hypercar-gtp-regulations-what-manufacturers-are-saying/) ### The hidden nature of BoP The other unknown is Balance of Performance. Unlike previous years, the ACO is not releasing the BoP figures in 2026, meaning we don't know power and weight each car is running to. Related to that, we can't tell if teams have been sandbagging at Spa especially in order to get better BoP for Le Mans. That's something we'll only really find out in the race when teams show their race pace hand. And that doesn't just apply to Ferrari and Toyota, but to the others as well. No one shows their full hand prior to the race. BoP being hidden means, at least to those not privy to the data – and not many are, even the teams don't have the full picture – that at least on paper, the battle looks a lot more fair. This is, largely, good. BoP is one of those things where if it's good, the discussion about it is fairly minimal, especially if the values are hidden. If it's bad with large gaps between the cars, it becomes one of the main discussion points. That only increases if the values are public. So, while the ACO's reasoning for hiding BoP this year may be a bit suspect, it's a good move to hide it. The BoP in Imola and Spa was good, proven by their unpredictable nature. Hopefully the same will carry through to Le Mans. ### World championship vs Le Mans Every team wants to win this race, usually more so than the manufacturers' world championship, which for many, pales in comparison to the drivers' world championship. Speaking of: with the exception of James Calado, who has repeatedly told me that the world championship matters more to him than winning Le Mans, every driver has said they'd rather win the Le Mans than the championship. I believe the same is true for most, if not all, the teams as well, although they may be somewhat reluctant to admit that. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/Calado-Image-00004268.webp) Calado has repeatedly said the world championship means more to him than Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC If there's a single race to win in global sportscar racing, it's this. Look at the example of the Porsche 911 GT1-98\. Stunning car but was beaten soundly in FIA GT by the Mercedes CLK LM. But, as the Porsche won Le Mans, it's remembered as a legendary car. The Mercedes, while still iconic, often gets slightly sidelined. Of course, it's impossible to know who has been sandbagging prior to the week in France. Even with BoP figures for the previous 2 races, it was still tough to tell. Now, without them, it's essentially impossible. We can get some idea of potential performance from the test day last Sunday, but even in this teams won't be showing their full hand. ## Test day: Toyota heads tight field Aston Martin's Tom Gamble may have set the outright fastest lap in the test day at Circuit de la Sarthe on Sunday, but Toyota looked to be on top in the average pace charts. This has to be caveated with the fact that teams aren't really showing full performance just yet. Arguably they won't show everything they've got until last few hours of the race when it really matters. But still. Data is data. LM24 test day 2026 20% average pace, Hypercar Average Lap Time (s) 3:27.516 3:27.606 3:27.687 3:28.003 3:28.135 3:28.164 3:28.289 3:28.463 3:28.786 3:28.846 207 207.5 208 208.5 209 Toyota Alpine Cadillac JOTA Cadillac WTR Aston Martin AF Corse Ferrari BMW Peugeot Genesis If we take the average 20% of a team's two cars and average them together, Toyota are top. It's close, though. Alpine are less than a tenth back and the JOTA-run Cadillacs are also well in the mix. Curiously, the Ferraris are quite a way back. We'll have to see how they progress on Wednesday and Thursday practice, and whether the sandbags begin to be released through the week and into the race. Peugeot are still struggling for pace at Le Mans, as they did last year and in 2024 with the "new" winged 9X8\. Genesis are only just behind Peugeot in what will likely be an encouraging day for the Korean-French team. After the session had concluded, Aston Martin's Gamble, who topped the time sheets overall in the #007 Valkyrie, said: 'Night and day \[difference\] really \[compared to last year\]. Systems on the car are working a lot better now, and the balance itself is also a lot better. It's a lot more enjoyable to drive. And I mean it was already fun last year. It's a pleasure to drive this Valkyrie around Le Mans.' Top speed-wise, the two Alpines recorded the fastest straight line speed down the Mulsanne straight, 345.1kph. This was a full 1kph faster than the #7 Toyota. The fastest Valkyrie was 343kph, while Ferrari, easily the fastest car in a straight line last year, could only manage 341.9kph. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/Alpine-Image-00004562.webp) Could this be Alpine's year at Le Mans? Image: DPPI / WEC As the teams trawl through the data over the next two days, this will change on Wednesday. But, Alpine do look to be in a good place going into the week, as do Toyota and JOTA with the factory WEC Cadillac programme. In all, the 2026 edition of Le Mans is the hardest race to call in years. The majority of manufacturers have strengths somewhere and the traditional favourites of recent races haven't been as dominant this year so far as we'd expect. The hidden BoP makes things a bit more equal, at least on paper, even though the ACO's reasoning for hiding it was poor. And the fact most cars have upgrades makes it hard to know who'll be quick in the race. Toyota and Alpine led on test day pace, but BMW were very strong at Spa. And Ferrari are lurking suspiciously far back. The first hour will likely tell us more than the entire test day did about where each team stands. ### The 2030 Hypercar/GTP regulations: what the manufacturers are saying URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/2030-hypercar-gtp-regulations-what-manufacturers-are-saying/ Last updated: 2026-06-03T12:08:35.000Z Sportscar racing is in a good place. More manufacturers are competing at the top level than at any point in recent memory, the racing has been close, and multiple teams can compete for wins regularly. The convergence of LMH and LMDh has succeeded, beyond all doubt. But regulations never last forever, and 2030 is expected to bring the next generation of top class prototypes to both the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the IMSA Sportscar Championship. We may get the first official details at Le Mans next week, at the ACO's annual press conference. Here's what the manufacturers involved in the discussion are telling us to expect. ## A single ruleset is likely Running cars to two rulesets simultaneously introduces complexities with regards to balancing the cars, with Balance of Performance (BoP) used to varying degrees of success. The easiest way to simplify things is, clearly, to have cars running to a single ruleset in both championships. Discussions between the manufacturers have been ongoing for some time about how the next set of regulations should work and what they look like. As may be expected, each manufacturer has their own aims at the top of the priority list, and those aims differ amongst each manufacturer. What does seem to be a common thread, though, at least for some manufacturers, is having a single ruleset for both IMSA and WEC. Here's what Porsche's Urs Kuratle, head of LMDh motorsport at Porsche, had to say on the subject, when *On The Apex* spoke to him earlier in the year. 'We're trying to play a role with \[the 2030 regulations\]', said Kuratle. 'We stay in the discussions, how to create those regulations. Having joint regulations, LMH and LMDh, is definitely something we are looking for and trying to help and invest a lot into creating those regulations. ![Porsche's Urs Kuratle in the Porsche garage, with headset round his neck, smiling and glancing to his left.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/WEC-2025-Austin-LMDH.jpg) Urs Kuratle is Porsche's head of LMDh motorsport. Image: Porsche / Hoch Zwei / Juergen Tap 'I think it's \[single ruleset\] important and it's maybe not the only way to go forward in sports car racing, but it's one way of going forward in in sports car racing, which definitely makes a lot of sense. We try to be part of it and we help as much as we can to create those regulations.' Everything about these new regulations seem to be up for discussion at the moment, with a lot of negotiation between the various parties still to take place, as IMSA President John Doonan told media at Daytona in January. 'We had an awesome meeting last September in Paris, with all the manufacturers, the ACO, the FIA. I left that room with a lot of energy about maybe taking another step where we bring together the two different sets of technical regulations and try to, for 2030 as a target, to have one set of technical regulations. 'I think, based on our annual steering committee meeting with Pierre (Fillon), Frederic (Lequien), and Thierry Bouvet, and Simon Hodgson and Ed (Bennett) and Jim France on my side. It was a lot of that same discussion about wanting to achieve that.' Doonan's strength to IMSA here is [his manufacturer background](https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-doonan-2a626a4/?ref=ontheapex.com), having been director of Mazda's motorsport efforts for 8 and a half years. This included the years when Mazda raced in the DPi class, the forerunner or predecessor to the LMDh ruleset, starting in 2017. BMW's Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, agreed with Porsche's Kuratle, as did McLaren's James Barclay. 'For BMW, a clear base must be that we have one common ruleset, for all, let's say, Hypercars,' Roos told *On The Apex.* 'So there's only one ruleset, not having LMH and LMDh regulations.' ![BMW's Andreas Roos with his arms crossed in a hospitality area, in a BMW shirt](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/Sebring-USA-High-Res.jpg) Andreas Roos told **OTA* that BMW must have a common ruleset in prototypes. Image: BMW McLaren toed a similar line as well. In response to a question from *On The Apex* about the 2030 regulations and McLaren's position on them, McLaren Endurance team principal James Barclay said, in a McLaren roundtable: 'Evolution not revolution,' said Barclay. 'When you look at the constituent parts, there's a lot that's really good there. So I think evolution feels better than revolution, focusing on what's built up this great era while keeping the intrinsic parts of that. 'But, maybe improving the elements which we know is quite challenging, when you have quite different technical rules, in LMH and LMDh. I think there's more we can... one would be a fantastic foot forward.' As a team coming into the series in 2027, though, how involved are McLaren in these discussions? 'As a committed team coming into the category, we're working with our spine partner Dallara and our supply chain. Yes, it's really fortunate that we've been included right from the start. 'Yeah. we'll play a really active role in that, but obviously take a lot of input and experience from those who have been competing, but I think we can also bring a fresh perspective to that as well,' said Barclay. So: it seems there is at least some alignment here. Even Toyota broadly agrees, although the positioning of technical director David Floury's statement, in an exclusive conversation with *On The Apex*, was a little more cautionary. 'As a general principle, we welcome the idea to bring the cars, the two regulations closer together,' Floury explained, 'but obviously we need to understand the details.' ## Sign up for On The Apex In-depth sportscar analysis and insight, in your inbox every Wednesday Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## The level of spec parts remains a question Some teams want to bring over as many constituent parts from the current regulations, to the new ones, in the interest of cost control. 'Clearly for us on BMW's side, the goal is to have as many parts to take over from the current regulations into the new regulations,' said BMW's Roos. 'The main target must be cost control, keep the costs under control, and therefore we clearly have to have a regulation which is cost efficient and suits to most of the manufacturers.' Fundamentally, the manufacturers all want different things included in the regulations and are, ultimately, working to their own ends and goals. The LMH-rules manufacturers, in particular, do not want to use spec parts or chassis, as Toyota technical director David Floury told *On The Apex.* *'*As Toyota, we are not interested in racing cars that we buy from a supplier and a hybrid system that we buy from another supplier,' he said. 'We go racing to develop people and to develop ever better cars. When you use a hybrid system on a spine that is developed by someone else, you lose most of the knowledge transfer you can achieve through racing.' ![Toyota's TR010 Hypercar for the 2026 WEC season, at Spa-Francorchamps, leading a Genesis GMR-001 and a Peugeot 9X8](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/Toyota-Image-00004445.jpg) Toyota's heavily revised Hypercar is performing well in WEC in 2026\. Image: DPPI/WEC ## Hybridisation: likely, but in what form? It's hard to predict what this new, hypothetical, unified ruleset may include. It'll almost certainly involve some kind of hybrid element as this is important for manufacturer marketing, plus R&D as Floury says. Could there be a spec system for the manufacturers who don't want to develop racing hybrid technology, and for those that do, they can manufacture their own? Possibly, possibly not. Whether this will power the front wheels, as in the current LMH regulations, or rear wheels, like with the LMDh regulations, is unknown. Front wheel hybrid is more complex as it makes the car become all-wheel-drive when activated, but is also more visually exciting as the cars can corner quicker. Rear wheel hybrid is cheaper and less complex. It's a toss up. Both Ferrari and Toyota have made it clear they do not want a chassis spine provided to them, like the current LMDh regulations stipulate. But then BMW's Roos implied, above, that BMW do want that, with his 'the goal is to have as many parts to take over from the current regulations' comment. Porsche's Kuratle, meanwhile, wouldn't be drawn on commenting either way when asked by *On The Apex*. 'It would not be clever to say it is to be a 50/50 share from the current regulations or anything like this,' said the German. 'It simply should make sense. And also since the existing rule sets are in place, a lot of experience has been created. People can go and talk to their board and find out what the OEM's goal is by now? 'Things may have changed a bit, so it would not be clever to say it's 50/50, 40/50 or 40/60 from either set of regulations,' he finished. So, four manufacturers with very different views on the future of the regulations, even if the direction of travel is broadly the same. These are the kinds of "details" that Floury cautioned need to be sorted. It's likely some compromises will have to be made in order to get the regulations passed and agreements made. Others may quit if they don't get what they want, as we've seen happen many times before. The question, really, is: who will compromise and who will quit? That's not likely to be something we'll find out any time soon. ## The alternatives to BoP Balance of Performance is a constant discussion point in sportscar racing. WEC have reduced the number of talking points by no longer releasing the BoP figures publicly. Even the teams don't have the full picture. But it's still much-discussed and talked about, and not always positively. [FOR/AGAINST: Is BoP a necessary evil or just unnecessary?Has BoP helped WEC create close, exciting racing, or is it a gimmick which should be binned?![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024--15--39cdae014236e74870f46e869d48b0ade621c0c79748f5efe5b135ae1441774f.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-bop-for-against-necessary-evil-gimmick-unnecessary/) Part of the problem derives from the complexities of balancing two similar but different rulesets against each other. The other problem is the prototype customer market not working out like the hugely successful customer market in GT3 racing. But that's a discussion for another time... Again, Kuratle wouldn't be drawn on commenting about BoP, but he did say there are alternative 'tools' under discussion. 'I mean that discussion is one obviously,' he said, when *On The Apex* asked about the possibility of BoP being removed or its influence reduced for 2030. 'But I have to give you the same answer: it has to make sense at the end of the day. Whether it be BoP, and to what extent... it needs to make sense. [Toyota & Porsche make thinly-veiled criticisms of WEC BoPThe two reigning world championship teams have subtly made their feelings known about of WEC’s Balance of Performance.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC225_041811145410852ND-cfe1da2b993565d98c5f49148e4ea40b8ddc63ea5c1847bc881074f9bd7affcc.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-porsche-spa-wec-bop-balance-of-performance-le-mans/) 'There's a number of tools. The governance bodies can control the cost, which is at the end of the day, the goal from BoP. 'Which one is the most sensible for that one common rule set? It's a discussion. There will be a big discussion, that much is true, but all I can say is it has to make sense. 'It would be stupid to rule out one or another tool from the governance bodies at that stage. It's common sense that it has to be regulated one way or another,' he finished. ## Cost cap 'a consideration' Toyota's Floury, meanwhile, believes a cost cap would be incredibly hard to regulate fairly. 'I think it could be definitely a consideration,' said the Frenchman. 'However, I think implementing a cost cap is probably not something that is very easy. Especially when you have manufacturers racing in one championship, in the other championship, in the two championships. [2025 Toyota GR010 vs 2026: Analysing Toyota’s aero upgradeToyota will introduce a heavily-revised version of the GR010 Hybrid next year. But what exactly is changing, and what will the impact be?![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Toyota-Labelled.001-dbacf08af3246fd11f2f71330b602461a246df2f6f9f40b545608c2808d05dd2.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-gr010-wec-2025-vs-2026-aero-redesign/) 'How do you consider the costs accordingly? It's going to be very difficult. So far the cost caps have been applied in championships where manufacturers have the same number of cars in the championship and they race only in a single championship. 'But when you have manufacturers operating with external teams, such as BMW with WRT, Alpine with Signatech, Cadillac with JOTA, I guess it makes it even more difficult to compare this kind of organisation with an organisation such as us where everything is integrated. 'I see quite some challenges to apply this to endurance racing.' With so many manufacturers involved plus the ACO, IMSA and the FIA, finding a consensus where everyone is happy will be hard. There'll likely be at least one party not entirely happy with the direction of the new regulations. The details revealed at Le Mans, if we get any at all, will likely be scant. The least amount of info needed to actually make the announcement, thanks to the amount of detail that still needs to be decided. It's possible not much at all has actually been set in stone, with a lot up in the air. 'Maybe some directions can be announced at Le Mans,' Toyota's Floury said. But he cautioned that deciding any specific details, 'will probably take longer than this, especially if we want to make the best job possible.' Support **On The Apex*'s independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Be a supporter ](https://www.ontheapex.com/#/portal/signup) ### On The Apex is here. And Le Mans is just around the corner. URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/introducing-on-the-apex/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T10:49:13.000Z **On The Apex is a new motorsport insights and analysis newsletter and website, built on the old *Only Endurance* backend, by the same writer.** **I am an accredited motorsport journalist for the IMSA Sportscar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship, covering races in Europe, the United States, and Asia.** **I want to take you deeper into sportscar and endurance racing, offering insights, analysis and opinion, direct to your inbox.** --- ## Great. But what is *On The Apex*? I'm planning to send a weekly newsletter out, on Wednesdays, with an insight or long form article about a relevant topic in sportscar or endurance racing. This may cover the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA Sportscar Championship, GT World Challenge (Europe), or Intercontinental GT Challenge. Possibly also the European or Asian Le Mans Series as well, we'll see. That's just the start: I have big ideas and plans for where I want to take this in the future, using increasing amounts of data to tell race stories, plus in-depth interviews with major figures in the sport. But I'm starting small first and we'll see how things go. --- ## **What's coming up** The first article, coming this Wednesday, will be focused on the 2030 Hypercar/GTP regulations and what we may be able to expect from them. We're hoping to hear the first initial, concrete details of these at Le Mans in a couple of weeks time. The article features input from Porsche, BMW, Toyota and McLaren. There's a lot happening in this area – it's an exciting time to be a sportscar fan. There'll be a Le Mans preview the week after, just hours before opening practice gets underway at La Sarthe, which I will be at in person to cover for this newsletter/website and for [Motorsport Week](https://www.motorsportweek.com/?ref=ontheapex.com). I may also send a special Friday newsletter 24 hours or so before the start of the 24 hour race, looking at practice long runs and lap times, plus qualifying, with some insight from drivers and teams, depending who I get hold of. The Wednesday after Le Mans, I'll have some in-depth analysis and insight of the race and how it went down. After that, we'll see: I have some ideas but nothing 100% solid yet. If there's anything you'd like to read, questions you want answered, etc, let me know by replying to this email or sending a message to phil@ontheapex.com. --- ## Supporting *On The Apex* At some point, the insight/feature/in-depth articles will become paid-for content. I'm not sure when yet; the timing depends on a few different factors. I hope the quality will be good enough to convince you to upgrade to a paying membership, helping me get to races and cover this wonderful sport we all love. Equally, if you want to upgrade to paid now, you can do that! It's currently £10 a year or £1 a month, which will likely go up when the content becomes paid-for. There will be free content alongside that, and the paid-for content will be released to free members after a set period of time. So you'll be able to read it... eventually. But, there's absolutely no pressure. I'm just genuinely grateful you're here as my founding members. Support On The Apex's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/#/portal/signup) --- ## A word on *Only Endurance* Most here are old members who subscribed when this was still Only Endurance. Thank you for subscribing then, and if you became a paid member, double thank you. Both are genuinely appreciated. If you're a new subscriber in the past 24 hours or so from when I soft launched On The Apex - also thank you! Great to have you here. Tim, the creator and founder of *Only Endurance*, and I decided to go our separate ways for this year. We both wanted to do different things with this website and it was best to do our own thing, separately. If you have any suggestions or ideas for articles or features I could write about, great! Feel free to send me a message by replying to this email. Or if you just want to say hi. It's always good to hear from readers. Thanks all. I can't wait to get started with this new project. See you at a race track! Phil Image credit: DPPI/WEC ### New look for Genesis ahead of Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/genesis-magma-racing-le-mans-livery/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T08:50:56.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/06/260601_genesismagmaracingrevealsnewlookforlemansdebut.jpg) The new livery is predominantly orange, transitioning to red at the rear, with black highlights. Genesis says it takes inspiration from the "lava at the heart of the Magma name", which itself is inspired by the Korean peninsula's volcanic origins. The livery also retains the *hangeul* lettering – the Korean alphabet – for 'Magma' over the entirety of the car, again reflecting its Korean heritage. Is a volcano-inspired livery a motorsport first? Let us know in the comments. “For the entire Genesis brand, including of course Genesis Magma Racing, design is one of the foundational pillars,” said Genesis Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke. “Fans and supporters have been vocal in their love of the Magma Orange concept livery that was unveiled last year, and, as always, Genesis takes our supporters’ feedback into consideration by bringing it to reality with a bold evolution. More than a race livery, it’s an artful statement — where color and form convey the unique performance identity of Genesis.” “The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the biggest weekend of our year,” said Genesis Magma Racing team principal Cyril Abiteboul. “It is the toughest test we face during the FIA WEC season, especially as a team in our first season, but it is also our biggest opportunity to show the identity of Genesis and Genesis Magma Racing to the world through racing.” He added: “Since we launched the team in December 2024, Magma has been a key part of our name and our identity, so to be able to bring Genesis Magma fully to life on track is very important. The cars look fantastic, and as a team we will be working to make sure our performance matches the level of attention that has gone into creating the designs.” ### Iron Lynx to run Mercedes Silver Arrows liveries at Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/iron-lynx-mercedes-silver-arrows-liveries-le-mans/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T12:59:07.000Z The team will run three Mercedes cars at La Sarthe, the two FIA World Endurance Championship full season cars, plus one extra. The lineups in the 3 cars will be: #61 (black rear end) - Martin Berry, Maxime Martin, Rui Andrade #79 (yellow rear end) - Johannes Zegler, Matteo Cressoni, Lin Hodenius #62 (Qatar-sponsored) - Abdulla Al Khelaifi, Julian Hanses, Giuliano Ales “It’s a great pleasure for us to bring the Silver Arrows back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second consecutive year,” said Iron Lynx team principal and CEO, Andrea Piccini. “I particularly like that we are doing it by featuring three distinct personalities. We are also delighted to partner with Team Qatar. The first time at Le Mans is always unique, and I really hope it will be an unforgettable experience.” Stefan Wendl, Head of Customer Racing for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, said: “I’m very pleased to see three Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 cars once again on the grid for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. “Continuing the story of the Silver Arrows in 2026 through the liveries of all three cars, following our debut last year, underlines the special significance this race holds within our motorsport heritage. Building upon the experience gained last year, we are aiming to confirm our sporting progress with a strong result.” See pictures of the cars on the [official Le Mans website](https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/iron-lynx-continues-the-silver-arrows-legacy-at-the-2026-24-hours-of-le-mans-60604?ref=ontheapex.com). ### Louis Deletraz to replace Alex Lynn at Cadillac for Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/louis-deletraz-replace-alex-lynn-cadillac-le-mans/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T12:48:29.000Z Lynn’s neck surgery, which was due to take place before Le Mans, has been rescheduled and means he will not be able to take part in the French endurance classic. Deletraz, who races full-time in IMSA for another Cadillac factory team, Wayne Taylor Racing, will once again join Norman Nato and Will Stevens in the #12 JOTA-run Cadillac. The trio finished ninth at Spa after leading in the early laps of the race in the first couple of hours. But they fell back in the second half of the race to finish ninth. "It's obviously hugely disappointing not to be racing at Le Mans and to miss the Silverstone test with the team, but getting this procedure completed and fully recovering has to be the priority,” said Lynn. "The timing hasn't worked out as originally planned due to scheduling difficulties around the surgery, but we now have a clear path forward. "I'll be supporting the team from home and I wish Louis, the #12 crew and everyone at Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA the very best for Le Mans." ### Chaz Mostert to race for Vasser Sullivan Lexus in Detroit URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/chaz-mostert-imsa-detroit-vasser-sullivan-lexus/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T13:12:13.000Z The Australian will join full time Vasser Sullivan GTD Pro regulars Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat, who will race the #14 Lexus, also run by Vasser Sullivan. Mostert will be trying to beat his best IMSA result, a second place at Daytona this year for the 75 Express Mercedes team, alongside fellow Australians Kenny Habul and Will Power, plus Mercedes factory driver Maro Engel. “I’m so excited to have the opportunity to race for Vasser Sullivan,” Mostert said. “I’ve raced in the States a few times and always thought that the team looks so professional and like a tight-knit family so it’s an honour to be able to race for the team. “The Lexus RC F GT3 car looks incredible, and I can’t wait to get my first laps. “I’m new to the Toyota-Lexus family and being able to get this opportunity being an Australian driver is very much a pinch yourself moment. “I can’t wait to get to Detroit. I love street tracks and am looking forward to the challenge. I can’t thank my Supercar team, Walkinshaw TWG Racing, enough for allowing me to compete.” Read more on the [IMSA website](https://www.imsa.com/news/2026/05/06/lexus-and-vasser-sullivan-announce-two-car-gtd-pro-lineup-for-detroit-grand-prix/?ref=ontheapex.com). ### GALLERY: McLaren's 2027 WEC Hypercar, the MCL-HY URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-mclaren-2027-wec-hypercar-mcl-hy/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T14:56:17.000Z McLaren has unveiled its 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar, named the MCL-HY. In keeping with McLaren's corporate image since Zak Brown took over from Ron Dennis a decade (!) ago, the car is papaya orange, with white and black highlights. It looks substantially different to the showcar the manufacturer unveiled at Le Mans in 2025\. It'll be the British team's first ever bespoke Le Mans prototype, as the McLaren F1 GTR which won Le Mans 31 years ago, in 1995, was a GT1 car built initially for the road, then converted to a racing car for the GT1 class. Alongside the prototype, McLaren have also unveiled the MCL-HY GTR, a track day version of the car which customers can "buy" and drive at various circuits around the world. It's not unlike Ferrari's 499P Modificata programme, which has been a success for the Italian manufacturer, with over 30 cars sold. McLaren will be hoping to emulate this success. The team have signed two drivers to the programme so far, both experienced prototype drivers in Mikkel Jensen and 2024 world champion Laurens Vanthoor. [McLaren sign Mikkel Jensen as first 2027 Hypercar driverMikkel Jensen, formerly at Peugeot, has signed with McLaren as the team’s first Hypercar driver as development ramps up ahead of the 2027 debut.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Frame-2--2--5a937443dc919a881b0af675527a8d4414df2b20126d564b553616515b39404a.png)On The ApexPhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Mikkel-at-MTC-af6f9eecc0d1e2b0806621b9a465f5eb90763aac93035c5ed60cad32c26859de.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/mclaren-mikkel-jensen-first-wec-hypercar-driver-2027/) The engine will be manufactured for McLaren by Italian form Autotecnica, while the car itself will be based on the LMDh ruleset, using a Dallara chassis. This is the same as what the existing BMW M Hybrid V8 and the Cadillac V-Series.R use, and have done since 2023. The programme is currently in the testing phase now, at various tracks around Europe, before a scheduled debut in the FIA WEC in 2027. In the meantime, enjoy a series of images of the new car, compared against the legendary McLaren M8D, the Can-Am car which Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme drove to so many victories in the Canadian-American sports prototype series in the mid-late 1960s. *All images credit McLaren.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/05/05_16x9.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/05/07_16x9.webp) ## Sign up for On The Apex In-depth sportscar analysis and insight, in your inbox every Wednesday Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/05/01_16x9.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/05/02_16x9.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/05/03_16x9--1-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/05/04_16x9--1-.webp) ### All you need to know about reports Honda is poised to join WEC URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/honda-acura-wec-inter-europol-all-you-need-to-know/ Last updated: 2026-02-01T18:22:04.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) According to reports from multiple publications, Honda is looking to join the FIA World Endurance Championship, perhaps as early as next year. Now, we've heard this before since the LMDh ruleset, of which the Acura ARX-06, as it is known in the North American IMSA Sportscar Championship, aligns to. But this time it seems it may well actually happen. The reports all suggest that, if this programme gets confirmed, that Honda will team up with top LMP2 team Inter Europol Competition, for a factory-backed entry into the WEC Hypercar class. It is believed this entry is only possible as Inter Europol Competition would provide the majority of the funding should the programme go ahead. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-20390.jpg) Inter Europol entered two cars in Daytona this year, finishing with a double podium. Image: Griffith Bean According to German publication, *Motorsport aktuell,* HRC US (Honda Racing Corporation United States) president David Salters said in Daytona, 'If the budget were available, one could do it. If the budget is not available, one cannot – that is the central aspect of this question.' A factory-backed but privately-funded operation is not unusual in sportscar racing. Aston Martin's WEC and IMSA programmes, with the Valkyrie race car, are largely privately funded by partner team The Heart of Racing, but is fully factory-backed by Aston Martin and manufacturer partner Multimatic. The reports also suggest this could happen as early as 2027\. Grid space will be at a premium next year, with this putting potentially 40 cars on the grid, the first time WEC will have a grid in the 40s. *Only Endurance* contacted both HRC US and Inter Europol, but both had no comment to make, "at this time" or "at the moment", respectively. [Daytona analysis: Examining Porsche’s slender pace advantagePorsche controlled this year’s Daytona 24 Hours, but look deeper and it was a lot closer than it seemed, Only Endurance analysis finds.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-257.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-10425.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/daytona-rolex-24-analysis-porsche-pace/) ## Acura a known force in IMSA Honda, or rather HRC US, already compete in IMSA, as Acura Meyer Shank Racing, as a two-car factory operation. One car is operated my Meyer Shank, with the other operated by HRC US. The Acura ARX-06 has competed in IMSA since 2023, originally with a single car from Meyer Shank Racing and another from Wayne Taylor Racing. After the cheating scandal with Meyer Shank Racing emerged in mid-2023, the partnership fell apart and Meyer Shank took a year out of sportscar racing in 2024, leaving just Wayne Taylor Racing competing with Acura, albeit with two cars instead of one. WTR switched to a factory-supported Cadillac programme for 2025, with Meyer Shank Racing returning to run Acura's programme, with grudges swept away in light of a new two-car partnership and programme, which continued into 2026. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-23611.jpg) Acura is Honda's luxury brand in the US. Image: Griffith Bean ## Inter Europol the current LMP2 super team Inter Europol, on the other hand, are one of the current crop of LMP2 super teams. They ran in WEC from 2021-2023, winning their first race at Le Mans in 2023, by all accounts a great place to win your first race! With LMP2 cut from the full WEC season for 2024, amid increasing amounts of Hypercar entries, Inter Europol partnered with IMSA team PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports to race a single-car campaign there. The team won the Teams' and Drivers' championships that year, with Tom Dillmann and bronze-rated Nick Boulle. This became a fully Inter Europol-operated programme in 2025\. The team is back in IMSA for 2025, again with the regular full-season #43 car, alongside an extra #343 car for Daytona, where they finished with a double podium, 2nd and 3rd. The Polish team also race in the European Le Mans Series, and have done since 2016, when they started in the series, racing in LMP3\. This year they will race two cars in the LMP2 class, alongside one in LMP3. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14103-1.jpg) Could we see two Inter Europol-run ARX-06s in WEC next year? Image: Griffith Bean ## *Only Endurance's* thoughts ### Phil *Finally! After years of will they/won't they, it seems we're finally on the cusp of seeing a Honda prototype in WEC and at Le Mans. Interestingly this will be the first time the Japanese manufacturer will have raced in the top class at Le Mans. Regardless, the ARX-06 is a strong car and a known quantity, with a strong base car in the Oreca chassis.* *Inter Europol are strong too, having increasing expanded their operations from a single car in WEC to a full two car programme in IMSA. I remember their joy and delight first-hand when they won at Le Mans in 2023 – Fabio Scherer racing with a broken foot – so I can't wait to see them back in WEC, providing the partnership with Honda happens.* Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Tim *It is, and has been since the start of the LMDh formula, an absolute no-brainer for Honda. The car was developed somewhat externally but run under their name, and now with the growth of HRC USA and the global efforts this makes total sense.* *Operational costs can be taken up by a team, and there are many that would love the chance to run in Hypercar. Honda can transfer knowledge and understanding from the great foundations they’ve laid in IMSA.* *Better late than never, but I am surprised it’s taken this long to reach this point. Push the button Honda!* ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Daytona analysis: Examining Porsche's slender pace advantage URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/daytona-rolex-24-analysis-porsche-pace/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T12:04:59.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) This is going to be a strange race to tell a story about. Some headlining stats: there were just over 15 hours of green flag running during the 24 hours, 15h11m to be exact. There was almost 9 hours of yellow altogether – 8h49m – including the mammoth 6h33m yellow stint in the middle of the race, from 00:45 local time to 07:18. An oft-quoted stat in the media centre during the race: this was the longest safety car period in history, in any motorsport series anywhere. Sidenote: I've now been to both races with the longest stints of safety car periods in history, this year's race at Daytona and Le Mans 2024, which had the 4 hour 25 minute safety car period due to rain. The longest single stint in this safety car period, and during the race itself, was Kyffin Simpson in the #08 Tower Motorsport LMP2 entry. The Caymanian driver was in the car from 02:42 local time, when he replaced teammate Sebastian Alvarez, who'd been in since the caution period started and before that. Simpson was driving around at safety car speed until 06:36 the same morning, with no pitstops to break the boredom of 3h56m of slow pace car speeds. He was replaced by Sébastien Bourdais minutes before hitting the 4 hour limit behind the wheel. IMSA confirmed this is the longest single stint a driver has done at Daytona since the 4 hour rule was introduced. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-02509.jpg) Nasr took the lead early on and didn't look back, leading for over half the race. Image: Griffith Bean ## Porsche were quickest, but others weren't far off Anyway. Enough with the safety car shenanigans. Let's look at the actual race where we had green flag running. The first thing to say: it's obvious Porsche had the fastest car throughout the race. While others led for considerable portions of the race – 9 GTPs led at least a lap through the race – the two factory Porsche Penskes led for 73.9% of the race, or 521 laps. But while it felt like Porsche dominated, and purely from a positional standpoint they did, they weren't all that much quicker than their competition. If we filter each car down to its best 20% laps and then create an average value for each, the two Porsches are, probably predictably, fastest. But the Acuras, Cadillacs and BMWs are not far off at all. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/DaytonaAveragePace.png) The average pace of each GTP car in the 2026 Daytona 24 Hours. Click to enlarge. As you may expect if you watched the race, the #31 Action Express Cadillac was the closest to the Porsches when measured using this metric. The red Cadillac was, perhaps, the German manufacturer's strongest competition through the race, or at least the most consistent. Interestingly, though, the car only led 33 laps, or 4.7% of the total race distance. Most of this was Earl Bamber's 31-lap stint in the lead, from lap 96 to 126, just over 3 hours into the race. Jack Aitken led the other two laps, which occurred on lap 310 and 311, as the two Porsches ahead pitted with Aitken inheriting the lead until he too stopped a couple of laps later. The #93 Meyer Shank-run Acura was the fourth fastest car and occasionally had its turn in the lead, most significantly from lap 203 to 225 with Nick Yelloly at the wheel. However, despite sitting on pole (due to the #31 Action Express Cadillac's exclusion from qualifying) the Acuras both clearly lacked race pace. ### The #6 Porsche's troubles While the #7 Porsche in particular dominated the race from a positional point of view, leading 375 laps, the #6 Porsche had a more troubled race. Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor always seemed to be a step behind their teammates in the sister car. It wasn't seen on camera, but early in the race during Kevin Estre's first stint, he hit an unidentified LMP2, causing floor damage which affected them all race. Estre told *Only Endurance:* 'There were two cars following each other. I was exiting the pitlane and they were in turn 3\. After the first one, I started to go towards the apex, and then we had contact with the second one. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/PorscheDaytonaAverages.png) The 20% average pace for each Porsche GTP driver at Daytona. Click to enlarge. 'To be honest, I didn't see any footage, I'm not sure if there is any, or if he had enough room, any understeer, or if I didn't leave enough room. It was not a massive contact, but probably his nose was attached to us or something. So we had a big issue on the car, big damage, although the contact was not that big.' This would go on to affect them all through the race, causing a long pitstop soon after the contact to fix immediate problems and dropping them off the lead lap, although they got it back at the next caution period. Estre also hit the Risi Ferrari early on in the race, with Davide Rigon at the wheel. The Frenchman in the Porsche described the contact thus: 'He just lost it in the middle of the bus stop, went sideways and almost spun. I was going to the right trying and he came back and hit the rear left again'. Otherwise, though, the #6 lacked the pace of the #7, whether through damage or setup. 'When we were in clean air it was not too bad,' L. Vanthoor told *Only Endurance* after the race. 'We had more accidents than the #7, and we didn't have the ultimate speed, but in clean air we were fine. But behind other cars it felt worse than ever,' the Belgian lamented. ## BMW's delight at a podium The other German manufacturer in Hypercar was, meanwhile, ecstatic at claiming a podium at Daytona. This is BMW's first ever podium in the GTP class at Daytona, having come a best of fourth in the race previously, in 2025, when the team was run by Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL). It was also WRT's first race in IMSA with the M Hybrid V8, and effectively their Daytona debut in their current form as BMW's factory team. That said, it should be noted they did compete in the race in 2019, when the team was partnered with Audi, in the GTD class, finishing third. But GTP is a completely different kettle of fish, and WRT boss Vincent Vosse could barely contain his delight when *Only Endurance* found him in victory lane post-race. 'It's quite an accomplishment, so very happy,' he said amid the chaos of post-race celebrations in victory lane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14668.jpg) A good IMSA GTP and Daytona debut for WRT, BMW's factory team. Image: Griffith Bean 'It was not looking so good after qualifying, and we were able to turn the thing around. At some stage, we were looking good for any place on the podium.' 'After a few laps at the start of the race, we could feel we were better than expected. We were able to build to our podium. The Porsche was probably unreachable, but for the rest, I think we have achieved what we could.' Like Vosse said, while BMW couldn't reliably challenge Porsche, although they did lead at times, they were right on pace with Cadillac and Acura. In total, the BMWs led for 8.2% of the race, or 58 laps. The longest stint in the lead for the Bavarian manufacturer was laps 549-576, with Marco Wittmann at the wheel of the #25 car. But, as we've already looked at, Porsche weren't a massive amount ahead anyway pace-wise. They led from the front for the vast majority of the race, but they were only slightly ahead when it comes to pace. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## AXR's challenge for the win The only car to properly challenge the #7 Porsche was the #31 Action Express-run, Whelen-sponsored Cadillac. While they were demoted to the back of the GTP grid due to being excluded from qualifying for a technical infringement, they quite clearly had pace from the very first hour. Jack Aitken started the car 11th. By just under half an hour in, after the first caution for the LMP2 crash at the start had finished and the race restarted, the Briton was in 8th. Unfortunately, he received a penalty for a jump start at the latest restart, dropping him well into the LMP2 field. But, throughout the race, looking at the 20% average pace, the #31 car was only a tenth of a second or so off the #7 Porsche, and was surely their closest and most persistent challenger through the race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/DaytonaFinalStintAverages.png) The final stint 20% pace averages for the 2026 Daytona 24 Hours. Click to enlarge. Both cars declined to take tyres when they stopped for the final time, Aitken on lap 676 and Nasr a lap later. Aitken's stop was 2 seconds quicker, enabling him to gain on the Brazilian in the Porsche and be right under his rear wing. In that final 28-lap stint to the flag, Aitken was actually quicker in terms of average 20% pace, by under a tenth of a second. But he couldn't find a way past Nasr, who was positioning his car perfectly with excellent racecraft to not let the Briton get by. 'There were a lot of cases that the 31 was pretty close to making a move on us,' he said after the race in the post-race press conference. 'A couple of times I had to pick my line and brake as late as I could, and I could see he was also trying everything he could. Like I said, excellent drivers on the 31, and they were not going to let us win that easy.' Meanwhile, Aitken for his part said, 'I think I had a couple of moments where I stuck my nose in there, but it was always from a bit further back and a bit just trying to make something happen. I never got a super, super great run on him into Turn 1\. It was always creeping up to his corner. 'So yeah, I was trying to find an opening here or there, and it was a fine line between making a gap open up and just causing a bit of an accident. 'I tried as best I could to get alongside, but couldn't get level, couldn't make the move stick. Yeah, I tried, but couldn't do it.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-20661.jpg) The #31 Cadillac was quick all race, but Aitken couldn't pass Nasr in the final hour. Image: Griffith Bean There was a moment where Aitken got his front wheel almost alongside Nasr's rear wheel on the inside, but Nasr was able to fend him off. 'It was aggressive, but yeah, I think I would have probably done the same,' he said when asked about that moment. 'There was a half of a gap there, so I went for it. The half of a gap turned into none of a gap, and we both did a good job to not have an accident.' The #24 BMW, meanwhile, was actually quicker than both cars ahead, once Dries Vanthoor had cleared the flagging #6 Porsche of Kevin Estre (he told *Only Endurance* after the race he had to back off and save fuel to make the finish), was actually marginally quicker than Aitken was measured by the 20% metric. And 'marginally' here means by about a hundredth of a second a lap on average, when taking the best 20% of laps from each car. So nothing to write home about it, but still shows BMW are in the fight with WRT at the helm. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Will Porsche's dominance hold over the year? Porsche have won all three championships for the GTP class in the last two years; Drivers', Teams', and Manufacturers'. They are, without a doubt, the team to beat in IMSA right now. They also won the Endurance Cup last year, cementing a clean sweep. BMW and WRT, though, are quite clearly hot on their heels, with the new BMW aero package working well. Cadillac, too, are clearly up there, and Acura aren't far back. It promises to be a great season in IMSA! *Feature image: Griffith Bean* [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: Our top shots from Daytona URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-top-shots-rolex-24-daytona-2026/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T15:51:22.000Z [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) Another Daytona has been and gone. It was, in the end, a good race with some excellent wheel to wheel racing, especially at the end (that lead GTD battle!), despite the fog and extended safety car caution period. The race started off in bright sunshine, almost perfect conditions for racing; bright and clear but also not too hot. The sun started to go down producing some excellent sunset shots, which you can see below. Then the darkness came and the fog set in, gradually getting thicker and lower. #04 Crowdstrike by APR driver, and now Daytona 24 hours (class) winner Malthe Jakobsen described the fog when he was in the car after the race, to media including *Only Endurance.* "You're coming down the back straight turning into the Bus Stop, and all you could see was your braking marks, and you didn't quite know where the curb was going to arrive," said the young Dane. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) As the fog got worse a caution was called, which ended up lasting 6 and a half hours. But once the sun rose the fog quickly burnt off and the field went green again for an immense run to the flag with lead battles in every single class. Felipe Nasr and Jack Aitken's battle for the lead with well under an hour to go may go down in history as one of the best lead battles at Daytona. Lap after lap, Aitken hounded Nasr, but the Brazilian, ever with an experienced head on his shoulders having won the event the last two years, resisted him until Aitken's tyres went off and he had to back off. This gave Nasr the overall win and only the third driver to win 3 in a row. Enjoy a selection of shots from the race from OE photographer Griffith Bean. Go give him a follow on Instagram – [@endurance\_photography](https://www.instagram.com/endurance%5Fphotography?ref=ontheapex.com)! Later this week we will have some deep-dive analysis, and mobile-ready wallpapers from Griffith, so stay tuned for those. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-02448.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-02546.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-06866.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-07785.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-07931.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-07974.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-07979.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-08131.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-08157.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-08560.jpg) ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-10413.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-10456.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-10469.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-10475.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-12016.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-12099.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-12551.jpg) [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-13960.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14240.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14270.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14358.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14366.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14375.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-14763.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-17443.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-17551.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-17980.jpg) Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-18402.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-20291.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-20364.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-20655.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01242026-20973.jpg) *All images including feature: credit Griffth Bean /* [*@endurance\_photography*](https://www.instagram.com/endurance%5Fphotography?ref=ontheapex.com) *for Only Endurance* ### Cadillac evo update brings consistency over a stint, say drivers URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillac-evo-update-stint-consistency/ Last updated: 2026-01-24T08:50:26.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) 2026 has seen multiple manufacturers bring updates for their IMSA GTP or WEC Hypercar competitors, with many focusing on aero updates, to varying degrees. However, the update that Cadillac have developed for 2026 is amongst the biggest aerodynamics evolution across all 10 manufacturers competing in the IMSA Sportscar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. *Only Endurance* spoke to multiple Cadillac drivers from both IMSA factory teams, Action Express Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing, to understand the changes and the differences to the previous generation or version of the Cadillac V-Series.R. 'The car seems to be more consistent and easier to drive over the long stints,' said Louis Deletraz, driver of the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. 'I don't think it's quicker. I just think it's better and more reliable.' [Analysis: Daytona long runs set stage for close 24 hour sprintThe Daytona long run pace during practice saw 4 manufacturers in the hunt for the win of the United States’ biggest endurance race.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-255.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/93-04-4.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-daytona-rolex-24-long-runs-practice-data/) A driver saying an update to a car doesn't make it quicker may be unusual. However, updating a car in GTP or Hypercar is different from some other motorsports, as the regulations for top class sportscars employ Balance of Performance to regulate and level the field. Accordingly, if you make your car outright faster, the gains you've made with the update, perhaps higher straightline speed or increased corner apex speeds, will be undone by higher weights or lower power. This means manufacturers instead focus on improving things that can't be undone by a helping of BoP. This could include driveability, making the car easier to drive; improving tyre wear, thermal degradation, and tyre warm-up capabilities; or, in the case of Cadillac, consistency over a stint. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) 'Also in traffic, following other cars, which was a big point from last year,' continued Deletraz. 'Like, while we're in traffic, we seem to lose all the performance. That's definitely better. 'And then the update with the brakes, same thing, controlling the temps, especially with those complex cars. We had some issues in the past, and I think the updates were targeting to improve that, find consistency and just be able to race better.' The brakes update has seen Cadillac switch to Brembo brakes for 2026 on the V-Series.R. The aero update, meanwhile, sees the car sporting a brand new splitter, redesigned lower rear wing, removal of diveplanes, and other aerodynamic upgrades. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01222026-02176.jpg) The updates form a comprehensive upgrade package to the V-Series.R. Image: Griffith Bean ## Vesti looking for familiarity amid win streak Over in the Action Express side of the Cadillac factory entries in IMSA and at Daytona this weekend, Fred Vesti echoed Deletraz's thoughts. 'Well, luckily it feels very familiar to the last year's car. 'Having won the last two races, we don't want a completely changed car,' the Dane began. It is slightly different and we have to adjust a few things but globally speaking, it's a very similar car to what we had and I'm glad it's similar, it is a very good race car,' he said. While Wayne Taylor Racing struggled for pace last year in their first year of running the Cadillac, after two years with the Acura ARX-06, Action Express had a good year, taking the final two race wins of the year at Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. But, what *has* changed in Vesti's opinion? 'Obviously the different brakes,' started the 24-year-old. 'So, just learning the working temperatures of those. 'Then there is a few things how the car feels, mainly in drivability like how consistent it is, and how easy it is to get the same lap time again and again. 'It's not really talking about peak performance. It's more like into the stint and into a long race. You know, this car is doing 24 hours, it needs to be pretty consistent.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_R24_GB_01222026-04496.jpg) Being consistent and putting in the laps is a key part of how to win at Daytona. Image: Griffth Bean ## Updates bring 'fresh start' to field Wayne Taylor Racing's Ricky Taylor, on the other hand, focused on improving the car's adjustability. 'Good, yeah, the updates were mainly for adjustability,' said the American. 'Being able to shift the aero balance, a little bit more, having a different tool. 'The update's looked pretty good so far, I'd say. Through the year, we'll find out how they evolve through the season,' he said. However, for Taylor, it's not just Cadillac's update that he and his fellow drivers need to learn more about. With Porsche, BMW, and Acura all bringing updates of their own for their cars, it resets things somewhat. 'By the end of last year, we had three full seasons of experience of who's good where, and how the cars react to certain situations. But yeah, it's kind of... it's nice. It's like starting fresh again.' [McLaren Hypercar programme ramps up with car on track in MayMikkel Jensen will get behind the wheel of McLaren’s Hypercar in just a few months, with all systems go at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-256.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Original-17558-mclaren-project-endurance-le-mans-hypercar-05.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/mclaren-hypercar-programme-ramps-up-with-car-on-track-in-may/) Jack Aitken, Vesti's teammate in the #31 Action Express Cadillac, echoed this viewpoint. 'I'm not sure to be honest, it's very hard to judge,' said the Briton when asked about where he thinks Action Express and Cadillac stack up this weekend. 'I mean, we've all got well, nearly all of us have come here with evo upgrades or packages or however, you want to say it. 'And, that means, it's a bit unsure how the cards are going to fall. We've had a solid Roar and practice. So far here, we've got plenty of mileage, nothing's really gone wrong. The car's run really well and reliably, but we still don't know where we are relatively pace-wise. 'So it's going to be interesting how the race starts to unfold, especially as we come out of the night, but I couldn't give you a clue as to how it's going to happen,' he concluded. *Feature image: Griffith Bean* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Analysis: Daytona long runs set stage for close 24 hour sprint URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-daytona-rolex-24-long-runs-practice-data/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T20:24:33.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Qualifying for the Daytona 24 Hours never tells the full story, but it always tells an important one. This year’s session was a perfect reminder of that. Across all four classes, the margins were incredibly thin and no one walked away feeling like they had the weekend figured out. But, qualifying isn't important in a 24 hour race, especially one where the field is kept relatively close together and bunched up, like it is in the IMSA Sportscar Championship. The practice runs tell us a lot more about how the race may look and what we could expect from what has, essentially, turned into a 24 hour sprint. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Acura top long runs and average pace Acura didn't have the ultimate pace in the Roar test, putting them a bit behind the leading Porsches and Cadillacs. But, either they were intentionally sandbagging as not to show their hand too early, or they found what they were missing over the few days between the Roar and the first practice session for the 24 hours themselves. Tom Blomqvist's 12-lap stint, set in the first session, had an average laptime of 1:36.267, over half a second quicker than Fred Vesti's stint in the #31 Action Express Cadillac, which had initially taken pole until a technical infringement put them to the rear of the GTP field for the start. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Frame-1--2-.png) The long run pace for each GTP car in IMSA this year. Tap to expand image. Vesti's 15-lap stint was a few laps longer than Blomqvist's, and was also set in the second session where temperatures were significantly lower due to being held at night. Temperatures peaked towards the end of the first session at around 22°C, while track temperatures were up at around 28°C. This is compared to the second session, which started in near-darkness at around 18°C and only got colder from there, with track temperature on a similar trend, 20°C and going down. The lower track temperatures offer improved grip and means tyres wear less and thermal degradation is lower. Lower air temperatures, meanwhile, help engines run cooler, assisting with higher power output. For context, Acura's fastest stint in the second session was a 1:37.516, set by Colin Braun in the #60 machine. However, this was only a 7-lap stint, not long at all when a race stint is in the region of 30 or so laps. Indeed, the #60 car's longest stint in the second session was only 7 laps – twice. The #93 did a slightly longer stint, 12 laps, with Alex Palou at the wheel, but this was slower than Braun's shorter effort, a 1:37.928. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/60-04.jpg) The #60 Acura has had good pace at Daytona this week. Image: Kevin Dejewski 'Honestly, I feel good but I don't know how good,' said Palou when asked by Only Endurance where he believes Acura stacks up compared to the competition. 'Are we top three good, or just top six good. Honestly, I don't know. 'I think we have a good car and we have good pace, but I don't know what everybody is doing yet. I don't know if people are running 100%, or 95 or 90,' concluded the IndyCar star. The fastest Porsche was Matt Campbell in the #6 machine, setting a 1:37.002 on average over a 10-lap stint in the second session. While both the #31 Cadillac's stint and Campbell's 10 lapper were set in the same session, Vesti set his early on in the session while Campbell set his as the session began to draw to a close, when the track had cooled down, although only by a few degrees celsius. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) In between Vest's #31 Cadillac and Campbell in the #6 Porsche, was Jordan Taylor in the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. The younger Taylor brother set a 1:36.888 to slot between the two, in the first session, over 12 laps. This was just under a tenth slower than Vesti over the course of the stint, and a couple of tenths up on Campbell. The other two manufacturers were next up, with Ross Gunn in the #23 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie setting a 1:37.301 over 9 laps, while Robin Frijns had the fastest BMW long run in the #24 car. The Dutchman's 10-lap session 2 stint produced a 1:37.434, the slowest manufacturer in terms of long runs. BMW have struggled somewhat for pace this weekend, with WRT, BMW's factory partner team, still bedding in IMSA competition, plus a new evo update to the M Hybrid V8 to understand. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/25-01.jpg) BMW are struggling for pace this weekend. Image: Kevin Dejewski Nevertheless, they're making progress, as Dries Vanthoor told *Only Endurance.* 'It's clear that we are lacking some speed,' said the Belgian. 'I think the last session we did, we actually we made a step forward. We found some some performance in the car which I think is positive, especially after a tough couple of days, but how much we gain is difficult to say.' The data backs this up. From the first two sessions, the BMWs had a best average long run of a 1:37.434, with Robin Frijns at the wheel of the #24 car in the second session for the 10 lap stint. The third session on Friday morning was better, with a best average of 97.009, from Sheldon van der Linde also in the #24 car. However, due to the disrupted nature of the third session, with three red flags over the 1h15m, this stint was only 5 laps long. That said, it was conducted in higher temperatures... 'I think obviously we are going to be still a little bit off,' D. Vanthoor continued. 'But anyway, luckily, the 24 hours, a lot can happen. We have to just survive and try to make it to the end and then we will see where we end up.' ## Average pace produces similar picture The average pace charts, taking all laps, filtering to find the best 20%, and then creating a single average value, show a similar yet different picture. The #60 Acura — not the #93 – is still top, but the #7 Porsche is now second, with the #31 Cadillac third. That puts 3 manufacturers in the top 3, which promises a close race between them. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-23-at-14.49.57.png) The #60 Acura is a tenth and a bit ahead of the #7 Porsche, with the Porsche ahead of the #31 Cadillac by roughly the same amount. The other cars from the same manufacturers aren't far away either, with the #93 Acura, #6 Porsche, and both Wayne Taylor Cadillacs covered by less than two tenths. As already discussed, BMW look to be a bit behind, in both the long runs and this metric. While not hugely off, they are behind all their manufacturer competition apart from Aston Martin, with the German manufacturer struggling for ultimate pace, even with the performance found in practice 3. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/23-03.jpg) This is the Valkyrie's first appearance at Daytona. Image: Kevin Dejewski ## Practice promises a close race So what does all this mean? If the practice long runs and average pace figures are anything to go by, we have a close race in store at Daytona. Of course, this race is often defined by who can make the most of strategy and the most of the numerous caution periods. If you're able to stay on the lead lap for 20 hours, the 4 hours remaining start to mean something as teams begin to calculate fuel and tyre stops by counting back from the end of the race. 'We just have to try to get to a point where, on strategy, we can only go for singles at the end and then and then use that because I think going for doubles will hurt us there,' concluded D. Vanthoor when speaking to *Only Endurance.* *Image: Kevin Dejewski* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Cadillac WTR: 'Positive' Roar, team is 'ready to race' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillac-wayne-taylor-racing-positive-daytona-rolex-24-roar/ Last updated: 2026-01-20T19:32:03.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing team is happy after a good Roar test this past weekend and are excited to go racing at this year's Daytona 24 Hours, they said in pre-race media statements. 'I think generally it has been a positive week for us at the Roar', said Will Stevens, one of the drivers in the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. 'We got to check off a majority of what we wanted to tick off before the Rolex this weekend. Which is important so that we can narrow down what we want to have for this weekend’s race week because you want all the big changes to the car finalized. 'I think all of us have a positive feeling in the car and feel pretty comfortable, so it’s a good start to the week.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/55046891012_de3bb17551.jpg) WTR tested something new each session in the Roar. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing The fastest Wayne Taylor Racing lap was completed by Filipe Albuquerque in the sister #10 car, a 1:36.731, set in session 4 of the Roar test. This was the fourth fastest time of the 7 sessions, and the fastest non-Porsche time as well. Looking at the other car, Stevens' teammate Louis Deletraz was only slightly slower than Albuquerque, with the Swiss driver setting a 1:36.901, less than two tenths off his teammate. [ROAR ANALYSIS: Porsche, Cadillac on top at Daytona testLong run pace and averages put Porsche and Cadillac on top after the Roar before the 24, but there is still a lot of running to come at Daytona - including a 24 hour race.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-249.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/329812_6000x4000.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/roar-analysis-porsche-cadillac-on-top-at-daytona-test/) 'It was great testing with six sessions and every session we tried different things,' said Deletraz. 'The Cadillac V-Series.R feels great and I think we learned a lot. I feel good going into the race event. It was nice to work with all the new people we have. Now we get ready to race.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/55047974038_f652b38350.jpg) Deletraz is joined by co-drivers Jordan Taylor and Will Stevens in the #40 car. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing ## A busy checklist to tick off This time last year was WTR's first race with the Cadillac, meaning they had a lot to learn about the car after two years with the Acura ARX-06\. This year, though, both the drivers and the mechanics behind the pitwall are more familiar with the car, which has made all the difference, says Albuquerque. 'The Roar went really well,' he said. 'We went through the checklist and got an understanding of the car during the day and the night. I think that is really important in understanding the tire degradation of the new Michelin compounds. 'Again, we will be analyzing everything for this weekend. So far, so good and it makes a big difference being in our second year of driving the Cadillac V-Series.R.' [Compared: New 2026 cars break cover at IMSA’s Daytona testWe compare the 2025 models of four cars with the new 2026 versions from IMSA’s Daytona test over the weekend.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-248.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DSC_8362-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/new-2026-imsa-daytona-test-cadillac-porsche-bmw/) There are many changes to this year for Wayne Taylor Racing and Cadillac. Firstly, Cadillac has introduced an evo update to the V-Series.R, an extensive aero update designed to increase downforce and reduce drag, which the team needs to fully understand before race day. Undoubtedly, these are some of the items on the 'checklist' some drivers have mentioned. Alongside that, the [new Michelin tyre compounds](https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/sustainability-range-highlight-michelins-new-gtp-tire/?ref=ontheapex.com) mean further things for the teams to test and understand, to gauge wear, thermal degradation, and warm up. A busy Roar weekend, then, as Deletraz' and Stevens' teammate in the #40 car, Jordan Taylor, alludes to. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/55047974078_0c4ff55614.jpg) The new Michelin tyres for GTP have a distinctive look to them. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing 'I think we have had a good Roar here over the last three days with no major issues and getting a lot of laps in. 'All three drivers are comfortable in the car. We made some good changes that we wanted to make after our test here in November and sim testing. Everything seems positive. We worked through a lot of things in pit lane, pit stops, driver change practice - all the little things that can add up over a 24-hour race. 'We can spend time between now and the Rolex weekend digging through data and seeing all the best options then hopefully hit the track on Thursday with the best overall setup and head into the weekend on the right foot.' [Daytona 24 preview: Porsche hunts for third straight winPorsche have a target on their backs as Cadillac, Acura, BMW and Aston Martin aim to stop Porsche’s winning streak at Daytona.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-250.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/G-vJxj_awAA7EFY.jpeg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/daytona-rolex-24-preview-imsa-season-opener/) ## Wayne Taylor hoping for improvement on 2025 Last year in IMSA, their first with the Cadillac V-Series.R, WTR struggled somewhat to extract the full performance from the car. They took no race wins, with only 4 podiums from 9 races amongst two cars. The sister Cadillac factory team, Action Express Racing, won the final two races of the year, showing performance was there, if only it could be extracted on track. This year at Daytona, though, could be a different story if the Roar test is anything to go by. 'I always tell our partners and team, you cannot guarantee a win in any sport, but especially in sportscar racing', said Wayne Taylor, team co-owner. 'However, I can guarantee we will be racing for the lead - which makes this weekend so great as we have shown in every session, always in the top five, that we are competitive. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/55048127100_279f061149-1.jpg) Wayne Taylor, founder and co-owner of WTR, is hoping for big things from this year's Daytona 24\. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing 'Based on last year, it shows that everyone at Cadillac, GM and Wayne Taylor Racing have raised the game. We have a lot of new people on board and our driver line up is absolutely fantastic. The relationship between the drivers is special and between everyone on the team and our partners. There just seems to be a completely new excitement. You do have these up and down years and last year is completely forgotten. 'I can’t wait to get back here for the race week. I am confident that if we do all the right things and don’t make mistakes, that we have the cars and the team to be on the podium,' concluded the South African. We'll leave the final word to Colton Herta, former Indycar star, 2026 Formula 2 driver, and Cadillac F1 test driver. 'It’s great to be back here in IMSA with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing,' said the American. 'Another successful few days in the Cadillac V-Series.R. Very productive and everyone is working well. The car seemed to be fast and consistent, so we are very excited going into the Rolex.' The race begins 1:40pm ET local time in Daytona, or 6:40pm in the UK. *Feature image: Wayne Taylor Racing* ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### ROAR ANALYSIS: Porsche, Cadillac on top at Daytona test URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/roar-analysis-porsche-cadillac-on-top-at-daytona-test/ Last updated: 2026-01-19T15:57:06.000Z Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) The Roar Before the 24 is Daytona's traditional pre-season test event for both the 24 hour race, and the IMSA season in general. It's the first chance we get to properly see the 2026 cars and gives just an inkling, a glimpse, of what may be in store for the year ahead. And yet the test is just that: a test. Just as in other forms of motorsport, where all testing results have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, it's exactly the same here. Maybe with an even larger pinch of salt. For example, last year, BMW were fastest in the Roar test, but Porsche won the race and undoubtedly had the quickest car overall. [Client Challenge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/faviconV2-1)](https://www.ontheapex.com/daytona-rolex-24-preview-imsa-season-opener/) So, it's hard to draw meaningful conclusions here, especially as there's every chance the Balance of Performance figures will change before the race anyway. But nevertheless, it's interesting to look and see how various teams did and how the race may look from this point in the week leading up to the 24 hours. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Porsche 1-2-3 on single lap pace The first thing to note is all 3 Porsches, the 2 factory cars and the customer JDC-Miller machine, had the fastest single laps of all in the 2026 Roar test. These 3 were all set in the first session on Friday. The the #7 Porsche of Felipe Nasr was fastest from Nico Pino in the #85 JDC-Miller car, followed by last year's winner Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche. There wasn't much to choose from between them; Pino was just 4 thousandths of a second slower than Nasr while Vanthoor was 0.108 off his Brazilian teammate. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque was the fastest non-Porsche, but the Portuguese veteran was just a smidge over 4 tenths off Nasr. The fastest BMW was the #24 in the hands of Sheldon van der Linde, just 0.011 slower than Albuquerque. The fastest Meyer Shank Acura over a single lap, meanwhile, was the #60 in the hands of Tom Blomqvist. The Briton, though, was almost a second off Nasr. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Long run pace topped by Cadillac But, seasoned endurance racing or sportscar fans will know single lap pace doesn't really mean all that much: it gives you pole position but that's about it. Long run pace is what matters here. And, based on the 7 sessions from the Roar, Cadillac narrowly beat Porsche to the punch here. Filipe Albuquerque, in the #10 and the fastest non-Porsche driver in single lap results, was fastest in the long runs, when you take every car's longest run and average it out using 20% pace. He set an average of 1:37.029 over 13 laps in the Wayne Taylor Racing machine, over two tenths quicker than Julien Andlauer in the #7 Porsche. The Frenchman set his time in an earlier session, the third session of the test, doing 18 laps. Despite being at midday, the third session was cooler than the fourth. This matters because, in previous years, the Porsche has generally performed better in cooler temperatures or at night. See Le Mans last year when they were faster than the winning #83 Ferrari during the night. [Client Challenge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/faviconV2)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-porsche-vs-ferrari-kubica-analysis/) So, Cadillac may have genuine long run pace. At this stage it is still too early to tell, but it's an interesting indication. Cadillac were third fastest too, the #31 Action Express Whelen-sponsored car with guest driver and rising NASCAR star Connor Zilisch at the wheel. He did a 14-lap stint also in session 5, a couple of laps after Albuquerque finished his, but was over 6 tenths slower than his Cadillac stablemate. Perhaps understandably given this is Zilisch's first time in a GTP car! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Frame-1.png) Long run pace for each GTP car from the Roar test. Click to enlarge. The fastest BMW and Acura were next up, separated by just 7 thousandths of a second. Dries Vanthoor in the #24 car was the slightly faster of the two, a 97.768 set over 23 laps in the fifth session, overlapping with Zilisch's. #93 Acura's Nick Yelloly was only very slightly slower, also overlapping his stint with Zilisch and D. Vanthoor. The slowest of the 5 manufacturers was Aston Martin with the Valkyrie. The Valkyrie has never raced here, the only GTP car this year never to have done so. It makes sense, then, that Aston are still finding their feet at Daytona International Speedway. Marco Sorensen's 15-lap stint in the 6th session, the only GTP car to do its longest stint on Sunday, let alone in that specific session, culminated in an average of 1:38.727\. This is around 1.8 seconds off Albuquerque's best stint. These long, in-depth posts take a lot of time and effort to put together. If you'd like to show you like these posts and want more, the best thing you can do is support us. We're fully independent and are committed to not running Google ads. You can support us for £1/$1/€1 a month. Thank you! [Support OE ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## 20% averages put Porsche on top However, a slightly different picture emerges when instead of taking long runs, you take all laps from every car and apply the 20% average filter to them. This means qualifying simulation laps are included, which may skew the picture somewhat, but it's an interesting comparison nonetheless. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Frame-2.png) Average 20% pace for each GTP car from the Roar Before the 24 test. Click to enlarge. Porsche emerge on top here, quite considerably so as well. The #6 Porsche, of Matt Campbell, Kevin Estre, and Laurens Vanthoor, is fastest here by around two tenths. The fastest non-Porsche is the #10 Cadillac, followed in manufacturer terms by the #24 BMW. Acura are next, followed by Aston Martin bringing up the rear; again, perhaps understandingly so. The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin, though, learn quickly – we saw evidence of that last year – and I'd expect they'll be right on pace come race day. And if they aren't, we'll get to enjoy that glorious V12 anyway. ## A 'roaring' pinch of salt needed In conclusion: this may all be meaningless. Which is nice. The Roar is just a test. The teams will have programs to complete and setups to trial. They won't, at this stage, be too worried about ultimate pace, although it may be playing on their minds. And it's probably nice to be at the front for Cadillac and Porsche. But we don't know full levels, we don't know what tyre compound each car is on, or if its new, scrubbed, or used. We don't know how much hybrid energy the teams are using each lap or engine modes. So: huge pinch of salt. Massive. But we'll come back to this after free practice to see how the picture has changed, or maybe stayed the same. *Feature image: Porsche Penske Motorsport* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Daytona 24 preview: Porsche hunts for third straight victory URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/daytona-rolex-24-preview-imsa-season-opener/ Last updated: 2026-01-19T11:47:20.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The road to the 64th running of the Daytona 24 Hours, or the 'Rolex 24' as some may call it, is almost upon us. A 60-car grid across four very different classes will compete in what promises to be one of the deepest and most competitive editions in recent memory. ## A global grid returns to Daytona Daytona’s annual January classic once again brings together an extraordinary mix of talent. IMSA champions share the paddock with past and present Formula 1 drivers, IndyCar race and championship winners, NASCAR standouts, bonafide sportscar stars, and rising international talents, all united by the singular challenge of surviving 24 hours on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. The 2026 field features 11 GTP entries battling for overall honours, joined by 13 LMP2 cars, 15 GTD PRO machines, and a race-high 21 entries in the GTD class. From factory-backed prototypes to strongly contested customer GT efforts, every corner of the paddock is stacked with experience and ambition. Among the many headline names returning to Daytona are Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, Kevin Magnussen, AJ Allmendinger, Colton Herta, and Connor Zilisch in the GTP ranks. Logan Sargeant adds intrigue in LMP2, while GT competition welcomes stars such as James Hinchcliffe, Will Power, Chaz Mostert, Romain Grosjean, Scott McLaughlin, and Marcus Ericsson across GTD PRO and GTD. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/G-yx80HXsAA7n8F.jpeg) The two Acura GTPs, run by Meyer Shank Racing, return. Image: Meyer Shank Racing In total, drivers from at least 30 countries will take the start, underscoring the truly international nature of IMSA’s season opener. ## History, records, and returning champions Daytona’s record books loom large over the field. Pipo Derani’s blistering GTP lap of 1:32.656, set in January 2024, remains the benchmark for the top class, while Paul-Loup Chatin, Seb Priaulx, and Parker Thompson hold class records in LMP2, GTD PRO, and GTD respectively. Several defending winners return looking to add another Rolex watch to their collections. Porsche Penske Motorsport enters 2026 aiming for a remarkable third consecutive overall Daytona victory and a third straight IMSA GTP championship. In GTD, Winward Racing begins its pursuit of a third straight class title and a third Rolex 24 win to complement its 2021 and 2024 wins. The field includes more than 60 previous Daytona winners, over 50 IMSA champions, and more than 50 24 Hours of Le Mans winners. Experience will not be in short supply when darkness falls on Saturday night. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Manufacturers, milestones, and new beginnings Twelve manufacturers will be represented at Daytona, led by Porsche with a race-high nine entries. Ferrari, Chevrolet, Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Aston Martin, Ford, Acura, Cadillac, Lamborghini, Lexus, and McLaren complete a diverse and competitive lineup. All LMP2 entries will once again utilise ORECA chassis powered by Gibson engines. ### 11 cars to race in GTP Several storylines add extra intrigue to this year’s race. The Aston Martin Valkyrie makes its long-anticipated Daytona debut, while BMW M Team WRT assumes control of BMW’s GTP program and take a first Daytona win in WRT's first ever IMSA event. Porsche race at Daytona with IMSA now the only Porsche Penske team competiting globally, after the German manufacturer withdrew from the FIA World Endurance Championship last year. They will be hoping to take victory and show that they are still a force to be reckoned with, even with question marks still hanging over Weissach's corporate finances and long-term longevity of the 963 programme. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/329805_6000x4000.jpg) Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor will race full-time in IMSA this year. Image: Porsche Penske Motorsport Acura and Meyer Shank Racing return for another IMSA season hoping to win their first GTP title and first since 2022\. They last won at Daytona in 2023, but much has changed since then, including a year out for Meyer Shank Racing before returning last year with two cars. Cadillac haven't won at Daytona since 2020, the last of four consecutive victories in the DPi era. Despite the clear and obvious strengths of the V-Series.R, the American manufacturer hasn't been able to best Porsche here, which has won Daytona for the last two years. Cadillac, and the other GTP manufacturers, will be desperate to change that. A major aero overhaul for Cadillac will be the American manufacturer's hope to take its first Daytona win in six years, but the other manufacturers haven''t been standing still. Only Aston Martin arrives having not spent an evo joker for this season, with updates on all the factory cars from Cadillac, Porsche, Acura and BMW. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### McLaren arrive in GTD Pro Meanwhile, in GTD Pro, Team RLL has switched to running a McLaren GT3 programme, bringing the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo back to IMSA competition after a one-year absence, with a single-car entry for the former operators of the BMW GTP effort. New Michelin tires in GTP and GTD, along with multiple evolution kits across the grid, add another layer of unpredictability. There is also a sense of farewell in parts of the paddock. With Toyota’s GR GT3 on the horizon, the 2026 race could mark the final Rolex 24 appearance for the Lexus RC F GT3 as Vasser Sullivan Racing continues its quest for a first Daytona victory. Likewise, the venerable Lamborghini Huracán GT3, now in Evo2 configuration after originally being introduced in 2016, is making its final stand. It'll be replaced by the brand new Lamborghini Temerario GT3, which will make its global debut at Sebring next month. [Lamborghini’s Spa 24H win is Huracan’s glorious swansongAfter almost a decade in racing, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 hadn’t achieved a milestone 24 hour race win. Until this year’s Spa 24 Hours.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-247.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/664454-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-spa-24-hours-win-huracan-glorious-swansong/) ### Family rivalries and endurance legacy Adding a personal dimension to the competition are several family connections throughout the field. In GTP, brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor will face off alongside brothers Dries and Laurens Vanthoor. LMP2 features Enzo and Pietro Fittipaldi sharing the same car, while GTD includes a father-son pairing with Dave Musial Sr. and Dave Musial II. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/G-VNDKmWwAAnfQJ.jpeg) The young Fittipaldis are sharing a car at Daytona this year. Image: Pratt Miller Motorsports These stories, layered atop the sheer scale and prestige of the event, serve as a reminder of what makes Daytona's 24 hour race unique. It is not just a race against the clock, but a test of teamwork, resilience, and legacy. Buckle up: it's looking like it'll be a fun 24 hours. *Feature image: Porsche Penske Motorsport* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### McLaren Hypercar programme ramps up with car on track in May URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/mclaren-hypercar-programme-ramps-up-with-car-on-track-in-may/ Last updated: 2026-01-15T13:56:33.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The first publicly-announced driver signing for a sportscar manufacturer is quite often a key moment for a nascent programme, as it's the point where, outwardly, it really feels like the whole thing is starting to take shape. And this feels like the case for McLaren and Mikkel Jensen. He's the driver who will take the new McLaren Hypercar on its first laps around a track in just a few months time, and who will carry out a lot of the thousands of kilometres of testing as the British manufacturer develops, refines, and hones its first ever Le Mans prototype race car. 'I got experience now in Hypercar, and it was time for a new challenge for me,' said the 31-year-old Dane to a select group of media, including *Only Endurance*, at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking. 'And when I saw the announcement from McLaren, the history of the brand, the Le Mans win in 1995, the past history or the past success from F1, you just see that there's so much hunger here. Everybody wants to win. I want to win. [McLaren sign Mikkel Jensen as first 2027 Hypercar driverMikkel Jensen, formerly at Peugeot, has signed with McLaren as the team’s first Hypercar driver as development ramps up ahead of the 2027 debut.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-246.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Mikkel-at-MTC-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/mclaren-mikkel-jensen-first-wec-hypercar-driver-2027/) 'So, it was just a great fit. We started talking. I think we were on the right page with everything and it was just a great match. I'm super excited for for the adventure coming.' Jensen has raced for Peugeot since 2022 in WEC in the 9X8; indeed, he was one of the original drivers announced for the programme with the wingless car. This experience, then, leads well into developing the new McLaren machine. 'There's three seasons, three and a half seasons of racing. Already from the development that I've been a part of before,' he said when asked by *Only Endurance* what he can bring from Peugeot to McLaren. 'It's still a quite narrow regulation, although the other car was an LMH, and this is an LMDh. But still a lot, you can... I have all this experience and feeling of what has been done before that I can bring with me. It's the feeling of driving a car is always stuck with you. 'So when I get to drive the McLaren, the first time, I'm sure I will feel a lot of similarities or things that don't feel similar that you can use to then try and build something better.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Mikkel-and-James.jpg) Jensen (left) and Barclay (right) are two of the lynchpins for this new McLaren factory programme. Image: McLaren ## Jensen in 'golden time' of career During his time at Peugeot, Jensen has quite often emerged as one of the team's fastest drivers. He's flown somewhat under the radar, maybe due to the Peugeot not always being at the front of the field, but there's no doubting his pace and consistency. 'You just look at his performance in Hypercar, in a very strong lineup at Peugeot, he's been incredibly strong,' said McLaren Endurance team principal James Barclay. 'He has an amazing reputation in the paddock, but then you look at how he performs in every session and he's incredibly incredibly quick, but he's also very very good in the races, and his traffic management is exceptional. 'I think that's something which I've really kind of noticed, how strong he's been. 12 wins in IMSA in LMP2, which is very competitive. 'If you look at how 'racy' he is in those races, he always seems to kind of come out on top when it comes to traffic management, as a very decisive driver. So yeah. It was really exciting we could bring him on board.' [GALLERY: BMW’s new IMSA livery as WRT makes US debutBMW shows off new livery as WRT prepares to make IMSA debut as the German manufacturer’s new factory partner team.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-245.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Front_BMW_M_Motorsport_LMDH_EVO_Julian_Kroehl_V2-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-bmw-new-imsa-livery-wrt-makes-us-debut/) And as for Jensen himself? 'I was obviously not super happy with the performance \[at Peugeot\],' he said. 'I'm in a golden time in my career as well. I just turned 31, it's a good age for an endurance driver. I wasn't really getting the success I felt that I deserved and didn't win a WEC race yet. 'This time still has to come and this makes you start looking around. When I saw McLaren announcing the the project, obviously your eyes go a bit that direction exploring, with curiosity.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0011.jpg) McLaren unveiled its Hypercar at Le Mans last year. Image: DPPI/WEC ## McLaren Hypercar 'bang on schedule' In terms of the project itself, Barclay said that the project is on schedule to have the car on track in May. 'So we've always had the intention of running the car from May onwards, and we're bang on schedule for that,' he said. As always, you never know what between now and then brings, but we're on schedule, which is fantastic. We've heard the engine do the first laps of Le Mans on the dyno, which was a very special moment, and we're looking forward to showing some of that with you soon. 'So yeah so we're on schedule with things which is great. As always, there's a lot to achieve between now and then, but all being well, we should be on track for that time.' And how does McLaren's factory partner team, the highly experienced United Autosports, add to the programme? Well, they don't just add to it – they're a crucial part of the entire set up. [Toyota unveils new TR010, rebrands to ‘Toyota Racing’The new TR010 Hybrid – yes, that’s right – has been unveiled with a brand new red and white livery.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-244.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/20260107_01_05-3-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-racing-unveils-new-tr010-wec-2026/) 'The great thing with this program is bringing together two fantastic groups, United from their experience racing sports cars, which is incredibly strong, a lot of success,' said Barclay. 'So blending what United can bring in terms of operating the team, the mechanics, the sporting side, the logistics, the process and procedures, all those elements which are critical to success endurance racing, with the benefit that McLaren brings. So this will be the epicentre of the program. Fundamentally, obviously, program management is operated from here. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 'All our commercial aspects are run from here, but technically it's a real kind of hub for the team as well. So as we know, with Hypercar, designing and developing the car up front is an important part. Our elements we can control, that's run from from here at the MTC, obviously, with our supporting supply chain. 'Also, though, all our performance development will operate from here. So our driver-in-the-loop simulator will be based here at the MTC. The racing engineering team will spend a lot of their time preparing for races. 'We obviously have the race program. We also have our track car activity, which will be alongside the race program as well. So yeah, hive of activity. Technically, commercially we'll operate from here and then cars will live at United Autosports and preparation of cars will live up there. 'So those are the way we'll kind of separate the two, with the team working incredibly integrated. And we've been working that way as well since the announcement in June already. So yeah, very close working relationship between between the two sites. 'We have almost departments within the team, same with a lot of other racing organisations. We have different departments sitting in different places and we bring the skill sets from both organisations together.' ## OE's verdict on McLaren and Jensen's signing ### Phil *Jensen is a good signing for McLaren. He's quick, consistent, and reliable; everything a good Hypercar driver needs. He's driven a wide range of machinery over his career, including LMP2s, GTs, single seaters, and both iterations of the Peugeot 9X8\. He knows how to develop a car and improve it, having been involved from the start at Peugeot.* *It will be interesting to see how the programme as a whole develops and how different the car is to the showcar McLaren launched at Le Mans last year.* ### Tim *You couldn't ask for much more in a first signing. Okay, a big scalp from Porsche this early on would have been seriously headline grabbing, but in that is Jensen's strength. Criminally underrated, ruthlessly fast, and only getting better.* *The Peugeot 9X8's overall performance has hidden how solid a package Jensen is, but at times we got glimpses of the talent – who can forget his drive to the lead at Monza 2023, passing Conway around the outside. Excellent.* ### GALLERY: BMW's new IMSA livery as WRT makes US debut URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-bmw-new-imsa-livery-wrt-makes-us-debut/ Last updated: 2026-01-13T16:41:59.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. BMW have unveiled a new IMSA livery for its two M Hybrid V8s that will race this year in the IMSA Sportscar Championship. The carbon fibre part of the livery is gone, replaced by a matte black asymmetrical section of the car at the front. The other sections are – no surprises here – white, red and blue, with the blue section stretching across the rear fin and bodywork of the car. In addition to the new livery, BMW have also tweaked the aerodynamics at the front of the car, making the kidney grilles at the front smaller. ## Team WRT heads stateside However, this year will mark more than a tweaked livery for BMW's IMSA programme. Rahal Letterman Lanigan, BMW's factory partner team in the US for many years and since 2023 for the GTP programme specifically, are out. Replacing them as operators of the programme are Team WRT, who additionally run the WEC campaign for the German manufacturer. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03689.jpg) RLL are out, WRT in - and with it, a new livery. Image: Griffith Bean for OE This will be WRT's first foray into racing in the IMSA, and has seen them build a team from the ground up for their debut campaign in the North American championship. Driving the #24 and #25 BMW M Hybrid V8s will be some familiar names to fans of the WEC Hypercar team. In the #24 will be Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns and Rene Rast. Over in the #25, Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann, Kevin Magnussen and Raffaele Marciello will be behind the wheel. WRT will make their IMSA debut at Daytona in just over a week's time, racing in the full season. Alongside that the team will also be running BMW's factory WEC campaign, as they have the past two seasons. Check out the new livery in the shots below. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Detail_Front_BMW_M_Motorsport_LMDH_EVO_Julian_Kroehl.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Detail_Light_BMW_M_Motorsport_LMDH_EVO_Julian_Kroehl.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Front_BMW_M_Motorsport_LMDH_EVO_Julian_Kroehl_V2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Front_Left_BMW_M_Motorsport_LMDH_EVO_Julian_Kroehl.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Front_Top_BMW_M_Motorsport_LMDH_EVO_Julian_Kroehl.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/Side_Right_BMW_M_Motorsport_LMDH_EVO_Julian_Kroehl.jpg) All images including feature: credit BMW SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### McLaren sign Mikkel Jensen as first Hypercar driver for 2027 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/mclaren-mikkel-jensen-first-wec-hypercar-driver-2027/ Last updated: 2026-01-15T12:41:51.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) McLaren's first Hypercar driver signing for 2027 is Mikkel Jensen, the British manufacturer has announced, as they continue to make progress with their programme ahead of debuting next year. Jensen is an accomplished sportscar driver, having spent the last four seasons with Peugeot racing both iterations of the 9X8\. Before that, he raced in IMSA for TDS Racing in the LMP2 class, winning the championship in 2021 with race victories at Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Laguna Seca. McLaren, meanwhile, are readying themselves for a year of development on their Dallara-based Hypercar. They formally unveiled the car at Le Mans last year, but there are still quite a few details still unknown about the car. [What we know — and what we don’t — about McLaren’s HypercarMcLaren have finally announced their long-awaited Hypercar. But what do we know about it?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-241.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/McLaren-WEC-3.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-about-mclarens-hypercar/) We do know it'll be powered by a V6 twin turbo engine and aligned with the LMDh ruleset, using the Dallara chassis as its base. This is the same route as BMW and Cadillac have taken for their M Hybrid V8 and V-Series.R, both of which have been racing since 2023. United Autosports will run the programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship, with the team name being 'McLaren United AS'. The Yorkshire-based team has history with McLaren, having run the manufacturer's customer LMGT3 campaign in WEC for the past two seasons. For 2026, though, the LMGT3 programme will switch to Garage 59, with United Autsports not racing in WEC for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. Instead, the team will focus on the development and testing of McLaren's Hypercar. [Garage 59 to run McLaren WEC LMGT3 programme in 2026Garage 59 will run McLaren GT3 programmes in both WEC and GTWC Europe in 2026, while United Autosports takes a year out to prep for Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-242.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/58-2MDH5087.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/garage-59-mclaren-wec-lmgt3-programme-2026/) Jensen, meanwhile, will be a key part of this development programme, as the first driver McLaren have officially signed. 'I’m extremely proud to be joining the World Championship-winning McLaren family and excited to be a part of its Hypercar project from the early stages,' said the 31-year-old Dane. 'Stepping onto the boulevard at the McLaren Technology Centre gives me goosebumps – it not only brings to life how much history McLaren has in Formula 1 but the 1995 Le Mans-winning F1 GTR reminds me that we have an incredible endurance story to continue.' Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) McLaren Endurance's team principal, James Barclay, said: 'Announcing Mikkel is another important milestone in the formation of our new Hypercar team. He has already proven himself as one of the most competitive andwell-rounded sportscar racing drivers in the world and will bring with him a wealth of experience from the Hypercar category. 'We will enter the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans in what will arguably be the most-competitive season of all time. We are delighted to have a driver of Mikkel’s calibre, experience and future potential. 'Like us, he is a true racer and is therefore a great fit with our philosophy on people and culture, which has been integral to McLaren Racing’s world championship-winning success in Formula 1\. Our World Endurance Championship team is coming together nicely and Mikkel is a fantastic addition.' *Feature image: McLaren* ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Toyota unveils new TR010, rebrands to 'Toyota Racing' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-racing-unveils-new-tr010-wec-2026/ Last updated: 2026-01-07T09:49:46.000Z Toyota has unveiled its new 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship competitor, a heavily revised and updated formerly-named-GR010 Hybrid, alongside a new livery and a corporate rebrand. The car will now be known as the TR010 Hybrid, with the team itself changing from 'Toyota Gazoo Racing' to 'Toyota Racing'. The company behind Toyota's WEC efforts, meanwhile, will become Toyota Racing GmbH, formerly 'Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe GmbH'. Somewhat confusingly, the Gazoo moniker is sticking around for Toyota's rally efforts, the new GR GT3 car, and the new title sponsorship of the Haas F1 Team. Back on topic, the team competed in WEC as Toyota Gazoo Racing from 2016 until last year, with the TS050 in the LMP1 class and latterly the GR010 Hybrid in Hypercar. This year, though, the car's model number and name will change to TR010 to reflect the new corporate identity. The black livery Toyota has used for the last few seasons has gone, replaced by a striking red livery which bares a distinct resemblance to the special Toyota GT-One livery Toyota used at Le Mans last year. As we've already reported at *Only Endurance*, the TR010 also sports heavily revised bodywork and aerodynamics for 2026, including changes to the front of the car, the sidepods, and the rear wing and diffuser area. [2025 Toyota GR010 vs 2026: Analysing Toyota’s aero upgradeToyota will introduce a heavily-revised version of the GR010 Hybrid next year. But what exactly is changing, and what will the impact be?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-229.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Toyota-Labelled.001.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-gr010-wec-2025-vs-2026-aero-redesign/) The driver line up remains the same, with Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries in car #7, and Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in car #8. See below for a gallery of images of the new car. It'll hit the track publicly for the first time at this year's WEC Prologue at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, on 22nd-23rd March, before the first race, the 10 hour 1812km Qatar, on 28th March. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/20260107_01_01-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/20260107_01_02-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/20260107_01_03-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/20260107_01_04-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/20260107_01_05-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2026/01/20260107_01_06-2.jpg) All images: Toyota ### Vanwall still aiming to compete in Asian Le Mans Series in 2026/27 season URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/vanwall-still-aiming-to-compete-in-asian-le-mans-series-in-2026-27-season/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T15:00:16.000Z Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) Vanwall's aims to compete in the 2026/27 season of the Asian Le Mans Series (AsLMS) remain, according to team boss Colin Kolles. *Only Endurance* first reported on Vanwall's intentions to compete in AsLMS with its 680 Hypercar back in June, with the team now further signaling this is still the case. [EXCLUSIVE: Vanwall, Isotta eying Asian Le Mans entriesTwo former WEC manufacturers have already expressed interest in racing in the Hypercar class in the AsLMS in 2026-27 season.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-227.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC-Portimao6h-FPM-MW-8691.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/vanwall-isotta-fraschini-asian-le-mans-hypercar/) "The careful performance analysis from our initial WEC campaign clearly identified important areas to improve," said Kolles in a press release. "I am confident the actions taken following the technical review and the latest modifications incorporated will bring significant on-track improvement. Vanwall first competed with its 680 Hypercar in WEC in 2023\. However, as the car was significantly down on power it was often off the pace, due to its 4.-5 litre Gibson V8 engine being down on power by as much as 80hp. The car has not raced since the end of the 2023 WEC season. But, Vanwall have been working on upgrades and changes to the car since then, the main one being a change to the 3.5-litre twin turbo Pipo engine which also powered the Glickenhaus 007. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Kolles told *Only Endurance* in June that the car would race in AsLMS with the original Gibson engine. But, this plan appears to have changed with the Pipo unit now installed in the car. It is not clear whether the car has been homologated with the new engine. Furthermore, Kolles also said there is an intention to return to WEC in 2027. "We have had very constructive discussions with the WEC and ACO regarding rejoining the WEC in 2027 but as always participation is dependent on the team being invited to compete. “Our support for the new 2026 \[Asian Le Mans\] Hypercar category is a clear statement of our intent and commitment to the future." In June, Kolles said to us that the team wanted to enter WEC in 2027, but not with the 680 car that he intends to race in AsLMS. Instead, he said the team had built, or were building, an all-new car to compete. It is not clear if this is still the plan, or if the team plans to bring the 680 back into WEC competition. [Exclusive: Vanwall looking to enter WEC 2027 with new carVanwall, which last entered WEC in 2023 with the Vandervell 680, is looking to re-enter the championship with a brand new car for 2027.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-228.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC-Fuji6h-FPM-HPR31145.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/vanwall-bykolles-wec-2027-new-car-pipo-engine/) While drivers were not mentioned in the press release, it can be assumed that if the programme in AsLMS goes ahead, driver details will be announced later. AsLMS rules require each Hypercar team to have at least one bronze-rated driver per car. If the Vanwall does race in AsLMS, it'll compete against Bob Berridge's BBM Sport team, which intends to race two wingless Peugeot 9X8s, which first raced in WEC in 2022 until the first race of the 2024 season with the 'new' Peugeot 9X8. *Feature image: Focus Pack Media / WEC* [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### 2025 Toyota GR010 vs 2026 upgrade: Analysing Toyota’s radical aero redesign URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-gr010-wec-2025-vs-2026-aero-redesign/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T14:08:35.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) Five years is a long, long time in motorsport. But, that's how long Toyota's GR010 Hybrid has been competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class, with minimal outward-facing modifications. In the 2021/2022 off-season, Toyota switched the car from 31cm diameter wheels on all four corners to 29cm at the front and 34cm at the rear, for the 2022 season. [Reportedly](https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/vasselon-no-evo-jokers-taken-for-toyota-gr010-hybrid-updates/?ref=ontheapex.com), this did not require a joker. This is a similar move made by Peugeot for the 'new' 2024-spec Peugeot 9X8. [2024 Peugeot 9X8 ‘harder to extract performance’Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie told reporters at Spa how the team is struggling to extract the full performance from its 9X8 Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-202.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0005-5.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/) It's been reported Toyota also made major internal and mechanical changes for 2023, which may have used the manufacturer's second homologation within the LMH ruleset. But, the team is staying tight-lipped on both those subjects. For 2026, though, Toyota will introduce an all-new version of the car, with radically different aerodynamics. In general, the car has been refined at the front, middle, and rear, with noticeably more streamlined aerodynamics. We've tried to analyse these changes to identify what the effects may be, talking to aerodynamic experts to understand more. We'll caveat this, of course, with the fact that these are only informed opinions: only Toyota really know the purpose of these changes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003975_0218-1-1.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5424-4-1-5.png) After The front of the car sees a completely revised nose section and headlights. The slightly triangular nose is now gone, replaced by slightly curved section which resembles that of the Ferrari 499P, Porsche 963, and Cadillac V-Series.R. Gone are Toyota's traditional headlights, used in some form since the brand debuted in WEC in 2013 with the TS030\. Instead are more aggressive 'slit' headlights which bleed into the front nose section. There are also some smaller headlights underneath the ones on top, to the left and right of the cooling. It's hard to tell for sure but the internal structure inside the cooling inlet may have changed too. [WEC 2026 entry list: HypercarWe take a look at each of the eight manufacturers entered into 2026’s WEC Hypercar class.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-223.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003771_0558-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/fia-wec-2026-entry-list-hypercar/) The wheel arches look less pronounced, too – less boxy, and flatter. Put together, it's likely these changes reduce drag – a key factor in WEC and especially Le Mans, where around 70% of the lap is spent at full throttle. It should also help increase the amount of downforce the car produces, helping to reduce the understeer inherent to the LMH and LMDh rulesets, which every team has struggled with to some extent in the Hypercar/GTP era. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) It may also help to make the car more predictable and consistent on the yaw axis, when the car rotates through the corner. This is because, in the 2025 version, when the air hits the front end of the car, it shifts abruptly, disrupting the flow and subsequently the downforce generated. In the 2026 version, because the front end is now smoother, the shift to the air will be less abrupt, helping to make the car's behaviour more predictable and consistent. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/54341198482_eb17e870c3_o-1-2.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/IMG_5528-4-1.png) After Looking from the side, it's clear again how much the front end has changed. The front wheel arches are indeed significantly flatter, with a completely different shape. The cockpit area is much the same. The shark/dorsal fin also looks similar, although the part which connects to the cockpit looks very slightly reprofiled to our eyes, with the upper edge of the fin at a slight angle compared to the 2025 version. The big change past the cockpit, though, is the sidepod area. Much like at the front, the front of the rear wheel arch is much less pronounced and the arches sit much lower over the top of the wheels and tyres themselves. [WEC 2026 entry list: LMGT3A run through of the LMGT3 class on the 2026 FIA WEC Entry List by manufacturer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-224.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003771_0560.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/fia-wec-2026-entry-list-lmgt3/) There also seems to be some very subtle reshaping just past the front wheel arch. It's hard to see, but in the same trend as the other changes to the front end of the car, it may bring a small drag reduction and small increase in front downforce. Looking towards the back of the car, the rear wing is also substantially different. The ends of the wing, which connect to the endplate, tilts upwards, instead of the previous straight version. This may also have the impact of reducing drag from the rear of the car, but it could equally decrease the amount of rear downforce the car is able to generate. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/tjm2508no07-2.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/IMG_5326-4-2.png) After This may also decrease aero interference between the underside of the wing and the rear fender. Like the other changes, it's possible the effect here will be a drag reduction, with a possible increase in rear downforce too. Finally, the endplates have also changed shape. This may not have a measurable impact on downforce or drag, but may instead help the car's stability, especially at high speed or as the car rotates through corners, again on that yaw axis. While the downforce and drag coefficient is obviously incredibly important in car design – so is driveability. Any improvements will likely be appreciated by the drivers, especially if it was having a noticeable impact in the past. There's also a new cooling element, which we can see much more clearly from the front of the car, sitting on top of the wheel arch. [How WRT’s Bronze pair signals Rossi WEC departureThe WEC LMGT3 Bronze driver announcement alludes to something bigger…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-225.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0496-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-wrts-bronze-pair-signals-rossi-wec-departure/) Typically, elements such as this worsen airflow and aerodynamics, as they increase drag and produce more lift or less downforce. So, the placement of this element becomes incredibly important to minimise this negative impact so the effects are as small as possible. It also may point to Toyota making changes under the hood, which would almost certainly use another joker. However, it is possible at least some of these changes may be designed to fool other teams into looking at one area of the car where a change has minimal impact, while another area of the car has more impact. Teams and manufacturers use this tactic to distract rivals from where the gains actually are, and it's possible Toyota is doing the same with the various changes to the 2026 car. Realistically, we'll have to wait and see how the revised Toyota GR010 Hybrid performs, and what the drivers have to say. The team will be hoping it takes Toyota back to the top after a tough 2025 – let's see what happens next year. *Photos: DPPI/WEC, Toyota/James Moy Photography/*[*CHHD Photography*](https://www.instagram.com/chhd.photography?ref=onlyendurance.com) *for Only Endurance* ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### WEC 2026 entry list: LMGT3 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/fia-wec-2026-entry-list-lmgt3/ Last updated: 2025-12-08T20:20:46.000Z The FIA World Endurance Championship unveiled their 35-car 2026 Entry List on Monday afternoon. The globe-trotting series heads towards its third season of the current GT3-based category, which took over from the LMGTE regulations for the 2023 season. A total of nine manufacturers remain in the category, and with two cars apiece, the division continues at a season-long 18 cars. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003691_0194-1.jpg) Image: DPPI/WEC ## Aston Martin - Heart of Racing double up #23 - Gray Newell (B) / TBA / TBA #27 - Ian James (B) / TBA / TBA The Heart of Racing will run both Vantages in the LMGT3, with the #23 replacing the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman car from 2025. This new entry will feature Gray Newell, son of Heart of Racing backer and the founder of the Steam platform Gabe Newell, as the Bronze driver. The younger Newell enjoyed multiple podium finishes in GT World Challenge America last year with AMR factory ace Darren Turner. Ian James returns to the #27 and continues his 100% entry record in the LMGT3 era, the 51-year-old finished fourth in the 2025 standings after a podium at Bahrain. The Silver and 'Pro' drivers are yet to be confirmed, but a return for 2025 Le Mans LMGT3 pole-sitter and AMR factory driver Mattia Drudi is likely. ## BMW - WRT's refresh and return #32 - Darren Leung (B) / TBA / TBA #69 - Anthony McIntosh / TBA / TBA Team WRT will see both a familiar and an entirely new driver lineup across their two M4 GT3 EVOs for 2026. The Belgian squad welcomes back Darren Leung, the British Bronze driver raced for the team in WEC LMGT3 in 2023 scoring BMW's only class victory to date at the 6H Imola. The #31 converting to the #32 for 2026, a lucky number for Team WRT, with +32 the international dialling code for their home nation. Anthony McIntosh takes up a Bronze driver seat in the newly badged #69, the American joined the LMGT3 grid at the 6H Sao Paulo and scored class pole on debut. The notable absentee looks set to be Valentino Rossi, as the nominated Bronzes will bring their favoured Silvers to the team. [How WRT’s Bronze pair signals Rossi WEC departureThe WEC LMGT3 Bronze driver announcement alludes to something bigger…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-219.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0496.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-wrts-bronze-pair-signals-rossi-wec-departure/) ## CORVETTE - A new look for TF Sport #33 - TBA / TBA / Nicky Catsburg (P) #34 - TBA / TBA / Charlie Eastwood (P) TF Sport enter the 2026 WEC LMGT3 season with the hope of taking the next step with the Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Two victories in 2025, and P5 and P6 in the standings won't satisfy the 2022 GTE AM champions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003442_0405.jpg) Image: DPPI/WEC The #33 is headlined by a returning Nicky Catsburg, the Dutchman part of the last Corvette title in the world championship and likely to be paired with co-champ and Bronze star Ben Keating for whom the #33 is the preferred race number. It's in the sister #34 car that changes are afoot. Entered under the Racing Team Turkey by TF name, the second car currently only has factory driver Charlie Eastwood listed, but the RTT name suggests Salih Yoluc will take on his third WEC season and first in LMGT3\. The pair will race a Corvette in the Asian Le Mans Series which begins this coming weekend. Watch this space... ## FERRARI - Will stability lead to the title? #21 - Francois Heriau (B) / Simon Mann (S) / Alessio Rovera (P) #54 - Thomas Flohr (B) / Francesco Castellacci (S) / Davide Rigon (P) There are no changes in the Vista AF Corse squad for the 2026 WEC season, as the team set their sights on scoring Ferrari's first WEC GT-class title since 2022. Francois Heriau was linked to a potential move elsewhere, but returns in #21 with Simon Mann and Ferrari Hypercar reserve Alessio Rovera; with an unchanged lineup in the #54 seeing the 2024 6H Fuji winning combination of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon back behind the wheel. ## FORD - Proton's focus for 2026 #77 - TBA / Ben Tuck (S) / TBA #88 TBA / Gianmarco Levorato (S) / TBA Ford's LMGT3 effort in 2026 will become Proton Competition's primary focus in the world championship after their privately backed attempt to enter a 963 in the Hypercar class [was denied by Porsche.](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-rules-out-penske-privateer-963s-wec-2026/) Ben Tuck and Gianmarco Levorato are the only confirmed drivers at the publication of the WEC Entry List, with the two Silvers taking up seats in the #77 and #88 Mustangs respectively. With 2025 LMGT3 drivers Ben Barker and Dennis Olsen will pair up for the full IMSA GTD PRO season, so it's unclear who will fill the full time WEC seats. Speculation suggests Logan Sargeant might take up a seat after his [Rookie Test appearance.](https://x.com/onlyendurance/status/1987484382177718449?s=20&ref=ontheapex.com) Seb Priaulx could make the jump to LMGT3 as a direct swap with Barker, with the same said for Mike Rockenfeller who could make his return to the series. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0743-1.jpg) Image: DPPI/WEC ## LEXUS - Final year with the RC F #78 - TBA / TBA / Esteban Masson (G) #87 - TBA / TBA / Jose Maria Lopez (P) The 2026 season marks the final year for the Lexus RC F, with Akkodis ASP continuing the running of the two-car programme after a race-winning 2025 season. Only the 'Pro' seats have been confirmed, with Toyota factory driver and two-time WEC champion Jose Maria Lopez leading the crew. The Argentine driver was instrumental in the Japanese marque securing their first LMGT3 win at the 6H Sao Paulo in July, before going on to win again at the season finale in Bahrain at the wheel of the #78. The #78 sees Esteban Masson make his full-time return to the WEC, the only driver named in the car so far. The 21-year-old raced for Akkodis ASP in 2024, and made a one-off appearance at the 6H Imola, but spent the season focussing on his European Le Mans Series championship-winning drive with VDS Panis Racing. ## MCLAREN - Garage 59's debut WEC season #10 - Antares Au (B) / Thomas Fleming (S) / Marvin Kirchhofer (P) #58 - Alexander West (B) / Finn Gerhsitz (S) / Benji Goethe (G) Garage 59 take the reins of McLaren's LMGT3 entries in 2026, as United Autosports step aside to [focus on development](https://www.ontheapex.com/what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-about-mclarens-hypercar/) of the British marque's 2027 LMDh. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/Start-RE2_6940.jpg) Kirchhofer leads the 2025 Spa 24 Hours field to green. Image: SRO/JEP The #10 features a highly appealing lineup, with Spa 24 Hours class winner and former IGTC Independent champion Antares Au in as the Bronze driver. He'll be joined by rising British talent Thomas Fleming, who won three GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup rounds in a Garage 59 720S GT3 EVO, and McLaren factory star Marvin Kirchhofer. The 2025 Rolex 24 Hours GTD class winner, and this year's Spa 24H overall pole-sitter is without doubt one of the finest GT drivers of his generation and is an exciting addition to the WEC grid. Team co-founder Alexander West takes up a Bronze seat in the #58 alongside former Akkodis ASP driver Finn Gerhsitz, and GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup race-winnger Benji Goethe. ## MERCEDES-AMG - Newcomers to Iron Lynx squads #61 - Martin Berry (B) / Rui Andrade (S) / Maxime Martin (P) #79 - Johannes Zelger (B) / Matteo Cressoni (S) / Lin Hodenius (S) Mercedes-AMG and Iron Lynx head into their second season of LMGT3 competition with revisions to their driver squads. After five rounds of competition this year, Martin Berry returns to the #61 with AMG factory driver Maxime Martin, as they welcome former TF Sport driver and 2025 ELMS LMGT3 champion Rui Andrade to the squad – the Angolan raced the AMG GT3 in IMSA Endurance Cup rounds in 2025, so is familiar with the car. The renumbered #79 will see Johannes Zelger join the WEC after recent competition in the Asian Le Mans Series, alongside returning Iron Lynx regular Matteo Cressoni. Lin Hodenius switches to the other side of the garage after running in the #61 this season, peaking with a P2 finish at the 8H Bahrain. Of interest this car is set to run two Silver-ranked drivers, the only in the LMGT3 field to do so. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0167-1.jpg) Image: DPPI/WEC ## PORSCHE - New look for Manthey cars #91 - TBA / TBA / Ayhancan Guven (P) #92 TBA / TBA / Richard Lietz (P) The Manthey-run updated Porsche 911 GT3 Rs will run under revised team names for 2026. DK Engineering and The Bend adorning the #91 and #92 cars respectively just two weeks after The Iron Dames announced [their withdrawal from the series.](https://www.ontheapex.com/iron-dames-announce-wec-withdrawal/) The #91 Manthey DK Engineering car currently has 2025 DTM champion Ayhancan Guven listed in the 'pro' seat, with the Turkish driver making his debut in the world championship. Given the naming of the team, it would not be a surprise to see James Cottingham nominated as the Bronze driver – although yet to be announced. Reigning LMGT3 champion Richard Lietz will return to the #92 Porsche, which with [Ryan Hardwick's IMSA return](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-factory-talent-headlines-manthey-imsa-squads/) has lost the 1st Phorm naming and will see a return of The Bend as a title sponsor. The Australian circuit featured on the #91 Le Mans class winner in 2024, and would suggest the return of Yasser Shahin to the Porsche fold. [Grello in IMSA 2026: Manthey to contest Endurance CupGrello? In IMSA? Have our dreams come true?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-222.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/manehtywebpage.001-1-3.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/grello-manthey-porsche-imsa-endurance-cup-2026/) You can check out the [full WEC Entry List here](https://www.fiawec.com/umbrella%5Fmedia/wec26-entrylist-a4-6936d72065269710536636.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com), with the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season beginning on 28th March at Lusail International Circuit, in Qatar. It'll be followed by rounds at Imola, Spa, Le Mans, Interlagos, Circuit of the Americas, Fuji, and Bahrain. Bring it on! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/WEc-entry-list-pld-2026.002.png) ### WEC 2026 entry list: Hypercar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/fia-wec-2026-entry-list-hypercar/ Last updated: 2025-12-14T13:21:19.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) So, a week after it was originally supposed to be announced - due to WEC and Proton Competition's last-ditch efforts to get a customer Porsche 963 effort on the grid for next year - we finally have the WEC entry list for 2026. With the major news around Proton's unfortunate failure in coming to an agreement with Porsche about a customer programme next year already announced, there's no real genuine surprises on next year's list. But, let's take a look anyway. ## Ferrari #50 Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco / Miguel Molina / Nicklas Nielsen #51 Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado/ Antonio Giovinazzi #83 Ferrari 499P: Yifei Ye / TBA / TBA The two factory Ferraris will retain the same driver lineups the Italian manufacturer has had since 2023, with both sets returning for a fourth consecutive campaign. All six drivers are Le Mans winners and at the top of their game, so this isn't hugely surprising. Calado and Nielsen have been secured to long term contracts with Ferrari, and the other four drivers are locked in for 2026 at least, and possibly longer. The "customer" #83 car, run by AF Corse on a private basis, is a bit more tricky to pin down. We know Yifei Ye, a Ferrari "official driver" nominally on the same level as the guys in the factory cars, will return for a second year in the yellow satellite car. Whether his 2025 teammates with which he won Le Mans with, and finished runners-up in the drivers' championship, will return, is a different matter. Both Phil Hanson and Robert Kubica are contracted to AF Corse, not Ferrari, although it's not entirely clear how long their contracts are or were. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003478_0145.jpg) Kubica, Hanson, and Ye won Le Mans in 2025\. But will Kubica and Hanson return in 2026? Image: DPPI / WEC Kubica brings the majority of the funding to the car through his links with Orlen, a Polish oil company. If he doesn't return it's not clear where the funding for the car would come from, although it's understood the car's return doesn't hinge on Kubica returning. He's been coy on whether he'd be racing in WEC in 2026, initially saying after winning Le Mans that he'd prefer to go back to rallying, but later saying he's not decided. So we'll have to see. It's similar for Hanson, with his return to the car not clear either way. It's understood that an announcement about Hanson's programme in 2026 will come in January. ## Toyota #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid: Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries / Mike Conway #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi / Ryo Hirakawa / Brendon Hartley Like Ferrari, Toyota will keep the same driver lineup for another year. Kamui Kobayashi will once again perform double duties as both a driver and Toyota's team principal. He'll partner Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway in the #7. The #8 will be crewed by the now familiar lineup of Ryo Hirakawa, Sebastien Buemi, and Brendon Hartley. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0668--1-.jpg) Toyota dominated Bahrain in 2025 - but these were their only podiums in an otherwise tough year. Image: DPPI / WEC However, what will change for Toyota is a major evolution of the Toyota GR010 Hybrid, with which the Japanese-German team has raced with for the last 5 seasons, going into its sixth. It was due an update and Toyota have delivered. We'll have an article out later this week going in-depth into what we can see from our spy spots on the revised Toyota, so watch out for that. In the meantime, check out the gallery of shots below. [GALLERY: Toyota tests updated GR010 at Paul RicardThe GR010 Hybrid will have a new look next year, and Only Endurance has obtained some spy shots from a recent test.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-213.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5275-4-1-7.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-toyota-tests-updated-gr010-hypercar-paul-ricard-wec-2026/) ## Cadillac #12 Cadillac V-Series.R: Alex Lynn / Will Stevens / Norman Nato #38 Cadillac V-Series.R: Jack Aitken / Sebastien Bourdais / Earl Bamber Cadillac's sophomore year with JOTA will feature a driver change and a revised car. On the driver side, 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button has retired from professional motorsport, and so leaves the #38 car lineup. Replacing him will be Jack Aitken, who's very familiar with the Cadillac machinery as he's been racing the car in IMSA full-time for the last few seasons. [Cadillac’s Jack Aitken to join JOTA for WEC 2026Aitken will undertake a dual IMSA/WEC campaign in 2026, making his full debut in the world championship.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-214.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC825_110811330406462DG-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jack-aitken-race-cadillac-jota-wec-2026/) He'll be tag-teaming both championships, prioritising IMSA in case of a clash. Earl Bamber will be doing similar, except he'll prioritise WEC, alongside Seb Bourdais. The #12 lineup of Alex Lynn, Will Stevens, and Norman Nato will remain the same, with the three taking Cadillac's first ever WEC win at Interlagos earlier this year. ## BMW #15 BMW M Hybrid V8: Kevin Magnussen / Dries Vanthoor / Raffaele Marciello #20 BMW M Hybrid V8: Rene Rast / Sheldon van der Linde / Robin Frijns The BMW lineups remain, essentially, the same as in 2025, with Kevin Magnussen partnering Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello in the #15 car, and Rene Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns in the sister #20 car. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) Like Cadillac and Toyota, BMW have used a joker to update the car's nose and front splitter, which they're hoping will solve the car's tendency to understeer. BMW and WRT had a tough 2025, with no win coming for the partnership in its second year of operation. It's hoped the revised car and WRT taking over BMW's IMSA campaign from RLL will yield better results in both championships. ## Alpine #35 Alpine A424: Antonio Felix da Costa / TBA / TBA #36 Alpine A424: Fred Makowiecki / TBA / TBA Alpine is likely to be the team which undergoes the biggest changes going into 2026, as the French team tries to go from midpack to the front of the field. Antonio Felix da Costa will join the team after a couple of years out of WEC. At the same time, Mick Schumacher, consistently one of Alpine's best performers in 2025, will leave the team to pursue a future in IndyCar. He'll be in car #35, while Fred Makowiecki will continue in the #36. [Makowiecki: Alpine A424 ‘easier’ to drive than Porsche 963Fred Makowiecki compares the Alpine A424 to the Porsche 963 – and we break down how his pace in the Alpine stacks up against his teammates.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-218.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/A-tepid-start-for-Alpine-at-Le-Mans-3.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/makowiecki-wec-alpine-a424-vs-porsche-963/) Paul-Loup Chatin will also leave as he heads to Genesis Magma Racing. It's believed Jules Gounon and Charles Milesi will also remain at *Les Bleus* into 2026, but they've not been confirmed yet. Less clear is Ferdinand Habsburg, who may or may not remain at Alpine. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003771_0350.jpg) Alpine took their first WEC victory with the A424 at Fuji in 2025\. Image: DPPI / WEC As for new drivers, Alpine has talked to both Nick Tandy and Kevin Estre about a seat, but were unsuccessful with both, as they opted to stay within the Porsche fold in IMSA for next year. Alpine will also deploy a joker to improve the car next year. ## Peugeot 2026 drivers: Stoffel Vandoorne, Theo Pourchaire, Nick Cassidy, Paul di Resta, Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen #93 Peugeot 9X8: Paul di Resta / TBA / TBA #94 Peugeot 9X8: Loic Duval / TBA / TBA Like their French compatriots, Peugeot's driver line up will also be tweaked for 2026. Mikkel Jensen has left – possibly on his way to McLaren for 2027 if you believe paddock natterings – to be replaced by Theo Pourchaire. The Frenchman won the F2 championship in 2023 but slipped through the cracks in getting a seat in F1. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Also leaving is Jean-Eric Vergne. However, he is staying within the Stellantis fold, and will race in Formula E for the Citroen (neé Maserati) team. He will be a test and development driver for Peugeot, and with Peugeot heavily rumoured to be developing an all-new LMH-rules car for 2027, he'll probably have a lot of work on his plate. He'll also be joined by Alex Quinn as test and development driver. Replacing Vergne is Nick Cassidy, his Citroen Formula E teammate. Paul di Resta, Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and Stoffel Vandoorne return for another year with Peugeot. It's not been confirmed which of the two cars each driver will be in, and with Peugeot's habit of switching up the driver crews year-on-year it's hard to predict. What won't change for 2026 is the 9X8 itself. It's widely believed Peugeot have used all their jokers on overhauling the "original" wingless 9X8, and cannot further modify the 2025 version. This updated version has proven tricky to get a handle on, but signs in the latter half of 2025 indicate maybe Peugeot are understanding it more and more. We'll have to see how they do in 2026. [2024 Peugeot 9X8 ‘harder to extract performance’Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie told reporters at Spa how the team is struggling to extract the full performance from its 9X8 Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-221.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0005-7.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/) ## Aston Martin #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie: Harry Tincknell / Tom Gamble / Ross Gunn #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie: Alex Riberas / Marco Sorensen / Roman de Angelis Aston Martin will head into their second WEC Hypercar season with an unchanged driver line up. Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble will be in the #007 for the full season, with Ross Gunn joining for the longer endurance rounds. In the sister #009, Alex Riberas and Marco Sorensen will again team up, joined by Roman de Angelis for the 8, 10 or 24 hour races. The Valkyrie had a good debut season, with Aston Martin and factory partner team The Heart of Racing taking their time to find performance, but when they did, they really performed. The #009, generally the better-performing of the two over the year, finished fifth in Fuji, a season-best for Aston Martin, then followed this up with seventh in Bahrain. That should set the British manufacturer up well for 2026, which will be the true test of just how good the Valkyrie is. ## Genesis #17 Genesis GMR 001: Andre Lotterer / Pipo Derani / Mathys Jaubert #19 Genesis GMR 001: Daniel Juncadella / Paul-Loup Chatin / Mathieu Jaminet And so, finally, onto WEC's newest Hypercar manufacturer: Genesis. Or, to give the team its full title, Genesis Magma Racing. The Korean-flagged cars will race with numbers #17 and #19\. Andre Lotterer, Pipo Derani, and Mathys Jaubert will race in the former, with Daniel Juncadella, Paul-Loup Chatin, and Porsche refugee Mathieu Jaminet in the latter. The car, the Genesis GMR 001, is an LMDh-rules machine built on the Oreca chassis, the same as the Alpine and the Acura ARX-06 in IMSA competition – you can clearly see the similarities between the three. [Genesis confirm driver crews for first WEC seasonThe South Korean announce driver combinations that offer “perfect balance”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-215.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/01389_Genesis_Shakedown_DG.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/genesis-confirm-driver-crews-for-maiden-2026-season/) The engine in the back of the car, meanwhile, is a 3.2-litre V8 twin-turbocharged unit. The engine was originally designed for rally use in parent company Hyundai's WRC programme, as an inline-four unit. You can read a lot more about the technical specifics of the engine on [Genesis's website](https://newsroom.genesis.com/gmr-001-hypercar-development-passes-major-milestone-after-successful-engine-fire-up/?ref=ontheapex.com). ## Other WEC 2026 details The 2026 WEC season will begin on 28th March at Lusail International Circuit, in Qatar. It'll be followed by rounds at Imola, Spa, Le Mans, Interlagos, Circuit of the Americas, Fuji, and Bahrain. Check the full entry list on [WEC's website](https://www.fiawec.com/en/news/major-global-marques-headline-2026-fia-wec-entry-list/8580?ref=ontheapex.com). We can't wait! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/WEc-entry-list-pld-2026.001.png) ### Genesis confirm driver crews for first WEC season URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/genesis-confirm-driver-crews-for-maiden-2026-season/ Last updated: 2025-12-05T15:25:58.000Z **Genesis Magma Racing have confirmed the allocation of their six race drivers for their maiden WEC Hypercar season.** The South Korean brand has a star-studded lineup, and reaches the final stages of testing before joining the World Championship grid in 2026\. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/GENESIS_ARAGON_111715055510999JJ-1.jpg) Image: Drew Gibson/Genesis ## #17 - Experience and rising talent 🇧🇷 P. Derani 🇨🇭A. Lotterer 🇫🇷 M. Jaubert GMR have combined the biggest names in their squad with one of sportscar's rising stars. WEC champ Lotterer and IMSA Champ Derani are undoubtedly the most experienced hands in the roster, and to some extent have been tasked with making the GMR-001 a competitive package from the off. But they will also be the reference as to just where the package is. Jaubert will be placed in a high-pressure seat, but he might just have the outright talent to prove himself alongside two of this era’s brightest stars. And what an opportunity to be crafted into a world champion of the future. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/04249_Genesis_MR001_Portimao_2025_Test_DG.jpg) Derani and Lotterer have been the foundation of the GMR programme. Image: Drew Gibson/Genesis ## #19 - A combative combination 🇫🇷 Paul-Loup Chatin 🇫🇷 Mathieu Jaminet 🇪🇸 Danie Juncadella The #19’s lineup sizzles just at the sight, with an enticing combination with experience across the racing world. Jaminet, reigning IMSA champion, is a proven hand at the wheel of LMDh machinery, not to mention very happy to get his elbows out - remember the GTD PRO battle at Daytona 2022? Chatin, a three-time ELMS champion, and the only Hypercar race winner in the squad is a complete package. Juncadella has proved himself as a Prototype ace in ELMS LMP2 this year, and with over 100 DTM races and two full-season of WEC LMGT3, he’s definitely one to watch. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/ZHwGmBetY_dqYcvXmPdrMavVETa6LQctqsEWffiC_a1D3l0NSh_OgZKbfaFT2hqlqw3m9XTopSf1iBvxWtyeZw.webp) Testing at Aragon saw two cars run for the first time. Image: Drew Gibson/Genesis Jamie Chadwick was previously announced as the team's sole reserve driver, with the ELMS race-winner driving the new LMDh at multiple tests this year alongside [her first season](https://www.ontheapex.com/jamie-chadwick-endurance-racing-debut-elms/) full-time in sportscars. Gabriele Tarquini, two-time World Touring Car champion, Sporting Director for Genesis Magma Racing, explains how and why the lineups were assigned. “The choice of drivers is crucial to the team's success. They need to be talented, fast of course, but you also need to choose drivers who work well together on and off-track. "I think with our seven drivers we have a perfect balance of experience, youth and performance – each of which has its own advantages and it's up to us to combine all their personalities and characters to try to bring out the best in each of them." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/GENESIS_ARAGON_111716133011219JJ-1.jpg) The two GMR-001s at Aragon. Image: Drew Gibson/Genesis "Experienced drivers are fundamental in developing a new car like our GMR-001 Hypercar, because they could immediately sense the car’s potential and quickly lead the team in the right direction. “Once we had all our drivers for the 2026 season confirmed, deciding the line-ups for the two race cars became the most important decision for Cyril (Abiteboul) Justin (Taylor) and myself. We wanted the strongest balance of experience and youth in each line-up. "So, for example, we have André and Pipo – our most experienced drivers – together with Mathys, who is our only driver who has never raced in the WEC before. In the other car we have a great mix of Hypercar and LMDh knowledge with Mathieu and Paul-Loup, and the endurance racing experience of Dani. "We analysed each driver’s performance in the tests but also listened to the feedback they gave – and how they gave it. We also evaluated which drivers communicated and worked best together outside of the car, which you get to see in the quieter moments during testing and visits to the workshop." *GMR are expected to continue testing late into 2025, with the manufacturer making its FIA WEC debut at the Qatar 1812KM on the 28th March.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/Genesis-Drivers-Post.002.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/Genesis-Drivers-Post.003.png) ### Porsche factory talent headlines Manthey IMSA squads URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-factory-talent-headlines-manthey-imsa-squads/ Last updated: 2025-12-04T14:03:00.000Z Manthey Racing have announced the six drivers that will make up their GTD PRO and GTD entries in the 2026 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. The #911 GTD PRO Porsche, which will carry the iconic 'Grello' livery, combines 2023 DTM Champion Thomas Preining with two-time Sebring 12H class winner Klaus Bachler and one of Porsche's hottest contracted drivers Riccardo Feller. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/IMSA-Daytona-Test-2025-Manthey--4--1.jpg) Testing at Daytona, with Grello colours to be revealed soon. Image: Porsche. Bachler holds by far the most IMSA experience of the trio, with 32 race starts since 2014, including two full-season efforts with Pfaff Motorsports in 2023 and with AO Racing's 'Rexy' in 2025\. Feller ran an Endurance Cup GTD programme in 2019 with Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, whilst Preining will make his third IMSA race appearance at the Rolex 24 in January. The #912 Porsche sees a familiar livery return to the IMSA GTD ranks, with 1st Phorm as primary sponsor having featured on Wright Motorsport 911s from 2020-23. Newly crowned WEC LMGT3 champions Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera will continue their partnership and move into IMSA competition together for the first time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/WEC-Champion-2025_Manthey_Ryan-Hardwick-und-Riccardo-Pera-und-Richard-Lietz.jpg) WEC champs Hardwick, Pera, and Lietz are reunited at Daytona. Image: Porsche Hardwick, a highly rated Bronze driver, was twice the GTD championship runner-up in Porsche machinery, tallying up class wins at Daytona and Sebring. Pera, who has raced Porsches extensively in his career, will make his debut in the North American series. The lineup is completed by 2024 Le Mans LMGT3 class winner Morris Schuring, the 2025 DTM Rookie of the Year was recently announced as one of Porsche's 'Contracted Drivers.' Fellow WEC LMGT3 champion Richard Lietz completes the quartet for the Daytona 24 Hours. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/3_Manthey2026_IMSA_912.png) A first look at the 2026 #912 1st Phorm Porsche. Image: Porsche. *After the official Daytona pre-test, known as the ROAR, from 16 to 18 January, the IMSA season begins on the 24 January 2026 with the Rolex 24.* ### How WRT's Bronze pair signals Rossi WEC departure URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/how-wrts-bronze-pair-signals-rossi-wec-departure/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T13:12:38.000Z **Team WRT have announced that Darren Leung and Anthony McIntosh will fill the mandatory Bronze driver seats in their 2026 FIA WEC LMGT3 entries, but this move might spell the end of Valentino Rossi's tenure in the world championship.** The Italian, who has four podiums from 16 LMGT3 starts, might be forced to move programmes within the GT3 world as the 'silver seats' at WRT are likely filled by incoming drivers. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003975_0046--1-.jpg) The #31 on Rossi's 2025 car, an ominous sign. Image: DPPI/WEC Who are the drivers in the Bronze spaces? Former GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Sprint Cup champion Darren Leung returns to the BMW fold after a season with McLaren and United Autosport, a year which saw the British driver tally his second class victory at the rain-soaked 6H COTA. No car number is confirmed, but Leung previously ran in the #31, the number appearing on the 2025 #46 chassis at the WEC Rookie Test. The new American addition is Anthony McIntosh who made waves in the LMGT3 paddock on his mid-season arrival in the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin with consecutive class poles at Sao Paulo and Fuji. A double Am Champion in the Lamborghini SuperTrofeo North America and a former Am champion in the Italian GT Sprint championship, the 50-year-old will tackle his first full WEC season in 2026, but gathered valuable time behind the wheel of an WRT M4 GT3 EVO at the Rookie Test. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0353.jpg) Rossi on home pole at Imola. Image: DPPI/WEC Why does this leave no spaces for Rossi? It's commonplace in the GT world for Bronze drivers to find a quick, coaching Silver driver that together, the pair can progress up the ranks. Leung and McIntosh are exactly those types of Bronze drivers. Leung's two-season LMGT3 stint has been alongside Sean Gelael, with the duo twice scoring class honours.When Leung was without a co-driver in the 2024 GT World Challenge Europe round at Barcelona, he phoned his favourite Indonesian to fill the seat. For McIntosh, his relationship with Parker Thompson is yet to reach the highs of tasting World Championship champagne, but it isn't lacking commitment. The silver-rated Canadian recently ended his relationship with Toyota/Lexus, potentially in preparation for a move to Team WRT, and alongside his IMSA GTD driver has been coaching McIntosh to Porsche Cup and GT4 America titles over the last two years Given the close ties, and the nature of these Bronze-Silver relationships, Gelael and Thompson are firm favourites to get the call-up. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/20250614-DSY_9671-3-Gary-Parravani---Xynamic.jpg) If those dominoes fall that will leave Rossi out of a seat, and that might just be the best thing for him. The WEC programme hasn't quite produced the results that the Italian and his team would have been hoping for, with the 2025 Imola pole the one true standout alongside his back-to-back second places at his home venue. There remains a hauntingly empty space in the trophy cabinet for a Le Mans winner's trophy. But if you are to look past the stature of the man, his performances place him in the bottom half of his Silver rivals. There's no doubt Rossi's qualifying appearances were solid, averaging P6 in the six LMGT3 Hyperpole sessions the #46 competed in, including a mesmeric P3 at the 24H Le Mans against a host of GT stars. But it's in the races where Rossi's averages leave him vulnerable, according to data from The B Pillar Rossi was the 16th fastest Silver across the eight WEC races. In a category where, alongside the Platinum/Gold the Silver driver must do a pretty hefty share of the legwork, this has left the #46 fighting back into contention late on in races. This isn't to say that The Doctor's performance in LMGT3 is the sole reason for his expected departure, but it must loom over a sportsperson with the undying competitive aspirations of a nine-time world champion. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/xxxx-46-VR-0Q3A7051.jpg) The Doctor tallies a third win at Misano in GT World Challenge. Image: JEP/SRO The most likely move for the 46-year-old would be a return to GT World Challenge Europe. It's a somewhat humorous statistic that Rossi has won more races in the series whilst being full-time in WEC, than he did when it was his primary programme. At the end of last year there were aspirations for the Italian to make the step up the ladder and into a BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh, but the likelihood of that looks to have rapidly cooled despite a continued push from Rossi to make it happen. A return to Europe offers him proximity to his family, and a genuine shot at championship honours. He still can chase victory at a major 24 hour race, taking on the Spa 24 Hours for a fifth consecutive season, and a potential partnership with BMW star Raffaele Marciello would be a combination threatening to the established squads – not a favourite, but a good horse to back. As one door closes, another opens. We'll find out soon enough where The Doctor is heading when the FIA WEC official 2026 entry list is revealed in the coming weeks. ### Vanthoor and Van der Linde paired for WRT's first GTP season URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/vanthoor-van-der-linde-imsa-gtp-season/ Last updated: 2025-12-02T12:49:44.000Z BMW Team WRT will carry a largely unchanged driver roster into the first year of their dual WEC/IMSA programme. The Belgian squad was [awarded control](https://www.instagram.com/p/DPMcfFojN4f/?ref=ontheapex.com) of the IMSA GTP entries earlier this year, and will enforce only one driver change across the #24 and #25 M Hybrid V8s. Dries Vanthoor remains in the #24 car, which he pedalled to four consecutive pole positions at the start of 2025, and will be joined by Sheldon van der Linde as the full-season duo – the South African completed his first full IMSA schedule aboard the #25 last year. Going in the other direction is GTP race-winner Philipp Eng, who will partner Marco Wittmann in the #25 for the full season, the duo previously sharing a car during 2023 Endurance Cup events. At the five Michelin Endurance Cup rounds in 2026, WEC-ace Robin Frijns joins the #24, with René Rast a fourth driver at Daytona, and full-time sportscar convert Kevin Magnussen completes the #25 with Raffaele Marciello the fourth for the Rolex 24. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003412_0166.jpg) BMW M Team WRT at Le Mans. Image: BMW M ### WEC Squads unchanged for season four BMW M Team WRT will run an unchanged six-driver squad for their team's fourth season in the FIA WEC's Hypercar class. Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen will again share the #15, the trio had a promising start to 2025 but failed to score a point from the Le Mans 24 Hours onwards. René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde return to the #20, the triplet finished second at the 6H Imola to tally the German marque's only Hypercar podium of the season. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/cobb-IMSA-NT-151125-34102.jpg) BMW's updated challenger. Image: Sam Cobb/BMW M ### Updated car, same target The biggest change for BMW heading into 2026 is the significant revision of the M Hybrid V8 LMDh aerodynamics. Revealed in August, there has been major work to the front end, seeing the kidney grilles reduced in an effort to improve performance across all track types and improve cooling. The new aero package follows updated brakes for the 2025 season. The updated M Hybrid V8 made its first official test appearance at the IMSA-sanctioned Daytona event in November, with the new version running in both championships next year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/BMW-DRIVER-SQUAS.001.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/BMW-DRIVER-SQUAS.002.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/BMW-DRIVER-SQUAS.003.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/12/BMW-DRIVER-SQUAS.004.png) ### Iron Dames announce WEC withdrawal URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/iron-dames-announce-wec-withdrawal/ Last updated: 2025-11-27T15:25:54.000Z **The Iron Dames have confirmed they will not be racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2026.** In a [statement](https://x.com/IronDames%5F/status/1994051089629380635?s=20&ref=ontheapex.com) posted on their social media channels, the fan-favourite all-female crew is set to be absent from the GT-classes for the first time since 2021. The programme made headlines in only its second year of competition by scoring a maiden GTE AM podium at Monza in 2022, and a year later becoming the first all-female crew to score a class victory in the series at the 8H Bahrain. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/303281_5119x3413.jpg) Bovy, Gatting and Frey celebrate at Bahrain, 2023\. Image: Porsche Since the switch to LMGT3 the team have failed to make the same impact that saw them finish runners-up in the GTE AM standings in 2023, and over the 16 races have failed to tally a single visit to the podium. Much speculation has swirled in recent months over the health of the Deborah Mayer-led organisation, and the financial stability of the programme, which was stirred by the sale of Mayer and Claudio Schiavoni's private car collection. The WEC absence follows in the footsteps of their withdrawal from IMSA competition, where the team sat out the 6H Watkins Glen owing to Michelle Gatting's foot injury from the 24H Le Mans test day, but the popular pink Porsche never returned. "The FIA WEC Entry List will be revealed soon — and when it is, you won’t see a Porsche entry under the Iron Dames banner," the statement read. "It’s a change by design — one that strengthens our long-term vision. This is the next step forward of a performance-driven project that never stops evolving and redefining the norm. "Since 2021 in FIA WEC, the Iron Dames have stood at the summit of world endurance racing — proving that talent has no gender, that determination moves mountains, and that women belong on the biggest stage of motorsport. "As the only all-female line-up for five seasons, we didn’t just take part — we reshaped the narrative and left a cultural mark, with unforgettable moments like the historic Bahrain victory in 2023. "Racing is our ground, our drive, and still one of our strongest frontiers — and yes — we’ll be on many racetracks in 2026, Dames and young talents further strengthening the future of the project. The Iron Dames spirit has never lived on one grid only." It remains to be seen whether the Iron Dames will feature in GT3 competition next year, with a continuation of their ELMS programme a priority after finishing fourth in the 2025 championship. The Iron Lynx name looks set to continue in the WEC, with growing support from Mercedes-AMG and financial backing from Bronze drivers Martin Berry and Andrew Gilbert. In the place of Iron Dames, the Manthey-run Porsche LMGT3 entries in the WEC look to take on a new look with wholesale changes across the two cars. ### Estre and Vanthoor spearhead revised Porsche IMSA GTP squad URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/estre-vanthoor-porsche-963-imsa-gtp-squad-2026/ Last updated: 2025-11-30T15:35:52.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Porsche Penske Motorsport have confirmed their 2026 IMSA GTP driver lineups, with 2024 WEC Hypercar Champions Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor reunited for the full season. There had been much speculation as to the placement of the star pairing following Porsche's withdrawal from the WEC. There are wholesale changes to the crews of the #6 and #7 crews, so let's take a look… Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## #6 - WEC stars align The #6 Porsche will be steered by the same trio that tackled WEC races in 2025, as Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor are named as the full-season pairing, with reigning GTP Champion Matt Campbell joining them for the Endurance Cup events. The trio finished second at this year’s 24H Le Mans after a heroic charge through the field, went on to win the rain-soaked 6H COTA, and entered the final race at Bahrain as an outside shot at the Drivers’ title. Following Porsche's withdrawal from the WEC there were plenty of question marks over the future of the fan-favourite driver pairing, including a potential reunion in the [IMSA Sportscar Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/) GTD PRO Manthey 'Grello' Porsche. [Grello in IMSA 2026: Manthey to contest Endurance CupGrello? In IMSA? Have our dreams come true?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-211.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/manehtywebpage.001-1-2.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/grello-manthey-porsche-imsa-endurance-cup-2026/) The lineup is the more experienced of the two cars, with Vanthoor and Campbell both claiming multiple IMSA titles in their careers – with one of the storylines of the year watching Estre take on the full season. ## #7 - Porsche Proteges The only driver retained in the #7 car is 2024 champion and multiple GTP race winner Felipe Nasr. The Brazilian is joined by Julien Andlauer for the full IMSA season, the Frenchman moving across from his full-time WEC seat after two years as a standout pilot in Hypercar, both in Proton customer machinery and the factory team. Laurin Heinrich will complete the trio at the Endurance Cup events after only one appearance in the 963 LMDh, coming at the WEC season finale three weeks ago. However, the 2024 GTD PRO champion will be familiar with IMSA racing and its unique demands. [Andlauer: Porsche Penske promotion my ‘biggest challenge’Porsche’s newest Hypercar factory driver Julien Andlauer speaks to Only Endurance about the upcoming season, his first racing for Porsche’s works team.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-212.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Andlauer-Cover-Pics.005-1-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/andlauer-porsche-penske-promotion-my-biggest-challenge/) The Nasr-Andlauer combination is bound to be a threat from the off, and should Heinrich adapt quickly to his new home the #7 will undoubtedly continue to challenge at the top of the GTP class. With Mathieu Jaminet departing for a Genesis LMDh seat in 2026, the only driver to have been moved aside for this updated squad is Nick Tandy. The British driver has been a mainstay of the Porsche GTP programme, winning seven races. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/Estre-Vanthoor-PPM-IMSA.002.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/Estre-Vanthoor-PPM-IMSA.003.png) Porsche Penske Motorsport's 2026 IMSA GTP driver roster ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### JOTA: 'Massive highs' in first WEC season with Cadillac URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-some-massive-highs-first-wec-season-cadillac/ Last updated: 2025-11-24T12:22:05.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) JOTA's inaugural [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/) season as both a factory team and with Cadillac had some big moments in amongst a good first year, JOTA Sport founder and director Sam Hignett said. 'A season of some massive highs with the front row lockout at Le Mans and the first and second in Brazil,' he said. 'And great testament to Cadillac and to the team for the 12 to be the only Hypercar to score points in every race, so that’s something we should be really proud of. Good first year, good foundation to move forward on.' [JOTA’s Sam Hignett and David Clark on the team’s past, present, and futureOnly Endurance spoke to JOTA Sport directors Sam Hignett and David Clark about transitioning from an LMP2 team to a leading Hypercar squad with a factory partnership.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-209.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/LMDH-24h-Le-Mans-24-4.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-sam-hignett-david-clark-past-present-future-cadillac/) Indeed, the team's #12 car, with drivers Alex Lynn, Norman Nato, and Will Stevens, was the only car to score points in every WEC race in 2025. They crowned this off with Cadillac's first WEC win at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in July, a 1-2 finish with the sister #38 car, driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Jenson Button, and Earl Bamber. In addition, Lynn took pole at Le Mans with the sister car again behind, locking out the front row. While the car clearly had unbeatable pace over a single lap, unfortunately it wasn't the same story in the race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/Alex-car-kiss.jpg) Lynn took pole at Le Mans in magnificent fashion. Image: DPPI/WEC Stevens, who started the car at Le Mans, got overtaken almost immediately on the first lap on the first part of the Mulsanne Straight by Julien Andlauer. The #12 car eventually finished fourth in the 24 hour classic – not a bad result, but not what Cadillac and JOTA would have been hoping for. Nato, Lynn and Stevens finished fifth in the championship, on 93 points. The win at Interlagos was their only podium over the year. It has already been confirmed the trio will return with JOTA and Cadillac for another year. [Compared: New 2026 cars break cover at IMSA’s Daytona testWe compare the 2025 models of four cars with the new 2026 versions from IMSA’s Daytona test over the weekend.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-206.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DSC_8362.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/new-2026-imsa-daytona-test-cadillac-porsche-bmw/) On Cadillac's side, they've been happy with the performance from the team and are gearing up for another year in WEC together. They'll have the benefit of an upgraded car, too, as the V-Series.R will receive aerodynamic updates to reduce drag and improve the car's top speed, which hampered it this year, especially at Le Mans. 'This season has been a remarkable journey with JOTA. We’ve had so many learnings that we’ve taken away from the full season here,' Keely Bosn, Cadillac Racing program manager, said. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) 'We’re happy with the overall performance we’ve seen from the team. The collaboration and communication have been so strong that going into the next season we’re extremely excited to continue our partnership with JOTA.' In the #38 car, Bourdais and Bamber will return, with Jack Aitken replacing the retiring Jenson Button. Aitken will prioritise his [IMSA Sportscar Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/) campaign with fellow Cadillac factory partner team Action Express Racing, meaning at some races Bamber and Bourdais will race as a duo. [Cadillac’s Jack Aitken to join JOTA for WEC 2026Aitken will undertake a dual IMSA/WEC campaign in 2026, making his full debut in the world championship.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-207.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC825_110811330406462DG.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jack-aitken-race-cadillac-jota-wec-2026/) 'Overall, for the season, it has been a positive year,' Stevens said, after the Bahrain WEC test and participating at IMSA's test at Daytona with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing, where the new 2026 parts were tried out for the first time. 'The encouraging thing is there were clearly races where we missed points where we should have scored better and deserved to score better. 'In our first year together with Cadillac and JOTA, honestly a lot of positive things to take away and there are clearly things we can improve on. I’m excited to have a few months to put those things in place.' Stevens will begin his 2026 season as part of Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing's Daytona lineup, in the #10 car alongside Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. WTR are Cadillac's other factory team in IMSA, alongside Action Express. The 2026 WEC season, meanwhile, will begin on 28th March in Qatar, at the Lusail International Circuit, which will host the 1812km Qatar. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Lamborghini secure Rutronik Racing for 2026 onwards URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-secure-rutronik-racing-for-2026-onwards/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T11:16:50.000Z Rutronik Racing and Lamborghini have announced a multi-year collaboration that will see the German team spearhead the new Temerario GT3's assault in SRO competition. The move brings to an end a successful five-year partnership with Porsche, which saw Rutronik claim multiple championships and race wins in GT World Challenge Europe competition, most notably the Overall Endurance Cup triumph in 2025. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/96-0T9A3226.jpg) Niederhauser and Picariello celebrate title success at Barcelona. Image: SRO/JEP The Klaus Graf-led operation are set to field a single-car entry in the PRO division of the European series next year, and whilst drivers have not been confirmed it is "already certain that it will be a pure Lamborghini factory driver line-up," according to Friday's release. Lamborghini scored their maiden 24 Hours of Spa victory this year with GRT Grasser Racing Team, ironically beating the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche to the overall triumph. The move does raise questions about who else will be fielding the Temerario in 2026, with Lamborghini admitting a limited roll-out due to production priorities – with suggestion that a major existing team could be departing the Italian manufacturer. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/x63-RE2_3187.jpg) Triumphant Lamborghini, Rutronik in second, now partners at the Spa 24H. Image: SRO/JEP “The 2026 season marks the racing debut of the Temerario GT3 in a prestigious championship such as the GT World Challenge Europe," said Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini's Chief Technical Officer. "It is a series in which successive generations of the Huracán have been title contenders since 2015, and where Lamborghini has secured numerous titles across all categories, culminating in the recent victory at the 24 Hours of Spa. "For these reasons, we will even strengthen our competitiveness with a highly experienced and professional team such as Rutronik Racing. I am confident that together we will achieve new successes and tackle every challenge with determination.” *The GT World Challenge Europe season begins on the 11-12 April with a six-hour Endurance Cup event at Circuit Paul Ricard.* ### Porsche rules out Penske privateer 963s for WEC 2026 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-rules-out-penske-privateer-963s-wec-2026/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T10:28:55.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The talks between Penske Racing and Porsche for the Penske team to run at least one private Porsche 963 in the [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/) will not continue, according to reports in the German motorsport press. Marcus Schurig, editor of AMuS's [Motorsport Aktuell](https://www.motorpresse.de/en/motorsport-aktuell/?ref=ontheapex.com), a German motorsport magazine, spoke to Thomas Laudenbach, Porsche's vice president for motorsport, at the Macau Grand Prix last weekend. 'Last week, we reached an agreement with Roger Penske not to pursue these plans any further,' said Laudenbach (translated from German). He further explained: 'We examined all scenarios for helping Roger Penske and came to the conclusion that a private team involving Penske could be seen as a backdoor return for Porsche, and would simultaneously dilute what we have achieved together as a factory team in the WEC over the last three years – especially with a view to a factory entry at Le Mans.' This, then, shuts the door on Penske running any private operation in WEC next year with the Porsche 963, either teaming up with Proton or going it alone as a customer operation. ![The Proton-run #99 Porsche 963 at the 8 Hours of Bahrain 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahrain_2025JT06103.jpg) Could FAT Turbo save the Porsche presence in WEC as the factory team withdraws? Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ## Talks at Bahrain come to naught It was reported last week, by [*The Race*'s Thibaut Villemant](https://www.the-race.com/endurance/the-plan-to-keep-porsche-963-on-wec-grid/?ref=ontheapex.com), that talks took place at Bahrain featuring Roger Penske, Proton team principal and owner Christian Reid, and Ferdi Porsche. The latter is Proton's 963 programme backer. He owns lifestyle company FAT Turbo, and is the grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche. He is also the son of company chairman Wolfgang Porsche. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) The idea was to run two Proton-Penske Porsche 963s in WEC, thereby fulfilling the two-car requirement for any Hypercar manufacturer. This would mean Porsche could take up the automatic Le Mans invite it received for winning the [IMSA Sportscar Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/) title. As ever, though, these things are in a constant state of flux. And now it seems Penske will not run any private 963 entries in WEC. ![Roger Penske signs the Porsche 963 in the garage at the Porsche Penske Motorsport's final WEC race, the 2026 8 Hours of Bahrain](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahrain_2025JT20319--1-.jpg) Roger Penske was in Bahrain with Porsche, supposedly to try and save his WEC operation. Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ## Where does that leave Proton, and Porsche? Right now, we simply don’t know. That’s the honest truth. Reid has previously said, via [*Sportscar365*](https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/proton-unlikely-to-continue-porsche-963-hypercar-program/?ref=ontheapex.com)*,* that Proton does not have the funding to run two cars in WEC next year. And, with the aforementioned two-car rule... it's two cars, or no cars. As for Porsche... if there aren't any 963s competing in WEC full-time next year, the German manufacturer is unlikely to be able to take up the auto invite. But, note what Laudenbach concluded with. '...especially with a view to a factory entry at Le Mans'. Is that hinting at Porsche still wanting to enter Le Mans next year in some form or another? For that, though, we come back to the two-car mandate, as Laudenbach finished by saying: 'According to the regulations, such an entry is not possible without prior participation of two cars in the WEC'. We'll have to wait to find out. The WEC 2026 application window closes in on 27th November, with the entry list scheduled to be revealed in early December. So we don't have long to wait! *Feature image: Drew Gibson* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Compared: New 2026 cars break cover at IMSA's Daytona test URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/new-2026-imsa-daytona-test-cadillac-porsche-bmw/ Last updated: 2025-11-18T14:43:11.000Z Use the image sliders to compare the different versions of the cars from 2025 and 2026\. It's like motorsport spot the difference - what could be better?! ## BMW M Hybrid V8 We've known for a while that BMW would [update](https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0452104EN/hypercar-with-a-new-look:-bmw-m-hybrid-v8-receives-aerodynamic-updates-for-the-2026-season?language=en&ref=ontheapex.com) its LMDh car for 2026, to address some of the issues they've uncovered since it began racing in 2023. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/FW6I7890-1.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DSC_8209-1.png) After As you can see from the two sets of images, the BMW has had a fairly major rework of the front bodywork and aerodynamics. The front 'nostrils' are now considerably smaller on the front of the nose. The splitter is the same or similar size, with the headlights also similar. Although now they appear to be coloured yellow, which is a nice touch. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03328-1.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DSC_8362-1.png) After The dip on the top of the front bodywork also seems a little larger, maybe a little deeper – it's hard to say for sure with the camo livery BMW and WRT are using on the front of the car. Note for the slider showing front 3/4 view, we've mirrored the image with the car running in 2025 spec to show the cars from roughly the same angle. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Cadillac V-Series.R Cadillac's evo joker also focuses on aerodynamics. This is the second joker the American manufacturer has taken. Here's what they said about it: 'As part of its ongoing development to improve performance in the pursuit of podiums and wins, Cadillac has joined other manufacturers in aligning timing of EVO use with the updated aerodynamic homologation for 2026\. 'While the V-Series.R retains signature V-Series production design elements, notable changes include removal of front dive planes and winglets and reshaping the rear wing profile.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03459-1.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DSC_8730-1.png) After Unlike the BMW, the key change for the Cadillac is at the rear. The horizontal wing plane is now considerably lower compared to the end plates and rest of the bodywork. This has the effect of making everything else higher – the dorsal/shark fin, the cockpit, the sidepods, etc. This will of course lower drag and increase straight line speed – something which has somewhat plagued the V-Series.R recently, especially at low drag tracks such as Le Mans. The front diveplanes and winglets have also disappeared, and the splitter has also been redesigned accordingly. ## Porsche 963 Porsche have [applied](https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/porsche-takes-fourth-evo-joker-for-963-with-aero-update/?ref=ontheapex.com) a fourth evo joker to the 963, to modify the aerodynamics for 2026. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/FW6I7543.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DSC_8180.png) After From the front the most obvious change to the Porsche is the splitter, which has been re-profiled and is now higher in the middle compared to before. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/7-02-1-1.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DSC_8062-1-1.png) After The rear 'cheese wedges' have also disappeared, and the diffuser at the back of the car has been redesigned accordingly. ## Ford Mustang GT3 Finally, the Ford Mustang GT3 will also see an evo version introduced, after two years of competition. Ford, however, have not commented. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03291-1.png) Before ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DSC_8673-1-1.png) After Aero wise, however, we can see the major addition to the car is diveplanes and winglets at the front. These may help improve front downforce and therefore help with not just handling and balance, but also with tyre wear. We'll have to see if there are any other updates to Ford's challenger, either visible or under-the-hood, next year! Image credits: Petit Le Mans 2025: Griffith Bean. Sebring 2025: Jacob Saddler. Daytona 24 2025: Kevin Dejewski. Daytona test and feature image: [Andrew Sills](https://www.instagram.com/drewskisillsmedia?ref=ontheapex.com) [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Before F1: 5 legendary Audi race cars from the R8 to R18 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/audi-legendary-race-cars-r8-r18-before-f1/ Last updated: 2025-11-16T19:33:06.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) Audi revealed the [livery](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/audi-reveals-new-concept-livery-for-its-f1-debut-in-2026/?ref=ontheapex.com) which will adorn its maiden F1 car, the R26 Concept, yesterday. Cool. But this immediately got us thinking about Audi's past in motorsport, and how they've made some absolute bangers over the years (and some were recently for sale). [Audi selling classic LMP carsThe German marque is offering prototype legends as part of exclusive programme![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-200.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/A1612938_large.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/audi-selling-classic-lmp-cars/) ## Audi R8 If you had to choose a 'greatest racing car of all time', the Audi R8 would likely be right up there as one of the main contenders. Let's take a quick look at the stats. It won Le Mans five times – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005 – and by the end of its run was, essentially, unbeatable at La Sarthe. For 2005 the ACO tried to slow it down to give everyone else a chance, and although Audi did have a proper challenge from Pescarolo that year, Audi still came out on top. Audi also pioneered extreme repairability with the R8\. Previously at Le Mans, a car would be run under its potential, lest it break down and need repairs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/A176318_large.jpg) The R8 became almost unbeatable at Le Mans from 2000 to 2005\. Image: Audi AG Audi decided to do things differently. They designed an entirely modular rear end – gearbox, suspension, and the other associated bits – which could be replaced in race conditions in under five minutes. The "kit" to do this would include all the parts needed plus the tools, enabling mechanics to literally get a rear end pack from the garage, replace it on the car, and send it back out. In 5 minutes. Even nowadays with uber-reliable cars that's still an incredible achievement. This then meant they could run the car nearer to its potential limit. On top of that, the car was incredibly reliable anyway. Hotswapping the rear end was effectively banned by the ACO – by banning gearbox changes during the 24 hour race – but it didn't stop the R8 winning, and from becoming a racing legend. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Audi R10 TDI Audi followed the R8 up with the R10 TDI. While the R8 pioneered incredible reliability and repairability, the R10 TDI was all about something else: diesel power. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/A231958_medium.jpg) A V12-powered diesel prototype... the idea was preposterous. Then Audi did it. Image: Audi AG No diesel-powered car had ever won Le Mans. The thinking was you needed more diesel to achieve the same level of power, and the trade off wasn't worth it, even if they had to stop less. The idea of racing a diesel-powered car at Le Mans with serious hopes of success was generally seen as preposterous. Audi changed this narrative with the R10\. In fact, changed might be wrong word. More *obliterated*. [The motorsport film which spawned Drive to SurviveA documentary about Audi’s win at Le Mans in 2008 was at least partially responsible for the slew of motorsport media that came after.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-201.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/A152984_large-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/motorsport-film-drive-to-survive-truth-in-24-audi-le-mans-2008/) The R10 TDI won its first race at Le Mans in 2006, then followed it up with wins in 2007 and 2008\. The latter two had Peugeot as a key rival. The HDi FAP (yes...) was also diesel-powered and, at points, was faster than the R10 TDI, especially in 2008 when the R10 was beginning to show its age. However, despite the fact the Peugeot was quicker in 2008 at La Sarthe, it had to stop more frequently the R10\. This meant over the course of the race the Audi could make one less stop, and therefore went onto win. An all time classic of the French endurance race! [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Audi R18 Technically there are five different cars from Audi, all called the R18, and all were sports prototypes. Audi first introduced the R18 for the 2011 edition of Le Mans, when new rules meant engine downsizing became necessary. The new car had a 3.7-litre V6, still diesel-powered but with less power than its predecessors. It promptly won the race at the first time of asking, against Peugeot, who would quit Le Mans and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (WEC's predecessor series, only held in 2010 and 2011) a few months later. Side note: the 2011 race was, again, an all-time classic. It's well worth a watch. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/A172882_medium.jpg) Audi's 2011 R18 was its first covered-cockpit car since 1999\. Image: F.Kraeling Motorsport-Bild-GmbH For 2012, Audi introduced another innovation: a hybrid car. While hybrids had competed at Le Mans before, none had been successful. The R18 e-tron quattro, as it was known, changed that. It had four-wheel drive, with electric motors powering the front wheels and the rear wheels driven by the conventional internal combustion engine. And... you guessed it, Audi won again, the first hybrid to win Le Mans. And it was still diesel-powered! 2013, 2014 and 2015 saw evolutions on the R18 e-tron quattro, taking two more Le Mans wins, before another new R18 was introduced for 2016\. This had dramatically different aerodynamics, a new dark grey and red livery which made it look like something designed by the Empire in Star Wars, and perhaps most importantly, a new hybrid system. The older hybrid R18s had a flywheel-based mechanical hybrid system, which would generate up to 6MJ of energy by 2015. However, it was clear the market was heading towards lithium-ion batteries as the conventional way to store hybrid energy. Audi too had seen this coming and switched to using batteries for the R18, upping the storage capacity to 8MJ in the process. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/A161528_medium.jpg) The 2016 R18 was fast but fragile. Image: Audi AG While the 2016-spec R18 was a race-winning car, it didn't win Le Mans or the world championship. Unlike some of Audi's other racecars, it was complex to repair – like many battery-powered hybrids – and at times unreliable. Audi pulled out of WEC and Le Mans for 2017, as a result of the fallout from [dieselgate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen%5Femissions%5Fscandal?ref=ontheapex.com), which would soon engulf the whole VW company with billions of dollars in fines. They haven't returned to Le Mans, in any category, since. 😢 Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Audi R8 LMS For a time, this was *the* GT3 car. No question about it. The R8 LMS was introduced in 2009 for use in GT3 series by customer or private teams. It won the 24 Hours of Spa for the first time in 2011, with Team WRT, at that point a relative newcomer in the motorsport world, running the car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/k9236w3500h2336n323.jpg) Audi first introduced its R8 LM3 to the GT3 class in 2009\. Image: Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI / SRO Audi, the R8 LMS, and Team WRT would pick up another win in the world's biggest GT race in 2014\. Audi and Sainteloc, another Audi customer team, won the race again in 2017. The number of races the Audi R8 LMS has competed in is countless. It's had numerous updates and revisions over its long life; from its first introduction in 2009, it was initially given an evolution update in 2012, termed 'Ultra'. A second generation car was introduced for 2015, which itself had two evolution updates, for the 2019 season, and an Evo II update for 2022. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/B70I1530.jpg) The R8 had multiple revisions, updates, and evolutions over its life. Image: SRO Audi stopped officially supporting it in 2023, but privateers are still racing the car around the world three years later. Its homologation will officially expire around 2028, it is believed. A GT legend. ## Audi 90 quattro GTO An oldie but a goldie. Audi raced this in the "original" IMSA GT championship for one year only, in 1989\. As suggested by the name, it had four-wheel drive, but technically it was a "silhouette" car, which looked like an Audi 90 roadcar but underneath was a spaceframe GT car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/A168865_medium.jpg) Audi dominated the 1989 IMSA GT GTO class with the 90 quattro. Image: Audi AG Nevertheless, Audi dominated the GTO class of the IMSA GT championship in 1989, although they didn't win the title. Why? Because they hadn't entered Daytona and Sebring, so even though Hans-Joachim Stuck and Hurley Haywood took multiple wins through the season, the title remained out of reach. Audi pulled the plug at the end of the year because, as a German company, they wanted to focus on the domestic German championship, DTM. Although not the DTM we know today, for reasons. *Feature image: Nick Ovey* SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Cadillac's Jack Aitken to join JOTA for WEC 2026 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/jack-aitken-race-cadillac-jota-wec-2026/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T13:01:01.000Z Cadillac factory driver Jack Aitken will add an FIA World Endurance Championship programme to his schedule in 2026, as he joins the JOTA-run Cadillac factory team for the season. Aitken, who already races in IMSA for Cadillac and factory team Action Express Racing, will therefore join teammate Earl Bamber in a dual programme, racing in both championships in the same year. The 30-year-old will race alongside Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais in the #38 JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R. The driver lineup in the other car, the #12, will remain the same, with Will Stevens, Alex Lynn, and Norman Nato returning for another season. IMSA and WEC's calendars will clash in 2026, however. Specifically, the second round of WEC, to be held at Imola, and the third round of IMSA, at Long Beach, will clash, on the weekend of 17-18th April. Additionally, the Brazilian round of WEC, held at Interlagos, and the Chevrolet Grand Prix in Detroit, are also scheduled to clash, on the weekend of the 10-12th July. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003975_0244.jpg) Aitken will carry out a dual IMSA/WEC programme in 2026\. Image: DPPI / WEC A JOTA spokesperson told *Only Endurance* that, in these cases, Aitken will be giving IMSA "preference", while Bamber will do the opposite, giving WEC "preference". Regardless, next year will mark Aitken's full debut in the world championship, although he has raced at Le Mans for the past three years. This, though, was with Action Express; as an invited team, and not racing in the full season, they were not eligible for points. Aitken will also drop his DTM campaign for 2026\. He has raced in the German championship for the the past three seasons for Emil Frey Racing, earning six victories, with a best finish of eighth in the championship, in both 2024 and 2025. 'I am very appreciative that Cadillac has that trust and are willing to give me the opportunity,' said Aitken. 'It’s very exciting for me personally because I’ve never raced in the WEC and I’ve never raced with JOTA, even though we’ve come close a couple of times and have had a relationship that is now coming to fruition. 'They have fantastic people – from the drivers to the staff – and it’s a team that has had success in WEC. I’m excited to try to take what I’ve learned in IMSA at Action Express and bring that across to try to push things forward. I’m excited to start the year and to double up on my time in the Cadillac V-Series.R.' The British-Korean driver first drove one of JOTA's Cadillac V-Series.R's at the recent WEC rookie test in Bahrain. He recorded a time of 1:51.409, just under a second slower than teammate Bamber's time of 1:50.584, the fastest Cadillac lap of the day. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003975_0216.jpg) The 30-year-old tested for JOTA and the WEC rookie test in Bahrain on Sunday. Image: DPPI / WEC 'We’re delighted to welcome Jack on board,' said David Clark, JOTA Sport director and founder. 'We’ve been following his progress closely this year and have been really impressed by his raw pace and consistency — both essential ingredients for success in the Hypercar category. 'As an existing member of the wider Cadillac Racing driver family, Jack is a natural fit for us. He already understands the culture, the people, and the expectations within the Cadillac ecosystem. 'Beyond his performance on track, Jack’s calm personality and team-first attitude make him an excellent addition to our driver lineup. We never take team chemistry for granted — six individual stars won’t win endurance races, but six drivers who work as one can. Everything we’ve seen from Jack so far shows he embodies that spirit, and we can’t wait to see what he achieves with the team next season.' Finally, Keely Bosn, Cadillac Racing program manager, said: 'We’re thrilled to welcome Jack Aitken to our 2026 WEC Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA driver lineup. 'Jack brings exceptional speed, technical insight, and a fierce competitive spirit that perfectly complements the team. 'Our 2026 roster truly reflects the strength in continuity. With drivers competing across both IMSA and WEC, we’re building a unified program that drives shared performance and development. I’m genuinely excited about the depth, talent, and energy this lineup brings to the season ahead.' *Feature photo: Drew Gibson / JOTA / Cadillac* ### Rating and reviewing the Hypercar teams at Bahrain URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bahrain-wec-hypercar-rating-reviewing-ranking/ Last updated: 2025-11-10T13:32:47.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) And so, we come to the end of another FIA World Endurance Championship season. Bahrain is the traditional season closer of the world's premier endurance racing series, having been on the calendar since 2012 and only missing one calendar year in 2018 due to the 'Super Season'. Below we've collated each Hypercar team's stats from the race weekend, and have reviewed and rated their performances in the Middle East accordingly. Do you agree with them? Any you disagree with? Do let us know in the comments or on social media – we love a good discussion about racing here at *Only Endurance*. [GALLERY: Best shots from WEC’s Bahrain season finaleEnjoy a selection of images from the WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain, from top photographers including Drew Gibson and the DPPI photo agency.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-194.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC825_110816164409056DG-1-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-best-shots-wec-season-finale-bahrain/) ### BMW M Team WRT **Car #15** Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello Qualified: 10th Finishing position: 18th (DNF) Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.526 Fastest lap: 01:51.526 (Dries Vanthoor) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #20** René Rast, Robin Frijns, Sheldon van der Linde Qualified: 16th Finishing position: 8th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.130 Fastest lap: 01:51.279 (René Rast) Number of pit stops: 8 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003975_0055.jpg) The #20 BMW did score points, but it wasn't the best weekend for BMW. Image: DPPI / WEC BMW didn't really feature in any meaningful capacity at Bahrain. The #15 got into Hyperpole in the hands of Dries Vanthoor, but couldn't challenge the frontrunners in the race, mostly running outside the points with a high of eighth at one point as a result of pitstop strategy. With a little under an hour to go, D. Vanthoor had to retire the car as he had what BMW have officially termed a 'right rear wheel issue', causing him to spin at turn 11, unable to move. Over the radio the Belgian said 'I think I've lost my tyre'. Kind of sums up their race really. The sister car, the Shell-liveried #20 machine, fared a little better, finishing eighth and with a faster 20% average lap time and fastest lap, the latter courtesy of Rene Rast. But still: eighth is not what BMW or Team WRT go racing for. Sheldon van der Linde said on the TV broadcast that he hopes the evo update to the car "fixes all our problems", so it'll be interesting to watch them next year as WRT race in IMSA for the first time, on top of their WEC commitments. **Rating: 5/10** Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Proton Competition **Car #99** Neel Jani, Nicolas Pino, Nicolas Varrone Qualified: 17th Finishing position: 17th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.936 Fastest lap: 01:52.703 (Nicolas Varrone) Number of pit stops: 7 A poor race for Proton. They never really threatened to run in the points, and were 18th and last in class for long stretches of the race. Their average pace was woeful, getting on for a second off the factory Porsches and half a second off the #15 BMW, who they were fighting with for some of the race. They were only saved from finishing last by the BMW retiring late on (see above). Team principal and owner Christian Reid said over the weekend that it's unlikely that, without further funding, Proton will return to WEC next year. This means we face a WEC season, and indeed a Le Mans, with no Porsche 963s. While Proton clearly aren't on the same level as the Penske-run factory team at understanding the 963, not having them in WEC at all would be a huge shame. Here's hoping the situation changes over the winter. [Proton issues ‘no comment’ on IMSA GTP 2026 absenceAmid Porsche’s WEC Hypercar withdrawal, Proton are absent on the initial 2026 IMSA GTP entry list.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-192.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FW6I0084-5.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/proton-competition-porsche-imsa-gtp-2026-absence/) **Rating: 3/10** ### Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA **Car #12** Alex Lynn, Norman Nato, Will Stevens Qualified: 5th Finishing position: 6th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.434 Fastest lap: 01:52.563 (Will Stevens) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #38** Earl Bamber, Jenson Button, Sébastien Bourdais Qualified: 14th Finishing position: 16th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.660 Fastest lap: 01:52.727 (Jenson Button) Number of pit stops: 9 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0117.jpg) For his last professional race, Jenson Button used the same helmet livery as he did in his first ever kart race. Image: DPPI / WEC Winning either world championship was a long shot for Cadillac and JOTA, but it wasn't a bad race. The #12 car, generally the faster of the two this year, finished sixth and occasionally fought with the frontrunners, but lacked pace at Bahrain, a track hard on tyres. It probably didn't help that the American manufacturer was handed a huge weight increase in the Balance of Performance this race, putting increased strain on the tyres and hurting straight line speed, which is important at Bahrain. [Bahrain BoP analysis: Cadillac, Porsche may struggle for paceCadillac has been handed a huge power decrease on top of a weight increase for Bahrain’s WEC season finale, with Porsche suffering a similar fate.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-193.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003771_0706-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/bahrain-wec-bop-analysis-cadillac-porsche-struggle/) The #38 car fared less well. Button, in his final race as a professional racing driver, punted off innocent Thomas Flohr in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari, and finished 16th in the end, with Button completing the final stint, both of the race, the season, and his career. 'It was lovely to finish my career in the car crossing the line under the checkered flag,' said the 2009 F1 world champion. 'It definitely wasn’t a great race on our side of the garage but I still enjoyed the moment. 'When I got in the car we were near the back, struggling for pace and trying to save tyres for the end. I then had a few incidents that didn’t help, including contact with the 54 Ferrari GT. 'I went around the outside through turn 3, a line I’ve used many times, and thought I was clear, when I felt a hit from the rear that sent him spinning. It was unfortunate and I feel for him, but there really wasn’t anything I could do. It was genuinely a racing incident made tricky by another Hypercar on the inside.' **Rating: 6.5/10** ### Aston Martin Thor Team **Car #007** Harry Tincknell, Ross Gunn, Tom Gamble Qualified: 9th Finishing position: 15th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.076 Fastest lap: 01:52.176 (Tom Gamble) Number of pit stops: 7 **Car #009** Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen, Roman De Angelis Qualified: 6th Finishing position: 7th Top 20% average lap time: 01:52.814 Fastest lap: 01:51.038 (Alex Riberas) Number of pit stops: 9 [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) The result may not have been quite what was promised midway through the race, when Alex Riberas brilliantly took the lead off Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota and proceeded to open a 10 second gap. OK, yes, it was a bit deceiving as Riberas was on brand new tyres while those around him were on older rubber. But still: it made us all believe the Valkyrie could equal or better the IMSA Petit Le Mans podium Aston Martin and The Hear of Racing had achieved a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. While in the lead, Riberas got a penalty for a VSC procedure error, causing him to slip down the order. It was a penalty the #009 never recovered from, to finish 7th, 23 seconds off the #12 Cadillac. The #007 Valkyrie ran well in the early stages and was in or around the mid top 10 positions for most of the race. However, unfortunate pit stop timing put paid to any points. Tincknell, running 5th with a little under an hour to go, pitted just before the safety car was called for D. Vanthoor's stricken BMW at turn 11\. Naturally, the rest of the field stopped under the VSC and the #007 got jumped in the order. Gunn, who had replaced Tincknell at the wheel for the final stint, restarted the race 15th and was unable to make progress in the final half hour or so. But, the Valkyrie showed its potential and that, with a season of racing now under its belt, will be better prepared to take on the frontrunners in 2026\. Exciting stuff! **Rating: 7.5/10** ### Porsche Penske Motorsport **Car #5** Julien Andlauer, Laurin Heinrich, Mathieu Jaminet Qualified: 8th Finishing position: 14th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.265 Fastest lap: 01:52.184 (Julien Andlauer) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #6** Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell Qualified: 18th Finishing position: 13th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.195 Fastest lap: 01:51.660 (Kévin Estre) Number of pit stops: 8 Not the kind of race Porsche Penske Motorsport would have wanted for its final appearance in WEC with the 963. No points at all, dropping them to third in the manufacturers standings behind Toyota, on account of the latter's 1-2 and maximum points in Bahrain. Neither car ever really looked like troubling the frontrunners throughout the race. Estre did manage to move through the field quickly in the opening hour, from last on the grid to 12th by lap 30, maybe giving the German manufacturer a brief glimmer of hope. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahrain_2025JT25571--1-.jpg) The Porsche Penske crew saluted after their final pitstop. Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche Bahrain is a track the 963 doesn't suit, though. The Porsche has never been at its best when faced with high track temperatures — see Le Mans this year when the 963 came into its own during the night when the track surface cooled, only for the pendulum to swing back to Ferrari in the daylight. Add to that an abrasive circuit, adding tyre degradation issues into the mix, and poor Balance of Performance, and it was never going to be a standout weekend for Porsche. They did run as high as third due to differing pit stop strategies, but dropped back immediately after pitting. It was a similar story for the #5 car, which had Laurin Heinrich making his 963, WEC, and Hypercar/GTP debut. The #5 was running in 10th but similar bad luck to the #007 Aston Martin was to befall them. Andlauer pitted the car shortly before the VSC with under an hour to go, meaning they got jumped when others who were yet to pit stopped under caution. 'We did everything we could and opted for a bold strategy,' said Laurens Vanthoor. 'Unfortunately, it didn’t pay off. Instead of fighting for the world championship, we lost second place in the championship to Toyota. We’d expected Porsche Penske Motorsport’s farewell WEC race to unfold differently.' **Rating: 5/10** ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Alpine Endurance Team **Car #35** Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, Paul-Loup Chatin Finishing position: 11th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.085 Fastest lap: 01:51.384 (Charles Milesi) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #36** Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon, Mick Schumacher Finishing position: 12th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.213 Fastest lap: 01:51.804 (Frédéric Makowiecki) Number of pit stops: 8 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0534.jpg) No points for Alpine after winning last time out at Fuji. Image: DPPI / WEC After the highs of that race win at Fuji, Alpine may have been hoping for more from Bahrain. As it is, they didn't score any points in the Middle East season finale. However, the results betray Alpine's true pace in the race, which was better than it seemed. Both cars were running in the top 6 just before the VSC, in the mix for good points and a decent end to a relatively strong season for Alpine. However, like others in the class, they pitted a little too early – or the VSC came a little too late, whichever way you want to look at it – and dropped down the order significantly when others pitted under yellow. At the restart Milesi sat 10th and Makowiecki in 12th, with Mikkel Jensen in the #93 Peugeot between them, in his last race for the French squad. Ahead was Malthe Jakobsen in the sister #94 Peugeot. [Makowiecki: Alpine A424 ‘easier’ to drive than Porsche 963Fred Makowiecki compares the Alpine A424 to the Porsche 963 – and we break down how his pace in the Alpine stacks up against his teammates.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-196.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/A-tepid-start-for-Alpine-at-Le-Mans.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/makowiecki-wec-alpine-a424-vs-porsche-963/) It was looking good for Milesi to score at least a solitairy point, a consolation prize. But in the last 15 mins, a tussle between all four cars meant Jensen came out on top, in front of teammate Jakobsen in 10th. French-on-French action, then, denying *Les Bleus* points in the final race of the year. Alpine have updates to the A424 coming next year, so they'll be hoping that, like BMW, these can launch them into more regular contention for podiums and wins in WEC. They also have new drivers joining them, not least Antonio Felix da Costa making his return to WEC, possibly replacing a likely-outgoing Mick Schumacher. [Da Costa: WEC return with Alpine a ‘main objective’Le Mans and WEC LMP2 title winner António Felix da Costa will return to endurance racing next year, with Alpine.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-195.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Anto--nio-Fe--lix-da-Costa-3.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/da-costa-wec-return-with-alpine-a-main-objective/) The #35 car may see changes too, with Paul-Loup Chatin possibly on his way to Genesis and Ferdinand Habsburg maybe leaving too. **Rating: 6/10** ### Peugeot TotalEnergies **Car #93** Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen, Paul Di Resta Qualified: 4th Finishing position: 9th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.132 Fastest lap: 01:51.756 (Mikkel Jensen) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #94** Loïc Duval, Malthe Jakobsen, Théo Pourchaire Qualified: 3rd Finishing position: 10th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.048 Fastest lap: 01:50.987 (Malthe Jakobsen) Number of pit stops: 8 A decent race for Peugeot, scoring points with both cars – that's four races on the trot where that's happened. Starting from the second row, though, the race felt like it offered much more. The 9X8 was fast in a straight line – see Jakobsen's excellent battles with both Antonio Fuoco and Ryo Hirakawa, frustrating both of them when they passed him by simply repassing them on the straights – but suffered from high tyre wear. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0646--1-.jpg) The 9X8 was a rocket in a straight line at Bahrain. Image: DPPI / WEC High tyre wear isn't so much of an issue in qualifying, because it's a single lap. But over a race distance this obviously matters, and so Peugeot fell back over the course of the 8 hours. This is more of a problem at Bahrain for reasons already discussed. But, Peugeot have improved substantially over the course of the year with a 9X8 that's still proving to be trickier to master than its predecessor. It'll be interesting to see if the French squad can improve further in 2026, before, as is rumoured, a new car arrives in 2027. [2024 Peugeot 9X8 ‘harder to extract performance’Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie told reporters at Spa how the team is struggling to extract the full performance from its 9X8 Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-197.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0005-4.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/) **Rating: 7/10** ### Ferrari / AF Corse **Car #50** Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen Qualified: 11th Finishing position: 3rd Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.032 Fastest lap: 01:52.013 (Nicklas Nielsen) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #51** Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado Qualified: 7th Finishing position: 4th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.082 Fastest lap: 01:51.556 (James Calado) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #83** Philip Hanson, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye Qualified: 12th Finishing position: 5th Top 20% average lap time: 01:53.422 Fastest lap: 01:52.492 (Robert Kubica) Number of pit stops: 8 The 499P is now, almost unarguably, the benchmark in WEC. Ferrari have stolen that crown from Toyota, who've been in that "benchmark" position for so long. Maybe the Japanese manufacturer will take it back in 2026 with heavily revised GR010.b But until then, this is Ferrari's crown. They took both world championships, with no upsets coming from Porsche or Cadillac, who were both unable to challenge the rapid, reliable 499P. While qualifying wasn't as good as it maybe could have been, the race pace for the two factory cars was just a bit behind the dominant Toyotas. This enabled both cars to move up through the field and, at times, look like they could take the fight to the #7 and #8 cars. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0803.jpg) Double world championship win for Ferrari - the aim since the start of the year. Image: DPPI / WEC While they couldn't quite manage that, it was still a good performance for Ferrari. A trouble-free race for both red cars that enabled them to take both championships. Job done. A word on the yellow satellite #83, as well. While the race pace was a bit off the factory cars, they were still quick and took fifth. Kubica, Ye and Hanson finished as runners-up in the drivers' championship, took the Hypercar world cup trophy at a canter, and won Le Mans earlier in the year. **Rating: 8/10** ### Toyota Gazoo Racing **Car #7** Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, Nyck De Vries Qualified: 1st Finishing position: 1st Top 20% average lap time: 01:52.457 Fastest lap: 01:50.173 (Mike Conway) Number of pit stops: 8 **Car #8** Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, Sébastien Buemi Qualified: 2nd Finishing position: 2nd Top 20% average lap time: 01:52.642 Fastest lap: 01:51.263 (Sébastien Buemi) Number of pit stops: 9 What can we say about Toyota at Bahrain? 8 consecutive WEC wins, four consecutive front row lock outs. This, more than any other perhaps, is the track they're best at overall. The 8 hours always looked like theirs to lose. Conway and Hartley started from the front row and never looked likely to lose the lead early on. They split the strategy at the first stop – Hartley not taking tyres and continuing on the used rubber, while Conway did get new tyres – which in theory meant the #8 would have fresher tyres for the latter part of the race. In the end this wasn't necessary, such was the pace they had. The #8 likely would have won if Ryo Hirakawa hadn't got a penalty mid-race for overtaking under yellow flags. He lost roughly 28 seconds taking the resulting drive-through, dropping him to sixth. But he and teammate Buemi made their way back up to second, although they were unable to catch the sister car in time to win. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/tjm2508no09.JPG) Toyota were, once again, unbeatable in Bahrain. Image: Toyota Apart from this single mistake, Toyota didn't really put a foot wrong all race. The GR010 is known to be good on its tyres and that trend continued at Bahrain, where management of the rubber is of key, race-winning importance. The #7 led the vast majority of the race, with the #8 leading just over 20 laps in total. Other than the brief interlude where the #009 Valkyrie led and the occasional pitstop-enforced laps where other cars may have taken the lead very briefly, it was Toyota's race for the entire 8 hours. A well-deserved win to send the current iteration of the GR010 out on a high. [GALLERY: Toyota tests updated GR010 at Paul RicardThe GR010 Hybrid will have a new look next year, and Only Endurance has obtained some spy shots from a recent test.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-198.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5275-4-1-6.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-toyota-tests-updated-gr010-hypercar-paul-ricard-wec-2026/) **Rating: 9.5/10** *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Aston Martin's Mattia Drudi: Valkyrie is a 'really, really extreme' race car URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-wec-mattia-drudi-valkyrie-extreme/ Last updated: 2025-11-09T15:31:34.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. The Aston Martin Valkyrie is a 'really, really extreme race car' said Mattia Drudi, after driving it for the first time at Bahrain. Drudi is an Aston Martin factory driver for the Vantage GT3 programme. He was selected by the British manufacturer to drive the Valkyrie Hypercar at the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test, which traditionally takes place the day after the season finale at Bahrain International Circuit. 'It's a really, really extreme race car,' said the Italian after climbing out of the car. 'The biggest differences \[to the Vantage GT3\] – I mean it's more an aerodynamic car, so you have to use the downforce of the car way more. Of course you don't have the ABS braking, so it's quite easy to lock up. You need to manage the braking yourself. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) 'Way more power, so even the throttle application, the power down, it's quite an important phase of the driving. And in general, you know, it's a more physical. I mean, you're more tired after driving it. You feel everything more, so actually it's really different.' Drudi's regular full-time season drive in 2025 has been racing in the WEC in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 programme. They didn't take any wins during the year, but did record a podium at Bahrain just yesterday to cap the season off. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/Valkyrie-at-speed.jpg) Drudi had to train his neck to withstand the forces of the Valkyrie. Image: Aston Martin He also made appearances for Aston Martin in GT World Challenge and in the IMSA Sportscar Championship throughout the year. Driving the Valkyrie, though, is another step up on his motorsport journey – one that required specific training to ready his body for the extra forces from the Valkyrie. 'I tried to to train my neck more, I would say, because it's something that's in the GT – I mean you should train, but actually driving the GT car, it's enough. 'With those cars \[the Valkyrie\] they are really hard on the neck. Luckily this track is not too hard because it's quite low grip, so actually physically, even though I drove almost 100 laps, it's quite a lot for one day test, I'm still alright. I've been in the car for almost 3 hours this afternoon and feel nice. So actually I've been more training. 'But it's been quite a busy schedule lately, so I couldn't have a proper SIM session, but still actually, as I said, luckily I got used to the car nicely.' Drudi drove the car in both the morning and afternoon sessions, with regular race driver and fellow Aston Martin factory teammate Martco Sorensen on hand to help the Italian get accustomed to the car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/Marco-advises-Mattia.jpg) Marco Sorensen was on hand to advise Drudi in the Valkyrie. Image: Aston Martin He set a fastest lap of 1:50.747, in the afternoon session, to go seventh-quickest, 1.533 slower than pacesetter Antonio Felix da Costa in the Alpine A424, which he'll race in the championship next year. [Da Costa: WEC return with Alpine a ‘main objective’Le Mans and WEC LMP2 title winner António Felix da Costa will return to endurance racing next year, with Alpine.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-190.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Anto--nio-Fe--lix-da-Costa-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/da-costa-wec-return-with-alpine-a-main-objective/) Sorensen set a best lap of 1:49.638, meaning Drudi was 1.1 seconds off the Dane's pace. 'Really happy, actually because we tested a bit shorter, and longer run as well this afternoon, so we did quite a different job and program between the morning and the afternoon session,' said the 27-year old when asked how the sessions themselves went. 'Of course I can still find of course the limit of the car, especially under braking. Combined braking is not super easy without ABS, but I'm happy about how I felt in the car. That's the most important thing. 'And I'm really happy that, of course there are many things I can improve and get better, but I felt really, really well in the car and that's important.' [GALLERY: Best shots from WEC’s Bahrain season finaleEnjoy a selection of images from the WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain, from top photographers including Drew Gibson and the DPPI photo agency.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-191.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC825_110816164409056DG-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-best-shots-wec-season-finale-bahrain/) And what of the future? Could we see the popular Italian in a Valkyrie more in the years to come? Drudi couldn't say, but he's keen to drive the Valkyrie again. 'When you drive this car, you actually want to drive more! The Vantage GT3 is a super nice car to drive, but I really really like the way I could drive \[the Valkyrie\], the speed of the car, the downforce. 'You can really feel the vibration. You can "feel" the sound. So actually driving this car is special. I mean when you drive the car it's always nice, of course you are not focusing too much on that, but for sure it's something that keeps you awake when driving. 'For sure, my target for the future is try and be a Hypercar driver.' *Feature image: Aston Martin* [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: The best shots from the WEC season finale at Bahrain URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-best-shots-wec-season-finale-bahrain/ Last updated: 2025-11-09T07:40:36.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) It was a great race at Bahrain for the FIA World Endurance Championship's season finale at its now-traditional venue in the Middle East. Toyota took a deserved win after a tough year in 2025, the last with its current-gen GR010 Hybrid before a big update next year overhauls the aerodynamics, among other things. And Ferrari took the Hypercar world titles, as it achieved the aim it set at the start of the season. Manthey and Porsche also took the LMGT3 titles by finishing fourth in the race. We'll have more on all those topics soon, but for now, enjoy these shots from Bahrain. *Feature image: Drew Gibson* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0633-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0646-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0647-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/WEC825_110814014307811DG.jpg) Image: Drew Gibson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0650-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0654-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/27-Vantage-sunset-1.jpg) Image: Aston Martin ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! 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Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0665-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0667-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahrain_2025JT20319.jpg) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahrain_2025JT24225.jpg) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0668-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC [GALLERY: Toyota tests updated GR010 at Paul RicardThe GR010 Hybrid will have a new look next year, and Only Endurance has obtained some spy shots from a recent test.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-188.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5275-4-1-5.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-toyota-tests-updated-gr010-hypercar-paul-ricard-wec-2026/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0673-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/WEC825_110820470310146DG-1.jpg) Image: Drew Gibson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0693-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/009-Valkyrie-1.jpg) Image: Aston Martin ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0703-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0709-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0715-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0728-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/WEC825_110820032009815DG-1.jpg) Image: Drew Gibson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0730-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0763-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0778-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahrain_2025JT21129.jpg) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0789-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0802-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC [Ferrari’s Qatar win starts world title bid on right footFerrari’s goal this clear is very clear: winning the world championship. A win at the opening race of the season at Qatar is exactly what they needed.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-189.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0670--1--4.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferraris-qatar-win-starts-world-title-bid-on-right-foot/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/WEC825_110617485409280MS-1.jpg) Image: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0818-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0826-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0852-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0878-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0884-1.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/007-Valkyrie-night-2.jpg) Image: Aston Martin ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahrain_2025JT23881.jpg) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Toyota dominate qualifying – but what happened to Aston Martin? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-dominate-wec-qualifying-aston-martin-hyperpole/ Last updated: 2025-11-07T19:19:14.000Z [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) It's fair to say not many were expecting a Toyota front-row lock out in qualifying, even at Bahrain, a track they've historically done well at, with two successive front-row lock outs prior to this. The Bahrain International Circuit is well known for being very harsh on its tyres. We saw today that cars would set a couple of flying laps, before the rubber was past its best and would fade. Toyota made the most of the phase where the tyres were at their best, taking pole and following that up with second as well. Bravo. Kobayashi, in the pole-sitting #7 Toyota, was, in fact, only fastest in the final sector of the lap, with a 00:33.472\. This was marginally quicker than Malthe Jakobsen in the #94 Peugeot, but a tenth and a half quicker than Kobayashi's Toyota teammate Brendon Hartley, in the sister #8 machine. Out of the other two sectors, Hartley was quickest in the second sector, with Kobayashi under a tenth behind. And, in the opening sector of the lap, up to turn 4, Jakobsen was quickest, with Kobayashi second just a few hundredths behind. With the second sector dependent on aero and mechanical grip in its mix of slow and medium-speed corners – Bahrain has the slowest average speed of any FIA World Endurance Championship or European Le Mans Series circuit – grip is vital to be fast in the middle of the lap. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0425.jpg) Bahrain International Circuit is notorious for extremely high tyre wear. Image: DPPI / WEC This, then, is largely where Toyota made the difference. Hartley was 0.232 faster than the #93 Peugeot of Jean-Eric Vergne in the second sector, with Kobayashi 0.173 faster. Their main competition for pole was from Jakobsen in the #94 Peugeot, but he was much slower in this sector. He was only seventh fastest, 0.401 off Hartley. Peugeot's ideal lap, comprised from Jakobsen's first and third sectors and Vergne's second sector, would not have been good enough for pole – a 1:47.00 dead, 0.033 slower than Kobayashi. It would have put them second, though, ahead of Hartley. Toyota's ideal lap, meanwhile, made up from Kobayashi's first and third sectors and Hartley's middle sector, would have been 0.210 faster than Kobayashi's pole lap. If we flip this for Toyota's second ideal lap, it would have been a 1:47.036, which would have put Peugeot on the front row. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Can Toyota win? Aha. The big question. Our analysis from FP1 and FP2 found Toyota's pace was decent if not ultimately class-leading. The GR010 Hybrid is extraordinarily good on its tyres, a key trait at Bahrain where the sand-swept track surface causes high tyre degradation, combined with corners requiring heavy braking – turn 1 and turn 10 in particular, that tricky corner where the drivers have to brake while partially turning the car, always tricky – plus high track temperatures in the middle of the desert. However, it seems Toyota did their homework over night. In FP3, the two Toyotas had the third and fourth-fastest long runs. Mike Conway's 11 lap stint in the #7 car, which will start on pole, was the second-longest stint of the top 10, pointing to the fact the GR010 Hybrid is good on its tyres. 'I am very happy to be on pole again,' said Kobayashi after the session. 'It’s the result of a great job and a big effort from the team. We have had a tough season so far, so I am very proud that we could turn it around and get a one-two today. 'Everyone pushed very hard for this but tomorrow is another day and we know it will not be easy. Our target is to win. We are well prepared, and it should be an exciting race.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0465.jpg) Kobayashi spoke to media in the press conference after the session. Image: DPPI / WEC Toyota has not had a race win this year – the first time this has happened since 2015 – so a win, in this iteration of the GR010's final race – would be deeply satisfying to Toyota. 'We have really struggled this year,' said Kobayashi. 'This is our last race for this GR010\. As you know, we update and next year we will have a different car next year, a different face, looking different. 'But we made a good pole here, I think through the week we have had a competitive car. We're pretty happy with the car. We just built everything for the race pace and qualifying scenario,' he concluded. [GALLERY: Toyota tests updated GR010 at Paul RicardThe GR010 Hybrid will have a new look next year, and Only Endurance has obtained some spy shots from a recent test.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-183.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5275-4-1-4.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-toyota-tests-updated-gr010-hypercar-paul-ricard-wec-2026/) ## What happened to Aston Martin? We at *Only Endurance* were so hyped up to see an Aston Martin pole. Or even a front row start. Or a second row start. We didn't even get that, though. The best a Valkyrie will start tomorrow will be sixth, the #009 qualified in the hands of Marco Sorensen. In the initial first part of the Hypercar qualifying session, the Valkyries were 1-2, with Ross Gunn in the #007 leading Sorensen in the sister car. Gunn was fastest by 3 tenths in the final sector of his qualifying lap to go top of the pile, with a 33.174 compared to Sorensen's 33.479\. The next quickest non-Valkyrie was the #94 Peugeot of Jakobsen, with a 33.647, 0.473 slower than Gunn. The rest of the lap was somewhat middling for Gunn, though. He was fourth quickest in the second sector, 0.035 slower than Sorensen, but was 0.262 slower than first sector pacesetter Kobayashi, and 0.139 off Sorensen in the same sector. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0330.jpg) Aston Martin were quick in qualifying – then the pace disappeared in Hyperpole. Image: DPPI / WEC So, Gunn's time came entirely in the third sector then, to form a 1:47.290\. Aston Martin's ideal lap from that session, a 1:47.116, wouldn't have been good enough in Hyperpole. But, it would have been much better than both Valkyries Hyperpole laps, a 1:47.624 for Sorensen and a 1:48.003 for Gunn. So, what went wrong? Well, according to Sorensen himself, he pushed too hard in Hyperpole. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) 'I think all in all it's a really good qualifying session,' said the Dane. 'We learned a lot again. It all comes down to how you actually hit the laps. Obviously you have one lap here. The first qualifying, I think we went out and we actually maybe underdrove a bit, which can be a good thing, and the time was easier there. 'And then for the Hyperpole you're like, OK, I'm going to make sure that we're going to get this Hyperpole done, and probably pushed it maybe a little bit too much. 'I did some different settings on the steering wheel. That I thought would be good for the pole and it didn't work out,' he finished. Looking at the sector times, both cars were up in sector 1 compared to in qualifying – 0.030 for Sorensen, and 0.142 for Gunn. The second sector, though, both dropped away. Gunn was 0.379 off compared to qualifying, while Sorensen was 0.083 slower. [‘No reason’ hybrid omission will impact Valkyrie: Aston Martin’s Adam CarterAston’s new Valkyrie LMH features a 6.5L V12 — but no hybrid unit. Aston’s head of endurance doesn’t believe this will have an impact, though.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-184.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Valkyrie-Social-Post.007-5.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-hypercar-no-hybrid-impact-adam-carter/) Gunn could not reproduce his stunning third sector time from earlier, 0.476 slower. And Sorensen was 0.150 slower to end the lap. Added up, then, Gunn was over 7 tenths slower, ending up ninth. Sorensen fared a little better, just 0.203 off his lap from qualifying, but the field had moved on for Hyperpole, leaving him only seventh at the session's close. 'I think tomorrow it's going to be a completely different thing, because compared to the practices we're nearly going 8-9 seconds quicker,' said Sorensen when asked for his thoughts on the upcoming race. 'The race is different setup, different everything on the car, and we have to manage the tyres to get through a stint, so that's going to be the difficult part,' concluded the 35-year-old. ## Championship fight continues And, to finish, just a quick look at the various championship challengers. The top-placed drivers' championship challenger in Hyperpole was Alex Lynn in the #12 Cadillac, taking fifth. He put his gold, Hertz-sponsored, JOTA-run Cadillac ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi's #51 Ferrari, with Lynn faster by a couple of hundredths. 'So we start in P5 for the race tomorrow and I’m pleased with that,' said the Briton. 'We’ve had a run of pole positions this year so naturally you hope and you dream of another one, but I think honestly, I'm proud of that lap and proud of the session. The team has done a great job today and I think it was very close to the maximum of what we could do.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0427.jpg) Starting from fifth, the #12 Cadillac is the best-placed of the championship challengers. Image: DPPI / WEC The other two championship challengers did not fare as well. Robert Kubica could only manage 12th as he and his teammates, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye, look to win Le Mans and the world championship in the same year. Kevin Estre fared even worse, qualifying last in the #6 Porsche, leaving himself, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell with it all to do in the race. The race begins at 2pm local time in Bahrain, 11am in the UK, and 6am on the east coast of the United States. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Bahrain practice analysis: Championship challengers close on pace URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bahrain-wec-ferrari-cadillac-porsche-pace-analysis/ Last updated: 2025-11-07T09:15:58.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The final race of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season is almost upon us. And, just like last year, both the Hypercar world championships – drivers' and manufacturers' titles – are to be decided in the Middle East. From breaking down the practice long runs, we can get a gist and initial idea of who's looking quick, and who's got work to do overnight. ## Practice 1 - Ferrari off to a slow start While Aston Martin were quickest over a single lap in opening practice – Marco Sorensen in the #009 Valkyrie, with a 1:49.697 – they were mid pack at best in the long runs. The long run honours in the opening practice session went to the #5 Porsche, a 01:53.506\. However, Julien Andlauer's stint was only 6 laps long, arguably not a long run at all. The next couple of long runs may be more representative. Paul di Resta's 14-lap stint in the #93 Peugeot was just a couple of tenths on average slower than Andlauer, but was over double the length of the Frenchman's stint. Ferdinand Habsburg, too, had a good stint, 13 laps for the Austrian in the #35 Alpine. [Bahrain BoP analysis: Cadillac, Porsche may struggle for paceCadillac has been handed a huge power decrease on top of a weight increase for Bahrain’s WEC season finale, with Porsche suffering a similar fate.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-182.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003771_0706-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/bahrain-wec-bop-analysis-cadillac-porsche-struggle/) Ferrari, widely perceived to be the pacesetters in WEC this season, were only eighth quickest in long run pace in FP1\. Nicklas Nielsen in the #50 car was around 1.2 seconds slower than Andlauer. Ferrari were the sixth fastest team here, behind Porsche, Peugeot, Alpine, BMW, Toyota and Aston Martin. The name missing there is of course Cadillac. They were the slowest manufacturer in FP1 in terms of long run pace. The #38 Cadillac was the fastest of the two, with Jenson Button, in his last professional race weekend, setting a 01:55.392 over 12 laps. If you're counting, that's almost two seconds slower than Andlauer. ## Practice 2 - Ferrari come good, mostly If Ferrari's FP1 long run pace was nothing to write home to Maranello about, FP2 will likely have put a smile on the Italians' faces. The #50 car, in the hands of Miguel Molina, was quickest overall in the long runs in FP2\. The Spaniard's 01:53.162, over 12 laps, was just a smidge faster than Button's 11 lap stint, with an average of 01:53.167\. That's 0.005 difference between them. The #93 Peugeot of Mikkel Jensen wasn't far behind either, only around 0.040 off. For Ferrari and Cadillac, this marked a major shift in their pace compared to FP1\. It's likely, of course, both were just going about their run plans and weren't worried or concerned about their pace. But the numbers definitely show an improvement, regardless. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. The other two Ferraris in the field were further back in the field, but it's likely they'll find the same gains the #50 has in time for the race. The #6 Porsche, one of the championship challengers, was behind the #12 Cadillac, another championship challenger. While Norman Nato's stint in the #12 was 13 laps long with a 01:53.883 on average to show for it, Matt Campbell's stint in the #6 was, again, short: just 6 probably-unrepresentative laps producing a 01:53.941. Porsche Penske newcomer Laurin Heinrich's stint in the #5 car was longer – 12 laps – but was also slower, a 01:55.139\. Hmm. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/WEC825_110612444001932DG.jpg) Bahrain marks Laurin Heinrich's WEC, 963, and Porsche Penske debut. Image: Drew Gibson Aston Martin's pace was encouraging, with the #009 of Alex Riberas setting a 01:54.062\. And the #15 BMW's 17-lap stint, set by Kevin Magnussen, was the joint-longest of the session, shared with its sister, the #20 machine. Magnussen set a respectable-but-not-blistering 01:54.486. ## What does this mean? It's hard to work out, looking at the long runs, an order from the practice sessions. The graph above, then, shows a rough 'order'. Fastest is a team's absolute fastest from a single car in a single session, and average averages out the four stints from two cars in two sessions. In this case, Proton did not take part in FP2 so their average and their fastest is the same. But, from the fastest stint, we can see Ferrari, Cadillac, and Peugeot are all very similar on pace, with all three of their stints from FP2\. Porsche's fastest stint was around 3 tenths slower, from FP1 – but with the caveat that this was Andlauer's short stint so may be unrepresentative. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003919_0293.jpg) The #50 Ferrari had the single fastest stint over FP1 and FP2\. Image: DPPI / WEC While the fastest long run stint gives us an order, the average changes it a little. In this metric, Peugeot are quickest, followed closely by Porsche and Alpine. Ferrari and Cadillac's averages are very close together, separated by well under a tenth, but also slower than Peugeot, Porsche and Alpine. This may suggest their genuine race pace may be similar, but it may also be too early to tell. These long, in-depth posts take a lot of time and effort to put together. If you'd like to show you like these posts and want more, the best thing you can do is support us. We're fully independent and are committed to not running Google ads. You can support us for £1/$1/€1 a month. Thank you! [Support OE ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) It's surprising to see Toyota so far back, in both average and fastest metric, the slowest manufacturer in the 'fastest' metric and the second-slowest in 'average'. However, if we take a different metric – fastest 20% of all laps set over both Thursday practice sessions – Toyota come out looking a lot better. The two Toyotas are second and third in this metric. It seems they ran a few long stints compared to other teams, who ran more medium-length stints. This would have pushed Toyota's average down in the long runs due to high tyre degradation. (Thanks to [@putdorianedown.bsky.social](https://bsky.app/profile/putdorianedown.bsky.social?ref=ontheapex.com) on Bluesky for this observation - who does great WEC analysis himself. Check it out.) A few other things from this metric: predictably, by way of being in the top 3 in both sessions over a single lap, the #009 Aston Martin is the quickest car. Peugeot are still right up there, which is encouraging. Ferrari and especially Cadillac fall back when looking at the data this way. Either way, though, Toyota are upbeat, at a track in which they've enjoyed much success in the past. “It all looks okay so far, but it’s just the first day and we know things will evolve over the weekend,' said Kamui Kobayashi, driver of the #7 Toyota and also team principal. 'We focused on long runs. There is still work to do to extract the most from our car, but we seem to be stronger than in previous races which is a positive sign. 'We know this track has been good for us in the past so hopefully we can qualify well and show progress in the race.' [GALLERY: Toyota tests updated GR010 at Paul RicardThe GR010 Hybrid will have a new look next year, and Only Endurance has obtained some spy shots from a recent test.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-181.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5275-4-1-3.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-toyota-tests-updated-gr010-hypercar-paul-ricard-wec-2026/) Aston Martin's pace, both in the long runs and over a single lap, will be encouraging to the British manufacturer, on their first visit to Bahrain with the Valkyrie. 'Some decent results, but obviously it's not really the results so much we're too worried about at the moment,' said Aston Martin's Sorensen after the practice sessions had concluded. 'It's more actually making it to the race and doing some decent stints in the race. I think that's where our main focus is. Car seems decent over one lap at the moment, but we definitely still need to keep on working on the race pace.' Whatever happens, it seems as though the fight for both championships is on. Let us know in the comments who you think will win the race, and each championship! *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Laurens Vanthoor 'will never forget' being part of Porsche Penske URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/estre-vanthoor-porsche-penske-wec-exit-reflections/ Last updated: 2025-11-06T13:47:02.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor's 3 years at the Porsche Penske Motorsport team is something he'll never forget, he told media before Bahrain. 'I've said this over the last few years, I think a hundred times that driving for these two names together has always been a dream of mine,' he said, in a roundtable interview for selected media including *Only Endurance*. 'The success we had together makes it even more beautiful. We moved places a year ago and now I'm slowly starting to build again my man cave, with suits and helmets. 'And these years obviously have a place there for the rest of my life with the suits, trophies, the helmets we've won. It's something we will never forget and something I'm very proud to be a part of,' he concluded. L. Vanthoor's teammate Kevin Estre had similar thoughts about racing in the most prominent championships worldwide for two motorsport heavy hitters. 'When you associate two names and two brands like Porsche and Penske, already you have some weight on your shoulder, and you know that it's going to be good', said the Frenchman in a media roundtable for selected media including Only Endurance. 'Of course, the first year was difficult. We built up, as Laurens said, we started from scratch, so it was not easy. But now it's been amazing to work with these people, to drive for this team. [Bahrain BoP analysis: Cadillac, Porsche may struggle for paceCadillac has been handed a huge power decrease on top of a weight increase for Bahrain’s WEC season finale, with Porsche suffering a similar fate.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-178.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003771_0706.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/bahrain-wec-bop-analysis-cadillac-porsche-struggle/) 'People coming from IndyCar, from LMP1, from LMP2\. So it's been a lot of talents to put it together for this program and it's been very successful. So I'm really glad to have been part of this. 'It's built up all together, a great group of people which work together with a different sort of mindset. German mindset and American mindset is a bit different. Everyone had to learn from each other and I'm glad that we found the way to win races and be successful,' he concluded. Estre has been associated with Porsche since 2008, when he raced in Porsche Carrera Cup France. He won the title in 2011, before racing in various national and international GT categories for Porsche well over a decade. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. He moved up to Hypercar with Porsche in 2023, as a key part of the Porsche Penske Motorsport's FIA World Endurance Championship programme. With that programme now ending, it is unclear whether Estre will stay with Porsche or go elsewhere. L. Vanthoor, meanwhile, started his sportscar career with Audi before switching to Porsche in 2017. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahr2024_JT010649.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/PorscheWECBahr2024_JT010835-2.jpg) Last year's drivers' world championship win was a first for a Penske-run team. Images: Porsche / Juergen Tap Together with Andre Lotterer, their former teammate in the #6 Porsche, Estre and L. Vanthoor won the FIA World Endurance Championship title last year at Bahrain. The race last year was won by the #8 Toyota crew, which helped the Japanese-German squad to win the manufacturers' title, which Porsche missed out on. [How did the #8 Toyota stage an unlikely comeback to win in Bahrain?Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa looked to be out of it mid way through the race - so how did they win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-179.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Bahrain-2024-4.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-did-8-toyota-stage-unlikely-comeback-win-bahrain-porsche-ferrari/) Nevertheless, the drivers' championship win was Penske's first world championship title, and clearly one Estre and L. Vanthoor hold dear. They are in contention again for a second consecutive championship this year at Bahrain, sitting 21 points behind the leaders, Ferrari's James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## Porsche winning championship a 'mic drop' moment However, Porsche's factory Penske-run team is leaving the FIA World Endurance Championship at the end of this year. What, then, would this mean to win? L. Vanthoor put it very simply: 'If we manage to be successful two years in a row, would be kind of these memes where they drop the mic and then walk away.' [Porsche’s WEC bombshell raises more questions than answersPorsche’s withdrawal from WEC has shocked many fans, although it wasn’t entirely unexpected. OE explores the ramifications, but finds more questions than answers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-180.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061115101210366DG-11.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-wec-hypercar-bombshell-questions-answers/) 'We're already in a situation in the championship where we have to do what we always do, is do races well, execute them well and stay out of trouble. That's what so far has been, I think, our strength in the last two years. So we have to continue to do that,' he said. Estre added, 'The key is the consistency. I think we've made very good races since Le Mans, with podium finishes or just outside the podium. Our strength, the execution of the race, which has been our strength last year and continues to be our strength this year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/WEC2025Fuji_JT27925.jpg) Porsche have been very consistent this year, putting them in the running for the championship. Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap 'Even if, when the qualifying was not great, we always executed the race well, as it was the case, for example, in Fuji last time. So, yeah, we just hope to do a great execution again in Bahrain and hope to clinch these titles.' Finally, the Porsche Penske Motorsport programme has been very successful, both in WEC and across the pond in the IMSA Sportscar Championship. Porsche Penske won the drivers' title in both 2024 and this year, 2025, as well as both the Teams' championships and the Manufacturers' titles in each of those years. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DB9XbSrtdnm/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by Le Mans, WEC + IMSA news | Only Endurance (@onlyendurance)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DB9XbSrtdnm/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) 'I think I can't complain too much about this season,' said L. Vanthoor. 'But it's not finished yet. And indeed, actually, I think we can say now, if you go back to year one of the project, it was not an easy time, obviously building up a complete team, two programs at the same time. 'I think nobody else did it like us. But in the end, it proved that we turned it around and were, I think, one of the most successful teams, in both championships. 'And it would be just amazing to be able hopefully to sign this off with another world title. I think we can be very proud of everything what we've achieved together, but that would be the cherry on the cake. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### RLL announce McLaren GTD PRO effort URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/210-rll-announce-mclaren-gtd-pro-effort/ Last updated: 2025-11-05T16:32:12.000Z Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing have announced a multi-year collaboration with McLaren in IMSA's GTD PRO class. On Wednesday afternoon it was confirmed the team would run a sole McLaren 720S GT3 EVO in the PRO class, carrying the #59 in honour of the 1995 overall 24H Le Mans winning F1 GTR. Currently, this is set to be the only McLaren in the PRO division, and the British marque is still without a class win in IMSA competition – previous programmes included Pfaff Motorsport's 2024 PRO effort, Inception Racing's GTD entry in 2022-mid 2024, and Compass Racing's short-lived GTD entry. The full-season driver squad is yet to be confirmed. The move marks a return to the GTD PRO ranks of North American competition for the first time since 2022, but the team previously ran a pair of M8 GTEs in the GTLM class culminating in back-to-back Rolex 24 at Daytona victories in 2019-20. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/11/P90335731_highRes_daytona-27th-january.jpg) GT success, the first of Team RLL's Daytona wins in Pro GT competition. Image: BMW In July, it was confirmed that Team RLL would no longer be running the BMW factory effort in GTP, which has latterly been taken up by Team WRT, [ending a 17-year relationship](https://www.ontheapex.com/bmw-m-team-rll-execute-strategic-masterclass-for-1-2-victory-at-road-america/) with the German manufacturer and leading to much speculation about the future of the Indiana-based team. The new collaboration sees Team RLL join the likes of Pratt Miller Motorsports, AO Racing, Ford Multimatic, Pfaff Motorsports and Paul Miller Racing in the GTD PRO division. RLL Team McLaren will make their IMSA event debut at the Daytona sanctioned test on 15-16 November. Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Team RLL said in today's statement, “As someone who has always valued the rich history of motorsport, partnering with a brand as iconic as McLaren is truly exciting. The Rahal legacy began with my father Mike’s passion for sports car racing, and to now launch this new chapter with such a storied partner is something we take tremendous pride in.” ### Who's driving what at this year's WEC rookie test in Bahrain? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bahrain-wec-rookie-test-who-driving-what/ Last updated: 2025-11-04T16:28:48.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test, which takes after the now-traditional season closer at Bahrain, is a great place for rookies and young drivers to get accustomed and acquainted with top-line sportscars in the world championship. It can be hard, though, to keep track of who's driving what during the test. We've put together this handy list, which we'll endeavour to keep updated as more drivers are announced. ## Hypercar ### Official WEC Hypercar rookie - Ollie Gray Young, upcoming British sportscar driver Ollie Gray will get to sample the championship-winning Hypercar at the test, whether that be from Ferrari or Porsche. He's already tested a Porsche 963, the IMSA JDC Miller machine at Daytona, so this could be his second taste of a Hypercar, plus the first in a Ferrari and the first in an LMH-rules, 4-wheel-drive hybrid sportscar. Exciting! We spoke to Ollie after winning the European Le Mans Championship recently, and will have an article out soon featuring the 20-year-old's thoughts as he rises through the sportscar ranks very very quickly. ### Ferrari - Alessio Rovera and Lilou Wadoux Rovera, one of Ferrari's 'official drivers', will test the #83 499P at Bahrain. He's driven the car in the past and was originally in the running for a factory seat, but didn't get the drive. Lilou Wadoux, Ferrari's first ever female official driver, will also test the 499P. ### Toyota - Ben Barnicoat and Sacha Fenestraz Barnicoat drove the Toyota last year at the rookie test, performing decently for his first time behind the wheel of the car. This'll be Fenestraz's first time driving the GR010, but he has lots of experience in other Toyota machinery from Super GT, plus his Formula E experience with Nissan. Regular race drivers Mike Conway and Brendon Hartley will also drive a Toyota during the test. ### Alpine - Antonio Felix da Costa Already announced as one of Alpine's race drivers next year, da Costa will sample the A424 at Bahrain. He's driven the car already, a test at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit, but this will give us the first chance to compare his lap times against Alpine's regular WEC drivers. [Da Costa: WEC return with Alpine a ‘main objective’Le Mans and WEC LMP2 title winner António Felix da Costa will return to endurance racing next year, with Alpine.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-176.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Anto--nio-Fe--lix-da-Costa-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/da-costa-wec-return-with-alpine-a-main-objective/) ### Cadillac - Jack Aitken and Ricky Taylor Calling these two rookies might be a bit of a stretch, but they qualify as such in WEC's definition. Both race full time for Cadillac in IMSA, Aitken for Action Express and R. Taylor for Wayne Taylor Racing, and also raced at Le Mans earlier this year. Dailysportscar has [reported](https://www.dailysportscar.com/2025/11/04/zilisch-scratched-from-bahrain-rookie-test-entry.html?ref=ontheapex.com) that Connor Zilisch, who almost won the NASCAR Xfinity Championship this year, was due to test a Cadillac V-Series.R at Bahrain. But this has been scrapped since, as Zilisch didn't win the championship, he has not accumulated enough ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee for the United States) points to participate. Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber will also complete installation laps in the JOTA Cadillacs. ### Aston Martin - Mattia Drudi The Italian will sample Aston Martin's V12-powered, naturally aspirated Valkyrie in Bahrain. He's a regular in Aston Martin's GT machinery worldwide, where's a rapid safe pair of hands. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### BMW - Kelvin van der Linde and Charles Weerts These two are known quantities in GT racing but thus far we haven't seen them race a Hypercar, so it'll be interesting to see how they do in the M Hybrid V8\. In the future could we see K. van der Linde team up with his brother Sheldon? Or a return of the Vanthoor-Weerts duo which dominated GT World Challenge while they were at Audi? Sheldon van der Linde will also complete installation laps in the car. ### Proton Competition Porsche - Dorian Boccolachi Gold-rated Boccolachi will test Proton Competition's customer Porsche 963\. He's raced in sportscars for some years now, with his programme this year mainly in GT World Challenge Europe. ### Peugeot - Nick Cassidy, Mathias Beche, and Alex Quinn Cassidy has already been announced as a race driver for Peugeot next year, so will get mileage in the 9X8 before his race debut in 2026\. Beche, who has raced in various sportscar classes over the years but has most often been seen in LMP2 machinery, will also drive the 9X8\. Alex Quinn, who has raced in ELMS this year for Algarve Pro Racing, and has also starred in IMSA's LMP2 category, will also get a chance to drive the 9X8. Regular race driver will also drive a 9X8 during the test. ## LMGT3 ### Official WEC GT3 rookie - Tom Fleming Young Briton Fleming has raced this year in ELMS for former WEC team GR Racing, in a Ferrari 296 GT3\. He had a best finish of second at Silverstone. He'll test the championship-winning LMGT3 car at Bahrain. ### AF Corse Ferrari - Matias Zagazeta and Nicola Lacorte ### Heart of Racing Aston Martin - Gray Newell ### TF Sport - Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood ### United Autosports McLaren - Alexander West ### Team WRT BMW - Anthony McIntosh ### Akkodis ASP Lexus - Martin Berry and Tom van Rompuy ### Manthey 1st Phorm - Francois Heriau and Richard Lietz The rookie test takes place on Sunday 9th November. Results will be published on the WEC website after the test has finished. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Bahrain BoP analysis: Cadillac, Porsche may struggle in the Middle East URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bahrain-wec-bop-analysis-cadillac-porsche-struggle/ Last updated: 2025-11-03T17:12:31.000Z The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship will draw to a close at Bahrain next weekend, after eight thrilling races across the world. The Balance of Performance figures, which set various variable factors for each car, have been released today with some big changes for some teams. Let's take a look. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Weight Porsche are now the heaviest car, on 1069kg, having had a 4kg increase since Fuji. Toyota, who were previously the joint-heaviest at the same figure, are now 7kg lighter at 1062kg. Ferrari, also previously the joint-heaviest, have also lost weight and now stand at 1064kg. Cadillac are 4kg heavier, splitting Toyota and Ferrari on 1063kg. Alpine and BMW have each lost 2kg to weigh the same, 1054kg. For the first time since Qatar in a regular, non-Le Mans round of WEC, Porsche are now not on baseline weight, having had an increase of 4kg, putting them on 1034kg. Aston Martin remain on 1030kg with the Valkyrie, the same since Le Mans. ## Power (before 250kph) With the lowest weights, Aston Martin and Peugeot are now also the most powerful cars. Peugeot has lost a since kW of power, at 519kW, while Aston Martin remains at 520kW, the maximum allowed by the regulations. Fuji winners Alpine have lost 9kW, but Cadillac are the biggest losers, going from 510kW at Fuji to 486kW at Bahrain - a loss of 24kW, around 32 horsepower. BMW lose a single kW to put them on 498kW. Porsche are another big loser, 9kW down on Fuji, at 481kW. Toyota and Ferrari have both gained power. 6kW for Toyota, to 489kW, and 3kW for Ferrari, to 483kW. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Power (after 250kph) As usual with the WEC BoP figures, the power post-250kph figures look vastly different to pre-250kph. Toyota is by far the most powerful car after the 250kph threshold has been passed, at 519.81kW. Cadillac will also gain over 6% power after that threshold, and will be the second most powerful, on 516.13kW. For the first time in a few races, Aston Martin will lose power after 250kph, going from 520kW to 511.16, both gaining a little compared to Fuji. Ferrari and Porsche are both very similar on this metric – 506.18kW for Ferrari, 506.01kW for Porsche. BMW are slightly below on 503kW. Peugeot's power gain post-250kph has been reduced, meaning they'll now have 489.94kW to use once that threshold has been passed. And Alpine will have slightly less, 488.92kW, a slight decrease compared to Fuji. ## Energy per stint Aston Martin still possess by far the most energy to use per stint, on 915MJ. This, though, has decreased by 4MJ compared to Fuji. Toyota's energy per stint allowance has gone the other way, 4MJ up to 909MJ. Porsche will have 901kW to use, BMW 898MJ, Cadillac and Ferrari both on 893MJ with Ferrari's allowance unchanged since Fuji. Cadillac are the biggest losers here, losing 10MJ since the race in Japan. Peugeot sit on 891MJ, while Alpine will lose 6MJ, to 887MJ. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Power-to-weight ratios The easiest way to digest this is by looking at the power to weight ratios. The immediate, noticeable effect here is the huge decrease for Cadillac. They've gone from a 0.482kW/kg at Fuji, to 0.457kW/kg at Bahrain. That's a 0.0025 loss. It's not the biggest this season – that goes to Ferrari's 0.049kW/kg loss from Le Mans to Interlagos, then Toyota's loss of 0.040kW/kg, also between those two races. But it's still a big loss for Cadillac. Porsche's power-to-weight ratio has, meanwhile, dropped to below Ferrari and Toyota's – the first time this has happened this season for a regular WEC race (they were below both in this metric for Le Mans). Alpine's ratio has dropped 0.010kW/kg, while BMW's has stayed almost identical, just a 0.001kW/kg change downwards. As Peugeot have gained a little bit of weight and a little bit of power, their ratio is also slightly below Aston Martin's maximum allowed, for the first time this season. What does this all mean? History tells us that although Ferrari and Toyota have the amongst lowest power-to-weight ratios, they are both typically still right up there. Toyota's performance has declined a little this year – hence the updated GR010 coming next year – but they always tend to do well at Bahrain. [GALLERY: Toyota tests updated GR010 at Paul RicardThe GR010 Hybrid will have a new look next year, and Only Endurance has obtained some spy shots from a recent test.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-175.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5275-4-1-2.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-toyota-tests-updated-gr010-hypercar-paul-ricard-wec-2026/) Ferrari, meanwhile, have been consistently strong this year, with Fuji a brief blip due to the 499P not suiting Fuji's somewhat-unique characteristics. Porsche may struggle with the lowest power-to-weight in the field, as may Cadillac with that huge decrease. Alpine, too, may not be as strong as at Fuji. Aston Martin have learnt a huge amount about the Valkyrie over the course of the year. With the power-to-weight remaining the same since Le Mans, but their understanding increasing hugely, they may be able to challenge for more points as their first season with the unique, non-hybrid Hypercar draws to a close. See the full BoP table on the [WEC website](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results%5FNoticeBoard/13%5F2025/committee/02%5FDecisions/WEC%5F2025%5FD46%5FHypercar%5FBOP%5F31102025.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com). *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Mathieu Jaminet: 'one of the hardest decisions of my life' to leave Porsche URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/mathieu-jaminet-leaving-porsche-hardest-decision/ Last updated: 2025-10-31T12:27:26.000Z *Updated: with a statement from Porsche* Mathieu Jaminet has announced on social media that he is leaving Porsche at the end of the year, with a new chapter of his career starting next year. 'After so many unforgettable years together, I’ve chosen to start a new chapter at the end of this WEC season,' he said on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/mathieu%5Fjaminet/p/DQeDT-CjUyF/?hl=en&ref=ontheapex.com). 'It’s been one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I felt it was the right time to move on.' 'I’ll never forget what this brand did for me 10 years ago: taking a kid with no backing, no money, just a dream and giving me a chance.' The Frenchman joined Porsche in 2015, after racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup France, finishing second that year. Since then, he's won multiple races with the German manufacturer, including two IMSA Sportscar Championship title wins, one in GTD Pro in 2022 and the other with the factory Porsche Penske Motorsport squad, winning this year's IMSA title overall alongside Matt Campbell, who he also won GTD Pro with in 2022. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10102025-00599.jpg) Jaminet won the overall IMSA title this year for Porsche, alongside Matt Campbell. Image: Griffith Bean for OE He's also raced four times with Porsche at Le Mans, once in GTE Pro in 2019 and three times in three years with Porsche Penske Motorsport. 'To everyone who has been part of this journey teammates, engineers, mechanics, and friends — thank you. We achieved things I once only dreamed of,' he continued. 'Finishing with an IMSA championship feels like the perfect goodbye. 'Now, let’s go to Bahrain and enjoy this last one!' ## Porsche will 'miss Jaminet greatly' For Porsche's part, a spokesperson told *Only Endurance* that Jaminet is an success story for the German manufacturer's work with young drivers. 'We will miss him greatly, both as a person and as a racing driver,' said the statement. 'He has been part of the Porsche Motorsport family for ten years now and is another example of our successful work with young talents. 'It has been a tough journey from being a Porsche Junior to an IMSA champion in the Porsche 963, which has demanded a great deal from him. We have enjoyed accompanying him on this journey and wish him all the best for his future.' Jaminet will finish his Porsche career by racing alongside Julien Andlauer and Hypercar newcomer Laurin Heinrich, in the #5 Porsche machine, next weekend in the FIA World Endurance Championship's season finale at the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Feature image: Drew Gibson / Porsche [Laurin Heinrich to make Porsche 963 debut at BahrainPorsche’s Laurein Heinrich, usually found in the German manufacturer’s GT cars, will make his WEC, prototype, and Porsche 963 debut at Bahrain.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-172.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/20250313_IMSA_Sebring-12-Hours_Lenssen-Photo-54704.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/laurin-heinrich-to-make-porsche-963-debut-with-factory-team-at-bahrain/) ### Chadwick 'excited' to build on debut season in endurance racing URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/jamie-chadwick-endurance-racing-debut-elms/ Last updated: 2025-10-31T14:52:06.000Z [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming. Download on* [**iOS*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) *and* [**Android*](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.daveellis.theracingline&ref=ontheapex.com) *today!* With the season finale of the European Le Mans Series a couple of weekends ago, Jamie Chadwick has completed her debut year in endurance racing. Going forward, she's aiming to build on her experience in 2026. 'I’ve really enjoyed \[endurance racing\], and one I’m excited to build on moving forward,' she told media, in collaboration with [Rolex](https://www.rolex.com/?ref=ontheapex.com), who sponsors and supports Chadwick's career as a Rolex Testimonee. 'Endurance racing is incredibly competitive,' Chadwick continued. 'The intensity is high from start to finish, which makes it both physically and mentally demanding. Races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans are among the toughest I’ve ever experienced. You’re exhausted, but you still need to perform at your best.' ![Chadwick riding on her car's sidepod with the door open as it rolls down the pitlane after winning the race, with Mathys Jaubert at the wheel.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IDEC-SPORT-Jamie-CHADWICK--G....jpg) Chadwick won on her endurance racing debut, at the 4 Hours of Barcelona. Image: Focus Pack Media, Javier Jimenez ## Switching to sportscars Chadwick previously raced in single seater series, including the female-only W Series, of which she won every championship held by the series in 2019, 2021 and 2022\. She later raced in FRECA and Indy NXT, but made the switch to endurance racing for 2025. The British driver, from Bath, Somerset, joined Genesis Magma Racing and IDEC Sport for the 2025 ELMS campaign. She and her teammates, Mathys Jaubert and Daniel Juncadella, recorded three wins and finished third in the championship. [Everything we know about Genesis: engine, livery, teamGenesis has combined two inline-4s to make a V8, then strapped two turbos to it.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-169.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-9-1-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/genesis-hypercar-v8-engine-livery-wec-imsa/) 'The team element of endurance racing has shown me that, as a driver, you’re just one small part of a much bigger picture,' said Chadwick. 'When everything aligns – the strategy, the driving, the car – the sense of achievement is incredible. It also makes you hungrier for success in the future, especially after experiencing the inevitable challenges and adversity that come with long races.' ![Jamie Chadwick, Andre Lotterer and Mathys Jaubert at the Le Mans 2025 driver parade](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003458_0051.jpg) Chadwick (foreground) raced with Andre Lotterer and Mathys Jaubert at Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Le Mans and looking forwards As well as a season-long campaign in ELMS, Chadwick also raced at Le Mans for the first time, alongside Jaubert and three-time winner Andre Lotterer. The German replaced Juncadella, who was racing for TF Sport and Corvette Racing, as part of his full-season WEC programme. The team ran as high as second through the race, but had to retire in the 17th hour with Lotterer driving, as the car lost its rear-right wheel shortly after a pitstop. Chadwick wasn't discouraged by the result, though. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 'The team had a great deal of confidence heading into the 24 Hours of Le Mans, based on the strong start we had in the ELMS,' said the 27-year-old. 'We were under no illusions about how tough it was going to be but were genuinely excited and fully embraced the opportunity. Having the chance to race there was incredible. This years’ experience has strengthened my determination to go back.' Looking to next year, her ELMS teammates Juncadella and Jaubert are moving up to WEC with Genesis, joining Lotterer, IMSA champion Pipo Derani, and two other drivers yet to be announced. Chadwick, on what Genesis is calling its '[trajectory programme](https://www.thenewsmarket.com/news/genesis-magma-racing-trajectory-program-exceeds-targets-during-first-year-on-track/s/8ee8dd3b-86ae-4f52-aa90-10b47b497934?ref=ontheapex.com)', will remain in the ELMS with Genesis and team operator IDEC Sport, with two new teammates who will be announced at a later date. She will also be part of the Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar development programme, driving the car in the simulator and in test sessions. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Learning from Mr Le Mans As part of the Rolex family, Chadwick has been able to learn from other members of the famed watchmaker's [Testimonee programme](https://www.rolex.com/rolex-family/motor-sport?ref=ontheapex.com), as she continues her development in endurance racing. 'It is incredibly special to be part of the Rolex family,' she said. 'Rolex’s partnership with endurance racing is incredible given its longevity. Being able to tap into the breadth of experience from the other Motor Sport Testimonees has been fantastic. 'To learn from their journeys is something I really treasure. I have been lucky, as Tom Kristensen, known as “Mr. Le Mans”, has given me a lot of great advice.' *Feature image:* [*Paola Depalmas*](https://www.paoladepalmas.com/?ref=ontheapex.com) */ IDEC Sport* [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Iron Dames: 'Fully committed' to 'long term vision' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/iron-dames-fully-committed-long-term-vision/ Last updated: 2025-10-30T18:15:34.000Z Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) **Correction: The opening of this story has been altered to address the fact Iron Dames may still race in other non-sportscar series in 2026\. We apologise for the mistake made.** Multiple media reports were published last week suggesting that the Iron Dames programme would be scaled back next year, with only the FIA World Endurance Championship campaign continuing next year out the major sportscar series the programme has been involved in over the last few years. Iron Dames said in a statement to *Only Endurance* that they remain committed to the programme's aims. 'Iron Dames remains fully committed to its long-term vision, with FIA WEC as a founding pillar', said a team spokesperson. It's been suggested that, in light of financial issues that Iron Dames' parent company, DC Racing Solutions, is currently facing, the Iron Dames team would only race in WEC in 2026, and no longer in European Le Mans Series, IMSA Sportscars Championship, or the Le Mans Cup. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0115.jpg) The Iron Dames are a fan favourite at Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC This would mean the team's programmes in all three championships could all be cut. The spokesperson further indicated further news about next year's racing activities for the Iron Dames will be officially announced next month. 'We expect to announce part of our 2026 plans in November, with further updates to follow in due course,' finished the statement. ## WEC campaign The Iron Dames programme became completely independent from its sibling team, Iron Lynx, for this year. While the two have always raced in tandem together, for 2025 they split, with Iron Dames now being run by Manthey Racing in Porsche machinery, and Iron Lynx taking on the Mercedes-AMG programme in WEC. [Iron Dames x Porsche: ‘new chapter’ for female racing driversThe Iron Dames project will take a step up in 2025, joining forces with Porsche.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-171.png)Only EnduranceMohammed Rehman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IL-WEC-LEMANS-STE-27-8891-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/iron-dames-porsche-new-chapter-female-racing-drivers/) However, results have not been forthcoming in the world championship for the female squad, with a best result of fourth at the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, held in Brazil at Interlagos. In the ELMS, the team have taken a win, at the opening race of the season, the 4 Hours of Barcelona. They took an additional podium, a third place finish, at the season-ending 4 Hours of Portimao. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IRON-DAMES-Michelle-GATTING....jpg) The Dames won the first race of the ELMS season at Barcelona. Image: FocusPackMedia, Javier Jimenez And in IMSA, they only raced in two races, Daytona and Sebring, out of a planned five-race Endurance Cup campaign. The team withdraw from the 6 Hours of The Glen after driver Michelle Gatting's foot was injured at Le Mans, but they did not return for the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis, or Petit Le Mans to end the season. ## Money troubles? The trouble Iron Dames and the rest of the DC Racing Solutions teams are facing is one of money, it would seem. The company is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with former partner Lamborghini over the Italian manufacturer stealing confidential steering wheel software from DC Racing Solutions, when the team ran Lamborghini's factory Hypercar programme in 2024. [Iron Dames’ Gatting on ‘challenges’ with Lamborghini’s GT3The Iron Dames have struggled with bad luck and reliability this year, their first season partnered with Lamborghini.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-170.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0519-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gatting-iron-dames-lamborghini-challenges-porsche-manthey/) To that end, team co-owner Deborah Mayer has [sold](https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/id25/lots/?ref=ontheapex.com) her 41-strong car collection, which contained multiple road and track machines from Ferrari, Pagani, Mercedes and more. It's also been [reported](https://www.autoracing1.com/pl/463792/indycar-rumor-prema-decides-racing-in-indycar-is-not-worth-it?ref=ontheapex.com) that the company has put its Prema IndyCar team up for sale, with a reported price of $25 million. Whatever happens, fans around the world will be hoping the Iron Dames programme continues in 2026 as the team maintains their important efforts of boosting the female presence in motorsport. Feature image: DPPI / WEC [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ### Laurin Heinrich to make Porsche 963 debut with factory team at Bahrain URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/laurin-heinrich-to-make-porsche-963-debut-with-factory-team-at-bahrain/ Last updated: 2025-10-23T11:29:40.000Z [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) Porsche driver Laurin Heinrich will make his [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/) Hypercar debut at Bahrain, with the Porsche factory team, the German manufacturer has announced. He will join Julien Andlauer and Mathieu Jaminet in the #5 car for the 8 hour race. On the other side of the garage, Matt Campbell will join Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 machine. [Porsche’s WEC bombshell raises more questions than answersPorsche’s withdrawal from WEC has shocked many fans, although it wasn’t entirely unexpected. OE explores the ramifications, but finds more questions than answers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-168.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061115101210366DG-10.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-wec-hypercar-bombshell-questions-answers/) Estre and Vanthoor are in the running for the drivers' world championship for the second year running. They currently sit third, 21 points off the leaders, Ferrari's James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Antonio Giovinazzi. There will be 38 points awarded for a win at Bahrain, as it is one of the series' longer races. In addition, Porsche have an outside shot at the manufacturers' title, which they missed out on last year, to Toyota. Ferrari have 204 points, with Porsche 39 back on 165. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10102025-09958.jpg) Heinrich normally races 'Rexy' in IMSA. Image: Griffith Beam for OE ## 'Quite a journey' for Heinrich A seat in a Porsche 963 has been a long time coming for Heinrich. His current full-time drive is in the [IMSA Sportscar Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/), behind the wheel of the GTD Pro-entered #77 AO Racing Porsche, known as 'Rexy' to legions of fans. The German and his teammate, Austrian Klaus Bachler, finished fifth in the GTD Pro results this year in IMSA. They won two races over the course of the year, taking wins at Sebring and Laguna Seca. However, they were not able to defend the title they won last year. 'I'm extremely happy to announce that I will debut in FIA WEC at Bahrain joining the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 in Hypercar category,' said Heinrich on [social media](https://www.instagram.com/p/DQJeU4gDehD/?img%5Findex=2&igsh=N292dnFqOTA1eXZt&ref=ontheapex.com). 'I will share the car with Julien Andlauer and Mathieu Jaminet for the 8h race. I can't express how excited and thankful I am for this opportunity! It will be my first FIA WEC race, my first race in a prototype and first time driving at Bahrain circuit. So therefore a huge thanks to Porsche for having this much confidence in me! Quite a journey from Porsche Junior 3 years ago to this.' [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Da Costa: WEC return with Alpine a 'main objective' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/da-costa-wec-return-with-alpine-a-main-objective/ Last updated: 2025-10-21T09:53:26.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) António Felix da Costa will join Alpine's [FIA World Endurance Championship ](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/)Hypercar programme for 2026, the French squad has announced. He said that returning to the WEC and endurance racing has been 'one of my main objectives'. The Portuguese driver, who most recently has raced in Formula E, has previous experience in WEC. He first raced in the world championship for BMW in the GTE Pro class, before switching to LMP2, winning the title and Le Mans in 2022, with JOTA. Together with [JOTA](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/jota/) he then moved to the team's Hypercar programme in 2023, before joining Porsche as a factory driver in Formula E for 2024. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) His most recent WEC race was for AF Corse in LMP2, at Le Mans this year, alongside François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxiviere. The trio finished 26th overall, 9th in the LMP2 class, and 4th in the LMP2 pro/am subclass. For 2026, having ended his relationship with Porsche in Formula E, he'll join [Alpine](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/alpine/) as part of the French squad's Hypercar programme. Alpine already has six drivers in its Hypercar programme, and so far there is no word on who the Portuguese driver will replace. However, paddock whispers say Paul -Loup Chatin, who drives the #35 Alpine alongside Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi, will leave Alpine to join the new Genesis squad for 2026\. The trio won the last WEC race at Fuji, the first win for the Alpine A424. It is also possible Habsburg, plus teammate Mick Schumacher in the sister #36 Alpine, will leave. Schumacher tested a Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Indycar at Indianapolis recently, with a view to potentially joining the team full-time in the series for 2026. Da Costa tested the Alpine A424 at Le Mans, on the short Bugatti Circuit, on Monday. *Only Endurance* has obtained some video of the test, which we've embedded below. 0:00 /0:16 1× Video credit: LM Archives 0:00 /0:21 1× Video credit: Matmagny 0:00 /0:11 1× Video credit: LM Archives ## Returning to WEC one of Da Costa's 'main objectives' 'I am delighted to join Alpine Endurance Team. Returning to the FIA World Endurance Championship was one of my main objectives, and I am extremely pleased to do so with a manufacturer that has been redefining itself in a bold and ambitious way, and now competing at the forefront of endurance racing,' said Da Costa. 'Alpine is a brand with a strong racing heritage, and becoming part of such an impressive ecosystem is truly exciting. 'The team has been performing at a very high level, recently scored its maiden victory with the A424, making this the perfect moment to begin our collaboration. 'Everyone knows my passion for endurance racing. I have worked extremely hard to develop as a complete driver in this discipline and, after winning the LMP2 title, my goal now is to contribute to Alpine's success at the pinnacle. I look forward to working with the team, my teammates and all the engineers and mechanics.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Nicolas Lapierre, Alpine's sporting director and a former racing driver himself, said: ''We are very pleased to welcome António Félix da Costa to Alpine Endurance Team. António's profile is exactly what we were looking for: speed, experience and a thorough knowledge of endurance racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 'His track record in multiple categories speaks for itself, and we know he will bring a lot to the team, both in sporting terms and on a personal level. He is a complete, determined and charismatic driver who will quickly integrate into our structure. 'We are eager to embark on this new adventure and start working together to make Alpine an ever-stronger force at the forefront of the FIA WEC.' And finally, Alpine team principal Phillippe Sinault said: 'We are thrilled to welcome António. We have known each other for a long time, and our paths have often crossed, particularly in F3 and Endurance racing. 'There has always been mutual respect between us, as well as a desire to work together one day. It is truly satisfying to see this wish come true today. António is a pure racer who has always known how to get the best out of his car and has been a formidable competitor. 'His presence has left its mark on every team and category he has raced for. He fits in perfectly with our philosophy: human, committed, and focused solely on efficiency. We share the same passion and vision, and we are familiar with his environment, so I am confident that we will quickly become fully operational and performant. 'António will bring a lot with his experience, personality, and results-oriented culture, and we are excited about taking on future challenges together.' *Feature image: Alpine* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Garage 59 to run McLaren WEC LMGT3 programme in 2026 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/garage-59-mclaren-wec-lmgt3-programme-2026/ Last updated: 2025-10-21T08:00:25.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Garage 59, the multiple championship-winning team, will run McLaren's LMGT3 campaign in the [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/) in 2026, replacing United Autosports as the programme's operator. The British team will run two McLaren 720S EVO GT3s in the series, alongside their existing programme in GT World Challenge Europe, in which they have competed with McLaren machinery for multiple seasons. United Autosports, meanwhile, will take a year out of WEC to prepare for their impending Hypercar programme with [McLaren](https://www.ontheapex.com/what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-about-mclarens-hypercar/) in 2027\. The team's IMSA LMP2 programme will continue into next year, as will their efforts in the 2025/2026 Asian Le Mans Series and in the 2026 European Le Mans Series. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) The team also hopes to race in the LMP2 class at Le Mans next year, subject to approval by the ACO. For [Garage 59](https://www.garage59.co.uk/?ref=ontheapex.com), this means their operations will move to a new state of the art facility in Northampton, in the UK. This will provide more space for the expanding team, now running major programmes in two global championships. Garage 59 enter WEC with championship-winning history in GTWC Europe. Shane van Gisbergen, Rob Bell and Côme Ledogar took the drivers' title in 2016 at the wheel of a McLaren 650S GT3\. Multiple other championships in pro-am classes have also been won the team since then, in 2020 and 2022, plus a British GT championship win in 2024. ![#59 McLaren from 2025 GT World Challenge Europe ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/59-0Q3A8678.jpg) Garage 59 currently race McLaren GT3s in GT World Challenge Europe. Image: SRO / JEP ## Motorsport 'intrinsic' to McLaren Automotive 'We are proud to be partnering with McLaren on the world stage,' said Andrew Kirkaldy, Garage 59 team principal. 'Competing in the WEC with two McLaren GT3 cars isn't just a progression, it's a statement of intent. We know how intense the competition is in the WEC but we believe we have the people, the infrastructure, and the resolve to be competitive from day one.' Meanwhile, United Autosports CEO Richard Dean said: 'It is truly an honour to race in the WEC, so this is not a decision we have taken lightly. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 'But when you have the opportunity to race in Hypercar and form a team with McLaren Racing with the goal to compete for outright victory in the championship, including Le Mans ... that is something we have worked for, fought for ... dreamed of ... for years, so we are doing everything in our power to make it a success. 'I would like to thank WEC for their support, and wish Garage 59 and McLaren Automotive the best of luck next season in LMGT3\. We will be back on the grid in 2027 as part of the McLaren United AS WEC Hypercar Team and we can’t wait.' And, finally, McLaren Automotive CEO Nick Collins said: 'Motorsport is intrinsic to the DNA of McLaren Automotive and it's exciting to continue our journey in the LMGT3 class with new racing partner Garage 59\. We hope to continue our strong progress and race winning performance with our new racing partners in 2026.' [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) *Feature image: SRO / JEP* ### Success handicap to be added to WEC's Hypercar class in 2026 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/success-handicap-introduced-wec-2026-hypercar/ Last updated: 2025-10-24T16:37:02.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The FIA World Endurance Championship will introduce a success handicap to the Hypercar class for 2026, according to the new sporting regulations. There have been whispers of this in the WEC paddock, but this is the first official confirmation that it will definitely be introduced. Success ballast is already used in LMGT3, although it's been renamed to 'success handicap' for next year, for both classes. The newly-revised section of the [sporting regulations](https://api.fia.com/regulation/category/118?ref=ontheapex.com), Article 6.2.2, reads: > Success handicap may be imposed for Hypercar and LMGT3 entered in the Championship (see Article 3.1.1). It will be in effect at all Competitions, except for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. > The calculation system will be determined by the WEC Committee before the first timed session of the Prologue. > This lap time handicap will be transformed into mass and/or power at ACO/FIA discretion which will be communicated in the BOP table sent by the WEC Committee before each Competition. There are no further details at the moment. We asked WEC for any comments but were told they are not commenting on it at this stage. Success handicap, otherwise known as success ballast, has been used in WEC before, most notably in the GTE-Am category. This typically sees a manufacturer who won the previous race being handed a weight or power penalty for the next race. It maty also include those who finish in the podium positions, for example. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Success handicap to sit alongside BoP There have been complaints from fans, and thinly-veiled criticism from teams, about WEC's BoP procedures and process this year. [Toyota & Porsche make thinly-veiled criticisms of WEC BoPThe two reigning world championship teams have subtly made their feelings known about of WEC’s Balance of Performance.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-160.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC225_041811145410852ND-3.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-porsche-spa-wec-bop-balance-of-performance-le-mans/) Under the regulations, the teams cannot comment on any aspect of BoP, either the method, process, or implementation. WEC's aim this year has been to have 100% lap time convergence of all cars, compared to in 2024 when there was a BoP "window" that the cars would sit in. ACO president Pierre Fillon told French website [Endurance24.fr](https://endurance24.fr/pierre-fillon-le-process-de-bop-na-pas-fonctionne-cette-annee-clairement/?ref=ontheapex.com) at Fuji that the BoP process was going to be completely reworked for 2026. > *"Afterwards, I think we should no longer talk about BoP, but about performance management. We are going to completely rework the BoP process which clearly did not work this year. So the technical teams of the ACO and the FIA, and IMSA for that matter, are working with the manufacturers for next year with something simpler."* However, Fillon also said he believes the process is the problem, not the implementation itself. > *"There were too many gaps between races, that's what didn't work. In fact, it's not the BoP that is at fault, it's the process that is in place, which we are going to rework."* What that new process for BoP will be, and how exactly it will work alongside the success handicap, however, has not been revealed yet. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Change to Hypercar competitor conditions The other possibly big change is the addition of a new line in Article 3.2.3 of the 2026 sporting regulations, titled *Specific condition of entry in the Hypercar category.* > *In addition to respecting the provisions of Article 3 of Appendix 2 a Manufacturer must enter two cars in the Hypercar FIA World Endurance Championship *under the same name appearing on the Competitor licence.** *(Emphasis ours, to indicate added part to the regulations)* It's not immediately clear what this means in practice. But it would indicate two different teams, racing a car from the same manufacturer, will not be able to enter the main world championship element, and would instead be restricted to the Hypercar Team World Cup. This year the World Cup had two competitors: the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, the privately-run car by AF Corse, which also runs the factory Ferrari Hypercar programme, and the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Mobil1 engine oil: sportscar racing's unsung hero URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/mobil1-engine-oil-sportscar-racing-unsung-hero/ Last updated: 2025-10-16T15:57:19.000Z The saying goes, behind every great sportscar is a great engine, and behind every great every engine is great engine oil. Okay, maybe that's not exactly how the saying goes. Close enough, though. Mobil1's engine oil powers the engines of Porsche and Cadillac in [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/) and [IMSA](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/) competition, plus Toyota in WEC as well. The company has long-standing, deep corporate relationships with all three, according to Tomek Young, Mobil1's global motorsports technology manager. 'With Porsche, we've been working together for over 25 years. The same is true with General Motors. And with Toyota, we have a very long-standing corporate relationship,' he said. But how exactly does Mobil1's engine oil protect and help engines from these three global manufacturers perform to peak standards? 'After the engine is sealed, \[the engine oil\] is the only element that you still control,' Young explained. 'Mobil1 offers protection to the engine. It lubricates, it separates surfaces, it protects the surfaces from wear from corrosion, from any adverse effects of combustion products.' So, if the engine oil is one of the only elements that can be modified after homologation, what factors are considered by Mobil1's team of technicians when creating the perfect blend of oil? 'The stress is tremendous,' Young began. We are talking about these cars going close to flat out for very long periods of time. 'The distance of this race at Le Mans, an endurance race, is comparable to an oil change interval in a regular car. 'So you have this protection over prolonged period. 'Typically, durability, and protection of durability is top of mind, until you have durability. 'So when the engine is actually durable, everybody forgets. Everybody sort of relaxes. But as soon as durability becomes an issue, it's front and centre. 'Another element that's very important is fuel economy. And you know, that's so true. We are dealing with hybrid powertrains. Now we're working on improving efficiency. And this efficiency can be affected by oil. So, we work on solutions that provide extra efficiency. Another one that would be more hidden is heat removal and cooling of the engine. 'Through cooling you can affect performance of the car as well. Because their dynamic design in part defines the cooling of the car. If the oil can offer more protection, if you can affect the temperature of operation, you can also change their dynamic design to your benefit,' concluded Young. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/24LeMans2025_JTHZ16836-1.jpg) Mobil1 has partnered with Porsche for many years. Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ## Hybridisation brings extra challenges Hybrid powertrains are now the norm in top class endurance racing, both in GTP in [IMSA](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/) and Hypercar in the [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/). The engines in both LMH-rules cars, and LMDh cars like the Porsche, required Mobil1 to create new products to deal with the challenges and differences presented by hybrid engines. 'So these modern hybrid powertrains, that that are such a big part of the automotive industry, and big part of efficiency that we see,' Young said. 'They're unique, because part of the power now comes from an electric motor, at different parts of the cycle. The stress on the engine is maybe a bit different. 'We're also dealing with a lot of "start stop", including stopping the engine completely. This required our engineers to develop new type of products. So Mobil1 is now optimised for these hybrid powertrains, to make sure that this engine can run, for the regular consumer, pretty much indefinitely.' There are differences for Mobil1 between the LMH and LMDh cars, too. 'Ultimately, the deployment of power by the combustion engine is what matters. And we're talking about a similar type of racing format. These cars are closely matched – the regulations force them to be as close in performance as possible. But for us as engineers, we have to look at the nuances so we're able to, ultimately, use to create some differentiation in performance.' So, when you next see the Mobil1 logo on a Porsche – or another other racing car – remember how vital and crucial it is to getting a car to hit peak performance for 24 hours. It truly is the unsung hero of sportscar racing. *Feature image: Porsche / Juergen Tap* ### Petit Le Mans analysis: Examining the final hour strategies URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/petit-le-mans-imsa-final-hour-strategy-analysis/ Last updated: 2025-10-14T21:01:53.000Z Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) What a great race at Road Atlanta for the 28th Petit Le Mans. There was action up and down the field, with championships to be decided in every class and some great racing over the 10 hours of the new-traditional IMSA season-closer. In the headline GTP class, there are a few storylines I want to focus on for the front of the field. [Petit Le Mans race weekend gallery: Part 1The picturesque Road Atlanta, host of Petit Le Mans, offers up some great opportunities for race car photography. Check out our IMSA gallery.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-159.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02432-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/petit-le-mans-imsa-race-weekend-gallery-part-1/) ## Action Express's dominant display In a Balance of Performance class, especially in IMSA where the field is frequently bunched up behind the safety car, dominance can be hard to come by. But Action Express bucked the trend. They were at or near the front the entire race, leading for 49.7% of the race, 217 laps in total out of 436\. And, they spent 30% of the race, 131 laps, in second. So overall, they spent over two thirds, and getting on for three quarters, of the race in the top 2 positions. Dominant. And, if you look at overall race pace, they were 0.231 seconds faster than anyone else, when taking the top 20% laps set by each car in each hour, and then averaging out each hour to get a single value. They were also the fastest car on average in five of those 10 hours. This included the opening three hours, when Jack Aitken was running just a few tenths behind Tom Blomqvist, the fifth hour of the race, and the seventh hour. As darkness fell, in the last few hours, this pace advantage seemed to be neutralised a little. They were fifth-fastest on average in the eighth hour, then ninth-fastest in the next, before being fifth-fastest again in the final hour of the race. They were leading the race for pretty much the entirety of this period, so in a classic racing adage, track position proved to be better than anything else. This, though, doesn't negate the fact that it was a brilliant win for Action Express and Cadillac, their second consecutive win after also winning at Indianapolis. 'The way Earl finished, the way Fred came in and held the lead, it shows the depth that we have in the team that we're really confident and we all put in great stints today,' said Aitken. 'All did a huge job to hold off the competition and manage the strategy, manage the fuel and the Whelen Cadillac was on fire today. We were able to lead and that was the game plan coming into today – to do it just like at Indy. So, I'm really pleased that we finish the year in such an awesome way and roll into 2026.' ## Action Express's bang on strategy call So, let's recap that final hour. The #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie made its final pitstop on lap 394, the earliest of the frontrunners, 14 laps after its previous stop. Roman de Angelis was sitting third at this point, roughly 15 seconds off the lead, with Mathieu Jaminet in the #6 Porsche and Earl Bamber in the #31 Action Express Cadillac ahead. De Angelis exited the pits with a full tank of fuel, pitting at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure he didn't have to pit again. Bamber pitted 31 laps later. He had slightly under 15% virtual energy remaining. The team filled the car to 29%. He exited just a second or so ahead of de Angelis, who had been pushing to undercut Bamber and overtake the Kiwi, with Romain Grosjean in the #63 Lamborghini. Clearly, the Aston Martin strategy didn't play out and Bamber went on to win. De Angelis *did* pass Jaminet for second, as did Grosjean. [Proton issues ‘no comment’ on IMSA GTP 2026 absenceAmid Porsche’s WEC Hypercar withdrawal, Proton are absent on the initial 2026 IMSA GTP entry list.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-157.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FW6I0084-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/proton-competition-porsche-imsa-gtp-2026-absence/) Had Bamber pitted the following lap – the team could have pushed it to the limit in terms of how late they pitted – there's a decent chance de Angelis may have passed him, especially considering how hard de Angelis was pushing, knowing a win was possible. That's because Bamber would have needed to spend longer stationary in the pits while de Angelis could have flown by on Road Atlanta's short main straight. And given how relatively similar the pace was, there's no promises Bamber would have been able to find a way past de Angelis with just minutes remaining. But as it was, Action Express played it perfectly, retained the lead and therefore track position, and were able to win. ## Aston Martin's first Valkyrie podium At the start of the year the Valkyrie was off the pace in both the FIA World Endurance Championship, and in IMSA. It took a little while for them to get up to speed, but the car's first podium, globally, signifies the progress they've made on the car in under a year's worth of racing. De Angelis finished 5.1 seconds off Bamber after 10 hours of racing, beating Porsche's Jaminet. Over the course of the race, they had the fourth-fastest 20% average, slower only than the #31 Cadillac, #60 Acura, and #24 BMW. Was there a chance to win? That depends. Disclaimer here: we don't know all the facts, only the team knows that. All we can do is surmise from the available data and make a vaguely educated guess. Gunn pitted with less than 1% of virtual energy left on lap 380, with De Angelis exiting with a full tank. This was too early to make it to the end without stopping again. The team had a choice: extend the stint as long as possible and pit late for a splash of fuel. Or, pit as early as possible and run to the end, pushing hard. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05453.jpg) Aston Martin pitted as early as possible for the final time in the race. Image: Griffith Bean for OE They made the latter decision, with de Angelis pitting 17 minutes later on lap 394\. At this point he had just under 70% virtual energy left, with 55 minutes remaining. He finished the race with 1.6% left. We can assume that de Angelis was pushing hard in that final stint to catch the leaders. However, they couldn't have pitted any earlier, and any later would have meant longer spent in the pit lane, negating the advantage of pitting later. In the event, de Angelis's pace, when looking at the 20% metric, was actually slightly slower than Bamber's in that final hour. The Kiwi's gap to de Angelis when the Cadillac left the pits on lap 425 was around 4.3 seconds, with Grosjean between them. Grosjean then pitted for a splash, and while de Angelis did manage to close the gap, Bamber extended it again before the flag to be 5.182 seconds. That's not to take away from Aston Martin's and The Heart of Racing's momentous achievement though. It sets them up well going into 2026, the team and car's sophomore year in GTP. 'Our aim for Motul Petit Le Mans was to finish the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on a positive note and by scoring the first podium finish for Valkyrie in such a challenging event as this, we've certainly achieved that,' [said](https://media.astonmartin.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-achieves-maiden-podium-in-imsa-finale?ref=ontheapex.com) Adam Carter, Aston Martin's head of endurance motorsport. 'The variety of circuits and differing race lengths in IMSA make it such a huge challenge for both a racing car manufacturer and a race team. But Valkyrie and Aston Martin THOR Team have faced it head-on with relish, made consistent improvements and now deservedly, Valkyrie, is a podium finishers. 'To achieve this on pace, rather than circumstance, is incredibly satisfying and a testament not only to the concept behind Valkyrie, but by the way everyone involved in the programme has executed their role. This is another fabulous milestone in the programme and one we can all be extremely proud of.' [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Lamborghini's bittersweet swansong After two years of struggling with the SC63, the best race result comes in a car/team/manufacturer's final race when the ongoing programme into next year has already been cancelled. [Lamborghini to ‘pause’ SC63 LMDh programme for 2026Lamborghini’s beleaguered SC63 LMDh prototype programme will be offically paused for 2026, with the company focusing on its new GT3 car instead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-158.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002545_0088.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-pause-sc63-lmdh-programme-2026-imsa-wec/) They came close to an even better result too. Grosjean pitted for the penultimate time on lap 386, with less than 1% of virtual energy remaining. Much like with Aston Martin, this was too early to get to the end without stopping again. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10102025-04268.jpg) Petit Le Mans was Lamborghini's best race with the SC63 – and last. Image: Griffith Bean for OE While Aston pitted early and got the stop out of the way, Lamborghini took the other option: extend the stint and pit as late as possible, in the hope of a late race caution helping them save enough fuel. In the event, there was no late race caution – somewhat unusually for IMSA – and Grosjean had to pit again with under 5 minutes remaining, with around 1.7% virtual energy left in the tank. But, fourth is still the best ever result for Lamborghini in either IMSA GTP, or in WEC's Hypercar class. 'An amazing result for the whole team, we had a few small glitches with the car which cost us some time in the pits unfortunately, but overall, I think we can be very happy with P4, the best result for the car,' [said](https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/motorsport/news/lamborghini-sc63-finishes-fourth-in-imsa-season-ending-petit-le-mans?ref=ontheapex.com) Grosjean after the race. 'We were hoping for a yellow at the end, but it didn’t happen; the probability was that it would happen, but the luck wasn’t quite on our side today. 'We did everything we could, there were a few issues that dropped us time at the stops, we lost four seconds on one of them, but all-in-all the team was amazing, and the car was good. I drove the hell out of it, but we were just a bit unlucky in the end.' *Feature image: Griffith Bean for Only Endurance* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Petit Le Mans race weekend gallery: Part 1 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/petit-le-mans-imsa-race-weekend-gallery-part-1/ Last updated: 2025-10-12T21:27:28.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) What a race at Petit Le Mans! We'll be back with some analysis of Action Express and Cadillac's win, looking at Aston Martin's best race and first podium with the Valkyrie, and how Lamborghini got so close to a swansong podium in the SC63's final (for now...) race. [Proton issues ‘no comment’ on IMSA GTP 2026 absenceAmid Porsche’s WEC Hypercar withdrawal, Proton are absent on the initial 2026 IMSA GTP entry list.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-155.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FW6I0084.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/proton-competition-porsche-imsa-gtp-2026-absence/) But that's all to come. For the minute, enjoy these stupendous images from Griffith Bean for *Only Endurance.* You can see the race results on the [IMSA website](https://imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com/Results/25%5F2025/22%5FRoad%20Atlanta/01%5FIMSA%20WeatherTech%20SportsCar%20Championship/202510111210%5FRace/10%5FHour%2010/03%5FResults%5FRace%5FProvisional.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-00474.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-00481.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-00537.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-00550.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-00596.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-00643.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-00731.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-01184.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-01302.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-01312.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-01398.jpg) [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02246.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02265.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02283.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02295.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02306.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02339.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02352.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02360.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02412.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02432.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02477.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02484.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02509.jpg) ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! 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Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02588.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02672.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02927.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02933.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02937.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02940.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02944.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-02972.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03213.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03216.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03223.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03227.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03234.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03279.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03306.jpg) SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03321.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03328.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03459.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03493.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03684.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03708.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03745.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03764.jpg) Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-03774.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05170.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05219.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05273.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05310.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05336.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05343.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05348.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05464.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05561.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05617.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05622.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05661.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05675.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05759.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05792.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05805.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05822.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10092025-05920.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10102025-00228.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10102025-00777.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMSA_PLM_GB_10102025-00921.jpg) [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Proton issues 'no comment' on IMSA GTP 2026 absence URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/proton-competition-porsche-imsa-gtp-2026-absence/ Last updated: 2025-10-10T15:14:21.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Proton Competition have told *Only Endurance* they are not prepared to comment on the team's absence from the 2026 IMSA GTP entry list. The provisional entry list for next season's IMSA Sportscar Championship was released yesterday, and features 45 entries for the full season. That number will grow to 54 entries for the five-round Endurance Cup campaign, of which Porsche stalwart Manthey Racing will contest for the first time. [Grello in IMSA 2026: Manthey to contest Endurance CupGrello? In IMSA? Have our dreams come true?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-147.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/manehtywebpage.001-1.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/grello-manthey-porsche-imsa-endurance-cup-2026/) In the headlining GTP class, 11 cars will contest both the full season and the Endurance Cup. However, there is a conspicuous absence: the #5 Proton Competition Porsche 963\. Proton have raced in the GTP class with a customer 963 since 2023, but it seems, at least at the moment, that they won't race in the championship in 2026. When we asked why this was, we received a 'no comment' response. However — and this is speculation on our part — could it be that, given Porsche's withdrawal of its factory cars from the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, Proton's US-based 963 will switch to WEC next year alongside the team's other 963 chassis, which already races in WEC? [Porsche’s WEC bombshell raises more questions than answersPorsche’s withdrawal from WEC has shocked many fans, although it wasn’t entirely unexpected. OE explores the ramifications, but finds more questions than answers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-152.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061115101210366DG-6.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-wec-hypercar-bombshell-questions-answers/) WEC's regulations stipulate that at least two cars from each manufacturer must be entered to race in Hypercar. If Proton wants to continue in the class, with the rules currently in place, it'd have to be a two-car effort, or none at all. We shall have to wait and see what happens. The only other changes on the IMSA GTP 2026 entry list were expected: the absence of Lamborghini, and [BMW's switch to Team WRT](https://www.imsa.com/news/2025/09/29/bmw-m-team-wrt-will-field-bmw-m-hybrid-v8-in-both-imsa-and-wec-starting-in-2026/?ref=ontheapex.com) as its IMSA factory partner team, in place of RLL. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Consistency in LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD In IMSA's 2026 LMP2 entry, 12 cars will race in the full season. United Autosports will enter two cars, with Crowdstrike by APR, TDS, Era, Inter Europol, Pratt Miller, and AO Racing all returning with a single car. Intersport and Bryan Herta Autosport are two new entries for 2026, both fielding a single car. PR1/Mathiasen will also return, partnering with new entrant Team Tonis. Eight GTD Pro cars will race in the full season, joined by four cars for the Endurance Cup. These eight will comprise of entries from Corvette, Ford, Pfaff Motorsports, Paul Miller Racing, Vasser Sullivan Lexus, and AO Racing with the ever-popular 'Rexy'. [Petit Le Mans: IMSA titles to be decided at Road AtlantaThere are over 20 titles, awards, and championships to be decided at this year’s Petit Le Mans. We examine some key race storylines.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-154.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/G209N5AXwAAKKM1-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/petit-le-mans-imsa-titles-to-be-decided-at-road-atlanta/) Four extra cars, from Triarsi, Risi, 75 Express, and Manthey – with the 'Grello' car — will join them for the Endurance Cup. GTD will have 14 full season entries, from manufacturers including Lexus, Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Corvette, Mercedes, Lamborghini and BMW. There will also be five additional Endurance Cup entries. The full provisional 2026 IMSA Sportscar Championship entry list can be seen on [IMSA's website](https://www.imsa.com/news/2025/10/09/full-fields-continue-for-2026-imsa-weathertech-championship-michelin-endurance-cup/?ref=ontheapex.com). *Feature image: Jacob Saddler for Only Endurance* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: Toyota tests updated GR010 at Paul Ricard URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-toyota-tests-updated-gr010-hypercar-paul-ricard-wec-2026/ Last updated: 2025-10-10T11:28:51.000Z SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Toyota [recently teased](https://www.fiawec.com/en/news/toyota-teases-2026-updates-in-bid-to-regain-former-glories/8501?ref=ontheapex.com) that it will update its Hypercar, the GR010 Hybrid, next year, giving the car a revised look which Toyota says will bring the car more in line with its current crop of roadcars. The GR010 Hybrid has competed in WEC since 2021 and hasn't changed an awful lot since then. With the huge influx of manufacturers into WEC over the last few years, the competition for Toyota has increased and subsequently, the need for the car to be updated has also increased. As if to symbolise this need to update its car, without a race victory in 2025, this could be the first year Toyota goes without a win in [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/) competition since 2015, when Audi took two wins and Porsche took six. [Porsche’s WEC bombshell raises more questions than answersPorsche’s withdrawal from WEC has shocked many fans, although it wasn’t entirely unexpected. OE explores the ramifications, but finds more questions than answers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-146.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061115101210366DG-1.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-wec-hypercar-bombshell-questions-answers/) Additionally, the team currently sits fourth in the manufacturers' championship standings, behind Ferrari, Porsche, and Cadillac, all of whom have won races this year. [Toyota](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/toyota/) has been testing its newly-updated car at Paul Ricard this week. *Only Endurance* has obtained some photos and videos from the test, clearly showing the updated front and rear bodywork of the GR010 Hybrid. The car is adorned in a camouflage livery in an attempt to disguise the details of the new parts. However, it seems to feature more aggressive aerodynamics, with revised headlights and nose, plus a new rear wing and diffuser. Without further ado — see below for shots and short videos of Toyota's newly-updated car for 2026\. Additionally, there are some shots of the [Aston Martin Valkyrie](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/aston-martin/), which also tested at Paul Ricard. This includes a short video showcasing the scream of the Valkyrie's naturally-aspirated V12 engine. All images and video credit [*CHHD Photography*](https://www.instagram.com/chhd.photography?ref=ontheapex.com)for *Only Endurance*. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5272-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5275-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5280-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5281-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5317-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5326-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5354-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5359-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5382-4.JPG) Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5384-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5395-4-2.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5396-4-2.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5397-4-2.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5399-4-2.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5424-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5425-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5528-4.JPG) 0:00 /0:06 1× 0:00 /0:03 1× [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## Aston Martin Valkyrie ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5260-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5261-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5295-7.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5301-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5346-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5372-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5373-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5374-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5407-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5411-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5460-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/IMG_5550-4.JPG) 0:00 /0:05 1× [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Petit Le Mans: IMSA titles to be decided at Road Atlanta URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/petit-le-mans-imsa-titles-to-be-decided-at-road-atlanta/ Last updated: 2025-10-09T20:50:25.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) The 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship will reach its dramatic conclusion this Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with Petit Le Mans, the now-traditional season closer for the US-based premier sportscar championship. Petit Le Mans was formerly an American Le Mans Series (ALMS) event, created in 1998 as a precursor to the first full ALMS season the following year. It's held at Road Atlanta, a 2.5 miles / 4 kilometre circuit in Georgia, United States. Last year the #01 Chip Ganassi-run factory Cadillac won, driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and Scott Dixon. Porsche finished second and third. [How Cadillac conquered a 2-lap deficit to win Petit Le MansThe Chip Ganassi Cadillac went 2 laps down during the 2024 Petit Le Mans, the finale of the IMSA season at Road Atlanta. But they still won. How?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-144.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/01-car-front-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-cadillac-conquered-2-lap-deficit-win-petit-le-mans/) ### **A championship showdown across four classes** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/image.png) Porsche almost won Petit Le Mans last year. Image: Porsche Motorsports The final weekend of the season brings with it a staggering number of titles still up for grabs. In all, more than 20 championships, spanning drivers, teams, and manufacturers, remain undecided across the GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO, and GTD classes. The Michelin-sponsored Endurance Cup, which rewards success across the series’ five longest races, is also on the line. The only class with breathing room is GTD, where the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 trio of Philip Ellis, Russell Ward, and company essentially need only to start the race to secure their respective driver, team, and manufacturer titles. Everywhere else, the fight remains wide open. There’s also the matter of IMSA’s coveted Bob Akin award, which comes with an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is awarded to the highest-finishing bronze-rated GTD driver in the championshop at the end of the year. Brendan Iribe and Orey Fidani once again find themselves neck and neck for the award in GTD, having traded the honour back and forth the past two seasons. After Iribe’s victory at Indianapolis tied the standings, the award—and the Le Mans ticket—will be settled by whoever finishes higher on Saturday night. Meanwhile, in LMP2, PJ Hyett leads Daniel Goldburg by a thin 85-point margin for the Jim Trueman Award, which does the same as the Bob Akin Award, but in LMP2\. With such little separation, the LMP2 finale promises to be just as tense. ### **10 hours, one chance** Few races in the world match the intensity and unpredictability of Petit Le Mans. From the midday start at 12pm local time to 10p.m for the chequered flag, the event demands equal parts speed, stamina, and strategy. As darkness falls over Road Atlanta, so too does the true test begin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/image-1.png) There aren't many sportscars more iconic than the yellow Corvettes. Image: Corvette Racing > 'The night at Petit is incredibly important,' said Corvette Racing driver Alexander Sims. 'It’s sometimes the case that, depending on the car … you have to make a compromise and put up with a difficult car in the day so that it’s there for you at night. > 'And that sometimes is a pretty bold call to make, honestly, to have to endure five or six hours of racing where you don’t have the pace, to trust that it’s going to come good in the end. And obviously sometimes it would and sometimes it wouldn’t.' That endurance element is echoed by Albert Costa, who will drive the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3. > 'You survive the first, I don’t know, four hours in the sun, and then you prepare all weekend for the night, and this is going to be the most important thing. But you also need to keep the car alive . . . so I think the word I would use to describe it is “survive,” just survive.' With 53 entries filling the track, roughly 21 cars per mile, survival is indeed half the battle. ### **A cleaner fight, but no less fierce** Following a midseason stretch of penalty-heavy weekends, IMSA race control has worked to raise driving standards without stifling competition. Drivers like Ollie Millroy of Inception Racing have noticed a shift. > 'All that they’re saying is race each other, guys; go side-by-side a whole lap if you like, just race like adults,' he said. 'I really don’t think that they’re being unreasonable. The rules are pretty clear. We all know what they’re expecting.' That attitude has resonated with others on the grid, including Sims. > 'Honestly, I’m quite happy with it. I think the rules are there to be respected . . . Everybody can make mistakes. That happens. But there has certainly been a lot of racing in the past that was not mistakes. > 'It was people knowingly driving other people off the track and, yeah, going beyond what I think the spirit of the racing should be. I think we can all probably agree that Road America was too out of hand. And so I think the right reaction has happened.' Still, when championships are on the line, civility often goes out the window. Expect elbows out and nerves stretched thin in the closing hours. ### **The stage is set** Ten hours, four classes, 53 cars, and more than 20 titles on the line. The 2025 Motul Petit Le Mans has all the ingredients for a classic. What started at Daytona will end at Road Atlanta, where champions will rise, heartbreak will strike, and endurance will once again prove to be the ultimate measure of greatness. *Feature image: Michelin Racing* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Grello in IMSA 2026: Manthey to contest IMSA Endurance Cup URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/grello-manthey-porsche-imsa-endurance-cup-2026/ Last updated: 2025-10-09T12:38:22.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) Manthey Racing have announced they will enter two Porsche 911 GT3Rs into the IMSA Endurance Cup next year, with one car being the fan favourite 'Grello' entry. The two cars, numbered #911 and #912, will be entered into the two GTD classes of IMSA's five-round Endurance Cup championship. Next year, this will comprise of races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America, and Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans. Specifically, the Grell0-liveried #911 car will race in the GTD Pro class, with fully professional drivers at the wheel. The #912 car will race in GTD, branded as Manthey 1st Phorm with Ryan Hardwick at the wheel. In 2025, Hardwick has raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship, also at the wheel of a Manthey 1st Phorm car, in the #92 Porsche. The American has a lot of experience in IMSA, having won both the 12 Hours of Sebring and Daytona 24 Hours in Wright Motorsport-run Porsche machinery. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/10/Manthey2026_IMSA_Preview_2.jpg) ## Grello makes its way to the States Manthey's 'Grello' entry is a fan-favourite car in the world of motorsports, so-called because its livery is a combination of green and yellow. It's raced mostly in European competition until now, in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, DTM, and in the GT World Challenge Series, with a win at the 'Ring in 2021, plus taking victory at Bathurst in the 12 Hour race in 2024. This will be the first time a Grello-liviered car has raced in the headline IMSA championship, though. Manthey has not announced who will drive the car, but it's almost certain to crewed by some of Porsche's best factory drivers. And with previous Grello custodians Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor out of a full time FIA World Endurance Championship drive next year, could we see them behind the wheel of the #911 car? Or, what about newly-crowned DTM champion Ayhancan Guven, also a previous Grello driver and race winner? ## Manthey 'very proud' to be entering IMSA 'We are very proud to be competing in the IMSA in 2026 together with Ryan, Manthey, 1st Phorm and the Grello', said Manthry's managing director, Nicolas Raeder. 'Entering the American market has been a long-held dream of ours, as we have been following the series for many years, and the US market is also very important for our road car products. 'Entering our two Porsche in the endurance races will also provide an excellent opportunity to engage with Porsche dealers, Manthey customers, and enthusiasts. Building on our experience of competing at the Nürburgring and in the DTM and WEC since 2023 and 2024 respectively, IMSA is the next logical step for us. 'I am looking forward to this new challenge for our team, especially the season opener in Daytona.' SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Porsche's Hypercar bombshell raises more questions than answers URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-wec-hypercar-bombshell-questions-answers/ Last updated: 2025-10-09T09:54:16.000Z The dust is settling on Porsche's Hypercar bombshell announcement two days ago, and it's safe to say there are more questions than answers. To recap quickly: the German manufacturer is quitting the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class for 2026, despite the programme originally being secure until the end of 2027. [Porsche terminate factory WEC Hypercar programmePorsche have confirmed their exit from Hypercar, but reaffirm commitment to IMSA GTP class with Porsche Penske Motorsport![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-141.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003412_0265.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-terminate-factory-wec-hypercar-programme/) The team, run by Penske, will continue in the US-based IMSA Sportscar Championship next year. And the Formula E effort, going into that championship's 'Gen 4' era, will continue too. Finally, Porsche says it intends to retain its LMGT3 customer programme with Manthey into next year, subject to approval by the WEC selection committee. ## Money, as ever, the root As you may expect, money is at the root of this decision to quit WEC's premier, headline class. Like many other auto manufacturers worldwide, Porsche has committed millions of dollars to producing and selling electric vehicles. However, sales of these have been declining, not just for Porsche but for other manufacturers as well. (That said, sales have [picked up ](https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2025/company/porsche-deliveries-2025-third-quarter-40773.html?ref=ontheapex.com)a little this year... but too little, too late to save the WEC programme.) This means Porsche's overall corporate revenue has [declined](https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/annual-sustainability-report/combined-management-report/results-of-operations-financial-position-and-net-assets/https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/annual-sustainability-report/combined-management-report/results-of-operations-financial-position-and-net-assets/?ref=ontheapex.com#:~:text=The%20Porsche%20AG%20Group%20generated,positive%20price%20and%20equipment%20effects.https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/annual-sustainability-report/combined-management-report/results-of-operations-financial-position-and-net-assets/) over the last couple of years. And that in turn meant cuts needed to be made somewhere. With a WEC campaign significantly more expensive than either IMSA or Formula E programmes... it's obvious why WEC was cut. ## Balance of Performance... or lack thereof... It's well known that Porsche has not been happy with WEC's application of Balance of Performance this year. [Toyota & Porsche make thinly-veiled criticisms of WEC BoPThe two reigning world championship teams have subtly made their feelings known about of WEC’s Balance of Performance.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-142.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC225_041811145410852ND-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-porsche-spa-wec-bop-balance-of-performance-le-mans/) Whether this factored into why Porsche have withdrawn from WEC for next year is an unknown, although possibly unlikely. That said, Porsche aren't really doing too badly this year. They're still in the hunt for both titles as we approach the final race in Bahrain, with Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor 21 points adrift of drivers' championship leaders James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Alessandro Pier Guidi. With Bahrain meaning more points on account of it being an 8 hour race, Estre and Vanthoor would need to finish at least third (23 points) while the Ferrari trio don't score at all. So it's an outside shot, but it's a shot nonetheless. Likewise in the manufacturers' championship, Porsche sit second, 39 points off Ferrari. While the first half of the season may have a Ferrari walkover – 4 wins out of 4 – the second half has been much more equal, with wins for Cadillac, Porsche's Estre and Vanthoor, and Alpine. The bombshell withdrawal decision feels much more like a board-level decision over finance and budget cutting. In Porsche's [press release](https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2025/motorsports/porsche-formula-e-imsa-factory-projects-40745.html?ref=ontheapex.com) they quote a board member before Porsche's motorsport chief Thomas Laudenbach, which may be telling. But an underlying unhappiness with BoP could well have been a factor in the decision. Unfortunately, we'll likely never know, as WEC's regulations prohibit manufacturers talking directly about BoP or the application of it. ## The questions around Proton Porsche's factory team in WEC, run by Penske, is not the only Porsche team competing in the world championship. Long-time WEC competitors, Proton Competition, also field a Porsche 963 on a customer basis. However, whether this effort will continue into 2026 is another question that has yet to be answered. That's because the WEC rules dictate each manufacturer must run a minimum of two cars in Hypercar in order to enter. It's one reason why we have the JOTA-run factory Cadillacs this year, and not Chip Ganassi's single factory Cadillac effort, as we did in 2023 and 2024\. And it's a key factor in Lamborghini's decision to cancel its factory Hypercar campaign after just a single season in WEC. This rule extends to customer cars too, and means, unless the rule is changed or a loophole found, Proton will have to enter two cars, or none at all. Currently, it's not clear what Proton will do. The squad does have two 963 chassis; one is run in WEC, and one in IMSA. However, this is even further complicated by Porsche's ongoing competition at Le Mans specifically, disregarding the rest of the WEC season. ## Le Mans 2026 It makes sense that while Porsche has cancelled its 2026 WEC campaign, it would still want to race at Le Mans next year, bringing the IMSA cars over much like Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express did this year. Porsche has the most overall wins of any manufacturer at the French endurance classic – 18\. The 963 is yet to win the twice-around-the-clock race. It has a car that can feasibly race for the overall win. Porsche's motorsport legacy is rooted in Le Mans. Why would it not? This, though, is complicated by that two-car rule. In order for WEC to set the Balance of Performance fairly and correctly for Le Mans, at least two cars need to compete the full WEC season. So, with Porsche no longer having a factory entry in WEC and therefore a guaranteed two-car entry into the race in June, it needs Proton to enter two cars into WEC, if the German manufacturer wants its factory 963s on the grid at Le Mans. See the problem? ## Drivers out of a job This announcement also leaves Porsche's WEC drivers at a loose end, in theory. Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, from the #6 car, the 2024 world champions, plus Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen in the sister #5 car, may be out of work at the end of the year. Andlauer in particular was only promoted to a factory Hypercar drive at the start of this year, after two years with Proton's customer 963 effort and even longer in the GT ranks. [Andlauer: Porsche Penske promotion my ‘biggest challenge’Porsche’s newest Hypercar factory driver Julien Andlauer speaks to Only Endurance about the upcoming season, his first racing for Porsche’s works team.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-143.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Andlauer-Cover-Pics.005-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/andlauer-porsche-penske-promotion-my-biggest-challenge/) Plus, it also may leave Porsche's other Hypercar drivers, who drive the 963 in WEC in the longer races and full-time in IMSA wondering about their future too. There is no guarantee the factory IMSA campaign will continue past 2026, especially if Porsche's financial issues and declining EV sales aren't resolved. There have been rumours about Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr, and Matt Campbell looking at drives with other teams and manufacturers. Could they also slot into an expanded Proton customer campaign? We simply don't know. ## The continuation of the 911 in LMGT3 Adding an even further complication, Porsche's 911 LMGT3 campaign could also be up in the air. The programme is run on a customer basis by Manthey, of which Porsche owns a majority share. Take from that what you will. However, it's well known that in order to compete in LMGT3, a manufacturer ideally needs some kind of presence in Hypercar. Which Porsche may not have next year. Failing that, a manufacturer or team can also bank on its loyalty to WEC in the past, but this is by no means a guarantee. Porsche has had at least one 911 in every single WEC race, stretching back to 2012\. More often than not, this has been run by Manthey, although Proton Competition , among others, also ran 911s for many years before switching to Ford for LMGT3. It seems unthinkable that there's a possibility of no 911s in LMGT3 next year, even more so when you consider Porsche is introducing an evo update to the current 911 GT3R. But that's the reality we may be living in come 2026. Let's hope Porsche and Manthey's loyalty to WEC stands them in good stead to get an entry. With 40 cars now the maximum number of cars in the WEC field, doing the maths indicates there's space based on this year and known entries for next year. ## In conclusion... The answers to many of these questions will reveal themselves over the next few months. In the mean time, we'll bring you more news or insight as and when we have it. *Feature image: Drew Gibson / Porsche* ### Porsche terminate factory WEC Hypercar programme URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-terminate-factory-wec-hypercar-programme/ Last updated: 2025-10-07T15:18:36.000Z Porsche have pulled the plug on their factory WEC Hypercar programme, bringing an end to their global 963 LMDh effort. Announced on Tuesday, the German manufacturer will cease competition with Porsche Penske Motorsport in the world championship after November's season-ending 8H Bahrain, but will continue the factory collaboration in IMSA's GTP class into 2026. Without a two-car manufacturer presence in the full WEC season, Porsche will not be eligible to race at the 24H Le Mans in 2026 regardless of success in the IMSA GTP championship. The biggest factor in Porsche’s decision is the German marque’s current status in the global automotive market. Earlier this year Porsche suffered a reported [40% drop](http://rttnews.com/3532543/porsche-ag-q1-operating-profit-down-40-6.aspx?ref=ontheapex.com) in operating profit, a massive decrease in Chinese sales in the EV market, and that updated US import tariffs resulted in an [additional €400M burden](https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2025/company/porsche-second-quarter-half-year-2025-financial-figures-40184.html?ref=ontheapex.com) on North American business. To save the long and winding details, the decision to cut the WEC programme is largely the result of these ongoing and seemingly unending financial difficulties. Porsche has reaffirmed its commitment to IMSA’s GTP class, which can expect to see two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 LMDHs continue to race in the North American series. The decision does throw massive doubt on the possibility of Proton Competition to continue racing in the WEC. Without the presence of a two-car factory entry, Proton must essentially double-up and become the manufacturer effort or follow in PPM’s footsteps. The Porsche LMGT3 presence is also subject to a WEC Entry Committee decision, but is likely to see a two-car Manthey effort remain on the grid. Dr Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Development at Porsche AG, said “We very much regret that, due to the current circumstances, we will not be continuing our involvement in the WEC after this season.” "Motorsport has always been of major importance for Porsche and is an essential part of the brand. “We use motorsport as a development platform for future technology and to illustrate the potential of our sports cars,” says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “With the Porsche 963 in the North American IMSA series and the Porsche 99X Electric in the Formula E World Championship, we want to continue to fight for overall victories in the future. That is our tradition and our focus.” More to follow... ### IMSA championship drama heats up at Indianapolis URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-championship-drama-indianapolis-battle-on-the-bricks/ Last updated: 2025-09-20T10:05:53.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The IMSA SportsCar Championship heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for one of the most pivotal races of the season, the Battle on the Bricks. With just two rounds left in 2025, every lap, every pit stop, and every call on the pit box could decide who walks away with a championship. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/09/image-1.png) Could BMW take another 1-2 at IMS? Image: BMW M Team RLL ### The storylines **Championship push is on** The Brickyard is where the big picture starts coming into focus. With the full-season title fights and the Endurance Cup both in play, teams know this is their last chance to set the tone before the all-important Petit Le Mans finale. **BMW hunting a historic repeat** BMW M Team RLL loves Indianapolis. Last year they went 1-2 here for their first GTP sweep, and just last month they went 1-2 again at Road America. Now, with their BMW M Hybrid V8 chasing another IMSA win, the team is eyeing a perfect encore at the Brickyard. **Porsche vs. Acura vs. BMW** The competition for the GTP title is intensifying. Porsche Penske Motorsport holds the top two spots in points, but BMW and Acura are still within striking distance. Acura, in particular, has been closing fast, cutting Porsche’s manufacturer lead to just 45 points. A big result here could set up a showdown at Petit Le Mans, one fans would talk about all winter going into 2026. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/09/image.png) DragonSpeed are second in GTD Pro championship, behind the #3 Corvette. Image: DragonSpeed **AO Racing’s dragon leads LMP2** “Spike the Dragon,” AO Racing’s purple LMP2 ORECA, has breathed fire at the perfect time. Two wins in a row have given PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron a 107-point lead heading into Indy. United Autosports will need to strike back now or risk watching their title hopes go up in smoke. **Corvette back on top in GTD PRO** Corvette Racing picked the perfect weekend to score its first win of the year at VIR. That victory gave the #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R a 53-point cushion over DragonSpeed’s Ferrari. AO Racing’s defending Indy winners are still in the mix, but with only one podium in the last five races, they’ll need to turn it around fast. **Winward’s comfort zone** No team comes into Indy with more breathing room than Winward Racing. Philip Ellis and Russell Ward’s #57 Mercedes-AMG holds a 171-point lead in GTD. Still not clinched, but close enough that a strong result here could make Petit Le Mans a lot less stressful. The Battle on the Bricks isn’t just another stop on the calendar; it’s where championships are won or lost before Petit Le Mans ever goes green. The Brickyard demands perfection, with manufacturer glory and class championships at stake; expect a wild six hours of racing. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### COTA BoP analysis: Toyota's power-to-weight may help them in Austin URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/cota-bop-crunching-power-weight-numbers-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-09-05T12:59:20.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Weight The big changes here are obviously to Cadillac and Porsche. Cadillac has gained a huge 19kg – from 1040kg at Interlagos to 1059kg for COTA. Porsche, meanwhile, has gone from its Brazilian 1053kg to 1065kg, just 4kg lighter than Ferrari and Toyota, who both remain on 1069kg. Elsewhere, BMW have lost 2kg, and Alpine have gained 1kg. Peugeot and Aston Martin remain on the minimum weight, 1030kg. ## Power (before 250kph) There aren't that many changes on the power side of things either. The biggest change will hit Porsche, 13kW down on Interlagos. BMW will lose 8kW, with Alpine losing 6kW, Interlagos race winners losing 5kW, and Toyota losing 1kW. The Ferrari will remain the least powerful car on 480kW, while Aston Martin and Peugeot will stay as the most powerful cars allowed by the regulations at 520KW apiece. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Power (after 250kph) As is common lately, the Aston Martin Valkyrie will be the most powerful car after 250kph. The Toyota will be only slightly below that, with a big gap below these two, around 13kW, to the Cadillac. The Ferrari is next, followed by the Porsche, then the BMW. They're followed by the two French cars, the Alpine and the Peugeot. ## Energy per stint Every team sees an adjustment in their energy per stint for COTA. That said, the adjustments are fairly small, with all of them reducing the energy available for each stint. BMW will lose 5MJ, with Porsche losing 4MJ. Ferrari will lose 3MJ. Alpine, Cadillac, Peugeot and Toyota will lose 2MJ each. And Aston Martin, having never raced the Valkyrie at COTA, will lose 1MJ. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Power-to-weight ratios As ever, the easiest way to display all this is in power-to-weight ratios. The data shows that the Toyota, BMW, and Alpine are all within a window of 0.002kW/kg, in the middle of the table. Cadillac and Porsche have dropped massively from Interlagos – not surprising considering the weight added and the power lost for both cars. The Ferrari stays the same as at Interlagos, level with Cadillac 0.0449kW/kg. The Peugeot and the Aston Martin remain at the top of the table, but we know from previous races that this doesn't necessarily mean good performance. That said, both are improving. Only Endurance's prediction? A Toyota win. BMW and Alpine may be competitive too, but Toyota's experience will outsmart both. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Laurin Heinrich: Staying with AO Racing 'huge' for career URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/laurin-heinrich-ao-racing-rexy-bachler-imsa-gtdpro/ Last updated: 2025-08-07T07:07:29.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) For Laurin Heinrich, the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season has been more than just a grind, it’s been a culmination of personal growth, team chemistry, and the fire of intense on-track rivalries. Coming off his emotional win at Sebring earlier this year, Heinrich has continued to establish himself as one of the standout talents in GTD PRO. But when you talk to him, it’s clear that his success isn’t just about natural ability. It’s about people—specifically the ones standing behind him. 'Massively,' Heinrich said when asked how his rapid progression and support system have shaped his growth. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) 'Everything was new. Not only the tracks, the team, the people I’m racing against, my teammates and everyone around me. Now staying with AO Racing is huge. Also speaking about my progression as a driver, I could only progress so well because I had the right people standing behind me. 'You learn the most from mistakes. The worst thing is if the people you think stand behind you then blame you for your own mistakes. That’s exactly not the case at AO Racing. They stand behind me all the time, no matter what.' ![Lauren Heinrich (middle) and Klaus Bachler (right) celebrate a win with an endurance co-driver](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/08/image-1.webp) Heinrich and Bachler have won multiple races this year. Image: AO Racing ## Forming partnerships In his second full season with AO Racing, the landscape has changed. Familiarity with tracks has increased, racecraft has sharpened, and most importantly, his relationship with co-driver Klaus Bachler has blossomed into something incredibly rare in the world of elite motorsports. 'This year having Klaus on board, this is for me, the cherry on the cake for me is one of the best if not the best teammate I've ever had,' Heinrich said. “He has a ton of experience. He's a great guy, obviously, we speak the same language as well, so there’s no language barrier so that’s also good. I mean, two days ago, I just I was with him in Austria. We spent some time. We were in for dinner, did some sport. 'So yeah, we have a really strong bond, and, in the end, we have no secrets. We exchange each other about driving about anything, basically. And I think that's also why we work so well, and in the end, we can just profit off each other.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## GTD Pro title battle heats up With that bond in place and AO Racing firmly behind him, Heinrich is now locked in one of the most heated championship battles in GTD Pro. This is a duel which has grown increasingly personal and tactical as the season has progressed. The primary rival? Corvette Racing. 'It’s a tough battle,' Heinrich admitted. 'We’ve had some proper fights, but I think that’s what IMSA racing is all about. If winning the championship is a walk in the park, it wouldn’t feel as nice as it is like right now, where we have big fights every race. Obviously, we're trying to take points away from each other. 'It's a bit of an interesting dynamic because Corvette has two cars, which you can argue is maybe a bit of an advantage, especially as one of these two cars is not really in the championship fight anymore. 'So, if you want, you could use it a bit here and there, but everything has been, I think, quite fair within the borders so far. I enjoy it, racing that hard against such good drivers and teams. That just makes me better, and I think it's also what racing is all about.' As the season enters its final stretch, the pressure will only intensify, but Heinrich welcomes it. For him, it’s not just about trophies, it’s about proving himself, learning from every lap, and building something lasting with a team that’s had his back from the start. And with AO Racing looking at a GTP programme in the coming years, it seems that journey might only just be getting started. *Feature image: AO Racing* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### BMW M Team RLL's Road America 1-2 is too little, too late URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bmw-m-team-rll-execute-strategic-masterclass-for-1-2-victory-at-road-america/ Last updated: 2025-08-05T17:10:43.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) BMW M Team RLL delivered a masterful strategy at Road America, securing a 1-2 finish in the GTP class during the 2025 Motul SportsCar Grand Prix. It was the team’s first win of the season and a statement of intent, combining incredible strategic decisions, disciplined driving, and timely execution to outfox the rest of the field. ### Bold strategy sets stage With exactly one hour remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute sprint race, Team RLL rolled the dice. Both the #24 and #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 entries were brought into the pits for their final stops under green-flag conditions. It was a calculated risk, as the majority of GTP teams were aiming to stop later in the stint, likely hoping for a caution to compress the field. That caution came sooner than expected. [‘Constant state of trying to improve’: Rahal on BMW and RLL’s 2025BMW and RLL are determined to turn frustration from recent IMSA races into success, hoping to convert pace into a long overdue victory at Laguna Seca![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-139.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/cobb-IMSA-LongBeach-120425-29232.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/constant-state-trying-improve-rahal-bmw-rlls-2025-imsa-laguna-seca/) ### Race-changing caution reshuffles the field Just seven minutes after Team RLL completed its pit stops, the race was neutralised by the fifth and final full-course yellow of the day, triggered by an incident involving the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac and the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry. This pivotal yellow flag would go on to define the outcome of the race. ### BMW benefits while rivals falter While the BMWs stayed out under caution, having already fulfilled their pit obligations, their rivals weren’t so fortunate. The remaining nine GTP cars were forced to pit under yellow to make their final stops – an unavoidable delay that cost them valuable track position. Many lost close to a full lap in the shuffle, essentially clearing the path for BMW to seize control of the race. ![Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng celebrate their win](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/08/image-3.png) Dries Vabthoor and Philipp Eng were delighted with their win. Image: BMW M Team RLL ### Inheriting the lead and keeping it When the race resumed under green, Philipp Eng in the #24 and Marco Wittmann in the #25 emerged at the head of the field. The advantage gained from BMW’s early pit call had turned into outright control, and the two cars now had clear track and track position on their side. The final 37 minutes were run under green, during which Eng and Wittmann managed traffic expertly and conserved energy while keeping a watchful eye on the competition. Neither driver put a wheel wrong. [IMSA returns to Road America for final sprint raceSPONSORED BY the racing line Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year’s subscription! Check it out The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rolls into one of its most iconic stops this weekend: Road America. Tucked into the lush, rolling hills of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-140.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/GuEPchtWIAAHfh6.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-returns-to-road-america-for-final-sprint-race/) ### Drivers deliver under pressure Eng, who took over from co-driver Dries Vanthoor, guided the #24 BMW to the checkered flag, earning his second career GTP victory and Vanthoor’s first. The sister #25 machine, shared by Sheldon van der Linde and Wittmann, completed the sweep for BMW in second place. Both crews managed the restart flawlessly, showing remarkable composure in navigating slower traffic and defending their positions. The performance was a reflection of the drivers’ precision and the team’s trust in their race plan. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### A tactical triumph Philipp Eng called the race a 'strategic masterclass', and few could argue. Through pitting early, with no yellow in sight, BMW took advantage of the fortunate timing of the ensuing caution, put them in position to capitalize when others could not. The win marked a high point in a season that had seen flashes of potential but no GTP victories until now. With four pole positions under their belt earlier in the year, the team had shown speed. At Road America, they proved they had the strategy and execution to match. BMW’s 1-2 finish wasn’t just a victory—it was a message. The question remains, was this win a day late and a dollar short? With BMW leaving Team RLL next season, there still remains a lot of unknowns. Feature image: BMW M Team RLL [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Analysis: Lamborghini to 'pause' SC63 LMDh programme for 2026 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-pause-sc63-lmdh-programme-2026-imsa-wec/ Last updated: 2025-08-04T15:44:16.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Lamborghini has [announced](https://media.lamborghini.com/English/latest-news/lamborghini-pauses-imsa-gtp-program-for-2026-season/s/198e9cdd-0988-4d78-b167-b45a680e7081?ref=ontheapex.com) a strategic pause in its SC63 LMDh prototype program within the [IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/) for the 2026 season. The move marks a notable shift in the Italian marque’s motorsport direction, as it pivots away from top-level endurance racing to concentrate on its GT3 and one-make racing efforts. ### Realigning the racing strategy At the core of this decision is what [Lamborghini](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/lamborghini/) described as a “strategic realignment” of its motorsport priorities. Rather than continuing with the SC63 prototype effort, the brand is opting to dedicate its attention and resources toward the development of its next-generation GT3 platform and its popular Super Trofeo series. This transition includes the development of the new Temerario GT3, which is scheduled for a 2026 customer launch. A corresponding Super Trofeo variant is expected to follow in 2027, reinforcing the manufacturer’s long-term commitment to customer racing and brand-specific championships. [New Lamborghini Temerario GT3 unveiled at GoodwoodLamborghini has revealed its new GT3 challenger, the Temerario, at Goodwood, with the car making its debut at Sebring next year.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-137.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DJI_20250624222221_0032_D-copia-2-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/new-lamborghini-temerario-gt3-unveiled-goodwood/) ## Cost and complexity challenges While Lamborghini’s ambitions with the SC63 were high, the financial and technical demands of the LMDh project quickly escalated beyond original expectations. Developed in collaboration with Ligier Automotive, the SC63 program faced rising costs and unforeseen challenges, particularly when compared to the resources available to larger manufacturers participating in the same category. Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini’s chief technology officer, acknowledged that the company 'perhaps underestimated' the true scale of the LMDh effort. This miscalculation, combined with Lamborghini’s relatively small size in comparison to other LMDh or Hypercar competitors, played a central role in the decision to withdraw from the IMSA prototype grid beyond 2025. ![Lamborghini SC63 and Cadillac V-Series.R, behind, racing each other in WEC](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/08/image-2.png) Lamborghini raced in WEC in 2024, but pulled out after just a year. Image: FIA WEC/DPPI ## WEC rules and strategic impact The announcement follows Lamborghini’s earlier exit from the [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/), which introduced a new two-car requirement for Hypercar class entries starting in 2025\. This rule further complicated Lamborghini’s long-term LMDh aspirations, as the brand had not planned to field a second entry. While 2025 will still see limited IMSA participation with a single SC63 in select endurance events, the brand has opted not to continue beyond that. [Lamborghini’s Spa 24H win is Huracan’s glorious swansongAfter almost a decade in racing, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 hadn’t achieved a milestone 24 hour race win. Until this year’s Spa 24 Hours.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-138.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/664454-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-spa-24-hours-win-huracan-glorious-swansong/) ## Fallout after falling out with Iron Lynx The situation around the SC63 programme was even further complicated by the fact that Lamborghini's original factory partner for the LMDh effort, Iron Lynx, pulled out after just one year. There were multiple disagreements between both parties, with this culminating in Prema, Iron Lynx's parent company, [suing Lamborghini](https://www.vitallaw.com/news/trade-secrets-news-prema-engineering-sues-lamborghini-alleging-theft-of-multiple-versions-of-hypercar-steering-wheel-setups/ipm014728b8d199294faeab4a777689e26ffa?ref=ontheapex.com). The team have accused the Italian manufacturer of stealing secret stealing wheel software setups. The falling out between the two, and termination of the partnership, heavily impacted the programme as a whole for 2025\. It resulted in Lamborghini having to scramble to find a new partner, only partnering with Riley at the last minute. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## What's next for the SC63 and Lamborgini? The SC63 is still expected to compete in the final two endurance races of the 2025 IMSA calendar, Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. However, the long-term plan for the SC63 beyond that remains uncertain. Before this announcement, Lamborghini had planned to update the car and then transition to a customer-first model. This would see customers racing the car, much like in GT3, rather than direct factory involvement. After a disappointing 2025 in the IMSA Endurance Cup, this plan seems to have been shelved, at least for now. For now, Lamborghini’s motorsport future lies firmly in expanding and enhancing its GT3 customer racing footprint and continuing to build the global presence of the Super Trofeo one-make series. Though the SC63’s time at the top may be short-lived, the brand appears focused on recalibrating for more sustainable success on the racetrack. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### IMSA returns to Road America for final sprint race URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-returns-to-road-america-for-final-sprint-race/ Last updated: 2025-08-02T10:16:48.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rolls into one of its most iconic stops this weekend: Road America. Tucked into the lush, rolling hills of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this 4.048-mile circuit is turning 70 years old—but don’t let the age fool you. The old beast still bites. This weekend’s Motul SportsCar Grand Prix will be the last time, for the foreseeable future, that all four WeatherTech Championship classes will race together at Road America under the 2-hour, 40-minute format. Starting in 2026, this event grows into a six-hour enduro. **Why Road America Still Rules** Let’s be honest: there’s nothing quite like this track. It’s wide open. It’s fast. It’s got blind apexes and punishing elevation changes. It demands everything from a car and even more from the driver. Some of the fastest sports cars in the world will approach 180 mph not once, not twice, but *three times* per lap. From the sweeping Moraine Sweep to the no-lift bravery of The Kink, there’s nowhere to hide and no time to relax. Felipe Nasr compared the intensity to Spa. Louis Deletraz called it rewarding and relentless. And for fans, it’s heaven on earth. You’ve got world-class racing, legendary track food, and a location that feels more like a state park than a racetrack. If you're there in person, you're living right. ![The #45 WTR Lamborghini Huracan GT3](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/08/image.png) Can Wayne Taylor Racing repeat their win from Mosport? Image: Wayne Taylor Racing **Packed grid, tight quarters, high stakes** This year’s race has a massive entry list: 49 cars. All four classes—GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO, and GTD—will share the same 14-turn battlefield. With varying speeds and performance levels, traffic will shape the race more than any tire strategy ever could. Long straights help with passing, but with nearly 50 cars on track, someone is always in someone else's way. Green-flag pit stops could turn into demolition derbies on pit lane. The new “grasscrete” runoff at The Kink might offer a little forgiveness but it’ll still hurt if you go too far. Strategy won’t be optional; it’ll be everything. **Fuel games and the uphill climb to the finish** At Road America, energy management is just as critical as raw pace. The track’s long lap and uphill main straight punish poor fuel calculations. Unlike other venues where you can coast downhill into pit lane, here it’s a brutal climb out of the final corner. If your tank runs dry a few hundred yards short, you’re out. Full stop. Tom Blomqvist put it bluntly: 'It’s one where you need more energy to get to the line.' Crew chiefs and race engineers will be sweating over the telemetry the entire race. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. **Championships in flux** The title fights across every class are heating up. No leader is safe heading into this weekend. In GTP, the #6 Porsche Penske duo of Campbell and Jaminet leads by just 12 points over their teammates in the #7\. A small misstep or bad stint in traffic could flip that standing instantly. LMP2 is a dogfight. AO Racing’s “Spike” grabbed its first win at CTMP and jumped to second in the standings. But it’s a three-way fight with United Autosports and Riley Motorsports both firmly in striking distance. In GTD PRO, just 53 points separate the top three. Corvette, Porsche, and Ferrari are all gunning for glory and it’s anyone’s guess who gets it. And in GTD, Winward Racing’s Mercedes leads the Lexus of Vasser Sullivan by 93 points, but that cushion isn’t safe. Both cars have shown speed; consistency may decide this one. All signs point to a race that could be beautiful, brutal, and completely unpredictable. Buckle up. Road America is never just another stop on the tour. It’s a test. And this weekend, nearly 50 teams are about to find out whether they pass—or crash. Feature image: Meyer Shank Racing [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Mosport delivered chaos and breakthroughs in IMSA thriller URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/mosport-chaos-breakthroughs-imsa-2025-thriller/ Last updated: 2025-07-16T18:39:19.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The [IMSA SportsCar Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/imsa/) race at Mosport delivered a mix of unexpected results and hard-fought victories across multiple classes. Several teams overcame early setbacks or executed smart strategies to come out on top, while others celebrated important milestones after long waits. It was a weekend that showcased the unpredictable nature of sports car racing and the importance of teamwork, skill, and quick thinking. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## AO Racing’s breakthrough LMP2 win ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/image-5.png) Spike's drivers, Hyett and Cameron, took pole and the win at Mosport. Photo: AO Racing AO Racing finally achieved their first win in the IMSA LMP2 class. Their #99 ORECA, known as “Spike the Dragon,” showed strong pace all weekend. Dane Cameron delivered another standout performance, adding to his already impressive IMSA resume. With his aggressive yet controlled driving, Cameron expertly handled traffic and tire wear, making key passes when it counted. His co-driver PJ Hyatt complemented him perfectly, with consistent and clean stints, keeping the car in strong contention throughout the race. 'I woke up on the right side of bed this morning, I suppose,' said Hyett, who led his entire stint as the No. 99 AO Racing car led 97 of the 113 total laps. 'I absolutely love this racetrack and driving an LMP2 car around here. It’s such a phenomenal experience. [Rating and analysing each Hypercar team after 6h Sao PauloCadillac took a magnificent maiden WEC victory at Interlagos, but how did the other Hypercar teams get on?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-135.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0567--1--1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/rating-analysing-hypercar-teams-wec-6-hours-sao-paulo/) 'When you’re sort of in the zone, you’re in the zone. I was having the time of my life driving out there today. It was really fun. I’d say when you get it on the pole and don’t convert it to a win, it’s a tough lesson to learn. 'So, we’ve learned a lot of those lessons over the years, and to be able to pull away with a win today is sort of this magical moment for the team and everybody who works so hard. For the times we don’t get on the podium, it all makes it worthwhile. So, you have to savor these, that’s for sure.' With this result, Cameron and Hyatt moved to within 78 points of the LMP2 championship leader, Daniel Goldburg, setting up a tight battle with just three races left on the calendar. For Cameron, a fifth IMSA championship title is now well within reach. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## WTR’s remarkable GTD comeback ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/image-3.png) A maiden win for WTR in GTD. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing Wayne Taylor Racing’s GTD race was one of the weekend’s most unlikely stories. Their Lamborghini started the day with a setback, after contact from another GTD competitor caused a spin on the opening lap, dropping them far down the order. Most would have written them off after such an early incident. But the WTR team didn’t panic. They stuck to their fuel and tire strategy while making small adjustments to adapt to race conditions. They banked on a late caution, which came not once but twice inside the final 30 minutes of the race, helping them avoid the risk of running out of fuel during the closing stages. 'Started off to be a tough day, and the incident on lap 1 turned it into a strategy race for us,' explained Travis Houge, WTR vice president and general manager. 'The team put their head down and stayed focused to get the result at the end.' Drivers Trent Hindman and Danny Formal kept their composure and drove a strategic recovery, steadily moving through traffic and making precise overtakes without risking further incidents. [New Lamborghini Temerario GT3 unveiled at GoodwoodLamborghini has revealed its new GT3 challenger, the Temerario, at Goodwood, with the car making its debut at Sebring next year.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-136.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DJI_20250624222221_0032_D-copia-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/new-lamborghini-temerario-gt3-unveiled-goodwood/) Their efforts paid off as they ultimately took the win, marking Hindman and Formal’s first career IMSA SportsCar Championship victories. While both have enjoyed success in other IMSA series, this win was a significant milestone in their GTD campaign. 'I am very proud and excited for the whole team, our drivers, and our partners at DEX Imaging and Lamborghini,” said Wayne Taylor, team owner. 'This is a win that has been a long time coming and one we have been waiting for. The team’s execution was fantastic, and the grit and strategy called for show the passion that everyone in our team brings to this program. It is a great day!' ## DragonSpeed fuel strategy delivers victory ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/image-6.png) The DragonSpeed car stopped once less than its rivals, giving it the win. Image: DragonSpeed In the GTD Pro class, DragonSpeed pulled off a smart and disciplined fuel-saving strategy to claim victory. Despite being the slowest qualifier on Saturday, with drivers Giacomo Altoe and Alberto Costa at the wheel of the #81 Ferrari 296 GT3, they turned things around on race day. The team topped off their fuel tanks at the halfway point and avoided any late-race splash-and-go refueling stops, choosing instead to trust their strategy and the occurrence of a late caution. Their gamble paid off when two cautions came in the final 30 minutes, preventing them from running out of fuel and allowing them to maintain their lead without an extra pit stop. 'We woke up this morning and said, ‘We need to make a gamble.’ We were lucky for once,' said Alberto Costa. This marked Ferrari’s first GTD Pro win since last year’s Road America race, as well as DragonSpeed’s first win since Mid-Ohio in 2022\. The win came in the first season of a technical partnership between DragonSpeed and Risi Competizione, with Risi’s last IMSA win also coming at the 2023 Rolex 24 in GTD Pro. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## **Final thoughts** The Mosport race weekend was packed with memorable moments. AO Racing finally getting their first LMP2 win was a major highlight, propelled by Dane Cameron’s veteran skill and PJ Hyatt’s steady drive. Wayne Taylor Racing showed incredible resilience to bounce back from a lap one spin and take the GTD victory. Meanwhile, DragonSpeed’s patient fuel strategy delivered an unexpected GTD Pro win for the Ferrari team. Each of these wins was a first in SportsCar Championship competition for the respective teams in their classes this season. This race showed that in IMSA, winning takes more than speed—it requires strategy, consistency, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Rating and analysing each Hypercar team after 6 Hours of Sao Paulo URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/rating-analysing-hypercar-teams-wec-6-hours-sao-paulo/ Last updated: 2025-07-14T21:53:28.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) While the 2025 6 Hours of Sao Paulo may not have been a classic, it will be remembered for one thing: Cadillac's first win partnered with JOTa. The #12 Cadillac of Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato were in unbeatable form at Interlagos, taking the win at a canter despite an early penalty. And to top it off, the sister #38 car of Earl Bamber, Jenson Button and Sebastien Bourdais took second, completing by far Cadillac's best result in the FIA World Endurance Championship. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMD-NP7sW-J/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by Le Mans, WEC + IMSA news | Only Endurance (@onlyendurance)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMD-NP7sW-J/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) Let's go through every Hypercar team and see how they did. ### Alpine Endurance Team Car #35 Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, Paul-Loup Chatin Finishing position: 18th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.333 Fastest lap: 01:25.871 (Paul-Loup Chatin) Number of pit stops: 6 Car #36 Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon, Mick Schumacher Finishing position: 9th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.103 Fastest lap: 01:25.344 (Mick Schumacher) Number of pit stops: 5 Not the race Alpine were hoping for at Interlagos. While points for the #36 car was damage limitation, they still lost out compared to their championship rivals, especially BMW. That said, in terms of average pace, the #36 Alpine actually recorded the sixth best top 20% average lap time. The car also had the fourth-fastest lap time, in the hands of Mick Schumacher. Unfortunately, that promising pace didn't really convert into results for Alpine. The #35 was a little slower in both metrics, but was waylaid by a hybrid issue early on, with Ferdinand Habsburg behind the wheel at the time. This dropped them right down to the bottom of the field, and while the crew did manage to fix the car and get it back out on track, it became a glorified test session. **Rating: 5/10** ### BMW M Team WRT Car #15 Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello Finishing position: 17th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.481 Fastest lap: 01:26.087 (Kevin Magnussen) Number of pit stops: 5 Car #20 Marco Wittmann, René Rast, Sheldon Van Der Linde Finishing position: 5th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.214 Fastest lap: 01:25.726 (Sheldon Van Der Linde) Number of pit stops: 6 A decent race for one BMW, while the other was delayed with brake issues very early into the race. The #20 race well and finished 5th, in a race where BMW lacked the pace to properly challenge Cadillac and Porsche at the front. Wittmann, Rast and van der Linde qualified behind both Peugeots, but were able to use strategy and pace to come out top against both the French cars, passing the #94 car in the closing stages of the race. They did receive a penalty for full course yellow procedures, but this likely didn't affect their finishing position. ![#20 BMW at Interlagos, 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0325.webp) The #20 BMW was 'best of the rest' at Interlagos. Image: DPPI / WEC The #20 car had the seventh fastest top 20% average lap time, just under two tenths slower than the Peugeot it finished ahead of. This indicates that S. van der Linde may have been faster through traffic in the latter stages, giving him the edge over Loic Duval in the Peugeot. The #15 BMW had issues with the brakes early on, with Magnussen pitting the car on lap 6, from seventh. It did get back out, but was 19 laps down. With no safety cars this gap was impossible to close meaningfully, and like the #35 Alpine, the raced turned into a glorified test session. **Rating: 7/10** ### Aston Martin THOR Team Car #007 Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble Finishing position: 16th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.678 Fastest lap: 01:25.913 (Harry Tincknell) Number of pit stops: 5 Car #009 Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen Finishing position: 13th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.427 Fastest lap: 01:25.614 (Alex Riberas) Number of pit stops: 5 It's clear that Aston Martin are making genuine, tangible progress with the Valkyrie. The car is now getting Balance of Performance worked out from data generated by the car, whereas in the early races before Le Mans, it was harsher as the data did not exist. But that doesn't disguise the amount of learning the team have done. While points were possible at Interlagos, they didn't quite get there. But they were consistently in the mix on the fringes of the top 10. Both cars average lap times were faster than both Toyotas, as well as the factory #51 Ferrari and the delayed BMW. To add to that, the #009 had the eighth fastest lap of the race, a 1:25.614 from Alex Riberas. This kind of result would have been unthinkable even at Spa in May. Aston wanted more, though. Hear what Alex Riberas, of the #009 Valkyrie, said: > 'I think part of us is slightly disappointed with the end result just because we found ourselves fighting to be in Hyperpole and fighting to be in the top 10 throughout the entire weekend,' said Riberas after the race. > 'So we knew our pace was competitive here, and it's the first time really this year where we have been able to even consider dreaming of finishing in the top 10, so obviously that brings along some type of expectation.' Harry Tincknell, in the #007 sister car, believed there's still work to be done in understanding the tyres. > 'Tyre deg was the order of the day and I think we just got some stuff to improve on there. But you know, two cars to the finish with no issues was really good. > 'Others sort of didn’t have that, which was positive, and I think our pace at times was really strong. But I think sort of deep into the second stint is probably where we lost time to the leaders today, and that’s where we need to improve in the future.' **Rating: 8/10** ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Toyota Gazoo Racing Car #8 Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa Finishing position: 15th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.890 Fastest lap: 01:26.368 (Ryo Hirakawa) Number of pit stops: 5 Car #7 Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, Nyck De Vries Finishing position: 14th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.936 Fastest lap: 01:26.477 (Kamui Kobayashi) Number of pit stops: 5 What a shocking race for Toyota. 14th and 15th in a race they won at a canter last year is a very stark drop off, especially for a team of Toyota's calibre. Their average pace lap times were the two slowest across the entire field, and the only car they beat that hadn't been delayed in the pits was the #007 Aston Martin. Their fastest laps, too, were the slowest across the field. The thing is, we know the GR010 Hybrid is a good car. It's a race-winning, title-winning, Le Mans-winning car. It's not as bad as it's being made to look. The key may be that it's gentle on its tyres, which the current BoP formula tends to punish, as it takes the top 60% lap times to form an average. This means, because the lap times may not be experiencing huge drop off, it gets punished because of it. It will be interesting to see how the team bounces back at the next race in Austin, a race they narrowly lost to the satellite #83 AF Corse Ferrari last year. **Rating: 3/10** ![#7 Toyota at Interlagos, 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0579.webp) No doubt about it: A bad day for Toyota in Brazil. Image: DPPI / WEC ### Ferrari AF Corse Car #50 Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen Finishing position: 12th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.307 Fastest lap: 01:25.814 (Nicklas Nielsen) Number of pit stops: 6 Car #51 Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado Finishing position: 11th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.476 Fastest lap: 01:26.049 (Antonio Giovinazzi) Number of pit stops: 6 Car #83 Philip Hanson, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye Finishing position: 8th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.354 Fastest lap: 01:25.534 (Robert Kubica) Number of pit stops: 5 Ferrari knew they'd struggle at Interlagos – they said as much before Le Mans. [Analysis: Ferrari’s WEC dominance faces Interlagos testFerrari dominated the first half of the WEC season, taking 4 out of 4 wins, including Le Mans. But will they be as good at Interlagos and beyond?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-131.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003478_0073-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-wec-dominance-challenge-interlagos-2025-analysis/) But maybe they didn't think they'd struggle so much where they'd go pointless with both factory cars. The #83 didn't score much better, taking eighth. While the car doesn't score manufacturer points, those few points could be valuable in the drivers' championship, as Kubica, Ye and Hanson attempt to steal the crown off the factory cars. The #51 had the fourth slowest average lap, and also the fourth slowest fastest lap. They also got a penalty late on for an incident with Nico Varrone in the #99 Proton Porsche, where he and Pier Guidi came together as Varrone attempted to pass the Ferrari into turn 4. The #50 fared a little better than its sibling, 10th fastest on average and the 12th-fastest lap. But this is not a team or manufacturer at large that aspires to these results. The #83 was the best of the bunch for the second race in a row. Kubica set the car's fastest lap, a 1:25.534, just under half a second off the fastest, while the average lap time was around a second off. Interestingly the #83's average was a little slower than the #50's. Without Nicklas Nielsen's contact with a GT car, and the team subsequently being ordered to fix it, resulting in an unscheduled stop, could the Nielsen/Fuoco/Molina trio have scored points? Who knows. James Calado, from the #51 car, said after the race: > 'We knew this race would be tough for us, and today confirmed it. We struggled with top speed on the straights, and a few situations went against us — including the penalty we received at the end, which I honestly find hard to understand. > 'We leave Brazil not particularly happy, but we’re still leading the championship and we’ll keep doing our best to defend that position.' **Rating: 4/10** ### Proton Competition Car #99 Neel Jani, Nicolas Pino, Nicolas Varrone Finishing position: 10th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.276 Fastest lap: 01:25.526 (Nicolas Varrone) Number of pit stops: 5 Proton Competition generally aren't on the same level as the factory Porsches, but this was the best race of the season for the customer Porsche team. They scored their first world drivers' point of the year in 10th, with a strong race to finish ahead of cars that have typically beaten Proton in the past. Their average lap time wasn't miles off the pace either, just under three tenths off the #6 Porsche, and a fastest lap just over a tenth faster than the same car, thanks to Varrone. 'It was a great result for us today and I think we can be really proud of our performance,' said Varrone after the race. 'It was an excellent race and, although it was difficult with the tyres, we were really happy with the finish.' **Rating: 7/10** Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Peugeot Car #93 Mikkel Jensen, Paul Di Resta Finishing position: 7th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.302 Fastest lap: 01:25.691 (Mikkel Jensen) Number of pit stops: 5 Car #94 Loïc Duval, Malthe Jakobsen Finishing position: 6th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.018 Fastest lap: 01:25.520 (Loïc Duval) Number of pit stops: 5 By far Peugeot's best race of the year. Was Le Mans a blip? Peugeot had strong pace in Spa, marred by operational and strategic errors. Le Mans was disappointing for the team, by their own admission, but the pace here was real and genuine. The #94 car, generally the better-placed all race, finished sixth with the fifth-fastest average lap, and the fifth-fastest lap overall. In all three cases, the best LMH-rules Hypercar. It's not often we've said that about Peugeot. Duval did lose out late on to Sheldon van der Linde in the #20 BMW, something technical director Olivier Jansonnie was disappointed about, but don't let that take away from Peugeot's season-best performance. The #93 didn't fare quite as well, but still finished seventh, Peugeot's first double top-10 of the year. The 'new' 2024 9X8 is still a diva, but it seems the team are slowly learning more about it, understanding its quirks and getting it into what seems to be a small setup window. Combine that with a generous BoP – maximum power, minimum weight – and the performance is coming. [2024 Peugeot 9X8 ‘harder to extract performance’Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie told reporters at Spa how the team is struggling to extract the full performance from its 9X8 Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-132.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0005-3.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/) That said, though, COTA in Austin is a very different type of circuit, with high speed sweepers and long straights. The former may be a weakness for Peugeot, as it tends to suffer in scenarios where high downforce is required, while the latter may be a strength due to its low-drag design. It's also very bumpy as a result of the natural geography the track is built on, which is a known weakness for the 9X8 generation of cars. **Rating: 8/10** ### Porsche Penske Motorsport Car #6 Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor Finishing position: 4th Top 20% average lap time: 01:26.000 Fastest lap: 01:25.635 (Laurens Vanthoor) Number of pit stops: 5 Car #5 Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen Finishing position: 3rd Top 20% average lap time: 01:25.614 Fastest lap: 01:24.563 (Julien Andlauer) Number of pit stops: 5 An excellent race for Porsche, even without taking the win. The #5 car led the race for the first two hours, before the Cadillacs hit their stride and took over the lead. But even then, Andlauer and Christensen were almost faultless in third, staying consistent and out of trouble on the way to their first podium finish of the year. Plus, it was Andlauer's first podium finish in factory Porsche colours. The Frenchman almost overtake his countryman Sebastien Bourdais in the #38 Cadillac right at the end, but the veteran single seater and sportscar driver was able to fend off the Porsche. ![Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche leads Will Stevens and Earl Bamber in the two Cadillacs at Interlagos, 2025.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0614.webp) Andlauer took the lead on the first lap, but the Cadillacs soon hit their stride. Image: DPPI / WEC L. Vanthoor and Estre climbed from seventh on the grid in the #6 car, to fourth at the flag, never quite on the pace of their teammates, but clear of the other cars they were fighting against. The two Peugeots put up a stout challenge, but both were dispensed with, to give Estre and L. Vanthoor a comfortable fourth-place finish. As we've seen before, most recently at Le Mans, Porsche struggled when the temperatures were high, before the performance came back to them at the end of the race. **Rating: 9/10** ### Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA Car #38 Earl Bamber, Jenson Button, Sébastien Bourdais Finishing position: 2nd Top 20% average lap time: 01:25.722 Fastest lap: 01:25.088 (Jenson Button) Number of pit stops: 5 Car #12 Alex Lynn, Norman Nato, Will Stevens Finishing position: 1st Top 20% average lap time: 01:25.307 Fastest lap: 01:24.498 (Will Stevens) Number of pit stops: 6 What can we say about Cadillac and JOTA here? A few stats and facts may be a better way of looking at it. - The first win for Cadillac in WEC competition. - The first win for the Cadillac/JOTA partnership. - The first win for a Dallara-based LMDh car/chassis. - Alex Lynn's first WEC overall win. - Will Stevens second WEC overall win. - Norman Nato's third WEC overall win. - JOTA's second WEC overall win. - Before this race, Cadillac's best WEC result was third, in the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours. ![Alex Lynn, Will Stevens, Norman Nato on the Interlagos podium following their WEC win.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0799.webp) Alex Lynn is quite tall... Image: DPPI / WEC The #12 Cadillac of Nato, Lynn, and Stevens was imperious all weekend, the best car on the grid. The #38 wasn't far behind either, around four tenths on average, with a fastest lap just under a tenth slower than the team car, thanks to Button. The only real blip was the penalty for the #12 early on due to too-low tyre pressures, but the team were able to overcome this slight set back and take victory. The team were able to overcome their nemesis, excessive tyre degradation, keeping the rubber alive over a double stint, something the Cadillac V-Series.R has traditionally struggled with in both WEC and IMSA. [Cadillac’s Interlagos win hopes hang on ‘making tyres last’Cadillac took pole for the second consecutive time in WEC. But can they keep the car’s tyres alive and convert pole to a win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-133.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0217.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillac-interlagos-wec-pole-tyre-wear-threatens-victory/) In actuality, this may have helped the #12 in a roundabout way, because it meant they could use the undercut strategy. Here's what Bamber told [*Sportscar365*](https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/sao-paulo-post-race-notebook-2/?ref=ontheapex.com)*:* > 'I think their penalty with the tire pressures actually kind of helped them with the strategy because that was the undercut. Our car was actually going to do that strategy, so we swapped. But to honest, the 12 car was a bit of a step above us all weekend.' Finally, here's what Alex Lynn said after the race: > 'Honestly, this is now year number three of me racing this car and year number four of driving it. And, personally, it's a huge sense of satisfaction. You know, it's been a huge journey with Cadillac and to finally win a race of the WEC Championship is special. It's been a lot of hours driving the car and a lot of hours working on it and it means everything.' That about sums it up. **Rating: 9.9/10** *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Cadillac's Interlagos win hopes hang on 'making tyres last' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillac-interlagos-wec-pole-tyre-wear-threatens-victory/ Last updated: 2025-07-13T08:15:27.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Interlagos marked the [second consecutive pole](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/07/12/alex-lynn-fronts-cadillac-front-row-lock-out-at-interlagos/?ref=ontheapex.com) for Cadillac, factory team partner JOTA, and Alex Lynn, behind the wheel of the gold #12 machine. It was a magnificent lap, exactly a tenth faster than his teammate Sebastien Bourdais, in the #38 car, and over quarter of a second faster than Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMBPX7psMV8/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by Le Mans, WEC + IMSA news | Only Endurance (@onlyendurance)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMBPX7psMV8/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) Cadillac have been on pole once before this year, at Le Mans. While it was a magnificent lap from Alex Lynn on both occasions, in France and Brazil, at Le Mans the polesitting #12 Cadillac, in the hands of Will Stevens, was passed on the first lap by Andlauer. From then on Cadillac didn't have the pace of the front runners, although they still finished fourth and sixth. Cadillac and JOTA's aim will be, obviously, to prevent a repeat happening in Interlagos. But how? Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Cadillac focusing on preserving tyre life As Lynn told us at Le Mans, the Cadillac V-Series.R is good over a lap due to a pointy front end, or at least a car that's less prone to understeer, and therefore theoretically faster, than its rivals in qualifying. [Can Cadillac take first American Le Mans win since 1969?Taking pole at Le Mans is one thing, but winning the race is quite another. Can Cadillac fend off Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota and others to win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-130.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0044--1--1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/can-cadillac-first-american-le-mans-win-1969-wec-porsche-ferrari-toyota/) But in the race, this philosophy choice causes undue tyre wear due to excessive sliding from the rear end. This, combined with Cadillac's lack of top-end straight line speed at Le Mans – by just a few kilometres per hour, but it matters – put paid to their chances of a win last month. So, it's something the team have been focusing on in Brazil. 'I think honestly, the thing with our car is making sure we can do 6 hours with good race pace,' said Lynn after qualifying. 'We know we can do one lap really good, but it’s about making the tyres last and making sure we make the right strategy calls. 'Basically, make sure the tyres don’t degrade more than the others, and I think honestly that that’s the main thing we’ve been focusing on and the main thing we need to improve to make steps forward as a team.' ![Alex Lynn standing next to his #12 Cadillac, with his helmet on and his arms raised, celebrating his pole position at Interlagos](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0430.jpg) Lynn was delighted with his second consecutive WEC pole position. Image: DPPI / WEC Interlagos is known for the stress it puts on tyres, with the long, fast, banked final putting energy and therefore heat into the rubber. The lap then also features a slow speed second sector, which being relatively slow, doesn't allow tyres to cool down. The track was resurfaced last year, but the surface is still quite abrasive. This helps the cars with mechanical grip, but also causes higher tyre wear than a smoother surface would. ## Bourdais has 'difficult weekend' before quali On the other side of the Cadillac garage, Sebastien Bourdais had struggled a little in the #38 car before qualifying. 'Up until Hyperpole, we just had a really difficult weekend,' said the veteran Frenchman. 'It's just been a succession of little miscues that gave us a couple of wrong reads and I felt like it just kind of threw us a bit down the rabbit hole. 'A few more tweaks to the setup and it was OK in FP3\. So, you go in qualifying, and you have no real idea of what the car is. Plus, traffic was an absolute mess in that first bout of qualifying. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 'Thankfully, we made it to Hyperpole and now you have a better idea of where the car is at, what it’s doing. It just it worked a lot better for me. 'I still made a mistake and didn't really get that best lap, but you’re always kicking yourself a bit. Very happy for the team. Congrats to Alex and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.' Unfortunately for Bourdais, he lost second to Andlauer for [impeding](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results%5FNoticeBoard/13%5F2025/05%5F6%20Hours%20of%20Sao%20Paulo/032%5FDoc%2032%20-%20Decision%20no.%2014%20-%20Car%2038.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com) Peugeot's Paul di Resta in the initial qualifying session, dropping the #38 Cadillac to third. The #5 Porsche, then, will start on the front row alongside the pole-sitting #12 Cadillac. ## Top speed vs second sector pace Looking at the sector times, Bourdais was two hundredths up on Lynn in the first sector. He then lost 0.065 in the second sector, putting the deficit to Lynn at 0.045\. He then lost a further 0.055 in the third sector, to take the final deficit to Lynn up to exactly a tenth. This first sector from Bourdais, a 21.179, was the fastest of anyone through the session, 0.019 up on Sheldon van der Linde in the #20 BMW. Lynn was then fastest in the second sector, setting a 41.983, with Bourdais second. Lynn's second fastest lap was third quickest in sector 2, with the closest non-Cadillac belonging to Porsche's Andlauer. ![#5 Porsche of Julien Andlauer exiting the pit lane at Interlagos](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0366.jpg) Could Andlauer take Porsche's first WEC overall victory of the year at Interlagos? Image: DPPI / WEC The Frenchman was, though, 0.151 slower than Lynn's best in that sector. So, clearly the Cadillac is working well in the slow speed corners, where understeer can badly kill your lap time as it delays how fast you can get back on the throttle. Peugeot's Malthe Jakobsen was quickest in the third sector, which stretches from just before turn 12, the slow left hander, then onto the banked straight towards the finish line. The Dane was over a tenth and a half quicker in that sector than Lynn. To add to that, Cadillac's strength at Interlagos certainly isn't ultimate straight line speed. That crown belongs to Porsche. The speed trap sensor is on the main straight, just before turn 1\. In Hyperpole, the fastest speed was recorded by Porsche's Kevin Estre, in the #6 car, at 294.8kph. Cadillac's best was 288.6kph, from Sebastien Bourdais. We learnt from Le Mans that the Cadillac, maybe, generates a little more drag than the Porsche. This was why Cadillac complained about the car's 'raceability' – they were struggling to overtake, because while they were generating similar lap times, they didn't have the ultimate straight line speed required to make overtakes. It could be a similar story here at Interlagos, then. But, Interlagos has significantly more twists and turns than Le Mans over its 4.3km lap. If the Porsche is set up for straight line speed and the Cadillac is set up for being fast in the twistier sections requiring more downforce... it promotes an interesting battle between two very different cars. Whatever happens, it promises to be an interesting battle at Interlagos. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Interlagos practice analysis: Porsche on top, but it's close URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/interlagos-practice-analysis-porsche-on-top-but-its-close/ Last updated: 2025-07-12T09:23:29.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Judging by the long run pace from the opening practice sessions from Interlagos, host of the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, it's Porsche's time to shine in [WEC](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/) competition this year. The German manufacturer was top of the timesheets over a single lap in both [practice](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/05%5FSAO%20PAULO/613%5FFIA%20WEC/202507111117%5FFree%20Practice%201/03%5FClassification%5FFree%20Practice%201.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com) [sessions](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/05%5FSAO%20PAULO/613%5FFIA%20WEC/202507111545%5FFree%20Practice%202/03%5FClassification%5FFree%20Practice%202.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), and the long run data shows very little difference in this regard. Specifically, the #5 Porsche looks quickest, with Julien Andlauer setting the car's fastest long run in practice 1, and his teammate Michael Christensen in practice 2. Their average lap times were half a second apart in Christensen's favour, 01:26.362 vs 01:26.864, with Andlauer doing 12 laps and Christensen one less. But, it's very very close. In first practice there were 14 cars within a second a lap on average. That includes all eight manufacturers. The only four cars not in that group were the #009 Aston Martin, the #99 Proton Porsche, the #51 Ferrari, and the #15 BMW. The #94 Peugeot looked good in both sessions, surprisingly, after a disastrous Le Mans where they were by far the slowest car. Loic Duval set the car's fastest long run in both sessions, ending up second in practice 1 and third in practice 2\. He was slightly faster in practice 2, but not by much, with a 14-lap run in the former and 13 laps in the latter. Much like practice 1, the second session was similarly close. After being nowhere earlier, BMW improved to be second fastest on their long run in practice 2, with Kevin Magnussen in the #15 BMW just a couple of hundredths faster than Duval. There were 11 cars covered by a single second on average in FP2\. This once again covers all eight manufacturers. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Cadillac 'in the right window' In the Balance of Performance figures, we theorised Cadillac might be looking good at Interlagos, with a relatively low weight and decent power available to them. However, while they certainly weren't slow or off the pace, it's possible many were expecting more from the gold JOTA-run cars. ![The #38 Cadillac followed by two Aston Martin Valkyries at Interlagos, 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0326.jpg) Cadillac are 'in the window' but have homework to do. Image: DPPI / WEC 'I think in long run pace and short run pace we’re OK,' said Alex Lynn, of the #12 Cadillac. 'Qualifying is going to be very close. We have some homework to do tonight, but largely we’re in the right window. Looking forward to tomorrow and the race Sunday. 'I love this track and I’m really having a good time. The car is working well and that just makes our job a real pleasure.' [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Ferrari to be knocked off the top spot? Ferrari have won four races on the trot this year, amounting to every WEC race held in 2025\. That includes Le Mans, which they took victory at despite a near-perfect race for the #6 Porsche. [Why Porsche’s ‘perfect’ race didn’t win Le Mans 2025The #6 Porsche had a near-perfect run at Le Mans. So why did Ferrari still win? We break down the strategy, pace, and data.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-128.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061504263071980ND-5.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-porsche-vs-ferrari-kubica-analysis/) But, as we wrote earlier this week, Interlagos is not one of Ferrari's strongest tracks. It features many low speed corners, including a highly technical, twisty sector 2, which doesn't play to the 499P's strengths. As such, it's not too surprising to see Ferrari in the midfield here. Their overall fastest long run, from each of the three Ferraris, was a 01:26.792 on average, a 16-lap stint with Nicklas Nielsen at the wheel of the #50 car. That was set in practice 2, around four tenths off Christensen in the #5 Porsche. [Analysis: Ferrari’s WEC dominance faces Interlagos testFerrari dominated the first half of the WEC season, taking 4 out of 4 wins, including Le Mans. But will they be as good at Interlagos and beyond?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-129.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003478_0073.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-wec-dominance-challenge-interlagos-2025-analysis/) The yellow #83 machine, the 'satellite' Ferrari, a thinly-veiled factory car, placed third on average in practice 1, with Robert Kubica at the wheel of the Le Mans-winning car. The Pole set a 01:27.035 on average over nine laps, much faster than Nielsen or Antonio Giovinazzi in the same session. That said, the latter two set much longer stints, 15 laps for Nielsen and 17 for Giovinazzi, who recently [re-signed with Ferrari](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/07/08/antonio-giovinazzi-renews-ferrari-hypercar-seat-with-multi-year-contract/?ref=ontheapex.com) with a new multi-year contract. ## Aston Martin 'hopefully fighting for top 10' Maybe, just maybe, Aston Martin are getting there with the Valkyrie. Harry Tincknell, in the #007 car, took a top 5 in the single lap results in practice 2 – Aston's first ever top 5 finishing result in Hypercar with the Valkyrie. This is backed up by taking sixth fastest on average in the same session, although it was teammate Tom Gamble who did the car's 16 lap stint, with a 01:27.044 on average for the Briton. ![The #007 Aston Martin at Interlagos, with the paddock building in the background](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003553_0307.jpg) Could Aston Martin spring a surprise at Interlagos? Image: DPPI / WEC 'Session 1 was a lot about learning, getting our heads around the car in the first session,' said Gamble after second practice. 'Engineers did a great job in changing the stuff we needed to for session 2\. Obviously both cars I think in the top 10 \[in practice 2\] was mega and puts us in good stead for tomorrow. 'I think we know what we need to improve on the car heading into tomorrow, and hopefully coming into the race we can be fighting for that top 10\. That's probably the best start to a weekend we've had all year, so, yeah, very, very positive and great job by all the team.' Interlagos is known for its bumps and uneven surface, despite being resurfaced last year. What did Gamble think of it, with his first ever visit to Interlagos, let alone the first time the Valkyrie will race at the historic track? 'Quite a bumpy circuit to be honest,' he said. 'They resurfaced it last year, and it's still quite bumpy, quite busy, not a lot of breaks. Compared to Le Mans where we had so many long straights, and here the tyres especially never really get a rest, so trying to manage them in the race is going to be key, I think, to having good performance.' ## Putting the data together So, if we group this together into a graph, where does it put us? Porsche are clearly fastest, but BMW and Peugeot (!) are not far behind. Ferrari, too, are there or thereabouts, as are Aston Martin as they continue to find pace in the Valkyrie. The strange one for me here is Toyota. They are last year's winners at Interlagos and know this track well from racing here in 2012-2014\. To see them sixth fastest on average when looking at the practice data is hugely surprising. But, we know Toyota tend to come good in the race. Qualifying, though, may be tricky for them. They've often struggled this year for one lap pace – Le Mans is a prime example – and it sets them back in the race, even when they have good race pace. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) Cadillac and Alpine will be doing their homework tonight to find some pace, but even then both aren't miles off. They're both less than a second on average off Porsche, in a weekend of small margins and big games should you find something which unlocks pace. Proton, as we've maybe come to expect, are last and quite a way off the pace as the team continue to endure a tough season. *Feature image: Juergen Tap / Porsche* ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### New Lamborghini Temerario GT3 unveiled at Goodwood URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/new-lamborghini-temerario-gt3-unveiled-goodwood/ Last updated: 2025-07-11T14:50:36.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Lamborghini has unveiled its new-for-2026 GT3 car, the Temerario, which will debut around the world starting at Sebring next year. The car will replace the Huracan, which has been racing since 2015 and recently took it's biggest win in that decade, victory at Spa 24 Hours last month. It was Lamborghini's first ever 24 hour race victory. [Lamborghini’s Spa 24H win is Huracan’s glorious swansongAfter almost a decade in racing, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 hadn’t achieved a milestone 24 hour race win. Until this year’s Spa 24 Hours.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-127.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/664454.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-spa-24-hours-win-huracan-glorious-swansong/) The new car will be powered by a 4-litre V8 twin-turbo engine, derived from the Temerario road car. Lamborghini has re-engineered this to feature forced induction, and has also re-designed the turbochargers to comply with the GT3 regulations. The hybrid components and capability of the road car have also been removed, as GT3 regulations do not include hybrids at present. The car will produce 550 horsepower, compared to the road car producing 800hp. The bodywork on the car has also been engineered for quick disassembly or re-assembly in race scenarios, in order to reduce the time spent in the pitlane. The Temerario is also longer than the Huracan, with wider track front and rear. The aim of this change is to improve the car's stability while cornering. As GT3s are, essentially, cars made for amateur drivers and not professionals, stability, balance, and driveability are of utmost importance. 'The Temerario GT3 has been designed with the end user in mind,' said Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini's chief technical officer. 'Everything has been considered, from the efficiency of the aerodynamics to the power curve to the way in which the team is able to operate the car. 'The car operates in a slightly different area of the performance windows, that are used to balance the cars of different configuration, compared to its predecessor. 'We are confident that it will be competitive in terms of lap time, while also rewarding to drive in a wide range of conditions, including at night and in the rain. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 'The development team has worked hard to ensure the car has a wide operating window, and that the teams are better able to work on it.' The Temerario is the first car to be designed entirely in Lamborghini's new Sant'Agata factory near Bologna, Italy. The car was designed with motorsport from the outset, which, Lamborghini says, has allowed for "strategic integration of race-oriented engineering from the earliest design stages." The Lamborghini Temerario GT3 will debut at IMSA Sportscar Championship's Sebring 12 Hours in March. The Italian manufacturer is also committed to supporting customers who will continue to race the Huracan GT3 EVO2. See below for a selection of images of the new car. All images credit Lamborghini. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC01655-copia-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC01730-copia-4.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC01827-copia-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC01843-copia-4.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC01854-copia-3.jpg) [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC02698-copia-CONTRASTATA-copia.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC02712-copia-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC02714-copia-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DSC02731-copia-3.jpg) [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### 6 things to follow as LMP2 headlines IMSA at Mosport URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/six-things-lmp2-headlines-imsa-mosport-ctmp/ Last updated: 2025-07-10T19:38:13.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) LMP2 takes centre stage as the lead class at ~~Canadian Tire Motorsport Park~~ Mosport, headlining a 35-car, three-class grid in this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. The LMP2 field features 12 entries and will be joined by 10 GTD Pro cars, and 13 in GTD. This marks the first sprint race of the season for LMP2, and it brings with it a wave of lineup changes. Half the LMP2 entries will feature updated driver pairings, including several notable substitutions from the top-tier GTP class. With Bronze-rated drivers required to qualify, Saturday’s session will see these drivers fighting for overall pole. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## **2024 winners** **LMP2:** Tom Dillmann/Nick Boulle, #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson **GTD PRO:** Antonio Garcia/Alexander Sims, #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R **GTD:** Roman De Angelis/Spencer Pumpelly, #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo ## Three intriguing storylines With no GTP at Mosport, it's time for the LMP2 teams and drivers to shine at the front of the field. Plus, the two GTD fields will get more screen time. ### Three tight title fights The championship battles remain razor-thin across all three classes heading into CTMP. In GTD Pro, just 52 points separate the top two driver pairings, with a 60-point gap in GTD and 94 points in LMP2\. With more than 10 entries per class and over 100 points up for grabs between first and last, the standings could see major shakeups by the end of the weekend. ![A train of GTD cars, led by the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, at Watkins Glen in 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/image.png) Could Vasser Sullivan pose a threat at Mosport? Image: Vasser Sullivan Racing ### LMP2 spotlight With 12 entries, the LMP2 field takes center stage at CTMP, offering Bronze-rated drivers a rare shot at an overall win. It’s a unique opportunity to showcase talent at the front of the pack. Last year, Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports used their win at this event as a key turning point on the road to the championship. Adding to the intrigue, JDC-Miller, usually racing the yellow Porsche 963 in GTP, returns to the LMP2 grid for the first time this season, fielding Gerry Kraut and Scott Andrews in a one-off appearance. ### Manufacturer win tally Aston Martin and BMW broke through with their first SportsCar Championship wins of 2025 at Watkins Glen, adding their names to a growing list of successful brands this season. They join Acura, Chevrolet, Ford, Mercedes-AMG, and Porsche, bringing the total to seven manufacturers with victories in the top series. When including results from the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, and one-make series, 14 of IMSA’s 18 affiliated automotive brands have taken victory at least once this year. ## Three to watch out for ![The two yellow Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R cars at Watkins Glen in bright sunshine, 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/image-2.png) The #3 Corvette leads the GTD Pro points standings after Watkins Glen. Image: Pratt Miller Motorsports ### **#3 Corvette by Pratt Miller Motorsports** The new points leaders in GTD Pro, Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims, have been models of consistency in 2025 with four podiums in five starts – including a streak of three straight. Despite the strong form, a win has eluded them so far this season. They’ll be looking to change that this weekend at CTMP, a track where they stood atop the podium just one year ago. ### Roman De Angelis A proven winner at CTMP, De Angelis is one of just four drivers in the field with multiple victories at the track. He’s taken two of the last three GTD wins here and returns for a one-off appearance in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. He’ll share the car with rising star Casper Stevenson, who’s riding high after scoring his first IMSA win at Watkins Glen. This pairing could be a serious threat in GTD this weekend. And, even better: this is his home race. A perfect storm for the Canadian. ### PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports In the LMP2 class, PR1/Mathiasen stands out as the only team with multiple wins at CTMP—a solo victory in 2019 and last year’s overall LMP2 win, partnered with Inter Europol. While fellow LMP2 competitor Riley Motorsports has three CTMP wins to its name, none have come in the LMP2 category itself. The car, the #52 Oreca 07, will have bronze-rated Rodrigo Sales at the wheel alongside veteran Mathias Beche. Beche in particular is a weapon in an LMP2\. The duo, partnered with Clem Novalak and racing under the TDS Racing banner, finished fifth in LMP2 at Le Mans and second in the pro/am subclass, highlighting their genuine pace. They could be a contender at Mosport. *Feature image: Inter Europol* ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Analysis: Ferrari dominated WEC's first half, but Interlagos will test their weakness URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-wec-dominance-challenge-interlagos-2025-analysis/ Last updated: 2025-07-09T13:53:13.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Ferrari may not be as strong in the second half of the 2025 [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/), due to the tracks not playing to the 499P's strengths, team management told *Only Endurance* earlier in the season. Speaking at Spa-Francorchamps prior to the 6 Hours of Spa, the third round of the season, Mauro Barbieri, Ferrari's endurance race cars performance manager, told *Only Endurance,* 'I'm waiting for the second half of the season, because especially last year, \[that\] is where we suffered the most. I'm thinking about Fuji and Sao Paulo mainly while in COTA \[Circuit of The Americas\], we were okay.' Ferrari dominated the first half of the 2025 WEC season, winning all four races, including Le Mans last month, fighting Porsche for the win. [Why Porsche’s ‘perfect’ race didn’t win Le Mans 2025The #6 Porsche had a near-perfect run at Le Mans. So why did Ferrari still win? We break down the strategy, pace, and data.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-121.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061504263071980ND-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-porsche-vs-ferrari-kubica-analysis/) But, while these tracks suited the 499P's strengths and characteristics, the second half of the season may not play into Ferrari's hands as much, according to Barbieri. 'I would say that medium high speed sections seem to be our strength, compared to the main competitors. We tend to suffer more in the low speed corners, the tighter ones. 'And so I would say that's the main reason why our car has always been good here \[Spa\]. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) 'But as we said before, I think race after race, we've improved, understood better our car and the tyres. And I think this season we look quite strong, let's say everywhere or pretty much in every condition.' Analysis from Le Mans largely backs up Barbieri's words. According to [data](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/04%5FLE%20MANS/00%5FEvent%20Info/Circuit%20Map.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com) from WEC's official timing provide, Al-Kamel, the three Ferraris are weakest in slow-speed corners compared to their competition. This includes corners such as Mulsanne, Dunlop Curve, and the Ford Chicanes at the end of the lap. ![The #50 Ferrari approaching Mulsanne corner at Le Mans 2025, in daylight, head on point of view](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0241.jpg) Slow corners like Mulsanne at Le Mans are not one of the 499P's strengths. Image: DPPI / WEC On the other hand, the Ferraris are strongest in the medium and high speed corners, as Barbieri asserted — Forest Esses, Tertre Rouge, Porsche Curves. Indeed, Ferrari's results from Interlagos and Fuji last year *were* some of the weakest of the year. While Toyota won at [Interlagos](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/13%5F2024/05%5FSAO%20PAULO/552%5FFIA%20WEC/202407141130%5FRace/Hour%206/03%5FClassification%5FRace%5FHour%206.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), Ferrari's factory cars, the #50 and #51, finished fifth and sixth in Brazil. The 'customer' #83 car finished 11th. [INTERLAGOS ANALYSIS: The Toyota-Porsche-Ferrari hierarchy continuesNothing else, Only Endurance![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-122.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Sao-Paulo-2024--5-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/interlagos-wec-2024-analysis-toyota-ferrari-porsche/) Meanwhile, at [Fuji](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/13%5F2024/07%5FFUJI%20SPEEDWAY/559%5FFIA%20WEC/202409151100%5FRace/Hour%206/03%5FClassification%5FRace%5FHour%206.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), Ferrari suffered probably the worst result of the year, finishing ninth, 12th, and a retirement respectively. The Fuji circuit is made up of lots of low speed corners, which as we've learnt from Barbieri, the 499P struggles with. It also lacks high speed corners. Interlagos is a little better in this regard, but still has a number of low speed corners, including a technical, twisty second sector — not somewhere the 499P excels. [FUJI ANALYSIS: A race of two halvesFuji hosted an action-packed race, with a bit of everything.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-123.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Press-6-Hours-of-Fuji-2024.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/fuji-analysis-wec-toyota-porsche-cadillac-ferrari/) ## Balance of Performance: Ferrari pegged back Ferrari's case isn't helped by the new [Balance of Performance](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/balance-of-performance/) figures knocking them back. The 499P will run at 1069kg, the same as the Toyota GR010, for the Brazilian race, the heaviest the car has run at since Qatar last year, when it ran 6kg heavier. This is also 9kg heavier than at Interlagos last year, when it was again the joint-heaviest car, alongside the GR010. They'll also run with 23kW less than last year – 480kW compared to 503kW. In horsepower terms, that's around 30hp less. [Interlagos BoP: Crunching the power and weightThe Interlagos Balance of Performance sees Ferrari lose out in both power and weight. We crunch the numbers to see who comes out best.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-126.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0475.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/interlagos-wec-bop-crunching-power-weight-figures/) Hypercars are heavy cars even at the minimum regulatory weight of 1030kg, well over 100kg heavier than the hybrid LMP1 cars of the mid-2010s. This causes chronic understeer with front-limited grip. This is exacerbated further when more weight is added – especially 39kg. The issue becomes worse in slow-speed corners, with the cars sluggish to turn in as over a ton of weight needs to change direction. ![The #51 Ferrari 499P at Interlagos in 2024](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0447.jpg) Ferrari finished fifth and sixth at Interlagos last year. Image: WEC / DPPI Paddock rumours say Ferrari's success this year has been partially down to finding a solution to eradicate this understeer, making the car more pointy and rear-limited, and in theory faster. But maybe even Ferrari's strength in this area won't be enough to overcome a much heavier car than many of their rivals will have, plus much lower power. That said, another of Ferrari's strengths, as Barbieri said, has been improving the tyre deg and the rate at which tyres degrade over a stint. This wasn't such a problem at Le Mans, where deg is relatively low. But it may come into play at Interlagos, where the long banked section and abrasive surface compared to some other tracks contribute to higher wear. The track is also notorious for its low-grip nature, causing the cars slide around more laterally. This is something race car tyres do not like, as it puts forces and stress on them in ways they weren't designed for. While the Cadillac V-Series.R will be 29kg lighter at Interlagos, it's also known to burn through tyres faster than its competitors. Could this be where Ferrari gains an advantage, by staying relatively consistent through stints, while rivals fade due to higher degradation? We'll have to see. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Molina: 'Few overtaking opportunities' Interlagos is the shortest track on the WEC calendar, with 15 corners packed into 4.3 kilometres. It only features two real, consistent overtaking opportunities: turn 1, into the Senna S, and turn 4, the downhill left hander immediately after the straight which follows the Senna S. The second sector is tight and twisty, and the third sector is similar, with a slow speed left hander, Junção, turn 12, leading back onto the main straight. 'This circuit has a unique layout within the FIA WEC calendar: the track is short and characterised in particular by the low-speed corners in the second and third sectors, where effective traffic management is crucial,' says Ferrari's Miguel Molina, of the #50 Ferrari alongside Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen. 'To do well at São Paulo, it’s also crucial to make the most of the few overtaking opportunities.' Ferrari have produced a video of Molina narrating a lap of the track in a 499P, taken during last year's race. Check it out on [Ferrari's website](https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/hypercar/articles/499ps-in-sao-paulo-molina-breaks-down-the-brazilian-circuit?ref=ontheapex.com). We'll be back with analysis from free practice, qualifying, and the race later in the week. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Interlagos BoP: Crunching the power and weight numbers URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/interlagos-wec-bop-crunching-power-weight-figures/ Last updated: 2025-07-08T13:47:05.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) With Ferrari winning all four races this year and arguably becoming 'the team to beat' over former holders of that title, Toyota, they've got a target on their back in the [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/). It's no surprise, then, that they've been heavily pegged back for the next round in Brazil, the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, at Interlagos in Brazil. ## Weight Ferrari now have the joint-heaviest car, along with Toyota, at 1069kg. This is 11kg heavier than the BMW, at 1058kg. The Porsche 963, which struggled in the first three rounds of the year but came good at Le Mans and was tantalisingly close to winning, beating both factory Ferraris but coming up short against the 'customer' #83 car, will be on 1053kg, 12kg heavier than at Le Mans but 2kg lighter compared to Spa. [Why Porsche’s ‘perfect’ race didn’t win Le Mans 2025The #6 Porsche had a near-perfect run at Le Mans. So why did Ferrari still win? We break down the strategy, pace, and data.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-125.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061504263071980ND-4.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-porsche-vs-ferrari-kubica-analysis/) The Alpine will be 2kg lighter than the Porsche, on 1051kg, while Cadillac sees a weight increase of 3kg compared to Le Mans, on 1040kg. Both Peugeot and Aston Martin will be on 1030kg, the lightest the cars can go as per the Hypercar regulations. This is the same weight as at Le Mans for the Aston, but 5kg lighter compared to Spa, while the Peugeot saw a weight increase at Le Mans, of 9kg, but now returns to its pre-Le Mans weight. ## Power (before 250kph) Along with its high weight, the Ferrari 499P now has the lowest pre-250kph power of any car on the grid, at 480kW. Toyota's only 5kW higher, down massively from Le Mans but actually up compared to Spa. Porsche are 16kW higher than Toyota on 501kW, with BMW on 505kW, Alpine on 512kW, and Cadillac on 516kW. Peugeot and Aston Martin are both on 520kW, with Aston having been on 520kW since Spa. Peugeot's power dropped significantly for Le Mans, but otherwise has been on 520kW all season. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Power (after 250kph) Once again, the table in part reverses itself when the post 250kph power figures are applied. Whereas before the changes were applied, Toyota and Ferrari had the lowest pre-250kph power, once they hit that speed, Toyota will have almost the best, just slightly below Aston Martin. Ferrari, meanwhile, will have the third best. Cadillac have probably got the best deal here – they've got the third highest power before 250kph, and the third highest after, just slightly below Ferrari. Combine that with low weight... Porsche will sit on 503kW after 250kph, with Peugeot next then Alpine the lowest on 483.8kW. However, there's only two places the teams can really use this at Interlagos - the banked last corner and main straight before turn 1, and the run to turn 4 out of the Senna S. ## Energy per stint Ferrari's stint energy continues to drop, as it has for most of the season, along with Alpine's. Ferrari will have 893MJ to use over a stint, while Alpine will have 1MJ less. Aston Martin will have by far the most, on 919MJ. Porsche, Cadillac and Toyota have very similar figures, 905MJ to 903MJ, while Peugeot will have897MJ to use over a stint. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Power-to-weight ratios OK, so the interesting bit. Cadillac look to be in the pound seat here, with high power-to-weight in both scenarios, pre-250kph and post. Ferrari may struggle for pace at Interlagos. They've got low PTW in both scenarios, and a heavy car is a big disadvantage at Interlagos. As the track has multiple slow speed corners, especially in the second sector, you want a nimble car that doesn't understeer. With Ferrari's high weight that might be tricky. We'll have another article out soon assessing their chances in Brazil. However, Cadillac's downfall might be tyre wear. While the V-Series.R can be fast over a lap, as we saw at Le Mans with Alex Lynn's magnificent pole, the car chews through tyres faster than its rivals. And, at Interlagos, tyre deg can be high anyway, traditionally quite high, especially on the new-for-last-year surface. Our prediction? Cadillac qualify well but fall off during a stint. Toyota did well here last year, but this was partially because they had data from when they raced at Interlagos in WEC from 2012-2014, whereas other teams did not. That's not to say Toyota *won't* do well here. The GR010 Hybrid is a great car that gets pegged back by BoP. Don't be too surprised to see them run up front. But we could also see Porsche do well here, as well as Alpine and BMW, both of whom have been improving a lot this year despite mediocre at best performances at Le Mans. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Makowiecki: Alpine A424 'easier' to drive than Porsche 963 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/makowiecki-wec-alpine-a424-vs-porsche-963/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T09:30:53.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Fréd Makowiecki is one of sportscar racing's veteran drivers. He raced for Porsche as a factory driver for over a decade, but this year made a [big switch to Alpine](https://media.alpinecars.com/alpine-announces-its-driver-line-up-for-the-2025-fia-wec-season/?ref=ontheapex.com) for the [FIA World Endurance Championship](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/fia-wec/). *Only Endurance* recently spoke to Makowiecki, about how he's adapted to the Alpine A424 compared to the Porsche 963, which he was a key part of developing right from the outset. 'In terms of driving style, the car is slightly different for sure,' said the 44-year-old. [Why Porsche’s ‘perfect’ race didn’t win Le Mans 2025The #6 Porsche had a near-perfect run at Le Mans. So why did Ferrari still win? We break down the strategy, pace, and data.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-118.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061504263071980ND-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-porsche-vs-ferrari-kubica-analysis/) 'But in I would say in an easier way, because at the end the car is moulding to the driver. 'The Porsche is a great car, but quite specific to drive. 'If you really want to be fast \[in the Porsche\] you really need to, I would say, to drive in a certain way, where the car is sliding quite a lot, but not too much,' he continued. 'This car \[the Alpine\] is more, I would say classic, in a certain way more linked to the vehicle dynamics. Quite easy for a driver to understand because it's something we drove all our career, where it was not hybrid. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) 'That's why this is quite nice. The engineer on that aspect made a very good job, and it's something which I like because also the cars are very good front. 'I'm the kind of driver, I need to feel the front limit, because I'm not a big fan of understeer. 'I need to have a sharp front to be capable to bring the car into the corner as I want, and definitely \[in\] the Alpine is the strength of the car. 'That's why I got lucky to come here and don't get a car, which is not fitting at all to my driving side.' [Ranking every Hypercar team’s performance at Le Mans 2025We rank and analyze every Hypercar team’s Le Mans 2025 performance, from struggling Peugeot to winning Ferrari.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-117.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0085-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-hypercar-team-rankings/) However, because Makowiecki was the first driver to sample the Porsche 963 in the simulator, in early 2021, he said he'd adapted to it naturally over time. However, 'when you jump in the car sometimes, it can not be easy in the Porsche', he concluded. Makowiecki's results in the [Alpine](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/alpine/) speak for themselves. The Frenchman, alongside his teammates Mick Schumacher and fellow countryman Jules Gounon in the #36 Alpine, has recorded two podiums in four races in this year's WEC championship, at Imola and Spa. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0610.webp) Makowiecki and his Alpine teammates have taken two podiums this year. Image: DPPI / WEC In addition, they led at Spa on pace while fighting with Ferrari for victory. While the race didn't go their way, taking third by just under a second from the #50 Ferrari crew and just 5.1 seconds behind the winning #51 Ferrari, it was a confident display from the Alpine trio that signals more is to come. [Le Mans](https://www.ontheapex.com/tag/le-mans/) didn't fall Alpine's way performance-wise, with the #36 trio finishing 10th, three laps down on the winning #83 Ferrari. The sister #35 Alpine crew fared only a little better, finishing ninth. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Comparing Makowiecki to his teammates If we look at how Makowiecki's comparing to his teammates in the first four races of the year, we can see he's right up there. We've taken the top 20% average lap times for each of the six Alpine drivers, then calculated the percentage difference each was off the fastest in each race of this year. As you can see, Paul-Loup Chatin was the fastest Alpine driver on average at Losail. Mick Schumacher has been the fastest at the following three rounds. Makowiecki, meanwhile, was fifth fastest his first race with Alpine at Losail in Qatar, 0.546% slower than Chatin. He then cut this deficit in half at Imola, just 0.2% slower, before slipping back to being 0.434% off at Spa. At Le Mans, he was the second quickest Alpine driver, 0.381% off Schumacher and just 0.012% faster than Chatin. On average, Makowiecki was 0.390% off the fastest driver, Chatin or Schumacher, over the course of the year. This puts him third behind those two, and ahead of Gounon, Milesi and Habsburg. Heading into the second half of the season, starting with the 6 Hours of São Paulo this coming weekend, it will be interesting to see if Alpine and Makowiecki can recover their podium form from earlier in the year. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC / Alpine* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Analysis: Should WEC replace Balance of Performance with a cost cap? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-balance-of-performance-replace-cost-cap-analysis/ Last updated: 2025-07-04T10:40:52.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Drivers and team management in the FIA World Endurance Championship aren't allowed to talk about Balance of Performance (BoP), as per the [regulations](https://www.fia.com/regulation/category/118?ref=ontheapex.com). But media are. And let's face it: it's not really worked out the way we'd have liked this year. So, let's talk about it! Ferrari have won all four races with the imperious 499P. While the 499P excellent car and deserves all four victories, the Hypercar class was designed around BoP regulations, which aren't working as intended to equalise the field. [Ranking every Hypercar team’s performance at Le Mans 2025We rank and analyze every Hypercar team’s Le Mans 2025 performance, from struggling Peugeot to winning Ferrari.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-115.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0085.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-hypercar-team-rankings/) ## What is BoP meant to do? A quick refresher on BoP. What is the WEC Hypercar formula and what is it meant to do? BoP is intended to equal out a car's performance over a race. This is achieved by the series in question setting a car's weight, power and energy per stint, to equalise out performance. The formula and methodology WEC uses changed this year. Instead of aiming to put the cars into a performance window of around 0.4%, the idea this year is to aim for 100% convergence of lap times. That means, in theory, every car should be able to set the same lap times. ![#6 Porsche 963 on Imola main straight, ahead of Cadillac V-Series.R, the sister #5 Porsche 963, and a Ferrari 499P](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0400.jpg) Porsche struggled with the new BoP formula early this year. Image: DPPI / WEC Last year, BoP was calculated using a car's 20% best lap times. However, this year, in order to remove factors like traffic or tyre degradation, the calculation uses each car's 10 absolute best lap times and top 60% of lap times, to create an average. They take these from the previous three races (not counting Le Mans, which doesn't use this methodology or formula) and tweak the power and weight so each car, in theory, can set the same lap times. However, that phrase, "in theory" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. ## Quick look at some data We love diving into the data on *Only Endurance*, so let's have a quick look at how the BoP's been doing at the first three races of the year. This excludes Le Mans because it uses a different methodology/formula. These graphs take the BoP methodology, calculating an average for both the best 10% of lap times, plus an average for the best 60% of lap times, and then averages those out to find a single value. We've taken each team's best average for each car. Also included is the customer AF Corse and Proton cars as separate entries. As we can see, at all three races, Ferrari are the quickest. The AF Corse "customer" car was second quickest at Losail and Imola, but at Spa they dropped down into the midfield. Ferrari's main opponent differs a bit amongst the three races. BMW were right behind at Losail and Imola, but dropped a bit at Spa. Alpine have jumped forwards each race, while Peugeot went forward at Spa. Porsche, typically, were in the lower half of the field at each race. That said, they performed well at Le Mans. Cadillac dropped to almost last at Imola, with the team saying the circuit simply doesn't play to the V-Series.R's strengths. Aston Martin were at the back pace wise for all three, but have been learning huge amounts this year as they race in both WEC and IMSA. This culminated in scoring their first points with the Valkyrie at Le Mans. ![The #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie entering Porsche Curves at Le Mans 2025, in daylight](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0117-1.webp) The #009 Valkyrie scored Aston Martin's first WEC Hypercar points at Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC ## What's the problem with BoP? Toto Wolff, the Mercedes F1 chief, was recently reported by [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-20/mercedes-f1-boss-toto-wolff-won-t-enter-le-mans-until-it-s-pure-racing?ref=ontheapex.com) as saying Mercedes wouldn't join the Hypercar class due to BoP. > 'At Mercedes, we are racing people. We don’t like BoPs - we don’t like Balance of Performance. We don’t like somebody assessing your power, your energy consumption, your weight, your driver skill... > 'I don’t want that. I just want to build the quickest car.' Okay, so what would inspire Wolff and Mercedes to enter? > 'Give us a cost cap. You cannot spend more than, 30-40 million. And within this 30-40 million, you can do what you want. I mean, there are still regulations. > 'If that were to happen, then Le Mans would absolutely be something we would look at. But at the moment, with BoP - having some officials judge whether you’re too quick, adding 10kg to your car or taking it out of someone else’s the next day - that’s not for us at the moment.' Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) BoP has been used in GT3 racing, in the Blancpain Series, now called GT World Challenge Europe, to great effect for well over a decade. The thing is, this is a customer series, or at least it's supposed to be. If a customer team is racing a manufacturer's equipment on their own backs, BoP works because its the customer team who loses. Not a manufacturer. But in WEC, the 'teams' are manufacturers. And if a manufacturer gets power taken away, or weight added, while their competition sees the opposite, the whole thing starts to fall apart. At that point, they may be feel they're being punished for being too quick, or competitors rewarded for being too slow. (Albeit that's an oversimplification of BoP. But the viewpoint remains, rightly or wrongly.) [Toyota & Porsche make thinly-veiled criticisms of WEC BoPThe two reigning world championship teams have subtly made their feelings known about of WEC’s Balance of Performance.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-116.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC225_041811145410852ND-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-porsche-spa-wec-bop-balance-of-performance-le-mans/) ## How would a cost cap work? In theory, it'd be pretty simple. Each manufacturer team could spend up to a certain amount each year on their car and programme. Within that, and within the framework of the regulations, you can do what you want, as Wolff said. This would mean cars may not be homologated like they are now with BoP. Teams could develop their cars through the year, or for next season, and as long as they were within the cost cap and the technical regulations, that would be fine. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) Either way, if the cars were homologated or not, you could add a sliding development scale. So if a team finished at the bottom of the manufacturers championship, they had more development resources, or alternatively more jokers, than a team who won the manufacturers championship. The benefits of this approach are obvious. Instead of the field being artificially closed up due to parameters beyond a manufacturers' control, they can directly control their own performance. And, the talk in the paddock or amongst fans will be les on BoP – with manufacturers' skillfully avoiding the phrase, but the insinuations are clear – and more on performance. And, no more 'so-and-so only won because of BoP' talk. ### What are the negatives? The problem with cost caps tend to be that it can bake in a performance advantage for years at a time, because if the cap is too high, or a manufacturers' budget is cut, they may struggle to catch up. It also means manufacturers with better resources can outdevelop those with inferior resources or setups, even when spending the same amount of money. Why would Mercedes want a cost cap? Because they may believe they have better resources than other WEC teams. That would in theory give them more of a chance of winning, compared to a BoP class where it's 'random'. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Could the regulations change? It's certainly possible. At Le Mans, the ACO announced the Hypercar class will be extended until the end of 2032, with IMSA also announcing the same for their GTP class. That guarantees another six seasons of Hypercar/GTP racing after the 2026 season has finished. But, the class likely won't be the same then. When asked what the technical regulations would look like by reporters, including *Only Endurance,* after the press conference, WEC CEO Frederic Lequien declined to give an answer. > 'It's really too early to give you some details. We are going to work with all the OEMs to find the best way to extend the homologation. Everybody wants to do it but we need to work with them to go into the details,' said Lequien. This indicates that the regulations extension *could* look different from what we currently have. But how different? Porsche are on record saying they'd like to see the convergence between the LMDh technical ruleset, and the LMH ruleset, go further into one technical ruleset. See below for what Urs Kuratle, Porsche's director of factory LMDh racing, said in an IMSA-hosted media call that *Only Endurance* attended. > 'In the WEC at least, the LMH and LMDh rulebook currently active – \[it\] would make life much easier if those two would join together to one technical ruleset. > 'And that's the hope at least we from Porsche have. We have talks with the other manufacturers as well. I think everybody is in favour of having one technical rule set.' Why would Porsche, and maybe others, want this? Because it gives them more chance to win, of course. > 'It makes it so much easier for all the different governance bodies to balance the GTPs or the Hypercars,' he said. > 'That's one goal we would very much in favour of if that happens. To which extent, or to which compromises, that's to discuss yet. But that's definitely something we would be in favour to push for, definitely. ![#50 Ferrari 499P leading other Hypercars coming out of the Ford Chicane at Le Mans, in the daylight](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0166.webp) Could the regulations extension see further ruleset convergence? Image: DPPI / WEC So, bearing this in mind, could we see a new regulation set within the extension, with a cost cap replacing Balance of Performance? That's pure speculation on our side from *Only Endurance*, but if the future of the regulations is being discussed, the future of BoP and the competitiveness of the class will also surely be discussed. What could the future of the class look like? *Only Endurance* asked Kuratle this. Naturally, Porsche would prefer it veer more towards LMDh than LMH. > 'We obviously would prefer to change it towards the LMDh regulations, because that would mean that the least changes for LMDhs. But it's also a cost driven discussion. It should be cost efficient, the whole thing, less technical freedom. > 'I know all the engineers will not like it, but I believe the fans in the grandstands, probably don't care too much whether a fuel pump is developed by the OEM or is a standard part, just to name one of the examples. It should be cost efficient, it should make sense, and that will probably lead into the LMDh rulebook.' But as Kuratle also said, it's likely too early to be discussing or speculating on details like this. Whatever happens, it's good news the Hypercar and GTP classes will continue in WEC and IMSA until the end of 2032 at least. The 'golden age' continues! *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Lamborghini's Spa 24 Hours win is Huracán's glorious swansong URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-spa-24-hours-win-huracan-glorious-swansong/ Last updated: 2025-06-30T14:35:35.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) In its final 24 hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, the Lamborghini Huracán took its biggest and most memorable victory: a first overall major 24 hour race win for Lamborghini and Grasser Racing Team. And what a time to do it: the car will be retired from frontline competition next year, to be replaced by its successor, the Lamborghini Temerario GT3\. The new car will be unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 11th July. [Lamborghini teases new Temerario GT3 on eve of Spa 24HLamborghini will introduce a new car to replace the venerable Huracan GT3 next year. What do we know about it?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-113.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_2695.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-teases-new-temerario-gt3-spa-24-hours-2025/) This was a victory Lamborghini chased for many years. While the Huracán had won Spa 24 Hours in class previously, the overall win was the win the Italian manufacturer really wanted. And even more so, this is the car's first ever overall 24 hour race victory. Lamborghini have taken multiple class victories at both Spa 24 Hours and at Daytona 24 in the US, but this is both the Huracán's, and Lamborghini's, first ever overall 24 hour race victory. Bravo! Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Pepper, Bortolotti, Engstler take victory at Spa The car, the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 from Grasser Racing, started from the lower reaches of the top 20 on the grid in the hands of Mirko Bortolotti. Over the course of the race moved forwards, to be well within the top 10 by the end of the first quarter of the race. They continued to move forwards until the final quarter of the race, outlasting several competitors and rivals until the battle for the win was between themselves and the #96 Rutronik Porsche. The Porsche got lucky with a well-timed pitstop during a full course yellow, enabling the driver trio of Sven Müller, Patric Niederhauser and Alessio Picariello to take the lead. But the Lamborghini was too strong, and was able to close the gap and pass the Porsche. With Bortolotti just tenths behind him, Müller suffered a puncture on his in-lap at Blancimont towards the end of the lap, enabling Bortolotti to take the lead before he stopped the lap after. From then on it was just about protecting the lead to take the win. There was one moment at the Lamborghini's final pitstop where the car wouldn't refire to rejoin the race – a proper heart-stopping moment for the team, no doubt – but it did re-fire and take the win, 8.7 seconds ahead of the Porsche. ![Luca Engstler, Mirko Bortolotti, and Jordan Pepper standing on the Spa 24 Hours podium holding a huge trophy aloft](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/664446.webp) Engstler, Bortolotti, and Pepper claimed the first overall 24 hour race victory for Lamborghini. Image: Lamborghini ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## The Huracán's crown jewel win Since its debut in 2015, the Huracán has become one of the predominant GT3s around the world. Lamborghini says the car has won almost 200 races since then, including three consecutive GTD class victories at Daytona in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The Evo model, introduced for the 2019 season, was a huge upgrade over the original car, with new aerodynamics, front suspension, electronics, and an enhanced V10 engine giving the car a new lease of life. It debuted at Daytona in 2019 and promptly won its class, following on from the original car's win in 2018. Also that year, Lamborghini won all three GT World Challenge Europe titles, the Sprint Cup, Endurance Cup, and the overall title, with factory drivers Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli. After four years of competition, the Huracán GT3 Evo was replaced by a second evolution, the Evo2, in 2023. This car's most notable achievement was most likely winning the DTM championship in 2024, in the hands of factory driver Mirko Bortolotti and customer team SSR Performance. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) DTM had switched from its previous 'Class one' regulations to GT3 a few years before. The championship win was the first for an Italian manufacturer, in a championship typically dominated by German brands. Also in 2024, Lamborghini entered the car into the FIA World Endurance Championship, with new factory partner team Iron Lynx, in the new LMGT3 class. This would also see Lamborghini enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time ever. Unfortunately, success was not forthcoming in the series, where Lamborghini and Iron Lynx were up against tough competition, although the Iron Dames car, with Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey as the driver line up, did finish sixth in class. Furthermore, the Lamborghini and Iron Lynx had a major falling out during the year, culminating in a split at the season's conclusion, with Lamborghini not returning to WEC or Le Mans in 2025. It was looking increasingly likely that Lamborghini would retire the Huracán GT3 from top-line competition at the end of 2025 without a major 24 hour race win. But, this win seals the car's legacy, and means it goes out on a high. 'This is another dream that is coming true, because we have four fantastic 24-hour races in the world and Spa is one of the most amazing races,' said Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini Squadra Corse's chief technical officer. 'And to win it has been fantastic, the job that the whole Squadra Corse team has done has been superb and a good example of a perfect collaboration and I am super proud of this. This is the best way to end the 10-year history of the Huracán GT3, but we still have many more races to focus on and win.' *Feature image: Lamborghini* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Ranking and analysing every Hypercar team's performance at Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-hypercar-team-rankings/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T15:35:15.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) In the previous post we looked at why Porsche couldn't defeat Ferrari at Le Mans despite arguably better strategy, fewer mistakes, and a car not that much slower than the clearly excellent 499P. Now, we're going to take a much wider view and look at every Hypercar team's performance, starting towards the bottom and working our way up. To calculate pace figures, we've found each's car top 20% laps and calculated them into an average. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing **Car #101** *Filipe Albuquerque, Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor* *Finishing position: DNF* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.698* *Fastest lap: 03:28.784 (Filipe Albuquerque)* *Number of pit stops: 17* *Total time in pits: 24:31.322* A team's first time at Le Mans is always going to be tough. Especially when said team is racing with a new manufacturer partner in the LMDh era, learning about a new car and all the processes that go with that. In a race of incredibly low attrition, in the Hypercar class, and a very fast pace race with few full course yellows and only a single safety car, new teams to Le Mans were always going to struggle. As such, Wayne Taylor Racing were the first Hypercar retirement from the race. But, they qualified well, getting into Hyperpole and starting 14th, before being hit at the start. This caused performance problems later in the race. The car later retired around the half way mark, as Filipe Albuquerque had a power issue half way down the Mulsanne Straight. **Rating: 4/10** ### Cadillac Whelen (Action Express) **Car #311** *Felipe Drugovich, Frederik Vesti, Jack Aitken* *Finishing position: DNF* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:30.092* *Fastest lap: 03:28.253 (Jack Aitken)* *Number of pit stops: 22* *Total time in pits: 56:56.876* The third time at Le Mans for Action Express Racing, but the team's first DNF at the French endurance classic. For both IMSA Cadillac teams it probably wasn't the week they were hoping for. The #311 AXR car easily got into Hyperpole but then somewhat fell back in the race, retiring in on Sunday morning with issues while Fred Vesti was at the wheel. With JOTA brand new to the Cadillac and vastly outperforming both IMSA teams, AXR and WTR will have to step up their game to take the battle to the Kent-based squad. **Rating: 5/10** ### BMW M Team WRT **Car #15** *Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen, Raffaele Marciello* *Finishing position: 18th (in class, 31st overall)* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.100* *Fastest lap: 03:26.930 (Dries Vanthoor)* *Number of pit stops: 32* *Total time in pits: 64:04.675* **Car #20** *René Rast, Robin Frijns, Sheldon Van Der Linde* *Finishing position: 17th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.295* *Fastest lap: 03:26.724 (René Rast)* *Number of pit stops: 32* *Total time in pits: 78:57.047* ![#15 BMW M Hybrid V8 at Dunlop chicane, Le Mans 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0089.webp) A decent finish evaporated for BMW in the final couple of hours. Image: DPPI / WEC Oh dear BMW. A bit of a disaster for the German manufacturer / Belgian team. The two BMWs were running well for most of the race, and looked especially fast over a single lap. Both the #15 and #20 ran well within the top 10 for the majority of the race, and looked good to take home decent points in a double points-scoring round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. That said, they didn't have the ultimate pace of the front-running Ferraris and Porsche, or the JOTA-run Cadillacs. But still, it was going decently. But then, disaster in the final two hours. First the #20 car, with Sheldon van der Linde at the wheel, had a mechanical problem, pulling into the pits on lap 350. Then, just a few laps later, the #15 sister car, which had Kevin Magnussen at the wheel, was also pushed back into the garage. Both cars spent quite some time in the pits, and finished 18th and 19th. **Rating: 4/10** [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ### Peugeot **Car #93** *Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen, Paul Di Resta* *Finishing position: 16th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:30.656* *Fastest lap: 03:28.909 (Mikkel Jensen)* *Number of pit stops: 33* *Total time in pits: 54:53.913* **Car #94** *Loïc Duval, Malthe Jakobsen, Stoffel Vandoorne* *Finishing position: 11th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:30.705* *Fastest lap: 03:29.141 (Malthe Jakobsen)* *Number of pit stops: 31* *Total time in pits: 44:19.484* From heroes (sort of) at Spa, to nowhere at Le Mans. After a good race at Spa, on the pace and fighting well within the top 10, Peugeot were expecting good things at Le Mans. However, the team were, truthfully, a bit at sea in France. The Balance of Performance was bewilderingly out of their favour, leaving them a mountain to climb before the week had even started. [Le Mans BoP analysis: Pulling apart power & weight figuresThe Le Mans BoP has been released. But what does it mean? We investigate with graphs and stats.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-105.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002330_0555.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-bop-analysis-pulling-apart-the-power-and-weight-figures/) Put that together with a car that isn't as easy to extract pace from compared to the old car, as technical director Olivier Jansonnie told *Only Endurance* at Spa, and it wasn't a good combination for performance. Let's not beat around the bush here. Peugeot were the two slowest cars in the average pace table, slower even the new Aston Martin Valkyries. Three of Peugeots drivers were also the slowest out of all the Hypercar drivers when looking at top 20% average pace — Duval, Vergne, and Di Resta. [2024 Peugeot 9X8 ‘harder to extract performance’Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie told reporters at Spa how the team is struggling to extract the full performance from its 9X8 Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-104.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0005-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/) The big question is, what will Peugeot do now? To say the 2024 car has been a disappointment is an understatement both for them and the fans. Sources tell *Only Endurance* that a new car is almost certainly on the way for 2027, and Peugeot senior management figures have repeatedly said they are committed long term to WEC. But the rest of 2025 and 2026 will be tough for The Lion — if they stick around for 2026, that is. More on that in another article, coming soon. **Rating: 4/10** ![#93 Peugeot at Arnage corner, Le Mans 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003442_0118.webp) Peugeot struggled for pace at Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC ### Toyota Gazoo Racing **Car #8** *Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, Sébastien Buemi* *Finishing position: 16th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.498* *Fastest lap: 03:27.811 (Ryo Hirakawa)* *Number of pit stops: 31* *Total time in pits: 58:05.404* **Car #7** *Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, Nyck De Vries* *Finishing position: 5th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.186* *Fastest lap: 03:27.086 (Kamui Kobayashi)* *Number of pit stops: 33* *Total time in pits: 44:00.084* A race of two halves for Toyota. They never had the pace of the three Ferraris or #6 Porsche, but were in or around the top five for most of the race with the #8 car, even leading for a little while during the night. Albeit, that was only in the pit stop cycle, but it shows they were at or near the front. But in the 21st hour of the race, as it neared its conclusion, it all came undone for the #8 car. As Ryo Hirakawa exited the pits, the car's front left wheel came loose as a result of the nut not being fastened correctly. The tyre then punctured, for good measure. The Japanese driver had to do an entire, very slow, lap on a flat tyre, with the wheel eventually detaching itself completely. This was followed by a long stay in the pits for repairs, taking them out of contention. The #7 car fared better in the overall results, but never had the pace to challenge for better than fifth. Toyota's key issue was a lack of straight line speed compared to Ferrari and Porsche, which put them back into the second group with the JOTA-run Cadillacs. **Rating: 7/10** ### Aston Martin THOR **Car #007** *Harry Tincknell, Ross Gunn, Tom Gamble* *Finishing position: 14th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:30.445* *Fastest lap: 03:28.459 (Tom Gamble)* *Number of pit stops: 33* *Total time in pits: 49:08.905* **Car #009** *Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen, Roman De Angelis* *Finishing position: 12th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:30.644* *Fastest lap: 03:28.004 (Marco Sorensen)* *Number of pit stops: 33* *Total time in pits: 43:31.149* Beating both BMWs, Peugeots, and a Toyota, plus scoring first WEC points with a 12th-placed finish, which becomes 10th when the two non-manufacturer-points-scoring cars (#83 Porsche and #4) are removed? Job well done for Aston. Yes the car still isn't where Aston Martin or factory partner team Heart of Racing want it. There's still work to do, but scoring the team's first points, at Le Mans, is a huge reward for the programme. And, both cars survived the race with no major issues, a testament to the car's reliability. To add to that, the #009 also got into Hyperpole, the first time for a Valkyrie. The #007 generally didn't fare as well as the points-scoring #009, with Harry Tincknell telling *Only Endurance* before the race that 'We just went a little bit different on the setup paths. When we went more in their \[#009's\] direction last night, it was way better.' But nevertheless, points on the board for Aston Martin is good progress that will hopefully lead to further points this year. **Rating: 8/10** These long, in-depth posts take a lot of time and effort to put together. If you'd like to show you like these posts and want more, the best thing you can do is support us. We're fully independent and are committed to not running Google ads. You can support us for £1/$1/€1 a month. Thank you! [Support OE ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Proton Competition **Car #99** *Neel Jani, Nicolas Pino, Nicolas Varrone* *Finishing position: 13th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.705* *Fastest lap: 03:27.480 (Nicolas Varrone)* *Number of pit stops: 32* *Total time in pits: 45:21.421* Let's be honest here: Proton clearly are not operating on the same level as the factory Penske-run factory team. The single #99 Proton Porsche 963 was 1.130 seconds on average off the leading #83 Ferrari, when accounting for top 20% pace. With the best of the Porsches, the factory #6 car, less than a tenth off the #83, Proton were a second off the best Porsche running at or near the front of the field for the whole race. All three Proton drivers were slower than the majority of the Porsche factory drivers, although in fact Nico Varrone was quicker than Le Mans debutant Pascal Wehrlein. **Rating: 5/10** ### Alpine Endurance Team **Car #36** *Frédéric Makowiecki, Jules Gounon, Mick Schumacher* *Finishing position: 10th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.415* *Fastest lap: 03:27.326 (Mick Schumacher)* *Number of pit stops: 34* *Total time in pits: 46:04.333* **Car #35** *Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg, Paul-Loup Chatin* *Finishing position: 9th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:30.062* *Fastest lap: 03:27.919 (Paul-Loup Chatin)* *Number of pit stops: 33* *Total time in pits: 44:15.654* Alpine were, unfortunately, never in the hunt for the win at Le Mans this year. They lacked both overall pace and pace in a straight line, which as we know is absolutely crucial at Le Mans. But, points for both cars is decent damage limitation, in a race where it was clear from practice that challenging at the front would be tough. Unusually for Alpine, the #35 car fared better results-wise in the 24 hours, finishing ninth with the sister #36 car a lap behind in 10th. That said, the #36 car had both a higher average pace and faster single lap, with the pitfall being a drive through penalty for pit lane speeding early in the race for Makowiecki. The French squad will be hoping for more from the rest of the WEC campaign, as they look to build on a strong start to the season, with podiums in Imola and Spa for the #36 trio. **Rating: 6/10** ### Porsche Penske Motorsport **Car #4** *Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Pascal Wehrlein* *Finishing position: 8th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.450* *Fastest lap: 03:27.077 (Pascal Wehrlein)* *Number of pit stops: 32* *Total time in pits: 42:42.581* **Car #5** *Julien Andlauer, Mathieu Jaminet, Michael Christensen* *Finishing position: 6th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:29.031* *Fastest lap: 03:26.881 (Mathieu Jaminet)* *Number of pit stops: 34* *Total time in pits: 46:24.064* **Car #6** *Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell* *Finishing position: 2nd* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:28.661* *Fastest lap: 03:27.158 (Matt Campbell)* *Number of pit stops: 31* *Total time in pits: 42:06.870* ![#6 Porsche on Mulsanne Straight, Le Mans 2025](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0060.jpg) The #6 Porsche was Ferrari's main challenger all race. Image: DPPI / WEC When looking at Porsche's race at Le Mans you really have to separate it out, between the #6 car, and then the #4 and #5. We've already written about the #6's excellent race, so go read that if you haven't already. It was a near-perfect race for them, with the only 'mistake' really being a slow puncture during the night forcing an unscheduled pit stop, plus the safety car coming at the wrong time. Nothing the team could do about the latter, though. [Why Porsche’s ‘perfect’ race didn’t win Le Mans 2025The #6 Porsche had a near-perfect run at Le Mans. So why did Ferrari still win? We break down the strategy, pace, and data.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-106.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24hLeMans25_061504263071980ND.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-porsche-vs-ferrari-kubica-analysis/) OK, yes, the #6 did disqualified from qualifying for a technical infringement (underweight car). This meant they couldn't take part in Hyperpole and would start from the back of the Hypercar field. But this didn't really impact them in the race, with Kevin Estre storming through the field to be fifth after the first round of stops. It does leave you wondering how things could have been different if they'd started higher up... but that's motorsport. The #4 and #5 never quite had the #6's pace. They ran well within the top 10 all race for the most part, but couldn't quite find a way to break into the higher echelons with Ferrari and the team car. Still, a podium is a good achievement which shows the huge amount of progress Porsche have made since last year with the 963 at Le Mans, and especially since their woeful 2023 race. There's always next year for that all-important win. The lack of a win did mean Laurens Vanthoor, or alternatively Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr, didn't manage to claim the Triple Crown (Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans) in a single year — something no one has ever done. And with how hard all three races are to win , it looks likely that will remain uncompleted for a long time yet. **Rating: 8.5/10** 💬 What did you think about this year's Le Mans? Join the debate in the comments below the article! ### Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA **Car #38** *Earl Bamber, Jenson Button, Sébastien Bourdais* *Finishing position: 7th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:28.946* *Fastest lap: 03:26.063 (Sébastien Bourdais)* *Number of pit stops: 34* *Total time in pits: 45:10.741* **Car #12** *Alex Lynn, Norman Nato, Will Stevens* *Finishing position: 4th* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:28.834* *Fastest lap: 03:26.883 (Alex Lynn)* *Number of pit stops: 33* *Total time in pits: 43:25.963* ![The start of the race, going into Dunlop chicane, with the two JOTA Cadillacs leading a bunched up pack](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003464_0038.webp) Cadillac led at the start — but not for long. Image: DPPI / WEC Lack of straight line speed had, in some ways, put paid to JOTA and Cadillac's chances of a win even before the race started. The drivers and team knew this too. The Cadillac is fast over a single lap — we saw this in Hyperpole with Alex's Lynn's magnificent pole lap — but struggles more over a race stint. Unfortunately, a first race win for an American manufacturer since 1969 wasn't to be. [Can Cadillac take first American Le Mans win since 1969?Taking pole at Le Mans is one thing, but winning the race is quite another. Can Cadillac fend off Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota and others to win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-108.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0044--1-.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/can-cadillac-first-american-le-mans-win-1969-wec-porsche-ferrari-toyota/) Don't take this the wrong way, though: Cadillac were fast at Le Mans. Just look at both the average pace, and the fastest laps. They were right up there. But they were generating the lap time in the wrong way, fast in the high speed corners and not quite quick enough — by a few kph — in a straight line. Those few kph can really cost you on the Mulsanne and the run down through the trees to Indianapolis. And, if you're fast in the high speed bits, you catch other cars who may be slightly slower — but then they pull away if they're slightly quicker in a straight line. And generally, you can't overtake in the high speed corners, like Porsche Curves. See the problem? But still. Fourth and seventh, plus a front lock out in Hyperpole, is a great result for a partnership that's still finding its feet, between JOTA and Cadillac. **Rating: 8/10** [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Ferrari AF Corse **Car #50** *Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen* *Finishing position: DSQ* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:28.635* *Fastest lap: 03:26.714 (Nicklas Nielsen)* *Number of pit stops: 33* *Total time in pits: 45:26.303* **Car #51** *Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado* *Finishing position: 3rd* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:28.652* *Fastest lap: 03:26.778 (Antonio Giovinazzi)* *Number of pit stops: 35* *Total time in pits: 47:20.311* Let's not beat around the bush here. Ferrari have built an incredible car that just works at Le Mans. Three wins in three years, over three vastly different races, with no real mechanical issues? These wins aren't just down to a favourable Balance of Performance. The 499P is, arguably, now the standard at Le Mans, the car to beat. Ferrari had a great race at Le Mans. But, it wasn't without issues. Both cars got penalties; in the #51's case, two, a drive through and a stop go. But the 499P was quick enough that it didn't matter. The #50 car was also disqualified after the race, from fourth, for a rear wing that did not comply with the technical regulations due to the car losing some bolts in the wing assembly during the race. [Ferrari ‘surprised’ by #50 car’s DSQ from Le MansAs the issue with the #50 Ferrari’s rear wing seemingly had no performance benefit, Ferrari say they’re ‘surprised’ by the disqualification.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-112.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003478_0073-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-issues-statement-following-50s-disqualification-from-le-mans/) They were quick in a straight line, with easily the worst post-250kph power of their main rivals from Porsche, Toyota and Cadillac. This was the major factor – it made them hard to overtake. So even if their competition could make up time in the corners, the Ferraris could just pull away in a straight line. Ferrari have said repeatedly that their aim this year wasn't inherently to win Le Mans. Instead, they're gunning for the world championship. As such they've largely got this sewn up now, although Porsche took a giant leap forwards at Le Mans. [Ferrari’s Qatar win starts world title bid on right footFerrari’s goal this clear is very clear: winning the world championship. A win at the opening race of the season at Qatar is exactly what they needed.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-109.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0670--1--3.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferraris-qatar-win-starts-world-title-bid-on-right-foot/) That said, Ferrari claim the next few rounds will be tougher, because the 499P doesn't suit those tracks as much as Le Mans and the rounds before it. **Rating: 8.5/10** ### AF Corse **Car #83** *Philip Hanson, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye* *Finishing position: 1st* *Top 20% average lap time: 03:28.575* *Fastest lap: 03:26.562 (Robert Kubica)* *Number of pit stops: 32* *Total time in pits: 45:10.234* What can we say about AF Corse's 'privateer' Le Mans win? Just epic. Beating the factory Ferraris, the first win for both a Pole and Chinese national, the first privateer/customer win for quite a while, and the first non-factory Ferrari win since 1965\. Quite a few excellent stories from the yellow #83's win. ![Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson celebrating after the race, standing on their car below the podium](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003478_0145.webp) Kubica, Ye, and Hanson drove a great race to win at Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC They raced well, barely putting a foot wrong all race. The one big error was a drive through on Sunday morning, for a yellow flag infringement at Mulsanne Corner while Phil Hanson was in the car. After the race, Hanson told reporters, including *Only Endurance:* > The drive through was lucky because at that point, we were P2 to the #51, right? It was a local yellow flag on the exit of Mulsanne. I was following James \[Calado, in the #51\]. I kind of registered it, but the car was so far off, I didn't think to show awareness that I'd seen it. > And quite often you just have to back out throttle to make aware that you're under control. I understand yellow flags, what they mean, And the consequence. So I think it was fair enough. They also got a five second penalty, to be taken at a pitstop, for gaining a last advantage at marshal post 16, just after the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight, a few hours into the race. But overall, it was a great race for the #83, taking the fight to the factory cars and winning the biggest race of them all. **Rating: 9.5/10** *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Lamborghini teases new Temerario GT3 on eve of Spa 24 Hours URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/lamborghini-teases-new-temerario-gt3-spa-24-hours-2025/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T16:25:40.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Lamborghini's Huracán GT3 is getting on a bit now, but no matter: a brand new car, the Temerario GT3, is coming next year. And the Italian manufacturer has just shared a new teaser to whet your appetite. [Lamborghini Squadra Corse on Instagram: “Gone before the blink of an eye. What is it? Stay tuned. #Lamborghini #LamborghiniSC”5,848 likes, 88 comments - lamborghinisc on June 25, 2025: “Gone before the blink of an eye. What is it? Stay tuned. #Lamborghini #LamborghiniSC”.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/De-Dwpd5CHc.png)Instagram![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/510949229_705707452074801_2906549327728178627_n.jpg)](https://www.instagram.com/lamborghinisc/reel/DLVGVgOt%5Fmj/?ref=ontheapex.com) The new car is planned to be introduced next year to race series across the world, with its predecessor retiring from the global stage. The Huracán GT3 has had a long shelf life, with the original version being introduced a decade ago in 2015\. It's gone through two evo updates since then, with upgrades to the engine, cooling intake system, and aerodynamic package designed to keep the Huracán relevant in the GT3 world for a decade. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Temerario to take centre stage The road car variant of the Temerario was unveiled last year. It features a mid-engine twin-turbo V8, rather than the Huracán's V10, along with electric motors. Of course, the electric motors won't feature in the GT3 version. The Huracán is beginning to show its age, with a less aggressive aero package compared to some of its more modern competition. GT3 is increasingly heading in an aero-focused direction, and the Temerario will likely bring Lamborghini up to standard with their rivals. ## Could we see Lamborghini back in WEC? Honestly: we don't know. Lamborghini and their former factory partner team, Iron Lynx, had a big falling out last year. Prema, Iron Lynx's parent company, is now [suing](https://www.vitallaw.com/news/trade-secrets-news-prema-engineering-sues-lamborghini-alleging-theft-of-multiple-versions-of-hypercar-steering-wheel-setups/ipm014728b8d199294faeab4a777689e26ffa?refURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&ref=ontheapex.com) Lamborghini, accusing the Italian manufacturer of stealing confidential information relating to steering wheel software. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0470.webp) Lamborghini partnered with Iron Lynx last year, but it wasn't a happy marriage. Image: DPPI / WEC So, if we do see Lamborghini back in the FIA World Endurance Championship's LMGT3 class and therefore at Le Mans, it won't be with Iron Lynx. But the Italian manufacturer is sure to want to race its brand new GT3 car in the world championship, quickly becoming the global stage GT racing. We'll also likely see it in GT World Challenge Europe, and at the Spa 24 Hours, the biggest GT3 race in the world. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) At this year's 24 hour race at Spa, there'll be six competing Lamborghini Huracan GT3s in the [75-car strong grid](https://www.crowdstrike24hoursofspa.com/entry-list?ref=ontheapex.com). That comprises two pro cars, from GRT Grasser Racing Team, two in the silver class, one from GRT Grasser Racing Team and another from VSR, one in the bronze class from Barwell Motorsport, and one in gold from Paul Motorsport. We asked Lamborghini at Spa if there was any further info, but they were keeping their cards tightly held to their chest. 💬 What do you think about the new Tememario? Join the debate in the comments below the article! ### ANALYSIS: Despite a 'perfect' race, why didn't Porsche win Le Mans? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2025-porsche-vs-ferrari-kubica-analysis/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T16:43:57.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Despite executing what Laurens Vanthoor described as a 'perfect' race, Porsche were unable to topple Ferrari at Le Mans, with the Italian manufacturer winning for the third straight year. 'In the end, I think we can proudly say that we executed a perfect race,' Vanthoor said in the post-race press conference. 'No mistakes. No contact. No off track. Not a bad pit stop. Everything went super smooth. That's maybe why we're sitting here in second place.' After, *Only Endurance* asked Vanthoor what they needed to do to beat Ferrari. His answer was just two words long. 'Be quicker.' But is this all they could have done? And just how much quicker? Let's take a dive into the data to find out. These long, in-depth posts take a lot of time and effort to put together. If you'd like to show you like these posts and want more, the best thing you can do is support us. We're fully independent and are committed to not running Google ads. You can support us for £1/$1/€1 a month. Thank you! [Support OE ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Porsche were with Ferrari on pace — sort of The first thing we need to look at to examine why Ferrari were able to win is to look at the average pace. To do this, we've calculated the average lap time of each car’s top 20% quickest laps. When you average out each hourly pace figure into one average lap time value, it's very close. The #83 Ferrari 'wins' on 3:28.575 for top 20% pace, with the #50 Ferrari second on 3:28.635 and the #51 Ferrari third on 3:28.652\. The #6 Porsche is just 0.009 back on 3:28.661, less than a tenth a lap slower on average than the #83 Ferrari. However, when you look at each hour independently, this starts to unravel a little bit. If we split the race up into 24 parts — hours — we get 24 individual average lap times for each car, with the top 20% pace from each hour logged. Looking at the hourly pace, Porsche were right up there. But Ferrari were one step ahead. The #6 Porsche was quickest in the 4th hour, with a lap time of 3:29.063, just under two hundredths quicker than the #83 Ferrari. Laurens Vanthoor was at the wheel of the Porsche during the majority of this hour, with Matt Campbell replacing him for the last 20 minutes. Likewise, Robert Kubica was behind the wheel of the #83 Ferrari, with Ye replacing him at roughly the same time Campbell replaced Vanthoor. The other hour the #6 Porsche was quickest was halfway into the race, in the 12th hour. This, again, was shared by Vanthoor and Campbell, just after the race's one and only appearance of the safety car came in. The second fastest car in this scenario was the #50 Ferrari, but was over half a second slower than the #6 Porsche, in the lead of the race. Porsche were also never quicker if you split the race into quarters. The #6 car was the second quickest car, on average, in both opening quarters of the race. This tailed off a little in the second half as Ferrari gradually upped the pace from all three cars. In the third quarter the #6 Porsche was fourth fastest, while in the last, they were fifth quickest. But, in that last quarter, the #83 was actually slower on average – only slightly, but still slower. The car had recurrent gearshift problems when downshifting, acknowledged by Ferrari post-race, that likely slowed Kubica down. That said, the Pole, who did more than 10 hours at the wheel of the car, was still quickest in the final hour as he pushed to take victory at La Sarthe. ![The yellow #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P at Le Mans, in the day time, turning into a left hand corner](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003450_0048.webp) The #83 Ferrari was consistently quick all race at Le Mans. Image: DPPI / WEC ### The #83 Ferrari's pace A quick sidebar to note, briefly, that the #83 was very quick all race. It was the fastest car in eight hours out of 24\. And in the hours it wasn't quickest, it was the second quickest car four times, and third quickest another four. > 'Congrats to #83 guys. For the last two weeks, they've been above and quicker,' said #51 Ferrari's James Calado in the post-race press conference. > 'We knew from the start that they would be a huge challenge. We weren't quick enough.' Often the factory Ferraris, the #50 and #51, are the faster of the Ferraris, with the 'satellite' or 'customer' #83 car a step behind. This wasn't the case at Le Mans — the quicker Ferrari was the 'non-factory' car, albeit run by the same team who runs the factory cars, although not necessarily the same team members. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Porsche's 13-lap stints Porsche knew, before the race, that competing with Ferrari on pace was going to be hard. Just consider what Laurens Vanthoor told *Only Endurance* before the race. > 'I'm a bit worried about one brand in particular, which I think is standing out, let's say.' Unfortunately, he wouldn't expand further, but it was obvious even pre-race who he meant. [Crunch time for Porsche: 963 must prove itself at Le MansThe 963’s won almost everything but Le Mans. To become a truly iconic Porsche sportscar, it’s the one race it has to win to become a legend.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-102.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24LeMans2025_JTHZ09960-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-crunch-time-porsche-963-prove-itself-wec-ferrari-toyota/) So, if Porsche knew it likely wouldn't be able to take the fight to Ferrari on pace, what else could it do? The old adage: the less you stop the more time you're racing. So, Porsche decided to do 13-lap stints, as opposed to the 12-lap stints Ferrari were planning to do, based on practice. For eight consecutive stints, from the fourth stint to the 12th, the #6 Porsche completed a 13 lap stint. At the same time, the #83 Ferrari alternated, from 12-lap stints to 13-lap stints. This 13-lap stint structure was interrupted by a slow puncture, when Kevin Estre had to pit four laps into a stint in order to rectify it. After this, he continued doing 13-lap stints for another two stints, before Vanthoor climbed into the car. So, while the strategy didn't *entirely* work — Ferrari were able to match Porsche on 13-lap stints — it did end up saving the Porsche around 30 seconds in the pits prior to the safety car. The #6 car had a lead of around 16 seconds prior to the neutralisation, so the strategy *was* working. Unfortunately the safety car came at the wrong time for Porsche, eliminating their lead and neutralising the advantage they had on the strategy. The #83 car spent two minutes extra in the pits on lap 184, when the cars stopped under safety car. This was due to the quirk of having three safety cars at Le Mans, with the car needing to wait until the next safety car train to pass until it could rejoin. Because under the new(ish) safety car rules, the field gets bunched up again behind a single safety car before going green, it didn't lose that much time. In any case, they only lost a single position, to the #8 Toyota, which after the safety car had Ryo Hirakawa at the wheel. Now, the #6 Porsche did save an extra stop over the course of the race. The #6 pitted 31 times over the course of the race, while the #83 pitted 32 times. But, the #83 got a penalty at 7am on Sunday morning, with Phil Hanson at the wheel for a yellow flag infringement at marshal post 21, Mulsanne Corner. Remove this and they had the same number of stops. If you also remove Porsche's only unscheduled stop of the race as well — for the slow puncture on lap 145 — Porsche did save a stop, in theory. But this is also getting too far into the domain of what-ifs. The #50, for the record, pitted 33 times, and the #51 35 times, although two of these were penalties, one drive through and one stop/go. ![The #6 Porsche 963 in day time at Le Mans, having just gone through the Forest Esses and now on the way to Tertre Rouge](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/24LeMans2025_JTHZ32086-1.webp) The #6 had a flawless race — but still didn't take the win at Le Mans. Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap The #6 didn't get any penalties at all, as Vanthoor alluded to in the quote at the start of this article. Unfortunately, as we'll look at in a minute, after the safety car Porsche didn't return to 13-lap stints. But even with spending more time in the pits, the pace Ferrari had in hand meant the quickest Ferrari of the three, the #83, was able to take victory. [Trip in the Goodyear Blimp: a birds’ eye view of Le MansGoodyear very kindly invited Only Endurance for a trip on the famed Blimp during Le Mans. Check out our gallery of shots from the trip!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-103.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/PXL_20250614_160707567.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/trip-goodyear-blimp-incredible-birds-eye-view-le-mans-2025/) ## Did Porsche lose a minute when the safety car came out? One thing I've heard said was Porsche were screwed by the safety car when they were leading in the 11th hour of the race. That without that, they could have won. And yes, that is possible. They *were* leading before the safety car came out; Laurens Vanthoor had a healthy 16 second lead over Kubica in the #83 Ferrari. It's well known that the Porsche 963 tends to prefer cooler conditions over warmer. Le Mans was a very good example of this, with Porsche coming into their own during the hours of darkness in France. Estre and Vanthoor had built this up gradually over the preceding hours, often going a lap longer on fuel and extending the stints over the Ferraris they were battling against. The Frenchman held a lead of around 27 seconds in the ninth hour of the race. He was managing this gap, before stopping on lap 158 and temporarily relinquishing the lead. Kubica in the #83 Ferrari stopped four laps later, with his stop taking nine extra seconds. The next stop saw a driver change and full service stop for the #6 Porsche, Vanthoor in for Estre. This extinguished the lead Estre had built up, but whatever Estre can do, Vanthoor can do too. Over the next 12 laps, around 40-45 minutes, Vanthoor re-extended the gap to Kubica, to 16 seconds when the safety car came out, roughly 11 hours,12 minutes into the race. So, Vanthoor lost that 16 seconds. After the safety car came in, he was able to re-extend the lead to around 8 seconds. He had Toyota's Ryo Hirakawa behind him, and Yifei Ye, who'd replaced Kubica at the wheel of the #83 in third. But there was no getting that pre-safety car 16 second lead back. And remember, the #83 Ferrari won the race by 14 seconds at the flag at 4pm on Sunday. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## Porsche's double driver stint strategy The big issue here was the next few rounds of stops. The leading group, comprising Vanthoor, Hirakawa, Ye, Marciello in the #15 BMW, and the two factory Ferraris of Miguel Molina in the #50 and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51, pitted on laps 198-199. Porsche elected at this time to driver change, from Vanthoor to Matt Campbell. This extra 20 or so seconds in the pits lost them track position, shuffling them down to fifth, later sixth when Molina overtook Campbell. Porsche then changed driver again, two stints later, to Estre, losing more time and dropping them over a minute and half off the lead. While it's hard to say for sure what Porsche's strategy was here, it seems they were double stinting their drivers. Other teams, meanwhile — the #83 Ferrari for example — were triple stinting, a more efficient way of minimising time in the pits. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/24LeMans2025_JTHZ35117-1.webp) Porsche started double stinting its drivers during the night in the #6 car. Image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography The Ferrari crew were changing driver and tyres every third stop, while Porsche were seemingly doing this every second stop (although we can't know the latter for sure, since we can't get tyre data from the race. Come on, WEC!). That said, though, over the course of the race, #6 Porsche spent 3 minutes 29 seconds less in the pits than the #83 Ferrari. That's essentially a lap of La Sarthe at Hypercar speeds. So Porsche's pit strategy worked out, even with double stinting their drivers for more than half the race. And, two minutes of this was due to the previously-noted safety car quirk while the #83 was in the pits. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Final thoughts Given Ferrari's relentless pace at La Sarthe, beating them would have taken something extraordinary from Porsche. They were truly flawless, only really losing time for factors beyond their control, like slow punctures or safety cars (and *maybe* double stinting drivers and tyres). Urs Kuratle, Porsche's factory director of LMDh, refused to say it was perfect, while summing up Porsche's race almost to a tee, in an IMSA-hosted media call after Le Mans. > 'I refuse to talk about perfect races, because they aren't really existing in 24 hour races. But anyway, the #6 car had a very very good race,' he said. > 'We had no penalties. During the race, the actual race, we had no mistakes. Pit crew were perfect. We had the fastest pit stops, and we spent the least amount of time in the pit lane. > 'And, just as a fact, one of the numbers I know is 3 minutes, we spent 3 minutes less in the pit lane and the winning #83 car. So that's a lot. But still, that's only P2.' And that's all there is to it. Ferrari were simply quicker, as Laurens Vanthoor told *Only Endurance* after the race. And to beat them, Porsche will have to be quicker still. Such is life in motorsport. *Feature image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography / Porsche* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Watkins Glen chaos reshuffles IMSA championship leaders URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/watkins-glen-imsa-chaos-acura-cadillac-porsche-bmw/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T15:02:54.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The IMSA Six Hours of Watkins Glen was a reminder of how unpredictable endurance racing can be. What looked like a straightforward finish, in a messy race featuring 10 cautions, turned into a thriller in the final laps, due to the 10th and final caution with less than 10 minutes remaining. Rather than most cars coming into pit for the final time under green, the caution meant some might be able to eek out the fuel and make the finish without stopping. But, the two leaders, the class of the field all day, almost ran out of energy, having to pit on the penultimate lap, with the win falling to the team that managed their energy just right. It wasn’t about who had the fastest car—it was about who could go, literally, the distance. And for several top contenders, that last lap was a stretch too far. ## Bamber, Yelloly pit for fuel in closing laps For Earl Bamber, it was his race to lose in the final hour. The #31 Whelen Cadillac, co-driven with Jack Aitken & Fredrik Vesti, was the class of the field in the last half of the race. Strong on pace and sharp on strategy, they led comfortably heading into a late restart with just two laps to go. But the one enemy no one could outrun? Energy. With two to go, Bamber’s Cadillac ran out of energy, having last pitted under yellow more than 38 laps ago, or just under an hour and 10 minutes. A devastating end for what could’ve been a statement win, Cadillac's first of the year in either the FIA World Endurance Championship, or IMSA. > 'The car was amazing. I can’t fault the team,' Bamber said. 'We had awesome pit stops and a good strategy called to get back to the front. Unfortunately, a car broke down and ended our run.' That left Nick Yelloly in the pound seat. The Acura ace, fresh off victories in Detroit and at Le Mans in the LMP2 pro/am subclass, looked poised to pull off a heist for the ages. But one lap later, it was déjà vu. His #93 MSR Acura faltered. He, too, was out of energy, and had to pit with a couple of laps remaining. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Blomqvist steals win with 1% energy remaining It was Tom Blomqvist who ended up stealing the show. The #60 Acura never led for long stretches, but it was in the right place at the right time—and had *just* enough energy to make it to the line with 1% remaining. He'd pitted under yellow on the same lap as Bamber and Yelloly, lap 130, during the second-to-last caution period. But the Briton had saved more fuel than either of those ahead of him, eeking it out to make the finish with just 1% remaining. A clinical, calculated win, pulled from the jaws of a chaotic final 5 minutes. > 'To be honest, I was a bit lost in the last stint,' Blomqvist said in the post-race press conference. 'I asked for a drink at the next pit stop and they told me there was only 15 minutes to go in the race. > 'I was a little bit out of sync with what the hell was actually happening in that race. But yeah, that yellow came, and my engineer came on the radio and said we're looking good. > 'Obviously I didn't have the instruction that the teammate car was going to pit just at the restart, but I wasn't really totally sure about the #31\. But kind of the vibe on the radio call from the engineer, I could tell this is looking good for us. > 'Obviously it was very nice to see those two cars peel off there and have a nice clear track ahead of me on the last lap, so very thankful and grateful for that.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-12-1.png) The two WTR Cadillacs took a double podium. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing ## WTR continue to learn about Cadillac Behind them, Wayne Taylor Racing capped off an impressive run of form. After qualifying fourth at Laguna Seca and nearly winning Detroit, they put both Cadillacs on the podium—second and third at Watkins Glen, a clear signal they’re very rapidly increasing their understanding of the Cadillac V-Series.R. > 'It was a very nice race,' said Louis Deletraz after his second place finish. 'I think very happy with the podium and the double podium for WTR. At the end I didn't know so much where we were at. There was a lot of things going on. But I knew I had more fuel than the cars ahead of me, and I knew I had a shot to go forward. > 'In the end the cars had pitted, but we were quite fast. But key to the race was really the early pit stop, get us out of sequence and have some pace.' And while the Whelen-sponsored Action Express Cadillac came up short, no one’s questioning their pace. Bamber and Aitken were in a league of their own for much of the day. > 'We had a really quick car today, probably the quickest,' said Aitken. 'I think the Acura was right there, too, but we were controlling the race from the front towards the end. The race threw a lot at us with mixed conditions at the start of the race that were really sketchy and tough to an air jack issue on pit lane. 'But we managed to bring ourselves back to the front of the race, executed really well but unfortunately right at the end we were caught out with that yellow that created the perfect opportunity for the 60\. It wasn’t quite long enough for us to make it on fuel. That’s just how it goes sometimes, and hopefully we carry this pace to Road America.' Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Lamborghini continue to improve with beleaguered SC63 Elsewhere, Roman Grosjean made headlines of his own. The former F1 driver continues to impress in the Lamborghini SC63, charging from 11th to 4th in just four laps during his opening stint. Later, pit strategy even put them in the lead for a time, most of the second hour in fact. Lamborghini may not be ready to win just yet—but with Grosjean and Daniil Kyvat behind the wheel, they're definitely getting there. > Lamborghini leads at Watkins Glen. > > And yes, I'm being deadass. [pic.twitter.com/HHs9iRlvyf](https://t.co/HHs9iRlvyf?ref=ontheapex.com) > > — Only Endurance (@onlyendurance) [June 22, 2025](https://twitter.com/onlyendurance/status/1936854002320527840?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ontheapex.com) ## **Championship hopes take a beating at the Glen** While some celebrated, others staggered away from Watkins Glen licking their wounds—especially championship contenders. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-13.png) A race of unfulfilled potential for Rexy at Watkins Glen. Image: AO Racing The beloved #77 AO Racing Porsche, affectionately known as 'Rexy', had a shifting issue in one of Klaus Bachler’s stints. Once that was resolved and they were back in contention, Heinrich was struck in the rear, damaging the diffuser. They held on for sixth in GTD Pro, but it was a race full of what-ifs. > 'We had to start the race from second-to-last in our class,' said Laurin Heirinch, Klaus Bachler's teammate in Rexy. > 'Then we got lucky: the rain really played in our favour, highlighting the strengths of the Porsche 911 GT3 R. We pushed our way up the field and even led the class at times, which was a fantastic feeling! As the track dried, reality set in. Pure performance alone didn’t leave us with many options. > 'We tried to make up ground again with a bold strategy, but we had to conserve too much fuel. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough safety car periods for us to reach the finish without an extra stop. That was a real shame.' Winward Racing’s #57 Mercedes of Russell Ward was involved in a heavy crash, forcing a trip behind the wall. They returned to finish 16th in class—but the damage to their title hopes might be harder to fix. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-14.png) Image: Photo Courtesy of Vasser Sullivan Racing Elsewhere GTD, the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus was poised to make a move. Jack Hawksworth was in the hunt for the championship lead and the class win—until the car stopped on track with energy issues in the final lap. A heartbreaking DNF dropped them to 12th in class. But no one had a worse Sunday than the #7 Porsche Penske GTP team. Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr came in leading the points and left with a DNF and their worst finish of the year. Tandy’s off-track excursion in turn 1 destroyed the car’s front end—and their points lead. Porsche's lack of pace in the hot weather, after the rain and cooler weather, meant Tandy was pushing hard to keep up with those ahead, who shortly before had overtaken him with ease at a recent restart. > **'**It was an unfortunate end to a tough day for us. The most important thing is that Nick is okay,' said Felipe Nasr, Tandy's co-driver in the #7 car. > 'That was a really nasty accident. Up until that point, things weren’t looking too bad. We were on course to score enough points to maintain our lead in the drivers’ championship, and a top-5 finish was well within reach. With three races remaining, we’re keeping the pressure on and are fully focused on winning the title.' The updated title pictures now look a whole lot tighter, with three of four driver championships changing hands. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## GTP championship standings (post-Watkins Glen): 1. **Jaminet/Campbell** – 2,028 pts (⬆ 1) 2. **Nasr/Tandy** – 2,016 pts (⬇ 1) 3. **Yelloly/van der Zande** – 1,766 pts (⬆ 1) 4. **Vanthoor/Eng** – 1,753 pts (⬇ 1) 5. **Albuquerque/Taylor** – 1,749 pts (↔) ### **LMP2 Top 5:** 1. **Goldburg/Di Resta/Lindh** – 1,023 pts (⬆ 1) 2. **Fraga/Robinson/Burdon** – 929 pts (⬇ 1) 3. **Cameron/Edgar/Hyett** – 912 pts (⬆ 3) 4. **Kurtz/Jakobsen/Sowery** – 866 pts (⬆ 4) 5. **Garg/Dillman** – 857 pts (⬇ 2) ### **GTD Pro Top 5:** 1. **Garcia/Sims** – 1,632 pts (⬆ 1) 2. **Bachler/Heinrich** – 1,570 pts (⬇ 1) 3. **Harper/Hesse** – 1,510 pts (⬆ 3) 4. **Rockenfeller/Priaulx** – 1,507 pts (⬇ 1) 5. **Costa** – 1,498 pts (⬇ 1) ### **GTD Top 5:** 1. **Ellis/Ward** – 1,550 pts (↔) 2. **Stevenson** – 1,490 pts (⬆ 2) 3. **Hawksworth/Thompson** – 1,474 pts (⬇ 1) 4. **Adelson/Skeer** – 1,362 pts (⬆ 1) 5. **Gallagher/Foley** – 1,329 pts *Feature image: Meyer Shank Racing* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### A trip in the Goodyear Blimp: an incredible birds' eye view of Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/trip-goodyear-blimp-incredible-birds-eye-view-le-mans-2025/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T11:00:48.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Before Le Mans, *Only Endurance* were invited to experience something very special: a trip in the famed Goodyear Blimp, in its 100th anniversary year, to take place during the race. First, a few facts about the Goodyear blimp. Goodyear's first Blimp, *Pilgrim,* flew in 1925\. While the 20th century versions of the Blimp were built by Goodyear, the current versions are built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, a German company. There are currently four Goodyear Blimps in existence. Three are stationed in the United States, while one is based in Germany. This was the Blimp that Goodyear brought to Le Mans, which they've done every year since they returned as a tyre supplier to the French endurance classic. The Blimp is around 75 metres long, or 246 feet. It's 17.4m high (57ft). Its ideal cruising range is 300 metres, around as tall as the Eiffel Tower. Goodyear were lucky enough to invite *Only Endurance* for a trip on the Blimp in the early hours of the race. It gave us a chance to see the race from the skies, showing the huge scale of the track nestled in the French countryside, where racing has taken place since 1906 and the 24 Hours since 1923. See below for a selection of shots from the Blimp! Thank you to Goodyear for inviting us — it was a very special experience and we're very appreciative. All images credit Phil Oakley and *Only Endurance*. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_160707567-1.webp) The Blimp takes off for a trip before ours. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_163341809.webp) The French countryside surrounding Le Mans as we flew towards the track. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_163909369.webp) The first chicane of Circuit de la Sarthe. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_163917264.webp) Tertre Rouge corner, with the Marie-Marvingt Stadium to the left. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_163943560.webp) A wide shot of the track with Tertre Rouge to the right and the first chicane to the left. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164014937.webp) An overhead shot of Tertre Rouge and the Forest Esses. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164020408.webp) The Forest Esses and paddock in the background, plus the Bugatti circuit. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164144224.webp) The Dunlop chicane, which starts the lap. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164317688.MP.webp) A wide shot of the exit of Porsche Curves leading to start finish and the Forest Esses. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164426013.webp) The Blimp had 'windows' that the crew opened mid flight. Don't drop anything out! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164432176.webp) The Mulsanne Straight, before Mulsanne Corner. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164436309.webp) The kink in the Mulsanne Straight before Mulsanne Corner. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164444255.webp) Indianapolis, at the top of the image, and Arnage. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164515348.webp) The part of public road heading down to Indianapolis. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164531204.webp) Arnage, showing the 'new' roundabout installed a few years ago. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164611797.webp) Indianapolis corner. Hi Goodyear! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164734613.webp) Porsche Curves, my personal favourite section of track. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164736333.webp) Another shot of Porsche Curves, showing the Beausejour campsite. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164805958.webp) Did you know there's a Silverstone-shaped lake in the middle of the circuit? Neither did we. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164817425.webp) A wider shot of Porsche Curves, showing the kart track as well. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164823076.webp) You can clearly see public road heading under the track here at Porsche Curves. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164844178.webp) The run off area, at the top of the image to drivers' left, was added a few years ago. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164904911.webp) The Ford Chicane and pit entry. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164911263.webp) It was very cool to see the racing from above - not our usual vantage point! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164912027.webp) Which cars can you see? Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_164943642.webp) The Blimp ride really showed the scale of the track. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165024447.webp) The Marie-Marvingt stadium, where the ACO press conference is held every year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165040131.MP.webp) Want a go? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165131228.webp) The first chicane, rechristened 'Daytona chicane' after IMSA and ACO's partnership. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165138712.webp) The Mulsanne Straight, with the kink at the top of the image. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165251907.webp) The second chicane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165317435.webp) A Corvette and McLaren navigate their way through the second chicane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165416190.webp) Mulsanne Corner. Hitting the apex is important here, to get a good exit for the long run to Indianapolis. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165423610.webp) The roundabout at Mulsanne corner. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165440566.webp) The track stretching off into the distance, taken from Mulsanne corner. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165453418.webp) The grey area on drivers' right exiting Mulsanne Corner is the old signalling pits, no longer used. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-2-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165735841.webp) The run down to Porsche Curves, approaching the end of the lap. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165737230.webp) It was incredible to see the track from above. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_165935545.webp) A very wide shot of the track, showing the first sector of the lap to Tertre Rouge. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_170014779.webp) Looking backwards down the track towards Tertre Rouge, roughly above the first chicane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250614_171120394.webp) Our trip was over — we waved goodbye to the Blimp, off on another trip for more guests, invited by Goodyear. Once again, thank you to Goodyear for an amazing experience that neither *Only Endurance* founder Tim, or I, the website editor, will ever forget. Just incredible! ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Six Hours of the Glen preview: LMP2 returns to IMSA URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/six-hours-of-the-glen-preview-lmp2-returns-to-imsa/ Last updated: 2025-06-20T15:41:34.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Just a week after Le Mans, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship roars back to life this weekend with the Six Hours of The Glen, a crown jewel of North American endurance racing. With all four classes returning to action and 56 cars entered, this is the largest field since March’s 12 Hours of Sebring. And for teams, drivers, and fans alike, it’s far more than just another date on the calendar—it’s a pivotal moment at the halfway mark of the 2025 season. There’s a buzz surrounding this event, and not just because of the car count. A sizable portion of the field competed in last weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with many making the transatlantic dash to regroup and refocus on championship aspirations in upstate New York. Watkins Glen represents Round 3 of the IMSA Endurance Cup and race 6 of 11 on the full-season schedule. For many, it's the first real opportunity to shift from survival mode to title contention. ### **2024 winners at Watkins Glen** *GTP: Felipe Nasr/Dane Cameron, #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963* *LMP2: Luis Perez Companc/Nicklas Nielsen/Lilou Wadoux, #88 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA LMP2 07* *GTD PRO: Ross Gunn/Alex Riberas, #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3* *GTD: Russell Ward/Philip Ellis/Indy Dontje, #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-8.png) Image: Photo courtesy of Porsche Motorsports ### **35 previous Watkins Glen winners entered** A stacked field of talent will take the green flag at Watkins Glen this weekend, with 35 previous race winners returning to chase more glory across the IMSA classes. Among them, Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson stand out with three straight LMP3 victories from 2021 to 2023\. Familiar faces like Filipe Albuquerque, Dane Cameron, Antonio Garcia, and Ricky Taylor bring multi-year winning experience across prototype and GT ranks. Recent winners such as Ross Gunn and Felipe Nasr enter, with momentum from their 2024 triumphs. Meanwhile veterans like Spencer Pumpelly and Joey Hand add even more depth with victories dating back almost a decade or two, respectively. The list spans every class—defunct or not—setting the stage for one of the most competitive editions of the Six Hours of The Glen in recent memory. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### **The big guns are back** In the headlining GTP class, we’re seeing a return to full strength. Thirteen entries—tying the season high from Sebring—will take the green flag. That includes the return of Proton Competition’s #5 Porsche 963 and Lamborghini’s #63 SC63, run by Riley Motorsports as of this year on behalf of the Squadra Corse factory. With the global prototype calendar beginning to settle, this is the moment when these cars can begin stacking consistent results. Over in LMP2, fans will be pleased to see the class return for the first time since Sebring. The field features the same 12 cars that opened the season with nail-biting competitiveness. Among them, Riley Motorsports #74 and Inter Europol’s #43 are locked in a battle that’s separated by just two points. Don’t count out AO Racing either. With a win at Le Mans in the LMP2 pro/am subclass under their belt, Spike is looking for his first LMP2 IMSA win. So far, the class has delivered two different winners in two rounds—and there’s every indication that trend could continue. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-9.png) Spike is hunting his first IMSA LMP2 win. Image: AO Racing The GT ranks are just as fierce. GTD Pro returns with 10 entries, featuring top-tier factory and semi-factory programs eager to gain ground in the Michelin Endurance Cup. Meanwhile, the GTD class sees a healthy 21-car field, many of which are Endurance Cup-only programs returning for the endurance-focused rounds. The sheer volume and depth of competition in both GT categories virtually guarantees six hours of relentless action, pit strategy trickery, and class-by-class chess. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### **Mid-season means momentum — or pressure** With the season hitting its halfway point at Watkins Glen, the standings are beginning to take shape, but nothing is secure. The championship battles remain highly competitive. In GTP, just 70 points separate first from second—not a comfortable margin given the chaos that often unfolds at The Glen. LMP2 is the tightest of the lot, with that razor-thin two-point gap mentioned earlier. GTD Pro is nearly as close, with an 11-point swing between the top teams, while GTD sees the largest spread at 124 points—but even that can evaporate over a couple of races. Watkins Glen, with its elevation changes, flowing corners, and mercurial weather, has a reputation for shaking things up. It’s not just a test of speed but also of stamina, consistency, and focus over six hours. ### **Breaking Streaks** Coming into the Glen, there’s a new narrative: the streak breakers. At Detroit, Acura upset BMW’s four-race pole streak and ended Porsche’s run of GTP victories with a strong showing from the #93 Acura ARX-06 fielded by Meyer Shank Racing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-10.png) Can Acura follow up their Detroit victory at the Glen? Image: Meyer Shank Racing Nick Yelloly, defending GTP winner at Detroit and LMP2 winner at Le Mans, spoke with *Only Endurance* about their testing at Watkins Glen earlier in May, on an IMSA-hosted Zoom call. 'So the last two days we were actually out there \[Watkins Glen\] testing,' Yelloly said. 'The out-laps can be quite treacherous at the best of times in the GTP class, particularly when you're going out on the harder tyre. So it was quite interesting to have a go with those without too much traffic on the circuit. So you could try and really push the out-laps and see where the limit was.' [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-2-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) 'It's an awesome track. The first few laps definitely take a bit of adjusting because of the, well, not the closing speeds, but the entry speeds you're really shifting on. But I think we went through a great test program with both cars really sharing the workload well. And I think between us all, we came away with a lot of data that we can, yeah, siphon through.' In GTD PRO, Ford struck gold—breaking AO Racing’s dual-class win streak with a commanding performance from the #64 Mustang GT3. The question now is, was that a one-off spark or the start of a trend? Acura and Ford have momentum, but whether they can turn it into dominance—or whether their rivals will respond—is one of the weekend’s biggest storylines. ### **History doesn't repeat itself** History tells us not to bet on repeat winners at Watkins Glen—at least not in the GTP class. The last four years have seen four different manufacturers take the overall win. Porsche triumphed in 2024, BMW in 2023, and Acura in 2022\. In 2021, when IMSA held two events at the Glen due to pandemic-related reshuffling, the short-format race went to Cadillac, and the longer six-hour race was won by Mazda. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-11.png) Mazda took a famous win at Watkins Glen in '21\. Image: Mazda This kind of parity is almost unheard of in top-tier sports car racing. The Glen’s blend of high-speed sections and technical turns doesn’t favor one particular car over another, making it a driver’s circuit—and a strategist’s nightmare. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### **IMSA Endurance Cup returns** Finally, this race marks the return of the Michelin-sponsored Endurance Cup, a championship within the championship. Points are awarded not just at the finish but also at the three-hour mark, rewarding consistency and long-game strategy. The scoring format is simple but punishing: five points for first at each mark, four for second, three for third, and two for the rest. With so much still to play for, the teams focusing solely on the endurance championship will be just as aggressive as those chasing season-long glory. ### **Final thoughts** Watkins Glen is more than just a six-hour race—it’s a pressure cooker, a proving ground, and a mid-season milestone all in one. The field is full, the storylines are tangled, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. For some teams, it’s a shot at redemption. For others, it’s a chance to take control of their championship fate. Either way, when the green flag drops, the battle will be relentless—and the outcome, unforgettable. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Porsche delivered when needed for first Le Mans 963 podium URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-penske-first-le-mans-963-podium-estre-vanthoor-campbell/ Last updated: 2025-06-19T18:21:41.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Last week, we wrote that Le Mans 2025 could be a make-or-break moment for the Porsche 963. After a string of underwhelming results in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, alongside dominant IMSA performances, the WEC programme had to come good at some point in 2025\. The story, ultimately, ended with Ferrari extending its dominance at La Sarthe, this time under the customer AF Corse banner. But while the Prancing Horse took home the Rolexes, Porsche left with something far more valuable: a result to buck their season up. The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry didn’t win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it did something just as important. It stood toe-to-toe with the class of the WEC field, out-strategized one of the most dominant teams in the sport, and gave us a final stint that reminded everyone why this brand has 19 overall Le Mans victories to its name. 'Pioneering spirit, courage and sportsmanship are part of Porsche's self-conception. That's why we never gave up and fought with determination right to the end. We did a lot of things right in the final phase. That made it very exciting once again,' said Thomas Laudenbach, Porsche's motorsport vice president. 'We got the absolute maximum out of our number 6 Porsche and certainly have nothing to hide. During the night nobody would have expected us to finish on the podium. We can be very proud of that. Of course, we also look back on the result with a teary eye: in the end, we were just 14 seconds short of overall victory.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-7.png) Estre and the #6 crew fought hard but lost out by mere seconds after 24 hours. Image: Porsche Penske Motorsports Let’s rewind. In the early hours of the race, it was the #5 Porsche that made the early headlines. Julien Andlauer drove with fire—fearless and opportunistic—and made short work of the sluggish JOTA Cadillacs on the straights to take the lead. Porsche needed a tone-setter, and Andlauer delivered. That car led the opening two hours before handing over to Mathieu Jaminet. 'A fantastic week!' Andlauer said following the 24 Hour of Le Mans. 'Working with the entire team across all three cars was a lot of fun. Our start to the race was good and the pace of the Porsche 963 was really strong. Then we picked up a puncture and a few penalties – that threw us out of the leading group. 'We fought on like lions, but I've never experienced such close competition at Le Mans. The pace was unbelievably high and it was incredibly exciting. Unfortunately, if you have to suffer a setback, you're out of the race. We'll be back on the attack next year!' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. It was Estre's opening stint, though, that set Porsche's tone for the race. The Frenchman went from last of the Hypercars at the start to fifth after the first round of pitstops. 'What a race for us,' he told gathered media and journalists in the post-race press conference. 'We we tried to push them all the way. We saw from hour two or three that we didn't have the pace, but we never gave up. 'We did no mistakes and and the car ran well without any issue, no penalty, nothing. So, we can be proud of what we achieved today, but obviously, it's not what we wanted. [EXCLUSIVE: Vanwall, Isotta eying Asian Le Mans entriesTwo former WEC manufacturers have already expressed interest in racing in the Hypercar class in the AsLMS in 2026-27 season.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-101.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC-Portimao6h-FPM-MW-8691-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/vanwall-isotta-fraschini-asian-le-mans-hypercar/) 'We came here to to win. For us, for Penske, for Porsche. And we couldn't get it. Twice in a row. Now it feels a bit bitter. We finished fourth last year. This year was a bit closer, but still, still so far. 'So yeah, that's the way it is. Proud of what to achieve as a team. But definitely quite a lot of frustration and disappointment,' he finished, before repeating in French. But as the race settled and the rhythm of Le Mans began to take shape, Jaminet couldn’t hold the same pace. A puncture and penalties didn't help their case either. That shift moved the spotlight to the #6 car—and Laurens Vanthoor didn’t miss the moment. Through the night, Vanthoor's consistency and the car’s long-run pace kept them in the conversation as other entries faltered, spun, or faded out of contention. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-6.png) The #5 led early on but then fell back. Image: Porsche Penske Motorsports 'Tomorrow we will look at the result and think that we have achieved more than we could have expected after the practice sessions and qualifying,' said Vanthoor. 'Today, however, the disappointment prevails. We delivered an absolutely perfect race and virtually had one hand on the biggest trophy – you don't often come that close to such a triumph. What a pity!' By Sunday morning, most of Porsche’s hopes rested on the shoulders of the No. 6 team. The #5 and other Porsche-powered entries had slipped to the fringes of the top ten, never seriously threatening. But the #6 kept digging. And then came the final stint—the kind that defines a driver’s legacy. Estre, on home turf, found himself in a knife fight with two Ferraris: Antonio Fuoco and Antonio Giovinazzi. On paper, this wasn’t a battle Porsche was supposed to win. Ferrari had been the class of the Hypercar field not just all race, but all season. Estre was projected to finish fourth, assuming Ferrari executed as expected. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) But racing rarely follows scripts. An undisclosed issue hampered Giovinazzi’s pace late in the race, opening a window for Estre. Fuoco, in the #50 Ferrari, was still charging hard—the two pitted at the same time, each with equal energy allocation remaining. It was a straight fight: team vs. team, driver vs. driver, second place on the line. And that’s where Porsche Penske Motorsport executed to perfection. Estre’s stop was three seconds faster. That’s it. Three seconds. But at Le Mans, three seconds can feel like an eternity. It was the kind of pit stop that championships—and reputations—are built on. Estre emerged ahead of Fuoco and never looked back, bringing the No. 6 Porsche home in second place, just behind the winning Ferrari. 'An absolutely incredible race: it stayed dry throughout, there was almost always a clear run and everyone put the pedal down like crazy,' said Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. 'Our three factory cars ran without any technical flaws. We had to take care of car number 6 the least in the pit lane, which is why it achieved the best position within our team. We performed flawlessly, we just lacked a little speed in certain phases of the race. We'll be back even stronger next year.' It may not have been a win, but it was a definitive statement. Porsche showed that the 963 can fight—not just circulate. They showed that, under the right conditions, they can match Ferrari blow-for-blow and even beat them when it counts most. More importantly, they avoided the one thing they simply couldn’t afford: irrelevance. Before Le Mans, we said Porsche needed to walk away from Le Mans with a podium. They did. And they did it with grit, brains, and a little bit of brilliance when it mattered most. Second place might not satisfy a team with Porsche’s history—but after years of questions, this was the answer they needed to give. *Feature image: Porsche Penske Motorsport* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Vanwall looking to re-enter WEC in 2027 with brand new car URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/vanwall-bykolles-wec-2027-new-car-pipo-engine/ Last updated: 2025-06-19T12:58:22.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Vanwall, also known as ByKolles, are looking to enter the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2027, *Only Endurance* can exclusively reveal. Yesterday we revealed the team, plus Isotta Fraschini, had plans to enter the Asian Le Mans Series for the 2026-27 season, when Hypercars are added to the championship. However, team boss Colin Kolles told us this would likely be with the old Gibson-powered car. The plan to race in WEC in 2027 would be with a brand new car. 'We have two cars. We have one, the old car which you know, with the Gibson engine,' he said. 'And we have a car with the Pipo engine. Which is a new car. It has fundamental differences. It's a totally different car. 'It's basically a renewed big evolution of the old car. The look is different. The aero is different. The suspension is different. The gearbox is different. The engine is different. The cooling system is different. Everything is different. 'So it's basically a new car. In terms of homologation you have the jokers. This will be a new homologation, because otherwise, it doesn't work,' said the Vanwall team boss. However, with long lead times and testing, plus getting the car homologated, Vanwall would face a challenge to race the new Pipo-powered car in the Asian Le Mans Series. So, instead, the plan is to race the old car, the Vandervell 680, in the Asian Le Mans Series. The new car, then, Kolles is planning to race in the WEC in 2027. [EXCLUSIVE: Vanwall, Isotta eying Asian Le Mans entriesTwo former WEC manufacturers have already expressed interest in racing in the Hypercar class in the AsLMS in 2026-27 season.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-99.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC-Portimao6h-FPM-MW-8691.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/vanwall-isotta-fraschini-asian-le-mans-hypercar/) Whereas the plan for the Asian Le Mans Series is to run under the ByKolles banner — which Kolles confirmed to *Only Endurance* — in WEC, the team could likely run as Vanwall. Hypercars racing in AsLMS will need to be run by customers, which Kolles believes the team would qualify as by running under the ByKolles banner. That said, he is still waiting for clarification on this matter from the ACO. However, this doesn't apply in WEC, meaning the Vanwall name would be used again, same as in 2023\. But, the team would need to run two cars, as is mandated by WEC for Hypercar manufacturers. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Where would Vanwall fit in WEC? In 2025, WEC has 36 cars, with 18 in each category. This is four under the maximum number, 40 cars across both classes. Next year, Genesis will enter two new Hypercars. Ford and McLaren will also enter two apiece in 2027\. If every entry from 2025 enters in 2027, this would put the numbers at 24 Hypercars. But, if we assume that the customer teams in WEC are cut, leaving just factory or works teams, that reduces the number to 22\. This would remove the Proton Competition-run Porsche, plus the Le Mans-winning, AF Corse-run #83 Ferrari. Vanwall entering a new two-car team would increase this back to 24, if every factory team competing in WEC in 2025 sticks around. This is by no means a certainty. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/0053-HP-WEC-Sebring-Prologue-FPM-HPR38554.webp) Vanwall last raced in WEC in 2023, with the Vandervell 680\. Image: Focus Pack Media We then have the GT3s to deal with. With 24 Hypercars, this leaves us with 16 GT3s. The current number of GT3s is 18, and this could increase further if other new manufacturers come in. Lamborghini is known to be working on a new GT3 to replace the aging Huracan. The Italian brand may well want a spot in 2026, after a year out of WEC due to the fall out with Iron Lynx. So, it's likely to get a bit tight space wise. And, according to WEC CEO Frederic Lequien, WEC will never go fully Hypercar, or prototype. 'We still consider that all DNA in the WEC is to have some GTs and some prototypes,' he told gathered journalists after the ACO press conference the day before Le Mans. 'And also, I would like to remind you, the LMP2 \[class\] would still be eligible at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We will maintain 15 LMP2 minimum, whatever the number of Hypercars.' So, while Vanwall are aiming at a spot in Hypercar for 2027, finding space for them may be a challenge for the ACO. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### EXCLUSIVE: Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini confirm Asian Le Mans Series interest URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/vanwall-isotta-fraschini-asian-le-mans-hypercar/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T12:59:15.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Both Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini, former competitors in the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class, are looking at competing in the class in the Asian Le Mans Series, *Only Endurance* can reveal. The Hypercar class, so far restricted to the WEC, will be added to the series for the 2026-27 season. It will be restricted to customer entries. 'Yes, there is interest. I think we will,' Vanwall team boss, Colin Kolles, told *Only Endurance.* While the team has designed a new car, Kolles confirmed Vanwall will likely race the old car in AsLMS in 2026-27. 'The time is too short to homologate the new car. 2026 now, it's too late for us, because we want to be well prepared. 'Due to the circumstances of supplier issues, you have to have long lead times. And we cannot place orders without knowing if we can race or not.' ![The Vanwall Vandervell 680 being pushed by mechanics with the left-hand side door open, at Sebring 2023](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/2023-WEC-Sebring1000-FPM-CFR_4278.webp) The Vanwall Vandervell 680 made its WEC debut at Sebring in 2023\. Image: Focus Pack Media The old car, the Vanwall Vandervell 680, raced in WEC in 2023\. However, the engine in the car, a Gibson GL458, was at a significant power deficit. At times, the 4.5-litre, naturally aspirated V8 engine was at a power deficit of up to 60kW, or 80 horsepower, compared to the competition. With Hypercars having a maximum power of 520kW as per the technical regulations, that's more than 10% of the total power. Kolles confirmed to O*nly Endurance* that the car would run in AsLMS with this engine, but he is waiting for clarification regarding the regulations to proceed further. The plan to race customer Hypercars in AsLMS was announced at the ACO's annual press conference, on Friday, preceding last weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans. 'The team will likely be ByKolles, running a Vanwall car,' Kolles said, although added he is waiting for clarification on whether this is possible from the ACO. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Isotta Fraschini also interested in AsLMS Like Vanwall, Isotta Fraschini has also expressed an interest in racing in the new AsLMS top class in 2026-27, the company confirmed to *Only Endurance.* While there are 'multiple options' available to the manufacturer, one of those routes is 'through partners', a representative said. ![The Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione at Spa-Francorchamps in 2024, turning into a left hand corner](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0370--1-.webp) Isotta Fraschini raced its Tipo 6 LMH-C in WEC in 2024\. Image: DPPI / WEC Isotta Fraschini raced in five races in the 2024 WEC season, at Losail in Qatar, Imola, Spa, Le Mans, and Interlagos in Brazil. The team, operated by Duqueine on behalf of Isotta Fraschini, then pulled out, and has not been seen on a grid since. But this confirmation that the company is looking to race in the AsLMS in 2026-27 is a sign that the Italian squad still wants to race its Tipo 6 LMH Competizione. Additionally, *Only Endurance* contacted another former WEC manufacturer, Glickenhaus, for a comment on whether there's interest from them to compete in AsLMS. However, at the time of writing, we have not heard back. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month, plus go ad-free [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Porsche 'starting discussions' So, what kind of competition would ByKolles/Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini face in AsLMS? Porsche are the only manufacturer to have offered true customer cars, not counting the AF Corse-run (and now Le Mans-winning) #83 Ferrari 'satellite' entry in WEC. Urs Kuratle, Porsche's director of LMDh motorsport, told media they were 'just about' to start discussions with teams. 'We're just about to start the discussions with the teams, with potential teams over there, because obviously we would have to set up the customer support in those teams as well,' Kuratle said. ![Urs Kuratle, Porsche's director of LMDh motorsport, in the Porsche garage](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT10796.webp) Kuratle is Porsche's LMDh motorsport chief. Image: Juergen Tap / Hoch Zewi / Porsche 'At the moment, we are set up to have a customer support in the WEC series and one in the IMSA. They can operate independently. 'There's not a line up of teams asking for a 963 in the AsLMS yet, but never say never. We are happy to discuss it, definitely.' It's unclear if any other Hypercar/GTP manufacturers may offer customer cars. But, from what Kuratle said, it sounds possible that we may see customer Porsche 963s in AsLMS, hopefully alongside Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini. Update: amended Isotta Fraschini's interest as a company racing in AsLMS, not as a team. *Feature image: Focus Pack Media* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Ferrari 'surprised' by #50 car's disqualification from Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-issues-statement-following-50s-disqualification-from-le-mans/ Last updated: 2025-06-17T13:53:47.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Late last night, the #50 Ferrari was disqualified from Le Mans, as the rear wing deflected too much under testing, the technical scrutineers found after the race. In a statement, which you can read in full below, Ferrari said they are 'surprised' by the decision to disqualify the car. This is the reason they didn't fix the problem with the rear wing at the car's final stop. The car, driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, had originally finished fourth behind the winning #83 car, the #6 Porsche, and the sister #51 Ferrari. The car did not comply with Section 3.8.7 of the LMH technical regs, which you can read on the [FIA website](https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/documents/lmdh%5Ftechnical%5Fregulations%5F2025.04.02%5F-%5Fblackline%5F0.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com). [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) Four bolts were missing from the rear wing support, taking the car out of homologation. The wing then deflected 52mm when the load was applied as per the technical regulations. The permissable amount is 15mm. That's more than three times the amount allowed. The car achieved its highest top speed on lap 380 out of 387, 349km/h. This was achieved after the car's final pitstop, on lap 376, when a Ferrari AF Corse engineer noticed one bolt was missing. This top speed is exactly the same as the #51's highest top speed, which the sister car set on lap 191. A radio message to Antonio Giovinazzi, driving the #51 a few seconds behind Fuoco in the #50, was also broadcast during the race. The #51's race engineer told the Italian to keep out of the #50 car's slipstream, as parts may fly off. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003478_0096.webp) The issue was noted at the car's final stop — but nothing was done. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Ferrari's statement Ferrari have since issued a [statement](https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/hypercar/articles/le-mans-2025-ferrari-statement-following-disqualification-of-499p-number-50?ref=ontheapex.com) adding detail and their defence. *Following post-race scrutineering at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, the number 50 Ferrari 499P, which had finished fourth, was disqualified for a technical infringement, as stated in Decision number 225 issued by the Stewards. The irregularity concerned the absence of four bolts from the central rear wing support. The other two 499P entries – the number 83, which won the race, and the number 51, which finished third – passed post-race scrutineering without any issues.* *As reported by the Stewards, during the number 50 car’s last pit stop at 3.23 p.m. on Sunday, 15 June, a Ferrari – AF Corse team mechanic noticed that only one of the bolts securing the central rear wing support was missing.* *Given the design of the element, the absence of one or more of these components did not compromise the car’s safety in any way. The subsequent loss of the remaining bolts during the final 37 minutes of the race provided no advantage in terms of performance or the final standings.* [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) *The top speed of the number 50 499P reported by the Stewards in their decision was recorded during the car’s final seven laps while it was running in the slipstream of its sister car, the number 51 499P.* *While surprised by the decision, Ferrari reaffirms its complete confidence in the professionalism and integrity of its team, in the actions taken, and in its respect for the regulations governing the FIA World Endurance Championship.* *With full confidence in those same regulations, even though the incident in question offered no competitive advantage to the crew, nor did it compromise the safety of our drivers or that of other competitors, Ferrari is already at work ahead of the next rounds of a season that resumes under the global spotlight in July, in Brazil.* *Following the disqualification of the number 50 499P, Ferrari retains its lead in the championship’s Manufacturers’ standings with 172 points. In the World Drivers’ Championship, the trio of Pier Guidi–Calado–Giovinazzi leads with 105 points, followed by Ye–Kubica–Hanson with 89 and Fuoco–Molina–Nielsen with 57.* Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Rules are rules Even though the #50 gained no speed advantage from the wing deflecting more than three times the permissable amount, rules are rules. The stewards had no choice but to disqualify the car. This moves everyone behind up a position, giving the #12 Cadillac fourth. Crucially, it also means Aston Martin scores its first FIAWEC points with the Valkyrie, with a 12th-placed finish that turns into 10th when the #4 Porsche, a "guest" car, and the #83 Ferrari, which doesn't contribute to manufacturer points, are removed from the points-scoring standings. Congratulations Aston Martin! *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Filth gallery: post-race at Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/filth-gallery-le-mans-2025-cars-parc-ferme-toyota-valkyrie/ Last updated: 2025-06-17T06:32:05.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Le Mans is over for another year. The *Only Endurance* crew got home to the UK on Monday evening, after the drive through France and onto the ferry at Calais, with tens of thousands of other fans. There'll be lots of time for writing and analysis later this week, but firstly, enjoy the now-traditional post-race filth gallery from Le Mans. All images were taken by friend of *Only Endurance*, Sim Steele - thanks Sim! Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.04--1-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.04--3-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.04.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.05--1-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.05--2-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.05--3-.webp) ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.05--4-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.05--5-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.05--6-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.05.webp) [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.06--1-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.06--2-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.06--3-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.06--6-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.06--7-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.06--8-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.06.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.07--1-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/WhatsApp-Image-2025-06-15-at-17.10.07--2-.webp) [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Can Cadillac take first American Le Mans win since 1969? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/can-cadillac-first-american-le-mans-win-1969-wec-porsche-ferrari-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-06-14T10:40:12.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. The script for Le Mans feels familiar this year: an American manufacturer, swaggering into Europe with power, pride, and something to prove. Only this time, it’s not Ford gunning for Ferrari—it’s Cadillac. And make no mistake, the stakes are just as high. Back in 1966, Henry Ford II sent his Detroit muscle across the Atlantic to give Enzo Ferrari a black eye—and boy, did they deliver. The GT40s didn’t just beat Ferrari; they buried them. They swept the podium. They came back in 1967 and did it again for good measure. They last won in 1969, on the 14th June 1969 - 56 years ago to the very day that an American manufacturer last won the French endurance classic. Fast forwarding to 2025, and Cadillac is looking to write the next chapter in that long-simmering rivalry. Ferrari—now twice-defending Le Mans champions—has been untouchable all season long in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship. Three races, three wins. The 499P has been seemingly unbeatable in the hands of AF Corse. They’re the team to beat. They know it (even if they won't admit it). We all know it. However, this weekend, Cadillac has defied expectations. They’ve locked out the front row. Let me say that again: *Cadillac is starting 1–2 at Le Mans*, ahead of both factory Ferraris, the best of which will start seventh. But, Cadillac don't believe Ferrari have shown what they've got so far in practice. [Le Mans pre-race analysis: Anyone’s gameSix manufacturers look to be in realistic contention for the win at the Le Mans 24 Hours this year. We tear down the practice long run pace.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-97.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003450_0039.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-pre-race-analysis-porsche-ferrari-toyota-cadillac-anyones-game/) Sebastien Bourdais spoke to French media after qualifying. 'There are some who are not showing what they are capable of,' said the Frenchman to Florian Defet at [endurance24.fr](https://endurance24.fr/bourdais-apres-lhyperpole-ferrari-se-moque-de-nous/?ref=ontheapex.com) (translated from French). 'We saw two or three little things that we don't like at all... Ferrari is clearly hiding its hand.' He continued: 'Ferrari is making fun of us. When you see what Yifei \[Ye, in the #83 Ferrari\] did yesterday \[in qualifying\], with 45 or 50 kilos of fuel, a 3:23.9 on the first lap... you have to stop.' In endurance racing, pole doesn’t guarantee much—except a statement. Alex Lynn admitted as much when speaking to media, including *Only Endurance,* after qualifying. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/PXL_20250612_202938762.MP.jpg) **Only Endurance* was in the pit lane directly after qualifying to speak to the drivers. Image: Phil Oakley 'Pole at Le Mans is always special, no matter,' said the Briton. 'It’s the race of the year, so to prove yourself over one lap… yeah, it doesn’t mean anything for the race, but it does mean something on pride. And that’s what we go racing for, right?' Either way, Cadillac’s statement is clear: They’re here. They’re not backing down. And they just might win this thing. The #12 and #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars looked composed, quick, and confident in qualifying—traits that have eluded them in past WEC outings. They've brought more than speed to La Sarthe; they've brought swagger. And if you’re a fan of American racing history, it’s hard not to feel a little tingle of GT40 déjà vu. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) It should be added, too, that Cadillac have four factory cars at Le Mans this year — the most of anyone. There's the two JOTA-run cars, the full-time WEC entrants. Then, there's the IMSA full-time cars, from Wayne Taylor Racing and Action Express Racing. While AXR and WTR are the 'guests' here, both have looked quick in the run-up to the race. The AXR crew, composed of Fred Vesti, Felipe Drugovich, and Jack Aitken may be young and a little inexperienced at Le Mans, but they're all quick drivers. 'We have Fred here for the first time \[with Action Express\]. Felipe the second. It's my third, we kind of know what we're doing,' said Aitken to *Only Endurance*. 'Like I said, we're trying to get the car into as good of shape as possible through practice. 'The weather looks like it should be good unlike the previous years, that's something a bit different, so it should be a bit more straightforward. And that's all we can really take at the moment,' said the Briton. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This year’s Hypercar class is a knife fight in a phone booth. Ferrari, despite starting behind Cadillac, has proven time and again that they’re masters of long-distance warfare. Porsche’s 963 may have stumbled early in the season, hampered by BoP adjustments and inconsistent pace, but never count Stuttgart out at Le Mans. While the 963 doesn't need to prove itself on the global stage, it arguably *does* have something to prove at Le Mans. [Crunch time for Porsche: 963 must prove itself at Le MansThe 963’s won almost everything but Le Mans. To become a truly iconic Porsche sportscar, it’s the one race it has to win to become a legend.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-98.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24LeMans2025_JTHZ09960.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-crunch-time-porsche-963-prove-itself-wec-ferrari-toyota/) Toyota, the five-time defending WEC champs before Ferrari’s rise, have the experience and the strategy chops to climb through the field when it matters. BMW’s M Hybrid V8 has been quietly gaining strength, and Alpine—after a rocky start—showed flashes of promise in the lead-up to the race. We’re talking about six manufacturers, any of whom realistically have a shot at the win. Even Aston Martin and Peugeot, both off the pace this week to varying degrees, are lurking in the shadows. And Le Mans has a way of humbling everyone. Just ask Toyota in 2016\. This place doesn’t hand out victories—it rips them away. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003442_0069.webp) Peugeit have been off the pace at Le Mans this year, but could they spring a surprise in the race? Image: DPPI / WEC As the old adage says: Le Mans chooses the winner. You're racing the track as much as you're racing the competition. But this year, all eyes are on that front row. On Cadillac. On the rebirth of an old rivalry that once reshaped the landscape of endurance racing. So here we are—on the brink of a 24-hour showdown that feels part race, part rematch. Cadillac leads the field, BMW and Porsche are on the second row, and Ferrari is back in an uncharacteristic seventh, at best. Whether this ends in American glory, another chapter in Ferrari’s modern dominance, a first Le Mans win for the Porsche 963, or someone else, one thing’s certain: we’re in for a race worthy of the history books. And if Cadillac pulls it off? We might just be watching the next great Le Mans legend come to life. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Le Mans pre-race analysis: Anyone's game URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-pre-race-analysis-porsche-ferrari-toyota-cadillac-anyones-game/ Last updated: 2025-06-13T16:17:42.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The tension in the paddock and at the track for this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans is palpable. For the previous couple of years, the competition has been fierce and we've had two fantastic editions of the French endurance classic. But this year it feels, if it's possible, that we could be in for an even better, closer race. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) Looking at the long run pace from the four practice sessions backs this up. Six manufacturers could realistically be in contention for the win — unfortunately Peugeot and Aston Martin are left out in the cold. But more on them later. Le Mans can often be a race of parts, with the daytime and cooler night time often offering completely different pictures in terms of pace and speed from various teams. So, let's look at the daytime practice sessions first, then the night sessions. ## Extremely close in the heat of the day The long run pace from the two daytime practice sessions, FP1 and FP3, was very close. As usual we've separated this out into two metrics: a team (or manufacturer's, in the graph below) fastest long run, and then the average long run pace for multi-car teams (the vast majority). The factory Porsche team presented the fastest long run pace in these two sessions. The resulting average lap time was a 03:29.088, set by Michael Christensen in the #5 machine over a series of seven laps. The Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac appears to not be far behind, but this isn't a realistic portrayal. The run was just three laps long in FP3, from Jordan Taylor. That said, brother Ricky was able to set a longer run that was only a couple of tenths slower on average in FP1, so there is hope yet for the American team. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. BMW's Dries Vanthoor, in the #15 car, wasn't far back either, also in FP1\. Toyota were close too, with a nine lap stint from Seb Buemi. The surprise to many will be how far back Ferrari are, but this cannot be taken as representative. Maybe the sandbags will be released come the race? The two JOTA-run Cadillacs too have pace. Alex Lynn, in the #12 car qualified on pole with his teammate Earl Bamber second on the grid. While they aren't miles off at all in the long run pace here, they'll likely find pace in the race. And, a word on Alpine. They have been maybe a step behind those seen to be at the front of the pack – the usual names — but not so much so that they may struggle in the race. Fred Makowiecki's 9-lap was respectable and, starting from ninth, they could be a force in the race. The manufacturer chart above affirms the same line of thinking, with six manufacturers realistically in the hunt. Even Peugeot aren't too far off Alpine, judging from practice — but we all know that each team surely hasn't shown its true potential yet. ## Unknowns in the night Going into the darkness and the FP2 and FP4 sessions, run at night, and the picture changes considerably. However, with shorter sessions at night, the long runs were shorter and more condensed, making it harder to truly judge. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) Porsche once again appear to have decent long run pace, sitting second. However, ahead of them is the satellite #83 AF Corse Ferrari. Robert Kubica did a six lap stint in the hour-long FP4 session to look quickest on average, but this is hardly a long stint in the grand scheme of things. The longest stint from either of these sessions was a 19 lap stint from polesitter Alex Lynn. He set a 03:30.685 over those 19 laps — slower than some other cars, but crucially longer. Aston Martin are a surprise outlier here. Can they really be fast in the night and knocking on the door of the top 4 or 5 in pace terms, if not in position? We'll have to see. Alpine and Toyota are behind both Peugeot and Aston Martin here, which again may not be representative. It is, in truth, very hard to know at this stage, with only three hours of practice run at night compared to double that in the daytime. ## What does all this mean? That's the big question. In all honesty, anyone from the six manufacturers — Porsche, Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Alpine and BMW — could win this. It's that close. Porsche have strong top speed, topping the speed traps all week, while Cadillac are immense in the fast, high speed corners, Porsche Curves in particular. Peugeot are lacking top speed in particular and seem to be lacking everywhere really, but they're a team which could spring a surprise, even if a win is unlikely. Aston Martin too could be a dark horse team who come from nowhere. But we'll only really find out in the race. That's when the facts are laid bare and everyone shows what they've got. We can't wait! *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Crunch time for Porsche: 963 must prove itself at Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-crunch-time-porsche-963-prove-itself-wec-ferrari-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-06-12T13:52:35.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The Porsche 963 has, by and large, been a successful sportscar. It's won the world championship for its driver crew of Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor last year, plus the IMSA championship titles. And, multiple race wins on both sides of the Atlantic, including at Daytona and Sebring. But, the one race it hasn't yet won is the big one: Le Mans. Let’s be clear: no alarms are going off in Stuttgart just yet—but if the Porsche 963 doesn’t finally deliver at Le Mans this year, in its third year of competition, questions will begin to be asked. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) The German manufacturer has 19 wins here from legendary cars, such as the 917, 956, 962, GT1-98, and 919\. Iconic sportscars, and not just iconic Porsches. The 963 is on the cusp of joining them, but arguably needs to win the French endurance classic before that happens. In two appearances at La Sarthe, Porsche’s best finish with the 963 was a fourth-placed result last year. Not a disaster — many other manufacturers would, in all honesty, take fourth at the world's most iconic race, especially when it's as competitive as it has been recently. But when you’re the most decorated manufacturer in Le Mans history, “respectable” doesn’t cut it. And this year, with four entries—three from Porsche Penske Motorsport and one from Proton Competition—the expectations are clear: it’s time to deliver. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/24LeMans2025_JTHZ16216.webp) As in previous years, Porsche will field three factory at Le Mans in 2025\. Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap But in the FIA World Endurance Championship, 2025 hasn’t exactly started on the right foot. The 963 has struggled to find form, and not just due to setup or driver error. Porsche has had to contend with significant BoP adjustments—notably an increase in minimum weight and a reduction in maximum power. These changes have hit hard, and it’s shown. The factory Penske entries? They struggled to even get near the top-five in the early WEC rounds. For a team and manufacturer accustomed to winning, that’s not where they want to be, especially after winning the world championship last year. ## Wehrlein making Le Mans debut Pascal Wehrlein, newcomer to Le Mans after winning the Formula E world championship, joins Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy in the #4 entry. He’s taken the challenge head-on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/24hLeMans25_061014260007489DG.webp) Wehrlein (in background) joins new teammates Nasr and Tandy for Le Mans. Image: Drew Gibson 'I feel very comfortable in the car,' said Wehrlein. 'It’s just about learning the track as quickly as possible, learning the tricks here, and understanding where the tire degradation is going and how it behaves on high fuel and low fuel. I would say normal procedures, but generally, I feel very, very comfortable. 'I want to do well. It would mean a lot to us. At the same time, I think the approach has to be, “It’s just one race, to focus on the basics and try to make the most out of it.”' ## #6 car's disqualification sets them back The #6 car—Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell—had the pace in qualifying, only to be slapped with a DQ that sent them to the back of the grid. It’s a setback, but it might be the spark they need to attack this race with real intent. 'Yeah, it impacts since you start last instead of maybe top five,” Laurens Vanthoor said. ‘That exposes you to more risk at the start and in the first hours, so we’ll have to come back. With the safety car rules there’s a realistic chance things will bunch up again. ‘I do think that we can come back. I'm quite trustful that we can come back to the front but it will take time and patience, and will expose us to more risk. ‘But hopefully after a couple of hours in the race that will be, let's say, wiped out. And we'll be in the pack to see where we're at. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/24hLeMans25_061122350832443ND-Enhanced-NR.webp) The #6 Porsche had an unspecified issue during night practice on Wednesday, affecting the run plan. Image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography ### Vanthoor worried about 'one brand in particular' And, when asked about Porsche’s long run pace — more on that from Only Endurance tomorrow — the Belgian seemed hopeful that Porsche can fight at the front. ‘Yeah, \[long run pace\] looked quite good. Last night we had a bit of an issue, but during the day and the heat, it was actually surprisingly good. ‘So I think we're there together with a bunch of others. I'm a bit worried about one brand in particular, which I think is standing out, let's say. ‘But besides that, I think we have a good fighting chance. And yeah, the ability to make a good result of it.’ Le Mans can often be a race of parts — the day time, then into the night, then back into the day. Unfortunately #6 Porsche’s unspecified issue in second practice yesterday meant the team couldn’t get a good read on the car at night. ‘Last night we had a bit of an issue, so we couldn’t see what our pace was. We were surprisingly good during the day and normally actually we're always better at night. But it changes so much, so I hope we’ll know more in this evening’s session,’ he concluded. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## 'Working well' says Jaminet Then there’s Mathieu Jaminet, partnering WEC full-timers Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen in the #5 car. The Frenchman offered perhaps the most honest assessment so far when *Only Endurance* spoke to him before practice. “I think it was the best test day we’ve had in the last two years, frankly,' he said. 'The car was working well, no issues. A lot of laps, a lot of data. In my opinion, we look alright. We are not at the very sharp end at the front, but we are somewhere in the mix in the front group.' 'I just don't know how much behind the top or the top two manufacturers, which look to be Ferrari and Toyota. But I think it's very close up from between five brands.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/24hLeMans25_061113471609350DG.webp) Jaminet is ready for the challenge this year's Le Mans will pose. Image: Drew Gibson Five brands — but who? Jaminet was happy to expand. 'You see Toyota and Ferrari, you see us and you see BMW and Alpine,' said the 30-year-old. 'Cadillac was a little bit behind, but we also know how they do every year. So, I'd be surprised if they don't show up at some point. They've always been really strong \[in qualifying\] and starting on the first two rows usually. So yeah, I expect this five, maybe six with Cadillac.' That puts all the LMDh-rules manufacturers in Jaminet's theoretical window, plus Ferrari and Toyota, Jaminet's ultimate pace pick. 'All the LMDh-spec cars I would expect in a very, very small window,' he continued. 'The question mark is Ferrari and Toyota. They've always been a little bit ahead, the last two years, of everyone else. And again, they look very strong. So yeah, in the end it's hard to know. 'I just know from our side, it's not bad. Seems like we've done a good step so I just hope it's enough for Saturday and Sunday,' he finished. ## Make or break time for Porsche Ferrari has already proven it can win at Le Mans, twice on the trot. Toyota remains very consistent. And the competition elsewhere is strong too. Porsche, then, need to prove the 963 belongs in the same echelon as the 499P and GR010 Hybrid, when it comes to the French endurance classic. This is that weekend — crunch time. *Feature image: Porsche / Juergen Tap* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Le Mans preview part 2: Hypercar and LMP2 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-hypercar-lmp2-preview-ferrari-porsche-toyota-oreca/ Last updated: 2025-06-11T08:54:04.000Z Ferrari arrives at the Circuit de la Sarthe not only as defending Le Mans winners but also as the clear favorite heading into the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Following a strong showing in last weekend’s Test Day and holding the top two spots in the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers Championship, the Prancing Horse looks poised to control the race and extend their championship lead. ### WEC Hypercar Points – Top 5: 1. **#51 Ferrari** – Pier Guidi / Giovinazzi / Calado – 75 pts 2. **#50 Ferrari** – Fuoco / Molina / Nielsen – 57 pts 3. **#83 AF Corse Ferrari** – Hanson / Kubica / Ye – 39 pts 4. **#8 Toyota** – Hartley / Hirakawa / Buemi – 37 pts 5. **#36 Alpine** – Makowiecki / Gounon / Schumacher – 30 pts The #51 Ferrari 499P, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi, and James Calado, leads the championship with 75 points after a dominant early-season stretch. Close behind is the sister #50 car of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen. The duo’s impressive pace in the final sector and long-run consistency have established Ferrari as the team to beat—but with 21 other Hypercars on the grid, nothing is guaranteed. But, winning the last three races and the 2023 and 2024 edition of Le Mans puts a target on their back, whatever the team say. They were mighty at Losail and Imola, and while the field closed in at Spa, the scarlet cars were still the class of the field. While the world championship is the team's aim this year, rather than Le Mans, they'll still want the double points offered by the race. And, who'd say no to winning one of the biggest races in the world? [Ferrari’s Qatar win starts world title bid on right footFerrari’s goal this clear is very clear: winning the world championship. A win at the opening race of the season at Qatar is exactly what they needed.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-94.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0670--1--2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferraris-qatar-win-starts-world-title-bid-on-right-foot/) Toyota, winners of five straight Le Mans titles before Ferrari’s 2023 breakthrough, enters the race hungry for redemption. The #8 GR010 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa, and Sébastien Buemi currently sits fourth in the standings and showed solid, if not headline-grabbing, pace in testing. Meanwhile, the #7 Toyota, driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and Nyck de Vries, boasts extensive Le Mans experience and has the potential to emerge as a surprise contender as the race progresses. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0216.webp) Toyota are racing a retro livery on the #7 car this year, celebrating the GT-One from 1998\. Image: DPPI / WEC AF Corse’s customer Ferrari effort in the #83 car (Philip Hanson, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye) has also quietly emerged as a contender, currently third in the championship standings and showing impressive efficiency in sector times across the weekend. Porsche Penske Motorsport fields three entries, while the #4 entry showed a lot of speed in testing. The #4 Porsche has Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr on board, winners of Daytona and Sebring. They'll be joined by Pascal Wehrlein, while the drivers in the other teams will be the regular WEC drivers. BMW M Team WRT and Cadillac Racing also look strong in race trim, and with four Cadillacs on the grid, from three different teams, who knows what they might be able to achieve. Two of those are the WEC JOTAs, while the other two are IMSA full timers, from Action Express Racing and Le Mans debutant team Wayne Taylor Racing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0078.webp) Action Express Racing are at Le Mans for the third time. Image: DPPI / WEC BMW, in particular, have been force in the races leading up to Le Mans. WRT have learnt a lot about the M Hybrid V8 compared to last year, when they were still relatively fresh to the car, and it's showing in their performances so far. Kevin Magnussen, of Formula 1 fame, is a boon to that car, bringing speed and consistency. One of the stories of the race will be watching how he does and keeping an eye on his progress in the #15 BMW, with his teammate Dries Vanthoor and Raffaele Marciello. Alpine could very well be a dark horse in this year's Le Mans. The #36 Alpine, crewed by Mick Schumacher, Jules Gounon and Fred Makowiecki, has been on the podium twice in the last three races, and were fighting on pace with Ferrari at Spa until the strategy didn't fall their way towards the end. [Alpine’s run to third at Spa confirms their pace in WECAlpine have emerged as one of Ferrari’s closest on track challengers this year. Wait, what?!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-95.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Alpine-scores-another-podium-finish-at-Spa-Francorchamps-and-sets-its-sights-on-Le-Mans1-6.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/alpine-schumacher-third-spa-confirms-pace-wec-ferrari-le-mans/) Watch out for them, and the sister #35 crew, through the race. The key will be the V6 turbocharged engine's reliability. Last year the engine on both cars failed within half an hour of each other, putting both cars out well before halfway. Alpine say they've done a lot of work on it since to improve its reliability, and so far this season that seems to have worked. But the real test will be over 24 hours. Based on test day, Peugeot and Aston Martin are languishing at the back of the pack. Obviously this is not where either want to be. In Peugeot's case, the 'new' 9X8 is harder to set up and extract pace from compared to the old wingless car, which led for a significant period of time in the 2023 race. The Balance of Performance, too, hasn't fallen in Peugeot's favour, which hasn't helped. The French squad will need to find something if they want to impress in this year's race. Aston Martin are the unknown this year. It's the British manufacturer's Hypercar debut with the still-new Valkyrie, and while pace has improved since the start of the year it's still not in a place where Aston and partner team The Heart of Racing can be happy with it. If they can score points — for the first time in WEC with the Valkyrie – that would likely be a goal achieved for the team. [Aston Martin Valkyrie’s performance doesn’t tell full storyThe Aston Martin Valkyrie has wowed fans with its ethereal V12 engine note. But the performance so far in both IMSA and WEC hasn’t been the best.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-96.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Aston_Martin_Valkyrie-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-struggles-dont-tell-full-story-imsa-wec-v12/) In total, 21 Hypercars are listed on the provisional entry list, representing nine different manufacturers and some of the most accomplished lineups in modern endurance racing. Le Mans, however, is rarely decided on raw speed or championship form. The 24-hour marathon across public roads and purpose-built track sections demands precision, adaptability, and luck. Strategy calls, overnight weather shifts, traffic management, and mechanical reliability all play major roles. With the Hypercar field deeper and more competitive than ever, the 2025 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans promises to be an instant classic—where one mistake could cost everything. ## LMP2: An Oreca dogfight The LMP2 class returns to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a grid stacked in both quality and quantity. While the category is no longer part of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s full-time roster, it remains a staple of the Le Mans endurance tradition. This year, it features 17 entries, including top European Le Mans Series & Asian Le Mans Series squads, with powerhouse independents hungry to claim a class win at endurance racing’s most prestigious event. Leading the charge is a stacked United Autosports entry, a perennial LMP2 force, fielding two entries: the #22 with Oliver Jarvis, Ben Hanley, and Daniel Schneider, and the #23 with Renger Van der Zande, Pietro Fittipaldi, and David Heinemeier Hansson. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0101.webp) The team has unmatched Le Mans experience and recent form, with consistent podium finishes in ELMS. Expect them to be major players throughout the night. Another standout is the #183 AF Corse machine, featuring François Perrodo, António Félix da Costa, and Matthieu Vaxivière. The trio brings Le Mans podium experience and technical consistency. Nielsen Racing, with Naveen Rao alongside Colin Braun and Cem Bolukbasi, could also be a dark horse. The team's car showed strong reliability in earlier European outings, and Braun’s veteran Le Mans knowledge adds another layer of competitiveness. **AsLMS Entries** The class is further bolstered by strong contenders from the AsLMS, showcasing the depth of talent across international endurance racing. AsLMS championship-winning Algarve Pro Racing will field two entries this year, looking to add a Le Mans win to their already successful 2025. Proton Competition finished third in the championship standings. While not winning the championship, their presence and experience from the rigorous AsLMS schedule will be valuable at Le Mans. Inter Europol Competition will also join their AsLMS counterparts in Le Mans. However, they ran LMP3 in that series. How will they compare in the LMP2 class? Only time will tell. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0261.webp) Could Inter Europol repeat their class victory from a couple of years ago? Image: DPPI / WEC With Le Mans being a double-points round and a critical proving ground for up-and-coming talent, the LMP2 class is expected to be one of the most competitive races within the overall race. In a category where strategy and error-free execution matter most, the battle for class glory could come down to the final hour once again. ### Le Mans preview part 1: Unpicking LMGT3 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-preview-part-1-lmgt3-af-corse-corvette-lexus-bmw/ Last updated: 2025-06-10T21:05:54.000Z [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) It's that time again—the most grueling, storied, unpredictable, and potentially championship-defining event in endurance racing: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If you’re a fan of the LMGT3 class, buckle in. We’ve got a nail-biter of a championship brewing, with just 13 points separating the top five teams. In a race where double points are on the line, one small mistake could spell the difference between standing tall with a trophy or fading into the noise of the pit lane. ### **Contenders** ### **#33 TF Sport – Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R** **Drivers:** Ben Keating / Daniel Juncadella / Jonny Edgar **Championship Points:** 44 The veteran-laced #33 Corvette entry has been *the* model of consistency this season. Anchored by endurance ace Ben Keating, who’s practically a metronome behind the wheel, and backed by the cool-headed aggression of Daniel Juncadella and rising star Jonny Edgar, this car has yet to put a foot wrong. Their racecraft is razor-sharp, their pit crew doesn’t blink, and the car’s been bulletproof. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0117.webp) Will Corvette's competitors be seeing the rear of the Z06 GT3.R in the race? Image: DPPI / WEC But here’s the kicker: while they've built a narrow points lead, Le Mans is a different animal. Mechanical reliability over 24 hours will test even the best-prepared squads, and TF Sport knows a single DNF here could erase their championship advantage in one fell swoop. They cannot afford another bad points day like in Spa. They’ll need to race smart—not just fast. ### **#21 Vista AF Corse – Ferrari 296 LMGT3** **Drivers:** Alessio Rovera / François Hériau / Simon Mann **Championship Points:** 40 These guys are hungry. The #21 team has had moments of sheer brilliance this season, including their 25-point haul at the last round in Spa. Alessio Rovera is a proven Ferrari GT maestro, and Simon Mann has found a rhythm that’s made him an increasingly reliable anchor in the trio. Add François Hériau to the mix, and you’ve got a crew that can take it to anyone. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. The 296 LMGT3 has shown great straight-line speed and stability under braking—two things that matter *a lot* at Le Mans. They’re just four points back from the leaders, and unlike some others, they've proven they can make bold strategies work. If they survive the night and stay in contention, they’re within striking distance of both a class win and the championship lead. ### **#78 Akkodis ASP – Lexus RC F GT3** **Drivers:** Arnold Robin / Finn Gehrsitz / Jack Hawksworth**Championship Points:** 38 Don’t sleep on this team. The French-based Akkodis ASP outfit has been flying slightly under the radar, but they’re bringing a very strong trio to Le Mans. Finn Gehrsitz has been a revelation this year — mature beyond his years and blisteringly fast. Pair that with Arnold Robin’s consistency and Jack Hawksworth’s aggression, and you’ve got a group that might just steal the show. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003412_0205.jpg) The ASP Lexus team has improved massively this year. Image: DPPI / WEC They've gathered momentum over the last few rounds, and a strong finish here would be more than just a points boost—it could be the psychological edge they need to go on a title run. Plus, you can’t underestimate the importance of home soil motivation. This team wants to deliver big in France. ### **#92 Manthey EMA – Porsche 911 GT3 R** **Drivers:** Riccardo Pera/Richard Lietz/Ryan Hardwick**Championship Points:** 31 Porsche teams are always dangerous at Le Mans, and the Manthey EMA squad knows exactly what’s at stake. They’re sitting in a tie for fourth, but with the Porsche’s proven long-run stability and legendary braking durability, this car is perfectly suited for the 24-hour punishment. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) Riccardo Pera is the cornerstone here—a proven endurance racer with nerves of steel. Ryan Hardwick brings solid consistency and patience, and Richard Lietz has the raw speed to shake things up during night stints. This is a team that could fly under the radar, capitalize on attrition, and walk away with a huge points haul. ### **#54 Vista AF Corse – Ferrari 296 LMGT3** **Drivers:** Davide Rigon / Francesco Castellacci / Thomas Flohr **Championship Points:** 31 Yes, Vista is double-dipping—and both of their entries are in the top five. That speaks volumes about the strength of their Ferrari program. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0083-1.webp) Ferrari have five GT3s in this year's race. Image: DPPI / WEC The #54 car has a slightly more veteran flavor, with Davide Rigon and Francesco Castellacci bringing years of Ferrari GT racing experience. Thomas Flohr, the seasoned gentleman racer, has come into his own, often outperforming expectations and keeping the car clean for the pros to pounce later. If the rain comes—or if night-time chaos breaks out—this squad’s poise and experience could be the difference. They're quiet contenders, but very real ones. ### **Familiar faces return** Mercedes-AMG—yeah, *that* Mercedes—are making their grand return to Le Mans for the first time since 1999\. It’s been a minute. And they’re not just dipping a toe in the water, either. They’re diving in headfirst with three GT3 entries, all backed by the ultra-capable folks at Iron Lynx. The last time Mercedes raced here, Bill Clinton was still president, the PlayStation 2 hadn't been released, and everyone had a Nokia in their pocket. Now? They’re back with a vengeance, sleek silver missiles ready to tear down the Mulsanne. ### **Valentino Rossi returns to Le Mans** And speaking of big names making waves—how about Valentino Rossi? Rossi is back for his sophomore season in LMGT3, and he’s looking more and more at home behind the wheel of the #46 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. It still feels surreal seeing that iconic number flash past the grandstands at Le Mans instead of around a MotoGP circuit, but here we are. Rossi’s endurance racing story is no longer a novelty—it’s a real campaign. This year, he’s teaming up with Kelvin van der Linde, a proven GT ace, and Ahmad Al Harthy, one of the most experienced gentlemen drivers in the paddock. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003427_0081.webp) Rossi is enjoying his time racing in WEC. Image: DPPI / WEC It’s a trio with brains, speed, and flair—basically, everything you’d want for 24 hours of war on wheels. Rossi might have traded in two wheels for four, but don’t let the switch fool you—he’s here to compete, not just coast. ### **Daytona/Le Mans double** Then there’s AWA Racing, rolling into France with one very bold mission: win Le Mans and Daytona in the same year. They’ve already conquered the Rolex 24 back in January, and now they’re bringing that same IMSA crew to the Circuit de la Sarthe. It’s the kind of underdog energy you can’t help but root for—small team, big ambition, chasing a double that only the legends talk about. ### **The stakes** Let’s not forget: Le Mans is a double-points race. That means a win could be worth up to 50 points—more than the margin separating the top eight teams in the current standings. In other words? It’s anyone’s game. The endurance, the strategy, the weather curveballs, and the 4 a.m. pit stop gambles will all decide who rises and who falls. One mechanical failure or driver error could flip the script. And for those playing catch-up in the standings, this is their golden ticket. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### **Final thoughts** This year’s LMGT3 class has already been unpredictable, but Le Mans cranks the chaos to eleven. For some, it will be the defining moment of their season—or even their careers. For others, it may be a heartbreaking reminder of how cruel endurance racing can be. Whatever happens, we’re in for a classic. So grab a coffee (or five), clear your weekend, and get ready to watch the world's best go to war for a full day and night. Because when the sun rises over La Sarthe Sunday morning, there will be heroes—and there will be heartbreak. And that's endurance racing. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* ### A look back: Multimatic's historic Le Mans win, 25 years later URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/a-look-back-multimatic-lola-historic-le-mans-win-25-years-later/ Last updated: 2025-06-10T07:35:52.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Twenty-five years. A quarter-century. The passage of time can be a cruel mistress, blurring the sharp edges of triumph, softening the roar of engines into a distant hum. Yet, as we cast our gaze back to the year 2000, the image of Multimatic Motorsports — triumphant, defiant, and gloriously Canadian — winning the LMP675 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans remains as vivid as the tricolor flag itself. That win wasn’t merely a victory; it was a revelation. It was the moment a Canadian upstart, a quiet force in automotive engineering, shattered a 68-year drought for their nation at the world's most grueling endurance race. But to truly appreciate the magnitude of that Le Mans victory, we must understand the journey that led them there. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### **The grinding path to glory: Daytona and Sebring 2000** The 2000 season for Multimatic Motorsports wasn't just about a single race; it was a rigorous campaign, a testament to their dedication to endurance racing. They started the year by diving headfirst into the crucible of American sports car racing: the Daytona 24 Hours. Here, they campaigned a Lola B98/10, a different beast from their later Le Mans conqueror, powered by a Nicholson McLaren Twin Turbo Cosworth engine. While the specifics of their finish in a notoriously chaotic Daytona 24 are often overshadowed by their later Le Mans success, the experience gained was invaluable. From Daytona, they moved to the equally punishing 12 Hours of Sebring. This endurance classic, held on a notoriously bumpy ex-airfield circuit, is a true test of a car's structural integrity and reliability. Again, they ran the Lola B98/10, continuing to gather vital data and refine their operations under immense pressure. These early-season battles against some of the best teams in North American sports car racing weren't just races; they were extended test sessions, building the team's resilience and understanding of the Lola platform. ### **The Le Mans masterpiece: the Lola B2K/40** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-3.png) Image: John Brooks It was at Le Mans, however, that Multimatic truly shone. For the 24 Hours, they strategically shifted their focus to the LMP675 class, a category designed for lighter, more agile prototypes. Their weapon of choice was the Lola B2K/40, but with a critical difference: the chassis itself was designed and built by Multimatic. This was no mere customer car; it was a bespoke creation, infused with Multimatic’s engineering philosophy. The LMP675 class, for those unfamiliar, was a proving ground where raw power often yielded to nimbleness, efficiency, and unwavering reliability. And in that environment, the Multimatic Lola, piloted by the formidable trio of Scott Maxwell, David Empringham, and Greg Wilkins, proved to be unstoppable. For 24 grueling hours, through the twilight and dawn, the changing conditions, and the relentless demands of the circuit, they pushed. They coaxed their machine, nurtured it, and drove it with a precision that bordered on telepathy. The Nissan V6 engine, a more compact and fuel-efficient unit compared to the larger LMP900 prototypes, proved to be perfectly suited for the class regulations and the demands of endurance. Their strategy, honed through the challenges of Daytona and Sebring, focused on consistent lap times, minimal pit stops, and flawless execution. They were not the fastest car outright, but they were consistently quick, incredibly reliable, and impeccably managed. The victory wasn't just a notch in Multimatic’s belt; it was a seismic event in Canadian motorsports. In the 68-year history of the legendary French endurance classic, no Canadian organization had ever stood atop a Le Mans podium. This was a barrier shattered, a glass ceiling not just cracked but obliterated. It was a moment of immense national pride, a validation of years of tireless work and unwavering belief. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### **Looking to the Future: Can Multimatic Do It Again?** In the quarter-century since, Multimatic Motorsports has continued its strong legacy, accumulating wins and accolades across various North American and international series. Their name is now woven into the fabric of top-tier motorsport, a testament to their enduring excellence. But for all their subsequent successes, the 2000 Le Mans victory remains unique. It was the first, and to this day, the only time a Canadian motorsports organization tasted victory at the greatest endurance race in the world. But now, as we stand a quarter-century removed from that glorious day, the question inevitably arises: Can Multimatic do it again? Can they, 25 years later, recapture the magic and stand atop a Le Mans podium once more? The landscape of endurance racing has changed dramatically. The LMP675 class is long gone, replaced by hyper-competitive categories in Hypercar, LMP2, and LMGT3\. The level of financial and technological resources needed to compete at the highest level of Le Mans has significantly increased. Manufacturers pour hundreds of millions into their programs, and the battle for overall victory is fiercer than ever. Yet, Multimatic is not the same organization it was in 2000\. They have grown, evolved, and cemented their position as a global leader in advanced engineering and manufacturing. Their involvement in programs like the Ford GT, both the road car and the victorious GTE Pro racer at Le Mans in 2016, showcases their enduring capability at the highest levels of motorsport. They are no longer just an upstart; they are an established force, respected for their expertise in chassis development, aerodynamics, and overall vehicle dynamics. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-4.png) Image: Courtesy of Multimatic While a direct repeat of an LMP675 class victory is impossible due to class restructuring, Multimatic’s current involvement in significant Le Mans programs suggests that another victory, in a different class, is not just a pipe dream. Their engineering fingerprints are all over successful cars that have competed and won at La Sarthe in various categories. Consider their recent performance in the 2025 season. Multimatic's technical partnership with Ford Performance has already borne fruit, notably with a dominant victory at the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours in the GTD PRO class with the Mustang GT3\. The #65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 not only secured the win but was joined by the #64 sister car in third place, demonstrating formidable pace and reliability right out of the gate. This double podium finish at a 24-hour endurance race—a direct descendant of their 2000 multi-race preparation—underscores their capacity for sustained performance and strategic execution. The spirit of 2000—the meticulous engineering, the relentless pursuit of perfection, the quiet confidence that defined that victorious Lola—still permeates Multimatic. They may not be entering with their own named chassis in the same way, but their DNA is undeniably present in the machinery that contends for victory. So, can Multimatic come away with a win at Le Mans 25 years later? Perhaps not in the exact same fashion or under the same spotlight of being the sole Canadian victor. The race has changed substantially in the last 25 years; it's gone from a reliability race to a full-on 24 hour sprint. It requires a different approach and strategy to win compared to in 2000. But Multimatic's continued involvement at the sharp end of motorsport, their indispensable role in various factory programs, and their proven performance in the current 2025 season strongly suggest that the spirit of their 2000 triumph lives on. *Feature image: Multimatic* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Le Mans Ultimate pack 5 hands-on: 2024 season now complete URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-ultimate-lmu-pack-5-hands-on-2024-season-studio397-motorsport-games/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T13:35:26.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Le Mans Ultimate has blossomed into a really good sim racing game. From its early beginnings in early access, when things were, to put it mildly, incomplete, to now, it's a revelation. The latest pack adds the remaining 2024 content — that being Losail International Circuit in Qatar, plus the Lexus RC F GT3 and the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2\. This means the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship roster, for both tracks and cars, is complete. Because the real-life 2025 season didn't add any new tracks, that means the 2025 calendar is also complete, and with 2026 expected to retain the same calendar, the track roster is looking good, if a little small. [Le Mans Ultimate adds Porsche, Aston Martin GT3s, other improvementsThe official game of the FIA World Endurance Championship receives another update, adding two new cars, plus a free car, and other upgrades.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-93.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/1080x1080Pack-4_4.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-ultimate-adds-porsche-aston-martin-gt3s-other-improvements/) ## Lexus and Lamborghini join the LMU scene The Lexus and the Lamborghini were the only two LMGT3 cars the game was missing, and they're welcome additions to the line up of GT cars in the game. Motorsport Games and Studio397 were kind enough to give *Only Endurance* early access to the fifth pack, so we tested both the cars and Losail out. The Lexus feels, as you might expect from a front-engined car, a little understeer-y, especially on cold tyres. Indeed, when I exited the pits at Losail, I went straight onto the run off as the cold front tyres refused to bite. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/1920x1080Lexus_1.webp) The Lexus RC F GT3 is a front-engine car. Image: Motorsport Games/Studio397 I soon got them up to temperature, and found the car is stable a driveable, if a little front-heavy as a result of that engine in front of the driver. But, for a car aimed at amateurs over professionals, at least in some ways, it felt good, and like something I could happily drive in the game for an extended period of time. I've never driven Losail in any other sim — I'm not even sure its officially *in* any other sim, off the top of my head — so it was a learning experience. The track feels billiard table-smooth though, as drivers have described the real-life version. And, as has been described by both WEC and Formula 1 drivers, the radius of some corners is unusual, as the track was initially made for motorbike racing in mind back in the mid-2000s. But, it was interesting to drive, if a little sterile. The 3D modelling work Studio397 have done looks great, modelling the track and its surroundings in high quality, while still remaining driveable on any graphics level setting or PC spec which supports the game. The Lamborghini, on the other hand, doesn't feel as driveable. Don't get me wrong, it's not hard to drive, it's just harder than the Lexus. The Italian car is a little twitchy, a bit edgy. Not like it's trying to kill you, but just lightly maim. as it sends you into the barriers. I couldn't quite extract the same pace I could from the Lexus, which isn't saying that much, the average sim racer that I am. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/1920x1080Lambo_7.webp) Iron Lynx and Iron Dames campaigned the Lamborghini for a single year in WEC. Image: Image: Motorsport Games/Studio397 Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Teams and custom liveries The other major new features in the pack are the addition of teams and custom liveries. Now, the build Studio397 supplied was not enabled for online play, so I couldn't fully test out the teams feature. But it seems very fleshed out, with a good UI to manage the team's roster of drivers, engineers, and managers, with team stats available, driver lineups for various squads within the teams, and the ability to give the team a logo. Admittedly some of those features are only available to paid RaceControl subscribers though. Custom liveries are also similarly fleshed out, with a showroom for viewing liveries built into the game. The game has templates readily available for every car, so budding livery designers can open a car's template in their editing app of choice and design from there. They can then import it into the game, view it in the showroom, and tweak the spec maps to make it matte or shiny, whichever they prefer. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/CustomLiveries3.webp) Always wanted to see a Peugeot 9X8 with a classic 90s livery? Now you can! Image: Motorsport Games/Studio397 Separate from the paid DLC pack is another new feature, driver swaps. As this is an online-only feature I couldn't test it out, but from how Studio397 have described it, it sounds similar to how driver swaps are done in rFactor2, the studio's other sim racing game. The GT3 tyre model has also been updated, and I can say from my testing it feels fantastic. If you start to spin the car, it's save-able, and you can push hard while still retaining control. The tyres are also very cold straight out of the pits, as in real life, meaning you need to gently bring temperature into them in the first few laps of a session. If you push too hard, you'll spin or overheat the tyres. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/1920x1080Qatar_2.jpg) Losail International Circuit in Qatar has been added to LMU. Image: Motorsport Games/Studio397 ## What's next for LMU? The first thing Studio397 needs to do is add the 2025 content — cars, liveries and driver lineups. The Aston Martin Valkyrie and Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be exciting additions to the game, expanding the car choice and adding a naturally aspirated V12 engine. What's after that? We don't know. We could see content from the WEC's sister series in the ACO world added, from the European and Asian Le Mans Series championships, plus the Michelin-sponsored Le Mans Cup. Or, we could see historical content added. Motorsport Games CEO and Studio397 chief Stephen Hood will be speaking at the annual ACO press conference this Friday, the day before Le Mans. It's likely he'll be announcing what's coming for the game in the future, so stay tuned to *Only Endurance* for more info. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Le Mans test day analysis: Ferrari in front, but not by much URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-test-day-analysis-ferrari-in-front-but-not-by-much/ Last updated: 2025-06-08T22:36:40.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. The first on track running has been completed for this year at Le Mans, so it's time to take a look at the data to see what we can pull out. Because the long runs between pit stops are the best way to see pace for a 24 hour race, we've pulled out the fastest long run for each car. We've then combined these to find each team's fastest long run, and in the case of multi-car teams, the average. The first thing to say is, while the usual culprits are still at the front, it looks very close. Ferrari, Porsche and Toyota are covered by less than two tenths on the long runs, with Alpine and Cadillac half a second or slightly more back. The #51 Ferrari set the fastest long run, a five lap stint from James Calado in the afternoon session. This was interrupted by a full course yellow for a few laps, but Calado stayed out. This stint, eight laps with three laps affected by the FCY, was the car's longest stint in the three hour afternoon session. Porsche's Nick Tandy and Toyota's Brendon Hartley were next up, under two tenths off Calado. The #36 Alpine was fourth fastest on the long runs, a 15-lap run interrupted again by a full course yellow for Mick Schumacher. Alpine, though, will be pleased with this performance. They've been nipping at Ferrari's heels all year and being right up there in the crucial long runs will be encouraging for the French squad. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) JOTA's Earl Bamber was also pleased with his test day performance, with his fastest long run for the #38 Cadillac set in the morning session. 'I think it was a good first run and good to get all four Cadillacs out running,' said the Kiwi. 'We all had a good, clean session. For me, it was refamiliarization. I had done a lot of preparation work from the sims and good to finally be back at Le Mans. It’s good to be up front. We have a bit of work to do, and we’ll keep chipping away, but it’s certainly a solid start.' Further back, the Peugeots were middling as they look to get a car which technical director Olivier Jansonnie admitted is 'harder to extract pace from' compared to the old wingless car. [2024 Peugeot 9X8 ‘harder to extract performance’Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie told reporters at Spa how the team is struggling to extract the full performance from its 9X8 Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-91.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0005-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/) 'It was very important for us because we haven't driven on this track obviously for one year,' said Jansonnie after the two test day sessions concluded. 'Since then, last time here with this car, for us we've learned quite a lot of new things which we wanted to practice today. So in a way it was very important for us and we found some interesting results as well to prepare the race. 'It's overall two sessions, some red flags, which hampered a bit the results, breaking our efforts and some stint where you are trying to do some set up work. So it's part of the game here, it's like this every year. So always more difficult than a normal free practice.' We've also aggregated the results by team and by manufacturer. For this, we've got two metrics to look at: the 'fastest' is a team's absolute fastest average stint, from a single car. The 'average' is a team or manufacturer's average from all their cars. As we can see, Ferrari are still quickest in the 'fastest' metric but it's still super close between the various teams. The three Cadillac teams are interesting here. The JOTA Cadillacs, as you might expect, were fastest in all three metrics, with Wayne Taylor Racing and the Whelen-sponsored Action Express Racing team finding their feet in WEC competition after usually competing in IMSA. But, neither is miles off the pace, and will only improve as the data is shared between all three factory teams. The team or manufacturer with the most work to do is, undoubtedly, Aston Martin. This is the British manufacturer's first time at Le Mans with the new Valkyrie Hypercar, and the team's relative inexperience with the car is showing as they get up to speed with it on Circuit de la Sarthe. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) But, Aston are staying positive. 'I think it's our best ever day actually,' said Harry Tincknell, of the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie. 'And it's a shame because the timesheet doesn't really reflect it. \[Before the last red flag\] I just went out on a brand new tyre and we had only a couple of laps left of running, so it was kind of like potluck with the traffic. 'Didn't really pull the winning number out, but we were still like miles up on our best time and then went red flag, GT car spun just up ahead in Porsche Curves. 'So it's a shame, but the main thing is that we know we can see the delta and we can see the time that's in the car. From the moment we put the car on the ground this morning, we've been happy. It's definitely been our best day. 'The car's felt very reactive, very compliant, and actually very drivable, which is so important here over 24 hours. You just don't want something you're wrestling. You need something that's giving you confidence and that you can push. [Aston Martin Valkyrie’s performance doesn’t tell full storyThe Aston Martin Valkyrie has wowed fans with its ethereal V12 engine note. But the performance so far in both IMSA and WEC hasn’t been the best.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-92.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Aston_Martin_Valkyrie-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-struggles-dont-tell-full-story-imsa-wec-v12/) However, the picture could completely change as we get closer to the race. Each team will be digging through the data to find where they're losing time, and refining setups accordingly. The next session, the first official Le Mans practice session for 2025, begins 2pm local time on Wednesday 11th June. You can check the overall classification for the [morning session](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/04%5FLE%20MANS/601%5FFIA%20WEC/202506081000%5FFree%20Practice%201%20Test%20Day/03%5FClassification%5FFree%20Practice%201%20Test%20Day.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com) and the [afternoon session](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/04%5FLE%20MANS/601%5FFIA%20WEC/202506081530%5FFree%20Practice%202%20Test%20Day/03%5FClassification%5FFree%20Practice%202%20Test%20Day.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com) on the FIAWEC Al Kamel website. *Feature image: DPPI/WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: Test day morning at Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-test-day-morning-le-mans-24-hours-ferrari-porsche-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-06-08T13:07:10.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The best week of the year is finally here: it's Le Mans week! Let's get started with some shots from the morning session of Le Mans test day. Ferrari topped the session with Robert Kubica in the yellow 'satellite' #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, with a 3:27.0.10. In LMP2, Patrick Pilet was quickest in the #16 RLR M Sport Oreca 07-Gibson, setting a 3:36.593, while in LMGT3, Jose Maria Lopez went fastest with a 3:57.109 in the #87 ASP Lexus RC F GT3. Full results are on the [FIAWEC website](https://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/04%5FLE%20MANS/601%5FFIA%20WEC/202506081000%5FFree%20Practice%201%20Test%20Day/03%5FClassification%5FFree%20Practice%201%20Test%20Day.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com). We'll have full analysis later of both the morning and afternoon sessions. With that out the way, let's look at some images! *All images, including feature image, credit DPPI/WEC* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0002.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0009.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0014.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0015.webp) Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0025.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0026.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0032.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0036.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0037.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0044.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0051.webp) ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0076.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0083.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0084.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0090.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0091.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0105.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0128.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003419_0134.webp) [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Le Mans BoP analysis: Pulling apart the power and weight figures URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-bop-analysis-pulling-apart-the-power-and-weight-figures/ Last updated: 2025-06-06T09:04:26.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The ACO has just officially published the Balance of Performance for the Le Mans 24 Hours, which will set the power and weight for the cars for the crucial day of testing and preparing for the biggest week in the sportscar racing calendar. Let's take a look at the weight, power and energy per stint, before looking at the power to weight ratios. ## Weight As is usual for the Balance of Performance in WEC at the moment, the Toyota is bar the heaviest car. The GR010 Hybrid will be 15kg heavier than the next heaviest car, the Ferrari 499P. There's then a group of six cars that will be within 5kg of each other. These are, in order, the Ferrari (1042kg), Porsche 963 (1041kg), BMW M Hybrid V8, Peugeot 9X8, and Alpine A424 (1039kg), and then the Cadillac V-Series.R on 1037kg. The Aston Martin Valkyrie will be on minimum weight as per the regulations, 1030kg, for Le Mans. That's 5kg lighter than it's been so far in WEC competition this year. [ANALYSIS: How the WEC field has tightened up this yearCrunching the numbers from Qatar, Italy and Belgium to see how the Hypercar manufacturers have closed the gap to Ferrari.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-89.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT12046-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-wec-field-tightened-up-this-year-2025-ferrari-porsche-alpine-toyota/) Amongst the 'top teams', the traditional big three of Toyota, Ferrari, and Porsche, there's a trend here of all three having weights reduced compared to Spa. BMW and Alpine, which have emerged this year as two of Ferrari's closest challengers, have also had their minimum weights reduced compared to Spa. As have Cadillac, in fact. Peugeot, is, in actuality, the only car to have had its weight increased since the Belgian round. ## Power (before 250kph) If the trend is weights decreasing for Le Mans, in various degrees of significance, the trend for power is it increasing since Spa. Out of the eight cars in Hypercar, five will see their amount of power increase. Interestingly, Toyota have been given max power according the regulations — 520kW. This is the same as what Aston Martin and Cadillac will have as well. Alpine will have 517kW, with Ferrari on 515kW. Porsche are next up on 511kW, then BMW on 510kW, and Peugeot on 507kW, the lowest amount of power available. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Power (after 250kph) Unsurprisingly, Ferrari lose power after 250kph. They'll have virtually the same kW as Peugeot — 500.065kW for Ferrari, 500.916kW for Peugeot. With their pre-250kph power significantly reduced from Spa, and their weight up as well, I'm expecting Peugeot to struggle for pace. BMW, Porsche, Aston Martin, Cadillac and Toyota will all be very close on this figure, with roughly 6kW separating them. Alpine will be a bit lower, on 508.211kW. ## Energy per stint Rather interestingly, much of the energy per stint figures have increased significantly for Le Mans, both since last year, and since Spa in May. The biggest increase compared to Spa is 12MJ, for Porsche and BMW. The smallest increase isn't an increase at all, or a decrease, with Aston Martin remaining on 908MJ. However, comparing energy per stint to Spa doesn't massively matter. It's Le Mans last year we need to compare it to. When viewed in this light, BMW get the largest increase — 15MJ, from 904MJ to 919MJ. Porsche will see an increase of 13MJ, from 904MJ as well, to 917MJ, two MJ below BMW. Porsche were setting 12 lap stints, roughly, last year. That works out to roughly 75MJ a lap. So, 13MJ equates to a little less a third of a lap for the Porsche 963. So, could we see some cars doing a lap extra on fuel, or as WEC calls it, virtual energy? It's certainly possible, especially with fuel saving to cut out at least one stop. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Power-to-weight ratios As you can see from the above graph, the power to weight ratios for the pre-250kph state is fairly close. Aston Martin have the best with the Valkyrie, followed by Cadillac and Alpine. Interestingly, Peugeot have gone from the best power-to-weight pre-250kph at Spa, to the worst at Le Mans. Toyota and Ferrari, the frontrunners for the past two years at Le Mans, are middling here, 0.494kW/kg for both manufacturers. Porsche, who are struggling for pace this year but could still be considered a 'top team' — never count out Porsche or Penske — are 0.003kW/kg lighter than them. But generally speaking, it's fairly close when looking at things from this lens. As Ferrari lose 3.3% power after 250kph, their power-to-weight ratio changes accordingly. They now have the lowest power-to-weight ratio of any team or car, including Peugeot, although only just. It's close at the top, with Aston Martin, BMW, Porsche, and Cadillac separated by 0.006kW/kg. Alpine and Toyota are a bit lower, but are only separated by 0.002kW/kg. ## How does this compare to Le Mans last year? As you can see, every team has an increased power-to-weight ratio for pre-250kph, compared to 2024. The biggest increase is 0.010kW/kg, for Alpine. Ferrari's has increased by 0.007kW/kg, on par with increases for other teams. With Ferrari one of the fastest cars at Le Mans year, it'll be interesting to see how this affects the competitive order. Toyota will get a 0.012kW/kg increase. Porsche 0.001kW/kg. The picture changes slightly for the post-250kph figures. Peugeot's decrease is quite dramatic — 0.008kW/kg. Alpine's also decreases, although not as significantly as Peugeot's. ## What does this mean? It's very hard to say what this all means. My own personal view is the pack will close up, both compared to last time out at Spa and to Le Mans last year. I think Ferrari will still be the fastest car. Toyota will be up there as well — they always are at Le Mans. Peugeot has been served a difficult hand and may struggle. [Aston Martin Valkyrie’s performance doesn’t tell full storyThe Aston Martin Valkyrie has wowed fans with its ethereal V12 engine note. But the performance so far in both IMSA and WEC hasn’t been the best.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-90.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Aston_Martin_Valkyrie.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-struggles-dont-tell-full-story-imsa-wec-v12/) In that midfield group — Porsche, Cadillac, BMW, Alpine — it'll be very tight. Hopefully there is no top group and these four plus Toyota and Ferrari will be that top group, intermixed among the manufacturers and teams. Aston Martin will be interesting, as we have no data on them from last year. But with max pre-250kph power and minimum weight, maybe they'll be able to spring a surprise. Let's see! *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### How Acura MSR toppled Porsche Penske’s reign in Motor City URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/how-acura-meyer-shank-toppled-porsche-penske-imsa-reign-detroit/ Last updated: 2025-06-30T21:48:18.000Z ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. The IMSA Detroit Grand Prix promised another chapter in Porsche Penske Motorsport’s dominant 2025 season in the IMSA Sportscar Championship. With four consecutive wins under their belt, the Stuttgart giants seemed unstoppable. Yet, as the checkered flag waved over the Motor City, it was Acura Meyer Shank Racing that stood atop the podium, shattering Porsche Penske's winning streak and writing a thrilling new narrative. [Porsche teases 963 RSP, one-off road legal Le Mans HypercarFor the first time in almost 30 years, Porsche is building a road legal Le Mans prototype.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-86.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT05372.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-teases-963-rsp-one-off-road-legal-le-mans-hypercar/) ### The unraveling of a perfect race Porsche Penske, as expected, came out swinging. Nick Tandy in the #6 Porsche 963 masterfully gained positions at the start, and both Porsche entries demonstrated impeccable strategy by delaying their pit stops, benefiting from clean air. The pit lane saw Porsche Penske execute flawlessly. Felipe Nasr, behind the wheel of the #7 Porsche, emerged in second, perfectly positioned. Their strategy was textbook, even accounting for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac’s delayed stop, which eventually put Nasr in the lead. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) For a remarkable 35 laps, Nasr commanded the race, looking destined to deliver a fifth straight victory for the powerhouse team. But racing, as we all know, is a cruel mistress. A full-course yellow, called with just 36 minutes remaining, evaporated Nasr’s comfortable four-second lead. This was the turning point, the moment the tides began to shift. With 13 minutes left on the clock, the unthinkable happened. Nasr, struggling to find pace, lost three positions in two corners. The #10 Cadillac of Ricky Taylor executed a bold pass, followed swiftly by the #93 Acura of Renger van der Zande and even the sister #6 Porsche. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/54559281337_f29e55bd9d.webp) Cadillac trailed Porsche, but R. Taylor muscled past Nasr after the caution. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing ### Porsche's tyre conundrum The post-race debrief shed light on Porsche Penske’s Achilles' heel in Detroit: tyre issues. Nasr himself confirmed the struggle. 'Unfortunately, after a caution period about 30 minutes before the flag, we lost pace because we couldn't get the front tyres into the optimal operating window,' said the Brazilian. This inability to regain optimal tyre performance after the caution proved to be their undoing, a chink in the armour of an otherwise dominant machine. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/image-1.png) Porsche struggled to get the tyres into the window after the final caution. Image: Acura Meyer Shank Racing ### Van der Zande's make-or-break move While Porsche Penske grappled with their unexpected tyre challenges, Acura Meyer Shank Racing smelled blood in the water. Renger van der Zande, in the #93 Acura, showcased a masterclass in opportunistic driving. With four minutes remaining, he made his move on Ricky Taylor in the #10 Cadillac. 'I was very strong every time in Turn 1, and he \[R. Taylor\] had some traffic,' van der Zande explained. 'I thought, "If I'm going to have a chance, it's going to be in Turn 1". I asked the team, and they said, "Go for it".' With a weaker exit from the last corner for R. Taylor, van der Zande saw his opening and pounced. 'Just: boom, I went for it,' he recounted, the excitement palpable. 'Hey, when you have to go for it, you have to go for it. When I made the pass for the win, I was excited in the car, like a little child.' Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) That audacious move secured Acura and Meyer Shank Racing their first win of the season, a well-deserved triumph that ended Porsche Penske’s remarkable run. For his part, R. Taylor was sad not to have taken Wayne Taylor Racing's first win in Motor City. 'A little sadness from me because we were so close to our first win with Cadillac in the GM race with everybody here,' he said after the race. [‘Got to get back to the front’: Wayne Taylor Racing on 2025Wayne Taylor’s frustrations about 2025 so far are evident, but things might be looking up.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-87.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/54451736439_dc5244ec57.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/got-to-get-back-to-the-front-wayne-taylor-racing-2025-cadillac-imsa/) 'To get the 100th Cadillac podium in IMSA prototype competition feels amazing, but that one step would have been nice. It was a great fight, the WTR team did an amazing job. The strategy was incredible. 'Filipe did a great start. I think everything for our race went perfectly for us to go from eighth to second and almost winning. I can’t say enough about the team and the execution. It’s nice to take this solid result into Le Mans.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/316837_5120x3413.webp) With Acura's win in Detroit now in Porsche's rear view mirror, it's full steam ahead to Le Mans. Image: Porsche ### Looking ahead to Le Mans Despite the setback, Porsche Penske Motorsport still extended their championship lead, a testament to their consistent performance throughout the season. 'It was a fantastic race on the streets of Detroit,' said Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. 'Our strategy and pit stops were excellent, but unfortunately, the tyres didn’t quite deliver the grip we needed at the end, so we couldn’t hold on to the lead. 'Still, it was a good day overall, and we even extended our championship lead slightly. Next week, we head to Le Mans for the crucial test day ahead of the big race.' The sting of losing in Detroit will undoubtedly fuel Porsche's preparations and motivation for the Le Mans test day, when teams and drivers begin to get dialled in for the French endurance classic. While Detroit served as a stark reminder that even the most dominant teams can face unexpected challenges, it also sets the stage for an even more intense battle as the IMSA season progresses. Acura’s victory in Detroit wasn't just a win; it was a statement, a declaration that Porsche Penske can be beaten in IMSA. *Feature image: Acura Meyer Shank Racing* [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Aston Martin's performance with the Valkyrie doesn't tell full story URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-struggles-dont-tell-full-story-imsa-wec-v12/ Last updated: 2025-06-03T08:01:32.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The roar of the Aston Martin Valkyrie's V12 engine captured imaginations when The Heart of Racing debuted it in both IMSA and WEC at Qatar and Sebring. It's a marvel of engineering, no doubt. But for all the sonic spectacle, the on-track performance so far has been a little underwhelming, purely from the hype created around this car before its debut. But, before anyone starts hitting the panic button, let's inject a dose of realism: the team is still deep in the development phase. This isn't a seasoned contender; it's a new program, and its early results should be viewed as such. However, Ian James, team president of The Heart of Racing, which runs the on-track Valkyrie programme on behalf of Aston Martin, remains steadfast in his outlook. 'The momentum continues to build within the Valkyrie program, and each lap completed is another step forward toward our goals,' he told *Only Endurance.* Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) 'In IMSA we have continued to produce solid point-scoring results and meet our current expectations, which is really all we can ask for at the moment,' he said, highlighting the team's pragmatic approach in IMSA. Indeed, the IMSA campaign shows a steady, albeit modest, upward trend. Starting with a 9th-place finish at Sebring, followed by an 8th at Long Beach, demonstrates incremental improvement. While a tyre failure at Laguna Seca derailed further gains, these early returns indicate a team diligently working towards optimization. Another 8th-place finish last time out in Detroit solidified where the programme is at right now. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-8.png) Aston Martin and THOR race the Valkyrie in both IMSA and WEC. Image: The Heart of Racing ## Challenges in the world championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, however, has presented a tougher challenge for the Valkyrie. In the Hypercar class, their competitive standing has consistently been at the lower end of the spectrum. Qatar saw one car retire and the other finish 17th. Imola yielded 17th and 18th, and Spa 13th and 14th. Driver Roman De Angelis offered a candid assessment of the Qatar opener. 'I wouldn’t say that went to plan,' he said. 'A lot of bugs, a lot of small little issues, but putting the car in a big environment, a big stage like that. We were able to get one car across the finish line.' Yet, he also emphasized the crucial strides made. 'The important thing is we went from Qatar, where things didn’t go our way, and then we showed up two or three weeks later to Sebring, and we finished two laps down with no issues. I think that goes to show you how much is going on behind the scenes.' Another key element in the Valkyrie's journey is the rapid transition of drivers Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis into the demanding world of GTP/Hypercar prototypes. Their jump from GTD competition, with just one LMP2 outing, directly into the pinnacle of endurance racing is a considerable undertaking. 'I think it’s maybe a bit of a lack of confidence,' said de Angelis, opening acknowledging the challenge. He drew a clear distinction between his own progression and that of many Hypercar drivers who come from Formula One, Formula E, or IndyCar backgrounds. However, De Angelis also expressed growing comfort with the new machinery. 'That’s kind of gotten to a point now where we have a few races under our belt. I feel comfortable now, and I’ve competed most weekends, and everything’s gone really well from my standpoint and the team's standpoint. 'I’d say that was the hardest boundary for myself to cross initially, but that went away halfway through the race in Qatar.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/06/007_Valkyrie_3.webp) Spa showed good progress for the Valkyrie in WEC. Image: Aston Martin ## Looking ahead to Le Mans The upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans represents the program's most formidable challenge yet. This legendary endurance race will push the Valkyrie, its drivers, and the entire team to their absolute limits. With two Valkyries scheduled to race, the primary objective won't necessarily be outright victory but rather maximizing learning opportunities and thoroughly testing the car's operational boundaries in a competitive environment. De Angelis reiterated the value of these early endurance races for driver development. 'These endurance races, especially in the early development of the car, give us a really good opportunity as drivers to get in the rhythm, get in the routine, and use the tools that we have accessible to us.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Looking ahead to Le Mans, he highlighted the circuit's unique characteristics. 'Le Mans has such long straights that you have so much time to think about what you want to do. 'Having the straights in Le Mans to kind of settle down and say, "Okay, the car was doing this here; maybe I’ll try this next lap." Just keep picking away and progressing.' While the immediate performance figures might not satisfy the most fervent fans, it's far too early to write off this program. 'Ultimately we want to be competitive with the top-performing teams in both WEC and IMSA,' said James. 'A lot of these teams have had their programs for a few seasons now. I think we have done a pretty good job getting there so far and will continue to strive to be at the top.' The Heart of Racing is laying the groundwork for future competitiveness. The path forward is challenging, but the commitment to progress is clear. With Detroit now in the rear view mirror, full focus is on Le Mans, with the Valkyrie's first visit to the French countryside looming. *Feature image: The Heart of Racing* [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Porsche teases 963 RSP, its one-off road legal Le Mans Hypercar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-teases-963-rsp-one-off-road-legal-le-mans-hypercar/ Last updated: 2025-05-29T17:46:05.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Remember that intriguing video from Porsche a from a month or so ago, teasing a road legal 963? Porsche didn't give us much to go, but ahead of an expected reveal at Le Mans in June, we've got some more info. The German manufacturer has uploaded a short video on its YouTube channel, showing some employees building what is now known as the 963 RSP. From the video description, it looks like it'll be a one-off road legal version of Porsche's world championship-winning LMDh car. That makes sense, given Porsche initially spoke about it in a video with the only road legal version of the 917, which won Le Mans in 1970. Other than that, we don't have much more info. The original video showed a silhouette of what looked like the 963, with the fin and the rest of the race-going bodywork. Exciting! What a car this could turn out to be. *Only Endurance* will be at Le Mans so we'll be sure to bring all the info as soon as we can. Feature image: Juergen Tap / Hoch Zwei ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### 'Got to get back to the front': WTR's 2025 not meeting expectations URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/got-to-get-back-to-the-front-wayne-taylor-racing-2025-cadillac-imsa/ Last updated: 2025-05-23T17:08:46.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) 'We’ve got to get back to the front end of the grid.' There was no sugarcoating it. No PR polish. Just the raw, unmistakable frustration in Wayne Taylor’s voice — the kind that only comes from a legacy team punching below its weight. In a year where expectations were sky-high, Wayne Taylor Racing’s 2025 IMSA campaign has been, at best, a series of near misses and head-scratching setbacks. Sure, there were signs of life at Laguna Seca. Ricky Taylor muscled the #10 car to a season-best qualifying of fourth on the grid — a rare bright spot. But when the chequered flag fell, the result was all too familiar: another race steeped in unfulfilled promise. Another Sunday where “what could have been” outpaced what actually was. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/54518871184_3afee10f19.webp) Both WTR Cadillacs struggled for pace at Laguna Seca during the race. Image: WTR The much-celebrated return to Cadillac was supposed to be a renaissance. A homecoming. Yet, four races in, and the numbers haven’t returned the favor. At Sebring, the #10 was sideswiped by misfortune — a throttle issue forced an unscheduled stop, dropping the car several laps down. Just as they tried to claw back, a 60-second drive-through penalty was slapped on for an infraction the team claimed never committed. That added another lap to their deficit. Daytona, their first race with the Cadillac V-Series.R, wasn’t kind to them either. The No. 40 car, shared by Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz, was swept up in a multi-car melee after a spin — a long night ending prematurely in the ninth hour. And then there’s the balance of performance. Whatever the technical intent, it’s felt like a straitjacket for a team still trying to rewire itself with a new but familiar manufacturer. But Wayne Taylor doesn’t dance around excuses. Speaking to *Only Endurance* during IMSA media availability for the Detroit Grand Prix, Taylor cut straight to the heart of the matter. [Could Wayne Taylor’s idea of racing in WEC actually work?A surprise admission by Wayne Taylor raises more questions than answers about whether we could see a WTR Cadillac in WEC next year.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-85.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/54518691016_1fd4df3a01-1-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wayne-taylor-racing-cadillac-wec-2026-analysis-imsa-le-mans/) 'When did you ever hear of a race that’s two and a half hours long, and every single person is lapped except for three cars?' the South African asked. 'I don’t know how that happens. We had nothing wrong with our execution in the pits. It’s extremely hard to race under these conditions, but I do believe everyone is working to bring this back.' There’s no denying the challenge. Switching manufacturers — especially in the razor-thin margins of the GTP class — is no flip of a switch. There are new systems to learn, new personalities to integrate, and a steep learning curve to climb. Four races in, WTR is still climbing. 'It certainly is a challenge for the drivers and the crew to go from one manufacturer and then come in to a new manufacturer and try and gauge yourself over four races. I think we are learning slowly, but we’ve got to get back to the front end of the grid.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/54304230846_c5b01fd1ca.webp) Daytona was WTR's first race with the Cadillac V-Series.R. Image: WTR And now comes Detroit — a race that, for Cadillac, is more than just another stop on the calendar. With General Motors’ headquarters looming over the tight street circuit, the pressure is baked in. There are executives in the paddock, expectations in the air, and no margin for error in a 100-minute street fight with limited passing opportunities. 'It’s obviously one of the biggest races of the year for us,' said Jordan Taylor. 'Cadillac kind of prioritizes this race and Daytona as the two big ones on the IMSA schedule — and then obviously Le Mans.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 'All the big bosses are there. All the eyes are on us. And it’s a super intense race — only 100 minutes, and the track is very unique.' Make no mistake: Detroit isn’t just a race. It’s where manufacturers go for bragging rights. And for Wayne Taylor Racing, it’s a chance, maybe the best one yet this season, to flip the narrative. Perception in this game is based on the outcomes. As the old adage goes, you're only as good as your last race. And right now, WTR isn’t where they want to be or believe they belong. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### ANALYSIS: How the WEC field has tightened up this year URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-wec-field-tightened-up-this-year-2025-ferrari-porsche-alpine-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-05-19T13:28:03.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) So, three races in to the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship. And the next race is Le Mans. Exciting! With Spa in the rear view mirror, for the teams it's full steam ahead to the 24 hour race in the French countryside. However, at this point, it's interesting to look back at the last three races in Qatar, Italy and Belgium to see how close the field has been, and to see how it's closed up. Or, as the case may be, opened up. ## Average pace heatmap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/BoPheatmap-2.png) Get the full interactive chart experience on a laptop or desktop computer. To do this, we've averaged out each manufacturer's lap times from each race. We've found the averages in four metrics for each race; a team's top 20% average, top 40%, top 60%, and top 80%. We've then calculated the percentage gap for each team, and then averaged each out into a single value for each metric in each race. We've used Ferrari as the reference team, as they were the quickest at all three races so far this year. So we're comparing the other seven manufacturers against them. This should give a very good indication about the average pace from a race, for each of the four metrics. Top 20% pace is the best 20% of laps taken from each race. Conversely, top 80% is the top 80% of laps. The former, in theory, should indicate laps unaffected by traffic. Top 80%, then, will include the vast majority of laps in a race, with exception of any laps under full course caution, virtual safety car, or safety car. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Qatar The average gap to Ferrari at Qatar in the 20%, 60%, and 80% range was pretty stable, starting 0.57% at 20\. This dipped slightly to 0.54% at 40%, but rose again to 0.56% when raising the filter to 60%. Either way, fairly stable. This indicates that on laps with either no traffic, or small amounts, Ferrari had a considerable pace advantage. With the 499P suiting tracks with high or medium speed corners, which Qatar's Losail International Circuit has a number of, it makes sense that the 499P would be strong here in overall pace, compared to its competition. The gap widens by more than 0.10% when factoring in laps that would have been affected by traffic. Ferrari, then, were able to maintain performance better through traffic than their rivals, then, on average. ### Imola At home in Italy, after stellar pace in Qatar, many thought Ferrari would be pegged back in balance of performance terms to compensate. In actual fact, in terms of ultimate pace in the 20% average, the gap on average to their rivals widened slightly, from 0.57% to 0.61%. In contrast to Qatar, if you take more laps affected by traffic at Imola, the average gap decreases slightly. It goes from 0.61% when considering top 20% laps, down to 0.53% when looking at top 80%. Really, this makes sense. Imola is the hardest track to overtake at on the calendar, either for position or lapped slower class traffic. It stands to reason that just like everyone else, the Ferraris would be trapped behind LMGT3 class traffic at times at Imola. That's compared to Losail, which as a modern circuit is relatively wide open with enough space for passing lapped traffic when needed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0582.webp) Imola was slightly closer than Qatar, but not by much. Image: DPPI / WEC ### Spa Moving onto Spa, ultimate pace numbers are all lower than at Losail or Imola. In fact, the percentage gap drops below 0.50% for the first time, in the 40% and 60% metrics. It rises again in the 80% metric, indicating once again that Ferrari are managing traffic better than their rivals on tracks where there are multiple places to pass slower traffic — unlike at Imola. Spa's middle sector in particular also suits the 499P, again because of the abundence of medium and high speed corners, which the car is known to favour. ### What can we draw from this? When LMGT3 traffic increased, in the 80% range, Ferrari's gap to the rest of the field increased on average. This may be bad news for Le Mans, where there'll be more traffic on track. Plus, there'll be cars which are more similar to Hypercar speeds, in the form of LMP2 cars, compared to at other WEC rounds. This 80% metric, then, is the gap which fluctuates the most. Plus, with Spa showing the tightest field spread, it shows the Balance of Performance parity is working. While Losail and Imola would have used three or two races for the BoP calculations respectively, Spa would have only used one — the 2024 edition of the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Support us ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Comparing each team to Ferrari ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/toyota_bop_radar.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/porsche_bop_radar.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/alpine_bop_radar.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/astonmartin_bop_radar.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/bmw_bop_radar.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/cadillac_bop_radar.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/peugeot_bop_radar.png) Get the full interactive chart experience on a laptop or desktop computer. We then have the data from each team for the four metrics, at each of the races this year. The easiest way to do this is to take it team by team. Here we go! ### Toyota Toyota may be lacking pace compared to Ferrari this year, but they get much, much closer in traffic, improving in almost every metric as you go from 20% and add more laps up to 80%. The pace was decently consistent at Qatar across all metrics, just rising slightly in the 80% region. That indicates that while they could handle moderate amounts of traffic, maybe Ferrari were slightly better on heavily traffic-affected laps. But, overall, the two Toyotas were closer to Ferrari than anyone else at Qatar. They were second closest at Imola, too. So, although Toyota have made thinly-veiled criticisms of the BoP lately... maybe it's not as bad as it seems. Or as bad as it could be. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0706--1-.webp) Toyota claim to be struggling — yet sit second in the championship. Image: DPPI / WEC Toyota closed up significantly to Ferrari at Imola, behind only BMW. They were also much better in traffic at the narrow-but-fast Italian circuit, where they gained considerably on Ferrari when you look at their 20% compared to 80%. The gap widens again at Spa, but this does make sense with the large BoP hit they had for the Belgian race. This put them fifth in the overall pace standings there, behind Ferrari, Alpine, Cadillac, and BMW. ### Porsche It's not secret Porsche have struggled in WEC this year. While their co-BoP complainers (although done in such a way to avoid fines or penalties... hopefully) Toyota sit second in the championship, Porsche sit seventh on just 14 points. Generally speaking Porsche tend to gain on Ferrari when traffic increases, with this trend generally holding true at all three races. The German manufacturer's best race was Imola, but still almost 0.40% off Ferrari when all four metrics are averaged out. Qatar and Spa were very similar in terms of the gap to Ferrari, just 0.035% on average in it. But, fundamentally, Porsche tend to lack pace this year compared to the Italian manufacturer. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Want more like this, direct to your inbox? Sign up now Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Peugeot As we've previously reported, Peugeot are struggling to extract the maximum from the 9X8\. This holds true when looking at these metrics. That said, in 20%, 40% and 60%, the pace has improved. And that's not really due to BoP as it hasn't moved much all year, with the 9X8 holding maximum power and minimum weight as per the WEC technical regulations. Race wise, the closest they've got this year was at Imola, 0.446% off Ferrari's pace on average. Interestingly Peugeot seem a little less sensitive to laps moderately-affected by traffic, but if a lap is heavily affected, the gap grows hugely. Just look at how the gap at Spa more than doubles from 60% average, to 80% average. And that's after it dropped in the previous two metrics. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0320.webp) Peugeot performed well at Spa, but didn't pick up any points. Image: DPPI / WEC Imola shows a similar, if less significant, pace drop off in heavily affected traffic laps. That said, the race in Italy was a lot better than in Qatar. The French manufacturer seemed fairly consistent across all four metrics in the Middle East, but the gap did grow a little in the 60% and 80% regions. ### Cadillac While Cadillac struggled a little in traffic at Losail, they weren't absolutely miles off. The car clearly had pace and the crash between the two behind the safety car likely caused issues. However, Imola was a disaster for the American manufacturer. The V-Series.R struggles on tight, narrow circuits, preferring more open tracks with medium and high speed corners, which Imola lacks. Like this post? Consider supporting us with £1/$1/€1 a month or £10/$10/€10 a year [Support Only Endurance ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) They were back in action at Spa, with a similar gap to Ferrari as at Losail. But, a trend for Cadillac is losing pace as laps get more traffic affected. Again, traffic will increase at Le Mans so this is something they'll be wanting to do a deeper dive into. That said, at Spa, it seemed traffic management was improving... and then in the 80% metric it increased again. ### BMW BMW have stepped up this year and have consistently been ahead of their German rival Porsche. They were one of Ferrari's closest challengers on pace in Qatar, second only to Toyota based on these metrics. And, in the end, they finished fourth, best of the rest behind Ferrari's 1-2-3, and ahead of Toyota. At Imola, they jumped ahead of Toyota in the average pace to be Ferrari's closest challenger, just 0.111% off Ferrari. As confirmation of that they were able to take second in the race in what was a strategy-driven six hours. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0391.webp) At Spa the pace dropped off a little in each of the four metrics. But, if it wasn't for the #20 car's brake issues late into the race, Robin Frijns was looking good in a fight for a second consecutive podium. In terms of the metrics themselves, at Qatar and Spa, the team were fairly consistent across all four, not losing that much time to Ferrari in traffic. At Imola, though, they gained quite a bit on Ferrari as laps became more heavily affected by slower cars. In the 80% metric they were just 0.047% off Ferrari, compared to ultimate pace being 0.195% away. ### Aston Martin With the Valkyrie still new and Aston Martin still learning about it, it makes sense that the British manufacturer is by far the slowest competition when compared to Ferrari. 1.292% off at Qatar if you average out the four metrics, this increased to 1.947% at Imola, and 2.025% off on ultimate pace in Italy compared to Ferrari. This did decrease at Spa, down to 1.073% on average, with the Valkyries actually quicker through traffic than Ferrari if you look at the 40-60-80% metrics. In fact, it was the same deal at Spa — slightly faster through traffic than Ferrari. At Qatar, the team's first ever race with the Valkyrie, they were considerably slower through traffic, perhaps understandably. They did get a big BoP adjustment for the Belgian round so it stands to reason that the gap closed. But ultimately, Aston has work to do if it wants to catch the rest of the pack. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0579.webp) Aston's making progress with the Valkyrie, but they're still a way off. Image: DPPI / WEC ### Alpine Finally, Alpine. The French manufacturer has been, generally, very close to Ferrari in terms of pace — if you disregard Qatar. They were quite a way back in the Middle East, only in front of Aston Martin in terms of pace. But this changed hugely at Imola, fourth fastest behind Ferrari, BMW and Toyota. And, they were able to get the strategy correct to take a podium with the #36 car. This closed up further at Spa, just 0.168% off when the four metrics are averaged out. And with the #36 car leading for a considerable portion of the race, eventually finishing third behind the Ferrari 1-2. While Alpine were consistent across the metrics at Qatar, they gained on Ferrari in traffic-affected laps at Imola. It was the same deal at Spa, gaining around 0.1% in pace when comparing 20% and 80%. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## What does this all mean? Over the course of the season the field has tightened up — that much was obvious at Spa. Plus, although the difference was small, the gap *did* shrink at Imola, when averaging the four metrics for each race. So, the BoP is 'working' in the sense that it's tightening the field up, which is what it's designed to do. The problem, in my personal view, is that it's causing pace to be balanced in one uniform way. It doesn't account for tyre degradation or individual car strengths — for example, one car might be better at managing tyres over a stint, while another might be stronger naturally in a straight line, but less able to manage tyres. But this BoP model doesn't account for that. Essentially, it forces cars and manufacturers to conform to one methodology for car development. If your car doesn't fit that? Too bad. And what that means is manufacturers like Porsche lose out. We know the 963 is a good car — it's won every race in IMSA this year and won the drivers' world championship last year. It's not as bad as WEC's BoP is making it look. And yet they sit seventh in the manufacturers' championship on 14 points. Conversely, cars may also gain from this, much like Alpine has. Certainly there's more car understanding there, but also the BoP falling in their favour may have helped too. Le Mans has a fully separare BoP that is calculated purely by simulation data, so it'll be interesting to see the numbers the ACO come up with for it. *Feature image: Hoch Zwei / Juergen Tap / Porsche* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Could Wayne Taylor's idea of racing in WEC actually work? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wayne-taylor-racing-cadillac-wec-2026-analysis-imsa-le-mans/ Last updated: 2025-05-14T23:00:14.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) In an IMSA media call, Wayne Taylor, of the eponymous racing team, raised the possibility of his team racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year. I reported on this for [Motorsport Week](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/05/14/wayne-taylor-muses-on-his-team-racing-in-wec-and-imsa-in-2026/?ref=ontheapex.com) — read that story for what Taylor said — but I'd like to look further into the idea here. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/54389433137_3862275053.webp) Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing currently campaigns two GTP entries in IMSA. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing ## Three Cadillacs in full-time WEC? Firstly, there are obviously already two Cadillacs in WEC currently. Run by the JOTA-team, Cadillac upped their factory effort from one car, run by Chip Ganassi Racing last year, to the JOTA-run cars this year. With JOTA only in their first year of running a two-car factory Hypercar prrogramme, in what is believed to be a multi-year effort, the British team is unlikely to want to scale down to a single-car effort. And, at the same time, JOTA are also unlikely to want to run a single-car programme in IMSA either. When *Only Endurance* [spoke to JOTA's Sam Hignett and David Clark last year](https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-sam-hignett-david-clark-past-present-future-cadillac/), Hignett called the last time JOTA tried IMSA 'a disaster'. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0256.jpg) JOTA run two Hertz-sponsored factory Cadillacs in WEC. Image: DPPI / WEC So, assuming JOTA runs two cars in WEC next year, a hypothetical WTR car would be a third Cadillac. The WEC sporting regulations, article 3.2.3\. state: > In addition to respecting the provisions of Article 3 of Appendix 2 a manufacturer must enter two cars in the Hypercar FIA World Endurance Championship. > Any additional cars must be entered in the Hypercar Team World Cup. The Selection Committee will determine the maximum number of cars per manufacturer that will be accepted. There is a common assertion that a manufacturer can only enter two cars, but the regulations don't actually state that. But, Cadillac would have to choose which two of the three cars would contribute to the world championship. Would the hypothetical WTR car be in the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams, along with the Proton Porsche and AF Corse Ferrari entries? Or would a JOTA entry drop down to that? We simply don't know. ## How would this affect WTR in IMSA? Taylor's idea here was to have one car in WEC, and one in IMSA. WTR's IMSA programme is in a learning year in 2025, its first with the Cadillac V-Series.R after switching from two years of racing the Acura ARX-06\. The team has somewhat struggled this year, seventh and 10th in the teams' championship, with a best finish of sixth at Long Beach for the #10 machine of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. Taylor believes, though, the team is making progress. 'We're still learning this car, but I think we've made some big steps forward last weekend in Laguna, and there's some more stuff coming,' he told media on the IMSA call. That said, they still finished a lap down on the winning #6 Porsche at Monterey, something Taylor is evidently confused about. 'When did you ever hear of a race that's two and a half hours long and have every single person lapped except for three cars?', he said. 'So, I don't know how that happens because we had nothing wrong with any execution in the pits. We had an incident where IMSA said the tyre temperature was too low. 'The track conditions changed really quickly at the start of the race and the tyres got cold, and it's nobody's fault that that happened. But even if we'd have not had that problem, we'd have probably still be a lap down and it's extremely hard to race like this under these conditions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/54518949953_b246e5bd54-1.webp) Team owner Taylor believes the team made progress at Laguna Seca. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing 'But I do believe that everybody's working to bring this back to where it's been in the past. It's certainly a challenge for the drivers and the crew to go from one manufacturer and then come into a new manufacturer and try and gauge yourself over only four races. So, I think we are learning slowly, but we've got to get back to the front end of the grid.' So, even if progress is being made, albeit slowly as Taylor admitted... shoulds the team focus on getting back to the front in IMSA, then look properly at WEC? Maybe, maybe not. But with IMSA as the team's current programme, the focus should probably remain there for now. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Taylor 'excited' about Le Mans opportunity But a major focus for the past few months, and the next 30 days or so, is WTR's first appearance at the biggest endurance race in the world: Le Mans. Le Mans is obviously part of WEC but it also exists independently of the world championship, such is its status at the Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Back when Taylor was a racing driver and not a team owner, he raced in the French endurance classic 13 times. He won it the LMP1 class, in 1998, in a Doyle-Risi Racing-run Ferrari 333 SP, alongside Eric van der Poele and Fermín Velez. 'When they \[the ACO\] asked me to apply for the Le Mans entry, I was really pleasantly and happily shocked that that they accepted us,' said Taylor. 'And under the brand of Cadillac Racing. For this event, you know, it was difficult to try and choose. You've got four drivers in two cars, and now we're going to one car. 'So, obviously, Ricky and Filipe have been together for a long time, so they were a natural. And Jordan being in the same team and in different car, it really gave us the opportunity to try and do what we did at Daytona. 'Only this is going to be a much taller order. But whenever you get a chance to try and do it, you'll go for it. 'We are going there to try and replicate what we did in Daytona, and it would be just amazing for not only us, but for Cadillac. They're the ones that have invested in this. They've put a lot of engineering support behind it. They've done an enormous job in marketing and PR and being part of it is very humbling. So, we're excited.' As Taylor says, the #101 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing car will be driven by his sons, Jordan and Ricky Taylor, plus long-time team driver Filipe Albuquerque. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/54519041540_f0e2387229.webp) Ricky Taylor will be one of three drivers who will race for WTR at Le Mans. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing ## More questions than answers This whole dual IMSA-WEC idea from Taylor Sr raises more questions than answers really — answers we don't have. How would the logistics of such a programme work? Who would drive the cars in both IMSA and WEC? Is there even space in the WEC field for it? With Genesis joining next year, potentially taking the Hypercar field up to 20, an extra WTR Cadillac would take it up to 21. Would this work for the general WEC entry list? Would there be another Hypercar to balance the field back out to 22, with 18 LMGT3 entries, same as in 2025? We simply don't know. And it might be a while before we find out. *Only Endurance* reached out to Cadillac, with a spokesperson confirming Taylor had mentioned this to no one before the IMSA-hosted media Zoom call. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Porsche and Toyota make thinly-veiled criticisms of WEC BoP URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/toyota-porsche-spa-wec-bop-balance-of-performance-le-mans/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T08:30:06.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) It's no secret that Toyota and Porsche, currently the reigning manufacturers' and drivers' champions, are struggling this year. While Toyota are second in the championship, they've been hit continually by Balance of Performance. The Spa BoP saw them hit with 4kg of extra weight, and 20kW less power. [Spa BoP analysed: Ferrari gets big weight increaseThe Italian manufacturer has seen a weight increase after dominance at Qatar and Imola. But how will it affect the race at Spa?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-81.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0595.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/spa-bop-wec-analysed-ferrari-weight-increase-toyota-porsche/) This left them with a power-to-weight ratio of 0.449, by far the lowest on the grid at Spa. The post-250kph power-to-weight ratio was better, at 0.486, but still lower than some other teams on the grid. This meant the Toyota cars were struggling to overtake cars in a straight line down the Kemmel straight at Spa. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Support us ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) “The weight we carry, 1069kg, definitely hurts a bit around here,' said Mike Conway, driver of the #7 Toyota alongside Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi to *Only Endurance* before the race. 'The tyre wear, tyre energy, that obviously goes way up. And then obviously with the power at 480kW, you suffer getting out of the corners. 'I think our saving grace probably here is we’ve got decent power at high speed, so that helps with the long straight. At that point we get some \[power\] back, so that’s okay.' Looking at the speed trap data, with the recorder positioned at end of the Kemmel straight before the braking zone into Les Combes, the #7 Toyota recorded the fourth fastest top speed — 317.8kph. The #8 Toyota was considerably slower — 311.4kph. They were only faster than the #36 Alpine, #94 Peugeot and #99 Proton Competition Porsche. The differences in speed between the two Toyotas could be explained by setup — maybe the #8 was running higher downforce in order to be faster in the corners. After the race, Sebastien Buemi, driver of the #8 car, was visibly frustrated despite finishing fourth. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0305.webp) Buemi complained after Spa that his car only made overtakes in the pits. Image: DPPI / WEC 'The only overtaking we did were in the pit stops,' he told reporters, including *Only Endurance.* 'Nothing else we can do. I don't feel like I'm able to race like this. 'I'm driving and then the only thing I'm thinking about is, how can I offset the strategy to drive a bit on my own?' And then you have Kamui Kobayashi. I reported on *Motorsport Week* that the Toyota team principal said, directly to me, that he believes the Japanese manufacturer has the best car on the WEC grid. 'We have the best car. Best package,' he told me, sitting in the Toyota team hospitality. I wasn't going to leave it there, though. I probed further, about why they're not winning if they have the best car. He simply said, with his characteristic grin on his face, 'You know'. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## Porsche's call for 'action' Meanwhile, Porsche are saying similar things to Toyota, albeit in a different way. The German manufacturer is struggling a lot more in the championship compared to their rivals. They sit sixth, out of eight, in the manufacturers championship, with just 14 points. Compare that to this time last year, where they were leading the championship with 83 points. That's a 142.2% difference. The team are leading the championship in IMSA, too, with four wins in four races. A manufacturer like Porsche, and a team like Penske, doesn't lose that kind of pace in a championship from one year to the next. Or dominate one championship while struggling hugely in another. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/WEC225_042012264632083ND.webp) Porsche's Thomas Laudenbach made a thinly veiled reference to BoP post-race at Spa. Image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography 'The team put in another good effort, even if we may not have done everything perfectly,' said Porsche's motorsport vice president, Thomas Laudenbach. 'Still, the drivers and the crew fought until the very end, and I want to thank them very much for that. 'Quite simply, we need to acknowledge that the conditions for a better result weren’t there. As always, we will analyse why, especially since the 24 Hours of Le Mans is up next. But I think there is also a massive need for action outside of our organisation. The race speaks for itself.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. For Spa, Porsche gained 2kg of weight, from 1053kg to 1055kg, but also lost 9kW of power. The loss of power was offset slightly by an increase in post-250kph power, up 509.04kW to 510.796kW. Not exactly much, but in the BoP economy, you have to take whatever you can get. However, this didn't translate to results. While Toyota finished fourth and seventh in Belgium, Porsche suffered less well, with ninth and 12th. Laudenbach's call for 'massive need for action outside of our organisation', then, speaks volumes about what the German manufacturer believes about the current state of competitiveness in WEC. [Alpine’s run to third at Spa confirms their pace in WECAlpine have emerged as one of Ferrari’s closest on track challengers this year. Wait, what?!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-80.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Alpine-scores-another-podium-finish-at-Spa-Francorchamps-and-sets-its-sights-on-Le-Mans1-5.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/alpine-schumacher-third-spa-confirms-pace-wec-ferrari-le-mans/) ## 'Big difference' for Le Mans: Alpine Finally, as you can imagine at Spa, a big elephant in the room was the next race. It is, of course, Le Mans in June. The race everyone wants to win, whether it be for the double championship points (in Ferrari's case, with their stated aim of winning the world championship) or the prestige of winning the endurance classic. The issue, though, was simply put by Alpine's Bruno Famin. 'A big difference with that \[Le Mans\]: we don't know what will be the BoP,' he told gathered media at a team briefing before the race in Belgium. 'We know it will be different, for sure, but we don't know what it will be.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0298.webp) There is a lot of talk about Balance of Performance in the WEC paddock right now. Image: DPPI / WEC While other WEC races use a BoP formula set out by the ACO at the start of the year, comprising of a car's 10 fastest laps, and then 60% fastest laps, from the previous three races, Le Mans is different. It is deemed too important a race to rely on BoP formulas from other races. Therefore, [it gets its own BoP](https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/what-is-balance-of-performance-58717?ref=ontheapex.com), using last year's event as reference and other data as well. And therein lies the problem. Even in regular WEC races, the teams don't know what to expect from one event to the next. How can a team fully prepare if they don't truly know what weight or power they'll be running? And, maybe more importantly, if the reigning world champions are struggling for pace, does the process need to be tweaked or looked at again? Things to ponder as we approach the biggest race of the year. *Feature image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### IMSA: Winners and losers from Laguna Seca URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-winners-losers-laguna-seca-porsche-bmw-aston-martin/ Last updated: 2025-05-13T17:10:25.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Porsche got the win again in the latest round of the IMSA Sportscar Championship, but they didn’t cruise to it. Not this time. Dries Vanthoor and the No. 24 BMW turned up the heat and forced Porsche to dig deep, especially in those final laps. Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet held their ground and extended Porsche’s win streak, but make no mistake — BMW made them earn every inch of it. Porsche Penske Motorsport still holds the championship lead, but BMW showed they’re not just knocking on the door — they’re ready to kick it down. If they keep executing like this, the championship battle could get *very* interesting. There were plenty of storylines to chew on from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: some surprises, some disappointments, and a few teams making some serious noise. ## **Winner: BMW M Team RLL** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-5.png) Image: BMW M Team RLL This one’s obvious. Vanthoor and Eng were electric all weekend. The No. 24 BMW looked like it was on rails, pushing Porsche to the edge in the final stint. It’s kind of wild how different this car looked compared to its sister car, the No. 25 — like they were running two completely different programs. Vanthoor’s final stint was an all-out attack, and even when he went off at the last corner, the 25 was so far back it felt like a different race. BMW has found something here, and it’s working. “I think P3 was almost the maximum we could have achieved today,' said Vanthoor after the race. 'The Porsches were again strong but we had a good race, the team did a great job. We did the best we could. That I was pushed off in the last corner was unfortunate. It was a racing incident, even though I think it was unnecessary. 'We still have work to do but having had two podiums in two races is a very nice achievement, but we just want more after the qualifying achievements and win a race.' [Vanthoor masterclass at Laguna Seca puts pressure on PorscheIt was another Porsche 1-2 at Laguna Seca, but Dries Vanthoor put huge pressure on Nick Tandy, with a final corner clash ending in Tandy’s favour.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-75.png)Only EnduranceJames Jackson![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_7591-1.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-bmw-vanthoor-masterclass-laguna-seca-pressure-porsche/) ## Loser: Aston Martin THOR Team We all *want* the Valkyrie to work. That V12 sound, the aggressive design — it has all the ingredients of a fan favourite. But right now, the performance just isn’t there. Still very much in the growing pains stage, Aston Martin had another tough weekend. A blown tire derailed any chance of a comeback, but truthfully, the pace wasn’t where it needed to be even before that. 'In general, it was a progressing weekend at Laguna Seca,' said Aston's Ross Gunn. “We suffered a puncture when we were running within 20 seconds of the leaders after forty five minutes of the race. Then from there it was just about bringing it home to the finish and we did that. 'It’s been a positive weekend in terms of the steps that we’ve made and now how we managed to get closer to the midfield of the class. It’s very encouraging. We’ll take everything that we learned this weekend to Detroit in three weeks time.” Encouraging? Sure. But they’ve still got a mountain to climb. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Winner: AO Racing With “Rexy” parked for a break, “Roxy” picked up right where he left off. AO Racing’s momentum from Sebring and Long Beach carried straight into Laguna Seca, where Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler absolutely delivered. This wasn’t going to be a debate — Heinrich told me after Sebring how much he loved Laguna Seca, where he scored his first IMSA win. You could feel the confidence coming, and it showed. 'Fuel is always a concern in IMSA,” said Heinrich. 'I think the team do their math pretty well and they knew what they were doing when pitting that early. You know, we did a similar strategy last year, as it all works pretty well. 'So this year was not copy-paste, you know, also with the energy consumption; not only fuel but also the energy which came in this year, to exchange a bit. 'They did an amazing job. They just kept me updated, they told me what to do it and, yeah, I just had to follow the numbers in the dash and then and do it. So, you know, again, I have to say that the team is incredible how they keep us drivers posted, and they'll tell us what to do. They really do an amazing job to make us focus on the things which really matter.' This team’s locked in right now, and with this win, they unofficially snatch the championship lead. AO Racing isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore. [Alpine’s run to third at Spa confirms their pace in WECAlpine have emerged as one of Ferrari’s closest on track challengers this year. Wait, what?!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-74.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Alpine-scores-another-podium-finish-at-Spa-Francorchamps-and-sets-its-sights-on-Le-Mans1-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/alpine-schumacher-third-spa-confirms-pace-wec-ferrari-le-mans/) ## Loser: Ford Multimatic Motorsports ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-6.png) Ford struggled for pace at Laguna Seca. Image: Ford Performance This weekend was just rough. Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies couldn’t find the pace, and their sister car with Sebastian Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller fared even worse. Priaulx was honest going into the weekend — Laguna Seca isn’t his favourite — but no one expected both cars to be this far off the mark. For a team leading the championship, this was a major step backwards. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Winner: Vasser Sullivan Racing Jack Hawksworth and Parker Thompson are quietly building a case as real contenders. They started P7 and clawed their way to second, beating faster cars and smarter strategies along the way. This Lexus team may not be flashy, but they’re *tough*, and that counts in IMSA. “Mega race for us. We qualified further back than we would have liked, but Parker (Thompson) just ripped the start and took it from sixth to first, which really put us in a position to fight and run up front the whole race. We had to go slightly off strategy at the beginning, but in many ways it worked out for us because Parker was able to jump to the lead and put some good laps in. “The Mercedes were quicker than us and were able to catch up, but then the final 10 laps we did what we could to stay there in case anything happened. To get second, full credit to this Lexus Vasser Sullivan team. They gave us a great race car. It’s always a tricky track for us so to escape here with a second we are really happy with that. Hats off to the team, Parker - really everyone, just a mega day.” They haven’t hit victory lane yet, but the signs are there. Winward Racing should be paying close attention. ## Loser: Heart of Racing ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-7.png) Events at Laguna Seca did not go Aston Martin's way. Photo: Heart of Racing Two cars, two disappointments. It’s rare to see *both* Heart of Racing entries on the loser list, but that’s how their Sunday went. A technical infringement saw them get shuffled to the back of the grid to start and a mid-race crash set the tone, and from there, they couldn’t recover the track position they lost. It’s been a promising season overall, but this was a weekend to forget. 'It was a bit of a challenging weekend,' said Casper Stevenson. “We had a great qualifying, but a very tiny thing and there we were put in the back of the field. It was always going to be hearts to come through the field but we had a great strategy. 'We had contact with the Porsche. It’s been great to share a car with Darren \[Turner\]. I’ve learned a lot, but it's still tough after such a good opening two rounds.' Laguna Seca gave us a little bit of everything — drama, surprises, and a clearer picture of who’s really in the fight. Some teams walked away with momentum, others with more questions than answers. But one thing’s certain: if this weekend was any indication, the 2025 IMSA season is far from settled — and as we head toward Detroit, the intensity is only going to ramp up. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/314618_6000x4000.webp) Porsche were hounded hard by BMW at Laguna Seca. Image: Porsche ## Winner: Porsche Penske Motorsport In IMSA competition, Porsche are on a roll at the moment. Four races, four wins, and the championship lead. Okay, yes, they haven't taken any pole positions this year, but it's what happens in the race that counts. That said, unlike at Long Beach where Porsche could, relatively, cruise to the finish with pace in hand, BMW pushed them hard at Laguna Seca. 'Our first win of the season at last!,' said Mathieu Jaminet, who won the race alongside Matt Campbell in the #6 Porsche 963. 'We were involved in an incident early on, so I didn’t expect such a fantastic result. But a perfect team strategy got us to the front. It was a close battle to the end, even with our sister car. We managed to bring it home. Now I’m really looking forward to the race in Detroit.' ## Loser: Cadillac and Acura While BMW and Porsche have been taking poles and wins this year, Cadillac and Acura seem to be struggling. At least partially, this could be down to Balance of Performance currently not falling their way. Another part of it could be Wayne Taylor Racing adapting to the Cadillac, after two years with the Acura ARX-06\. And Meyer Shank Racing spent a year away and have returned for 2025 to run a new-look Acura programme, but likely still have some catching up to do. As we know, things move fast in IMSA. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/20250509_IMSA_LAGUNA_TDP20250509DSC_7374-scaled.webp) The #93 Acura dives into the fearsome Corkscrew. Image: Acura/Meyer Shank Racing But that can't be all of it. Each of the five cars campaigned by the manufacturers, three Cadillacs and two Acuras, were at least a lap down at the finish, if not more. That simply can't all be Balance of Performance-related issues. Can it? 'I think with fifth place we maximized everything that we could,' said Nick Yelloly, who along with Renger van der Zande drove the #93 Meyer Shank Acura to a fifth place finish. 'It’s clear that we don’t have the pace that we need at the moment to fight with the other manufacturers, but as a team we can be super happy that we are performing and executing well. 'We always can improve from a car balance point of view – we have a test in a few weeks and hopefully we can get the Acura sorted even more and be a bit closer to them in the next event in Detroit. From memory Acura won it last year so I think we should have a good base to roll out fast and then try and get back on that podium.' [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Alpine's run to third at Spa confirms their pace in WEC URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/alpine-schumacher-third-spa-confirms-pace-wec-ferrari-le-mans/ Last updated: 2025-05-13T17:42:19.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Alpine were so, so close to winning at Spa. 4.2 seconds, in fact, and just 0.919 off second. That's by far the closest they've been to a win since they debuted the A424 last year, and it affirms their pace in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Yes they've had podiums before — last time out, before Spa, at Imola for example. But while that was at least partially down to strategy, the podium at Spa was on genuine pace. A first win for the A424 can't be too far off. [Can anyone beat ‘untouchable’ Ferrari? Their rivals weigh inFerrari took a 1-2-3 in qualifying at Spa. Afterwards, as the dominance sunk in, we asked their rivals if they were beatable in race conditions.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-76.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/WEC2025_ML_SPA_22884_SP51358_dcff7a99-9071-4167-912b-98e752cc7afe.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-toyota-alpine-bmw-peugeot-beat-untouchable-ferrari-spa-wec-race/) ## Makowiecki's charge at the start Fred Makowiecki was scintillating in the first hour of the race, going from sixth to second, chasing down Nicklas Nielsen in the #50 Ferrari by 3pm local time. If you look at the top 20% laps recorded by each car in that first hour, it does show that he was marginally slower than all three Ferraris in the first hour. Top 20% is enough to remove laps affected heavily by traffic. Reverse that to find the top 80% laps — excluding the slowest 20% — and the picture changes considerably. Looking at it from this metric, Makowiecki was now (marginally) faster than Hanson, Calado, and Nielsen. After the race, Calado spoke about this first stint and his battle with the Frenchman. 'I made a good start, got into P2, overtaking the #83,' said the Briton. 'And then from there onwards, I was just trying to make sure that we can double \[stint\] these tyres. 'That was the plan in the strategy, to double. I probably managed a little bit too much, realistically speaking, because in the second stint I was much quicker and the grip was a lot better. So yeah, something to learn from,' he concluded. Meanwhile, Makowiecki was pushing hard, whether in traffic or not, as he later related. 'I tried to stay close, I did not lift \[at Eau Rouge\] for the two laps before, to try and get close to him,' Makowiecki told reporters, including *Only Endurance*, after the race. 'We got contact, I didn't expect he wanted it so strong to not let me pass. At one point it was him or me. And if he'd continued, he'd have finished in the wall,' he added. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0313.jpg) Makowiecki passed Calado at Les Combes to take second. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Gounon leads and Schumacher fights Jules Gounon replaced Makowiecki in the car and, almost immediately, took the lead of Molina, now in the #50 Ferrari. Alpine undercut Ferrari and Gounon pounced on the Spaniard to take the lead. Gounon, however, was only in the car for two stints, 32 laps in total. During his stint, laps 65 to 96, he was two tenths on average slower than the #50 Ferrari when he wasn't slowed by traffic. Almost a third of the stint was taken up by laps under either safety car or virtual safety car, so 80% averages become a little useless. But when looking at 60% averages, the two become closer, with less than a tenth in it. The gap between the two — with Molina initially in the #50, then Fuoco — was small for the entire stint. Gounon lost the lead to the #93 Peugeot of Jean-Eric Vergne, although he would later slip down the field as Peugeot made a strategy error, not pitting under VSC like everyone else. ### Schumacher's epic battle Mick Schumacher replaced Gounon for the final two hours of the race. The German has generally been amongst the quickest Alpine drivers and certainly the quickest in the #36 car this year, so putting in him at the end when it really matters makes sense. His epic battle with Alessandro Pier Guidi, in the #51 Ferrari, and #20 BMW's Robin Frijns, will go down in history as one of WEC's great fights for position. While Frijns eventually prevailed, with Pier Guidi settling into third and Schumacher fourth, Frijns' car would later be retired with an increasingly long brake pedal. Looking at the pace in the fifth hour of the race, when this three-way battle took place, all three were within half a tenth of each on average. Clearly neither of the three were saving fuel, and were pushing each other hard — sometimes over the limit. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/25-05-10_18-51-05_WEC_Spa_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_6903.webp) #20 BMW's Frijns passed Pier Guidi, in the background, but would later retire. Image: BMW 'It was a nice fight to be honest,' said Pier Guidi after the race. 'Sometimes you are on one side. Sometimes on the other side. To be honest, I never complain about anything. I think it was quite okay, at least. 'I overtook at Eau Rouge, and they asked me to give the position back. And I gave the position back and did what they asked me and I had nothing as well to say. 'I think it was was quite nice to watch from outside,' the Italian finished, with a chuckle. ### Alpine takes alternative strategy With Frijns now out of the picture due to his long brake pedal issue, the fight for the win came down to a battle between Schumacher, Pier Guidi, and Nielsen, back in the #50 Ferrari for the final stint of the race. Alpine pitted Schumacher for his penultimate stop early, on lap 111 fter a 16 lap stint. This is similar to the strategy the team at Imola to great success, taking a largely unfancied third in Italy. This essentially boils down to splitting the tank of fuel they'd need to finish the race, taking part earlier than needed, and they other half late on, rather than the conventional strategy and taking as much fuel as you can and fuel saving to the finish. This dropped the German out of the top 10 and into 14th. Crucially, though, he was in clear air and able to set fast lap times. And fast they were — but not faster than Pier Guidi. Looking at the 20% average, the 60% average, and 80% average for Schumacher's penultimate stint, he was the second fastest car on track — but not quicker than Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari. The Italian was running second until he stopped, which promoted Schumacher up the field and back into the podium positions. Sebastien Buemi, in the #8 Toyota and on a similar alternative strategy to Schumacher, was leading but soon pitted. This put Schumacher into the lead. Things were looking good for Alpine. However, with 40 minutes remaining, there were only 20 seconds between Pier Guidi and Schumacher. This gap decreased too, to 15 seconds by the half hour to go mark. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Slow puncture compromises Alpine Schumacher was on old tyres, and needed more fuel to get to the end. He pitted on lap 136, earlier than needed as his rear right tyre had a slow puncture. He rejoined fifth, crucially behind Nyck de Vries in the #7 Toyota. Despite the fact de Vries would need to pit again for the final splash of fuel, he battled Schumacher, at one point pushing the German off track. At this point, the #36 Alpine was 40 seconds off Pier Guidi in the lead. However, on his old tyres — well, 3 of 4 old tyres — he wasn't able to close the gap, and with Pier Guidi pushing to create a big enough gap to pit into and retain the lead, it opened up to 48 seconds by the time the Italian pitted. [2024 Peugeot 9X8 ‘harder to extract performance’Peugeot’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie told reporters at Spa how the team is struggling to extract the full performance from its 9X8 Hypercar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-77.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0005.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/) This was with 11 minutes remaining, seven laps later than Schumacher. Including traveling down the pit lane the stop totaled 35 seconds — 16 seconds longer than Schumacher's seven laps earlier. And that was the gap when Pier Guidi rejoined, still in the lead. However, Schumacher had another problem — Nielsen was now second, and had in theory enough energy to majke it to the end without stopping. Schumacher would eventually finish 0.919 behind Nielsen. However, with two full course yellows in the final hour, plus Schumacher having 9% extra energy as he crossed the line... could he have taken second? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0610.webp) A second consecutive podium for the #36 Alpine crew. Image: DPPI / WEC / Alpine 'It was a good race overall,' the German said after the race. 'We were fighting for the win until a slow puncture compromised our chances. We had to settle for the podium, but we can be happy with that. The trend is really moving forwards and upwards, and the team is getting better and better every weekend. 'Fred did an amazing stint to start the race, Jules took over and got into the lead, and it was a proper battle just until the finish. We're on the right track and there is a lot to take away from this weekend. Now we're excited to see what the next race will bring, and it’s obviously the big one. As a team, we are very much looking forward to it.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. So, a second podium in a row for Alpine after the success at Imola. However, despite their on-track pace, they only sit fourth in the constructors standings. But, with Le Mans next, the championship is likely not at the forefront of anyone's minds. As Alpine team principal Philippe Sinault said: 'The goal is to build on what we've learnt and consolidate our foundations to be better prepared for Le Mans than we were a year ago.' Onwards to the big one! *Feature image: DPPI / Alpine* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### IMSA: Vanthoor masterclass at Laguna Seca puts pressure on Porsche URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-bmw-vanthoor-masterclass-laguna-seca-pressure-porsche/ Last updated: 2025-05-12T09:45:13.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Coming into the Monterey weekend, the big question hanging in the California air was simple: if BMW could just keep it clean, what could they *really* do? I mean, four poles in a row, including right here at Laguna Seca—that's shouting something, right? You couldn't help but wonder if they were finally ready to turn that raw speed into a trip to the top step of the podium. Then came the inevitable hand of the Balance of Performance, a familiar equalizer in this competitive grid. The previously untouchable Porsche 963, a paragon of early-season dominance, was dealt a significant blow—a substantial 14.7 horsepower reduction in its initial power delivery. While its minimum weight remained static at 1049 kg, a mere 0.5 percent increase in second-stage power felt like a polite nod in the face of a blunted weapon. Across the garage, the BMW M Hybrid V8 faced its own adjustments. A six-kilogram weight increase was coupled with a 6.7 horsepower boost in the initial surge. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-4.png) Image: BMW M Team RLL ## Dries Vanthoor: BMW's not-so-secret weapon Enter Dries Vanthoor. The young Belgian, a blur of talent and aggression, seemed determined to wring every last tenth from his machine. Tasked with a herculean effort, he took the reins from Philip Eng with less than 45 minutes remaining in the sprint, a daunting 12-second chasm separating him from the leading Porsche Penske Motorsports duo. BMW M Team RLL’s strategic roll of the dice—another driver swap to unleash their undisputed ace—was a clear statement of intent. What followed was a masterclass in high-speed pursuit. Vanthoor, relentless and precise, hunted down the Porsches; his presence brought strong pressure on the Porsches. Victory ultimately eluded him, but it wasn’t without trying. In the final corner, Vanthoor lunged for second, aiming to unsettle championship rival Nicky Tandy. A moment of hesitation from Tandy, caught behind lapped traffic, proved pivotal. Contact was made, sending Vanthoor spearing into the gravel trap. While Vanthoor didn’t come away with a win, he left Laguna Seca with a strong statement: that BMW and RLL are hot on Porsche's heels. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/M25_1381_a3_rgb.webp) For the first time this year, victory wasn't forthcoming for #7 Porsche's Tandy and Nasr. Image: Porsche '“It was a good race,' said Tandy afterwards. 'It wasn’t filled with caution and everybody stopping together which makes it a bit more open with strategy. 'It got a bit tight towards the end when the BMW was coming, and we had to push a bit harder through traffic. Overall, I had fun.' For Porsche, raw speed had been their constant companion throughout the race. It makes you wonder what the order might have been if the #6 Porsche Penske entry hadn't executed an undercut at the first round of stops, to leapfrog their teammates. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## WTR learning more about Cadillac Further back, the Cadillacs and the Acuras clearly did not have the same pace as the Porsches's and Vanthoor's BMW. Unfortunately for Wayne Taylor Racing, their qualifying pace over a single lap did not translate into race pace. That said, WTR's drivers think they're making progress with adapting to the Cadillac. 'I think we’re making progress generally with the car. We’ve gotten glimpses of where we really want to be. Unfortunately today, the pieces didn’t fall into place, but I think we had a stronger qualifying. 'We seem to be figuring out what makes the car go fast and what we need from the car to perform. I think it’s just a matter of putting it together a bit more and take it to the other guys.' Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Late switch to Vanthoor the right call Crucially, BMW M Team RLL did not stumble. Their pit stops were flawless, their on-track conduct disciplined amidst the swirling chaos. Their gamble on Vanthoor, while perhaps costing them precious seconds in the exchange, was undeniably the right strategic call. No disrespect to the extremely capable and rapid Philipp Eng, but currently is Vanthoor operating on another planet. While the top step of the podium remained out of reach, BMW M Team RLL left Laguna Seca with their heads held high. They executed flawlessly. And if the Porsche Penske Motorsports team weren't already looking over their shoulders, they certainly are now. The gloves are off, and the battle for the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has just intensified. See the full results from the race on the [IMSA website](https://imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com/Results/25%5F2025/10%5FWeathertech%20Raceway%20Laguna%20Seca/01%5FIMSA%20WeatherTech%20SportsCar%20Championship/202505111210%5FRace/03%5FResults%5FRace%5FProvisional.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), and the race replay on [IMSA's YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/live/JV226YcbgwU?si=SPQErv3sbh%5FVp764&ref=ontheapex.com). [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Will Wayne Taylor Racing's quali pace at Laguna Seca hold up on race day? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wayne-taylor-racing-quali-pace-laguna-seca-hold-up-race-imsa-porsche/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T15:28:49.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) You know how it goes in racing, right? Teams are always riding this roller coaster of good days and bad, especially when they're shaking things up. For Wayne Taylor Racing, even though they know Cadillac like the back of their hand, switching back after four years with Acura in 2025? Well, let's just say the welcome home party hasn't been all balloons and confetti for the Taylor crew. Whether it's been a lack of outright speed or some costly mistakes, they haven't quite seen the results they were hoping for. But then came qualifying at Laguna Seca for the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and for a moment, you saw that old Wayne Taylor Racing magic flicker back to life. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Ricky Taylor, Wayne's eldest son, reminded everyone why that Taylor name carries so much weight in the sports car world. It wasn't some crazy, highlight-reel lap, but his 1:13.032 was just plain fast enough to stick him fourth on the grid. He was only a hair – 0.178 seconds – behind Dries Vanthoor in the BMW, who has been on a qualifying tear, grabbing his fourth pole in a row with a 1:12.854\. For Wayne Taylor Racing, that was their best starting spot all year. "I think for the struggles we’ve been through this year just getting up to speed with the car and getting to work with all our friends at Cadillac Racing, it’s nice to be right there with the top group," Ricky said. "I think it’s on us to execute tomorrow, but it’s really motivating to be heading in the right direction, gaining confidence with the car. The car has proven it can do the job. For us, it’s great to start gelling with it." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-3.png) Image: Wayne Taylor Racing Okay, so his lap wasn't going to beat Vanthoor's BMW or those dominant Porsche Penske machines, but he did manage to put it ahead of the Acura’s and Vanthoor's BMW teammate, Sheldon van der Linde, in that short qualifying sprint. The big question now is, can they keep that qualifying pace going for the whole sprint? Practice gave us a bit of a mixed bag. In the first session, Ricky and his teammate Louis Deletraz looked pretty good on a short run pace, putting their Cadillacs fourth and fifth. Then final practice rolled around, and it looked like they still have some homework to do on their longer runs. Ricky was the fastest of the Cadillacs with a 1:14.804 on his 9th lap of 49, but that only put them seventh overall. Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor in the sister car were the slowest of the Cadillacs, clocking a 1:14.965, which landed them tenth in the eleven-car class. So yeah, it was cool to see those flashes of the old Wayne Taylor Racing speed in qualifying, but it's clear they've still got some ground to cover. And they know it. Jordan Taylor is already thinking about playing the strategy game in the pits to try and gain some track position. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) "It’s a little bit better than what we’ve been in the first few races, so that’s a positive," Jordan pointed out. "I think we’re still missing a bit from the front guys. It’s a relatively long race, so hopefully we can do something in the pits. It’s a tough track to pass, traffic is difficult, so I think you can make a lot of things happen in this race. We’ll do what we can in the pits and make some moves there and hopefully maximize in traffic." So, we saw a glimpse of the old magic, but the real test is Sunday. Can Wayne Taylor Racing turn that qualifying spark into a full-on race fire? It's going to be interesting to watch. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Can anyone beat 'untouchable' Ferrari? Their rivals weigh in URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-toyota-alpine-bmw-peugeot-beat-untouchable-ferrari-spa-wec-race/ Last updated: 2025-05-10T07:09:26.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) For the second time this season, Ferrari took a 1-2-3 in qualifying for an FIA World Endurance Championship race. That's out of three races. They've locked out the front row at each of those races, and won them all. Despite a big Balance of Performance adjustment for this race, that trend has continued at Spa, with #50's Antonio Fuoco taking pole with a magnificent 1:59.617, the fastest ever Hypercar lap around Spa. His teammates Robert Kubica and Antonio Giovinazzi filed in behind him to secure the top 3 spots on the grid for the Italian manufacturer. Before we get to what their rivals think, let's hear from Ferrari's Mauro Barbieri, the performance and regulations manager about why he believes Ferrari are strong at Spa. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/WEC2025_Spa_mv_02764_3d96fef3-dc44-4a4f-9a69-5fbe9ea2f3b9.webp) The Ferrari 499P works well at Spa. Image: Ferrari 'I would say that medium high speed sections seem to be our strength compared to the main competitors,' he said in response to a question asked by *Only Endurance*. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/25-05-08_12-22-00_WEC_Spa_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_1107.webp) Frijns' lap top secure fifth was all he could squeeze out, he said. Image: BMW 'We tend to suffer more in the low speed corners, the tighter ones. 'And so I would say that's the main reason why our car is has always been good here. But as we said before, I think race after race we have improved, understood better our our car and the tyres. 'And I think this season we look quite strong, let's say everywhere or pretty much in everywhere, in every condition.' Spa is well known as fast track that puts a lot of energy through the tyres, leading to high tyre degradation, which the teams must manage through the race if they want to stay competitive. However, the middle sector in particular of the famous Belgian track is full of corners which, as Barbieri said, suit the 499P well — medium and high speed corners where minimum corner speed is of crucial importance. The Italian manufacturer was on course to take victory at Spa last year, but the red flag with an hour and a bit to go fell at the wrong time and meant they couldn't capitalise on their race-long pace. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0056--1-.jpg) Vandoorne qualified the #94 Peugeot to a team-best of fourth. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Beating Ferrari at Spa So, what do Ferrari's rivals think about their chances of beating them in the race? Peugeot's Stoffel Vandoorne, who qualified fourth, best of the rest behind the Ferraris, summed it up well. 'Obviously the Ferraris look very fast. They're a little bit untouchable at the moment,' he said with a chuckle. 'But we've also seen they make a lot of mistakes in the last couple of races and we're gonna try and keep it clean. 'We're gonna try and put the car in the best window possible. Push as hard as we can and try and make no mistakes. And that's the only thing we can do.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### 'Different league' says BMW's Frijns Meanwhile, Robin Frijns, who qualified his #20 BMW fifth, was even more blunt. 'No, I don't think so,' he said when asked by *Only Endurance* if beating the Ferraris was possible. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/25-05-08_12-22-00_WEC_Spa_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_1107-1.webp) Frijns took his BMW to fifth on the grid. Image: BMW 'Different league', he said, before adding, 'I think it's gonna be an exciting one. Because honestly on race trim, everybody is really struggling and and so are we just on grip level being a bit on the low side, the whole weekend long. Which was not the case of the test day a few weeks here ago here. We see people doing mistakes as well are going off. So I definitely don't think it's going to be a boring race. Double stinting the tires will definitely be an issue.' Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ### Milesi's 'four manufacturer fight' Meanwhile, Alpine's Charles Milesi is also of the seemingly common belief that Ferrari are too fast to race with. 'I think they are too fast,' he told *Only Endurance* when asked whether battling with the Ferraris was possible in the race. 'On our side I think we can fight with Cadillac, BMW, Porsche for sure. Peugeot too looks to be strong. 'But I think there is a pack of like four manufacturers where it's quite easy to see that we are fighting. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0087.webp) Milesi's Alpine teammate Mick Schumacher qualified his car sixth. Image: DPPI / WEC 'And then there is Ferrari, which is a bit in front. It's like the tendency at the beginning of the season, but yeah, I think they are doing a good job also. 'So I think we still still need to improve ourselves because there's still some things to improve and to catch them \[Ferrari\] back. 'I think we just need to do our race and make no mistakes, and we have a good chance to score good points,' concluded the Frenchman. Milesi qualified his #35 Alpine in ninth, where his teammate Ferdinand Habsburg will start from in the race. But the sister #36 car, qualified in sixth by Mick Schumacher and will be started by Fred Makowiecki, is in the mix with Vandoorne and Frijns, setting up an exciting prospect in the race. *Feature image: Ferrari* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### ANALYSIS: Porsche up front in the long run pace at Spa URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-long-run-pace-spa-fiawec-ferrari-porsche-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-05-09T07:40:33.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) After free practice 1 and 2 at Spa, it's interesting to note that the balance of performance adjustments made ahead of this race seem to have worked. Unlike at Lusail and Imola, Ferrari no longer have by far the quickest car. They're still right in the mix at the sharp end, but they're joined by others too. In FP1, the #36 Alpine set the quickest long run. Fred Makowiecki did a 10-lap stint to set a 02:05.545 average lap time across those laps, just over three tenths faster than Jean-Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot. Vergne did do a longer stint, at 16 laps, so it's possible so tyre degradation, always a factor and concern at Spa, came into play. The usual caveats do apply here though. We don't know what tyre compound each car was using — unlike in other categories the data does not supply this info — and we don't know what fuel load each car was running. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0172.webp) Alpine looked quick on their long run in FP1\. Image: DPPI / WEC In FP1 the two Ferraris were, in fact, quite a way down the field. The two ran two consistent long runs, with Nicklas Nielsen doing an 18 lap stint in the slightly faster, on average, #50, while Alessandro Pier Guidi did a shorter stint, just seven laps. At that length, it's possible this lap was a qualifying simulation, although the stint didn't have a standout lap that would pin it as so. The #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie was also right in the mix, which will please the British manufacturer as it continues to learn and extract pace from the new car. Toyota, Porsche and BMW were also in that upper-midfield section as the teams conducted their practice programmes. Cadillac seem to be a bit behind. This trend, with Cadillac towards the back, continued in FP2, unfortunately for the American manufacturer, British-run team. Will Stevens, in the #12 car, and Sebastien Bourdais in the #38, did the car's longest stints. However, with FP2 disrupted by three red flags and other multiple full course yellows, it's hard to read too much into the long run pace from this session. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/25-05-08_17-36-25_WEC_Spa_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_2111.webp) Kevin Magnussen did the longest stint in a disrupted FP2\. Image: BMW The longest interrupted run was Kevin Magnussen in the #15 BMW, at nine laps, but even that was punctuated by an FCY. We've removed laps completed under FCY from the averages to try and paint a better picture of the pace, but even then it's tricky to draw any proper conclusions. But, looking at the pace, the #5 Porsche was quickest on average, new boy Nico Müller setting a 02:04.954 over a six lap stint. Second fastest was Nielsen in the #50 Ferrari, 0.367 off, with Magnussen close behind. The midfield in FP2 was very tight — 11 cars within a second, from the #20 BMW to the #007 Aston Martin. When we take each manufacturer's best run, across both sessions, Porsche emerge as the quickest, with that stint from Müller top. Ferrari, BMW, and Alpine are close behind, with the latter just over half a second back, on average from Porsche. Once again, Cadillac seem to be towards the back. Sandbagging, or genuine pace? It's very hard to say. Toyota, too, may be struggling with losing power and gaining weight in the balance of performance, but it's hard to truly say. We've also averaged out the lap times from the both cars in each session, just to give a potentially different window. When looked at from this angle, it's Alpine in the pound seat, followed by Porsche, BMW and Peugeot. Favourites Ferrari are a bit behind in this metric, only fifth. But, with FP2 so disrupted and some of the 'long runs' not really 'long' at all, we maybe can't get a complete picture. That will only really emerge in the race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/2025-WEC-Spa-2025---3373_100cc9ff-8d6a-4272-91bf-ecbec22b0c5f.jpg) Ferrari weren't top in the long run averages, but they'll surely be up front in the race. Image: Ferrari Who do you think will win at Spa? Will Ferrari continue the trend of winning every race in 2025, or will Porsche step up? Or will a manufacturer who has not won in this era of Hypercar take the victory? Let us know your thoughts on social media — @onlyendurance on all platforms. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### 2024 Peugeot 9X8 'harder to extract performance' than old car URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/2024-peugeot-9x8-harder-to-extract-performance-than-old-car/ Last updated: 2025-05-08T17:21:36.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The current version of the Peugeot 9X8 is proving trickier extract performance from, compared to the previous version of the car, the manufacturer's technical director Olivier Jansonnie told *Only Endurance.* 'To be honest, we found it much harder than expected to extract the performance of the car,' he said. 'It's significantly different, the car, the tyres are different from what we had with the old one. 'The old one, we kind of learnt how to optimise. It was not at the level expected but at least it was optimised, I would say. ' Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) Peugeot introduced the 'new' version of the 9X8 last year at the second round of the 2024 championship, at Imola. They've raced the car for a year, then, with its best result a third-placed finish at Bahrain in last year's season-ending 8 Hours of Bahrain. That's compared to the 'old' car, the wingless version, which raced in 2022 and 203\. That car also took a single podium finish, at Monza in 2023. However, in the two races so far this year, Peugeot have taken two ninth-placed finishes, one at Lusail in Qatar and one at Imola. 'With the new \[9X8\], we are discovering every day still, but I think everybody is also discovering. You can see that we we are improving,' Jansonnie continued. 'At the same time, our relative pace compared to the competition was not really improved for the last three, four races. And the only explanation to that is everybody is pushing and improving.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0056.webp) ## Imola 'not a very good race' for Peugeot Jansonnie also reflected on Imola and Peugeot's fortunes in Italy, telling reporters that it wasn't an overly successful result for the French manufacturer. 'Looking back to Imola, it was kind of a disappointing race for us in reality. We were expecting to achieve better results. 'Not just judging by the pace we had in free practice and what we could do in qualifying as well. I mean, quali was clear improvements. 'I think we know where it comes from. We work very hard for that, trying to optimise everything. We also believe that the pace in Imola was actually a bit better than we could display in the race.' Peugeot qualified seventh at Imola, with Jean-Eric Vergne getting the #93 car into Hyperpole. That marked the French manufacturer's best result in Hyperpole in 2025, beating the same car's 10th place at Qatar. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0155.webp) Peugeot were hoping for a better result at Imola. Image: DPPI / WEC However, as Jansonnie relates, Peugeot's race went awry early on. The #93, which had sat in sixth for most of the stint, pitted on lap 35 and, once the cycle had shaken out, sat 11th after the first round of stops. 'Then it all went wrong in the race for us, from the first pitstop. 'And then we had a bit offset in strategy via the safety car, coming at the wrong time for us. We made some mistakes, so it's not just random, but it was not a very good race. 'Sometimes it happens. We had we had some races where we optimise everything, showing good result, last year in Fuji and Bahrain. 'It was the other way around. We didn't manage to make it work, the way we should have worked. So, disappointments. 'Still, it's better to have it here and then come back here and be also in this kind of mentality.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Good pace, bad result Jansonnie then expanded on this when asked if the race pace itself was disappointing, or just the result. 'I think with the pace we had... for sure we were out of contention for a podium or whatever, but at least we could have done something much better with that pace. 'At least one of our cars was in traffic for most of the race. We didn't manage to extract it from there from, we were using the usual strategy, which is something we have to optimise in that case. 'And resulting in the end, in the race where actually the best we could achieve was P9\. But it's a hard fight and just even in those places, p8 P9 P10, for every place now it's it's very very tight performance wise. 'So in Imola, we would hope to be better in extracting the performance and getting a little better results.' When looking at the average pace over the race, Peugeot's pace was firmly mid-field. That said, the race at Imola was heavily dictated by tyre and fuel strategy. This makes it hard to fully ascertain how various cars were performing, and so is hard to say, without more data, that Peugeot over or under-performed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003263_0038.webp) With the track resurfacing, a track walk is important at Spa this year. Image: DPPI / WEC ## A positive Spa test Peugeot tested at Spa alongside a few of their rivals in the Hypercar class, with Jansonnie declaring the team happy with how it went. 'It was a positive test for us,' he said. 'Drivers were quite happy with the car. Always difficult to judge on your pace, but still. The track is very different. What we discovered in the test was the track is very, very different from what it was about a year with the resurfacing. 'I believe part of the the result here will come from the optimisation of the tyre strategy. Even if everyone ends up running medium, what you can do with it in the tyre strategy and how you distribute your tyres along the race will be very important. 'We need to assess very quickly in free practice the amount of degradation we having, which will dictate the tyre choices we're making.' Like we've seen with the two free practice sessions so far, the lap times are substantially quicker, for all cars, compared to last year. 'I expect the lap times to come down a lot, because the track has been resurfaced in places very important for lap time,' said the Frenchman. 'It's not everywhere, but it's in places where the grip was very much limiting the performance,' said Jansonnie. With two slightly under parr results for Peugeot so far this year, the French manufacturer really needs to score a decent result at Spa to move themselves up the championship standings. We'll aim to speak with Peugeot representatives again after the race to assess how it went. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ' ### IMSA Laguna Seca: 5 things to look out for URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-laguna-seca-5-things-to-look-out-for-porsche-bmw-aoracing/ Last updated: 2025-05-08T15:11:59.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship storms into the sun-soaked hills of Monterey County, California, where the iconic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca awaits with its two-year-old repaved surface and legendary twists. With sand-swept straights and the infamous Corkscrew primed to test the limits of man and machine, round four is shaping up to be a high-stakes chess match. As teams fine-tune their strategies and push for every last tenth, I’ve zeroed in on five key storylines to watch, five threads that could define a weekend poised for drama, grit, and unforgettable moments on one of North America’s most challenging circuits. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) **Can BMW overcome issues to finally challenge Porsche?** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image.png) Image: BMW M Team RLL If there’s one thing that’s become undeniable in 2025, it’s this: BMW’s V8 Hybrid package has found its stride—and then some. After a rocky introduction just two years ago, the Munich marque has come roaring back with blistering pace, locking out every pole position to start the season. The speed is there. The intent is clear. But raw pace doesn’t win championships. Execution does. And that’s where BMW has faltered. Costly pit lane miscues and on-track incidents have repeatedly undercut their potential. Team owner Bobby Rahal didn’t mince words when speaking to *Only Endurance*, acknowledging the setbacks while making it clear the team has tightened the screws. With lessons learned and momentum building, BMW looks poised to mount a serious challenge to Porsche’s early-season dominance. 'We've seen Dries' \[Vanthoor\] pace in qualifying, and he's obviously the fastest guy out there; that's been a plus. After Long Beach, we've highlighted areas we need to focus on, pit lane in particular. 'I think we're going to come to Laguna Seca with some more things on that front. It's just a constant state of trying to improve, not just the car but ourselves.' [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) **Laguna Seca repave** The 2024 season ushered in a new era for WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, as the iconic circuit underwent a dramatic facelift in 2023\. A fresh layer of asphalt smoothed out the once-brutal surface, and added runoff in Turns 5 and 6 brought a modern touch to a historic layout. Once infamous for shredding tires like a cheese grater, the newly repaved track delivered newfound grip—and with it, some of the most compelling racing the circuit has seen in years. But in California, time and heat are ruthless. As teams prepare for battle this weekend, the track presents more questions than answers. Grip levels, tire wear, and strategy are all moving targets, making Laguna Seca a beautifully unpredictable wildcard in the heart of the championship chase. **Can the Fords bring the fight to AO Racing?** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-1.png) Image: Ford Performance After a rough opening act at the Rolex 24, AO Racing has flipped the script on their 2025 campaign with a run of form that demands attention. Their GTD Pro triumph at the 12 Hours of Sebring served notice, and they doubled down with a hard-fought win in Long Beach—this time in the GTD class—outdueling Vasser Sullivan Racing in a street fight that proved they can win in any setting, any class. While AO Racing is the talk of the paddock, it was Multimatic Motorsports who laid down the season’s first marker with a masterclass at Daytona. A dominant GTD Pro win, a third-place from their second car, and a pole position underscored the kind of operational excellence that defines champions. Now, as the championship caravan heads west to Laguna Seca, the standings are tight and the stakes are rising. AO is closing in on Multimatic’s lead entry, but the battle is far from binary. Multimatic’s second car is lurking just 36 points back from the championship lead. There’s one more wrinkle worth watching. Laurin Heinrich, now spearheading AO’s charge, knows this track well. He won at Laguna Seca last season alongside Sebastian Priaulx, who now sits fourth in the title hunt—this time wearing Multimatic colors. It's a collision course layered with history, form, and a whole lot of unfinished business. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. **Winward Racing's quiet consistency is key to their championship lead** Winward Racing has quietly built one of the most consistent resumes of the 2025 IMSA season, stringing together results that speak louder than headlines. A hard-earned fourth place at the Rolex 24 set the tone, followed by a commanding victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring that solidified their status as true GTD contenders. Their fourth-place finish at Long Beach may not have grabbed the spotlight, but it came with an asterisk—trailing only the two Vasser Sullivan Racing entries, who were doubling up in the GTD ranks and AO Racing who also dropped down a class to compete. That kind of steady form is no accident. Winward’s strength lies not just in outright speed but in execution—sharp strategy calls, clean pit work, and a driver lineup of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward that delivers under pressure. **Can Anyone Dethrone Porsche?** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/image-2.png) Image: Porsche Motorsports It’s the question echoing through every paddock and press room this season—repeated often, but still unanswered: can anyone stop Porsche? Three rounds into the 2025 campaign, the German powerhouse has been untouchable when it counts, sweeping the race wins with a clinical mix of pace, precision, and poise. BMW, armed with a blisteringly fast V8 Hybrid, has claimed every pole position to date—proving they can be quickest over one lap—but race day has told a different story. Execution has lagged behind ambition, and while the team insists they're closing the gap, the scoreboard remains one-sided. But perhaps the real threat to Porsche's stranglehold is quietly mounting from within the Cadillac camp. While Wayne Taylor Racing has stumbled in its return to the General Motors stable, Action Express Racing has emerged as a model of consistency. Led by the ever-impressive Jack Aitken, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac has quietly stacked up finishes of ninth and fourth, twice—enough to sit third in the championship and well within striking distance. They haven't stolen the headlines yet—but if momentum means anything in this game, Action Express might just be the sleeper poised to wake the giants. Laguna Seca isn’t just another stop on the calendar—it’s a turning point. With title fights tightening, Porsche’s reign under threat, and a freshly repaved circuit full of unknowns, this weekend promises to shake up the championship. Expect drama, surprises, and, perhaps, a new narrative by Sunday’s checkered flag. [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### 'Love being back at Ford': Seb Priaulx on Blue Oval return URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-back-at-ford-mustang-seb-priaulx-blue-oval-return/ Last updated: 2025-05-07T14:24:57.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) In the world of sports car racing, stories of reunion are rarely as compelling as this. But, almost five years after last slipping behind the wheel of a Ford, Sebastian Priaulx is back. And, he's making it count. Once a promising prospect in the Blue Oval’s stable, Priaulx’s path took him elsewhere for a time, but in 2025, the British driver returned to Ford machinery with Multimatic Motorsports and hasn’t missed a beat. Now, as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rolls into WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, a place where Priaulx tasted victory just last season, the 24-year-old finds himself not just back in familiar colours but firmly in the hunt. Few drivers have had a more quietly impressive campaign than Priaulx. Teaming with veteran Mike Rockenfeller in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3, Priaulx joined Rockenfeller on pole position in the GTD Pro class at Daytona. Over the grueling 24-hour marathon, they held their own against the category’s elite, securing a podium finish with third in class alongside NASCAR star Austin Cindric. That performance not only set the tone for their season but sent a clear message: Priaulx was back, and the Mustang was ready to fight. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/64-07.webp) Prialux's Ford teammates won Daytona back in January. Image: Kevin Dejewski 'I love being back in the Ford family,' Priaulx told *Only Endurance*. 'I’ve said it once before, but it’s a great place to be. I started off there. Multimatic and Ford gave me a great chance when I was a kid. I’m still young, but yeah. 'It was a great start. From my side, I felt like I made my sporting career there; it’s where I started. I did a lot in other manufacturers as well, you know, one manufacturer there for a while, but it’s great to be back in the Mustang.' Since then, consistency has been the name of the game. A fifth-place finish at Sebring followed, and while the results haven’t included another podium, the duo has quietly racked up enough points to sit fourth in the GTD Pro championship standings. They're now just 36 points behind the leading No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3, driven by their Multimatic teammates. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) 'I’ve had two really good races; unfortunately, I didn’t get the big win at Daytona, but the team did, and that’s great. It’s a team effort at the end of the day; that’s all that matters. 'We did a good job at Sebring; that’s a tough track again for us. That was just salvaging points, and I think we did everything we could.' The story writes itself: the return to Ford, the return to form, and now, a return to Laguna Seca, a circuit that already holds special memories for Priaulx. Just last year, driving for AO Racing, he stormed to a thrilling victory with his championship rival this year, Laurin Heinrich. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/AA4I2024-2.webp) Priaulx's last race for Ford was at Sebring in March. Image: Jacob Saddler The win wasn’t just a feather in the cap; it was a career-defining performance, a validation of the speed and poise he’s long possessed. Priaulx’s journey hasn’t been without twists. After first emerging as a standout in Ford’s development pipeline, he stepped away from the marque after the 2020 season. Stints with other teams helped broaden his skillset, and in 2024 he took two wins in IMSA, proving his adaptability and raw pace were as sharp as ever. That momentum carried into 2025, and now, reunited with a brand he knows intimately, he’s pushing for something more than personal redemption, chasing a championship that he missed out on in 2024. Racing alongside Mike Rockenfeller, a multi-time Le Mans winner and one of the most experienced drivers in the paddock, has created a formidable partnership. Their blend of youth and experience has produced a steady stream of results, even when the Ford Mustang GT3 was still finding its footing. The chemistry between the two drivers has been one of the team’s strongest assets, and with each passing round, their challenge grows more potent. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. 'Having been teammates with \[Mike\] Rockenfeller, he’s a legend. A role model from my side, I look up to him. He’s a great driver, a great person to be around, and he’s done a lot in the sport. 'I listen to every word he says. He’s very experienced; what he says, he reminds me a lot of my father, actually. Same era, and he’s done a lot. It’s a dream come true of mine to race with him, and we’re going to have a great year this year. Together, I feel like we can definitely have a good run at the championship.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/imsa-daytona-test.webp) Priaulx (fourth from left) races with Mike Rockenfeller in IMSA, to his left. Image: Ford What makes Priaulx’s current run all the more impressive is how he’s embraced the pressure of his return to the Ford program. In a class filled with factory-backed operations and razor-thin margins, his performances have been measured, aggressive when needed, and always professional. As the series heads to Laguna Seca this weekend, Priaulx returns to a track that favors rear-engine cars, much like his Mustang. With the #64 Mustang gaining momentum and the top of the standings well within reach, this could be the weekend that vaults Priaulx and Rockenfeller from contenders to favourites. *Feature image: Kevin Dejewski* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Spa BoP analysed: Ferrari gets big weight increase URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/spa-bop-wec-analysed-ferrari-weight-increase-toyota-porsche/ Last updated: 2025-05-06T14:09:23.000Z And so the FIA World Endurance Championship rolls onto Spa. Can Ferrari get a third win on the bounce? It's certainly possible, with the team now understanding the 499P to a great depth and with top class drivers in the car. But, one thing to always remember is WEC's balance of performance is not based on results — it is based on pace. Specifically, pace from the last three rounds of the championship. That said, with two strong results at Qatar and Imola, Ferrari was always going to get pegged back for Spa. Let's take a look at the weight, power and more of each car for the Belgian race. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Weight The biggest change in the cars' various weights, relatively speaking, for Spa is certainly the addition of 12kg to Ferrari's 499P. The Italian manufacturer dominated at Qatar and Imola, and has been pegged back by quite a bit for Spa, which should even the playing field out considerably. Toyota have been given an extra 4kg. They were already the heaviest car so the addition of even more weight may hit them quite hard. Aston Martin have also had a drop in weight by 16kg. The Valkyrie has struggled for outright pace at both races this year but with more data to play with, the car has had its total weight has decreased dramatically for the Belgian round. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference it makes as the British manufacturer continues to learn about this car. ## Power (before 250kph) The 'top three', Porsche, Ferrari, and Toyota, have also seen the car's pre-250kph power reduced for Spa. Toyota sees the biggest change, at 20kW, while Ferrari gets a 19kW reduction. Porsche sees a reduction of 9kW meanwhile. Aston Martin once again gets the largest weight increase, 15kW taking the British manufacturer from 505kW to 520kW. Alpine also see an increase of 1kW, which should sit nicely with the weight decrease. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ## Power (after 250kph) The majority of cars here are seeing a power increase after they hit 520kW. Ferrari will go from 489kW, pre-250kW, to 507kW — the largest increase. Cadillac and Toyota will continue to have the most power after that 250kph threshold, with Toyota on 519.84kW and Cadillac on 520.038. While the Alpine is among the most powerful pre-250kph cars, it is by far the least powerful after it passes 250kph. On the long run, initially downhill from La Source then up Eau Rouge and Raidillon to the uphill Kemmel Straight, this may see the Alpine struggle to make overtakes. But the low(ish) weight should help it in the twistier sector 2, and in sector 3 as well. ## Energy per stint Finally before we get to the power-to-weight ratios, is energy per stint. As you can see the energy for the Valkyrie is hugely increased here, from 900MJ to 908MJ. As this is the Valkyrie's debut season we have no data to compare it against, but it could mean we see the car going quite long on a virtual energy tank. The Ferrari has by far the least energy per stint to use, on 897MJ — the only car below 900MJ for this race. Toyota and Porsche have 905MJ, so quite a bit more than the Italian manufacturer. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Power-to-weight ratios Finally we come to power to weight, which gives us a better look at the changes in relative terms. Toyota continue to have by far the lowest pre-250kph power to weight, although Ferrari have dropped below Porsche in this measure too. Aston's Valkyrie now has the second highest power to weight, which could see them jump up the field at Spa. But, with the Peugeot having by far the most power to weight all season, despite a lack of genuine success for the 9X8, power to weight is not everything. And while the Alpine power increase/weight decrease may look good on paper, in fact it's not actually that large a change in power to weight terms. But, with Cadillac, BMW, Ferrari, Toyota and Porsche's all dropping, we could see the Alpine move up the field at Spa. That said, at a fast track like Spa, the Cadillac has a hugely powerful post-250kph power to weight. They were successful last year at Spa until Earl Bamber's crash – could we see the JOTA-run team fight at the sharp end this year? Finally, Aston Martin have the second highest pre-250kph power to weight, and the second highest measure for post 250kph as well. While this may end up being meaningless, it could help them male overtakes and jump up through the field. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### 'Constant state of trying to improve': Rahal on BMW and RLL's 2025 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/constant-state-trying-improve-rahal-bmw-rlls-2025-imsa-laguna-seca/ Last updated: 2025-05-06T11:21:23.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Throughout the course of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Porsche Penske Motorsport has emerged as a relentless force. The team has dominated the GTP class with clinical precision, flawless execution, and an unbroken string of victories. Yet, in their mirror, there has been one consistent shadow: BMW M Team RLL. While Porsche has celebrated from the top step of the podium at every round, it’s Bobby Rahal’s team, which runs BMW's factory effort in the IMSA championship, that has refused to concede the fight. With top-five finishes at every event and a well-earned podium in their back pocket, BMW M Team RLL has quietly positioned itself as the Porsche juggernaut’s most credible threat. But the story beneath the surface is one of unfulfilled potential. A season that could have looked remarkably different were it not for a series of stumbles, missteps, and near-misses that have turned race-winning speed into little more than what-ifs. 'You're just trying to improve the car in all ways,' said Rahal, the team’s owner. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/AA4I0934.webp) BMW and RLL were fast at Sebring, but couldn't beat Porsche to the win. Image: Jacob Saddler 'We've learned more about the car this year, I think. Of course, that learning process really took some speed last year, about halfway through the year. We saw the benefits of that at, of course, Indianapolis, where we won. 'Petit Le Mans, we were in the hunt for the lead right until the bitter end. It really came in over the wintertime with what we needed to do with the car to get it where we want it to go.' [ANALYSIS: How Porsche took victory at Daytona 24 2025, part 1Porsche went from not looking quite on the pace before Daytona, to winning and almost taking a 1-2\. How?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-69.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/7-03--2--2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-porsche-took-victory-daytona-rolex-24-2025-part-1/) Indeed, the upward curve from late 2024 carried into the winter months. With a renewed understanding of the M Hybrid V8’s capabilities and weaknesses, the team entered 2025 with quiet confidence. It didn’t take long for that to translate into results, at least on paper. Leading that charge has been the supremely talented Dries Vanthoor, who wasted no time stamping his authority on the new season. Three consecutive pole positions to open the year spoke volumes about BMW’s qualifying pace and Vanthoor’s deft ability to extract maximum performance. Alongside the experienced Philipp Eng, the duo has become a formidable weapon in BMW’s GTP campaign. But racing is about more than qualifying, and this is where the cracks have appeared. BMW’s struggles haven’t stemmed from a lack of speed or poor strategic acumen. Instead, it’s been the avoidable errors and cruel misfortune that have defined their 2025 campaign so far. Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) Uncharacteristic pit lane blunders, costly penalties, and mid-race incidents — some of their own making, others pure bad luck — have repeatedly pulled the rug out from under them. In Long Beach, a pit stop miscommunication turned a potential podium into a recovery drive. At Sebring and Daytona, a contact incident spiraled into time-consuming repairs. [ANALYSIS: How Porsche took victory at Daytona 24 2025, part 2Porsche consolidated their 1-2 at the half way mark and turn it into victory at Daytona, but they also missed out on taking their first 1-2 at the race since 1987.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-70.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/7-29.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-porsche-took-victory-at-daytona-24-2025-part-2/) Time and again, just when BMW looked poised to pounce on Porsche’s heels—or perhaps even leapfrog them—something went wrong. Not egregiously wrong, but just enough to snuff out any hope of victory. 'Of course, we've been very fortunate. BMW has given us a great driver lineup," Rahal added. 'We've seen Dries' \[Vanthoor\] pace in qualifying, and he's obviously the fastest guy out there; that's been a plus. After Long Beach, we've highlighted areas we need to focus on, pit lane in particular. [IMSA Long Beach: Just how much quicker were Porsche?Porsche dominated IMSA Long Beach, beating polesitters BMW. But how much quicker were Porsche, and could, or should, BMW have won?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-68.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/311853_6000x4000-1-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-analysis-long-beach-how-much-quicker-were-porsche-bmw-cadillac-acura/) 'I think we're going to come to Laguna Seca with some more things on that front. It's just a constant state of trying to improve, not just the car but ourselves.' The team's next shot comes at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, a circuit that’s been transformed since its repave in 2023\. The resurfaced track has brought more grip, more speed, and more possibility. It’s also a place where Rahal believes his team can finally flip the script. 'I think the Laguna \[Seca\] track, especially since they repaved it, I think that's kind of come into our wheelhouse a little bit,' he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/05/FW6I7894.webp) RLL have learnt a considerable amount about BMW's M Hybrid V8 in the last year. Image: Jacob Saddler 'The car has been fast since they've done that. I'm excited about the upcoming week, and I'm looking forward to good things.' And so, BMW M Team RLL returns to California with unfinished business. Porsche may still be the benchmark, but momentum is building in the BMW camp. They’ve proven they can fight at the front, now they just need to close the deal. For a team and manufacturer with this much potential and a legacy to uphold, near misses are no longer enough. At Laguna Seca, the time for excuses is over; they simply can't afford any more major errors. *Feature image: BMW* ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### GALLERY: Exclusive shots from the magical 6h Imola URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-exclusive-shots-from-the-magical-6h-imola/ Last updated: 2025-04-28T19:30:45.000Z The legendary Imola hosted its second WEC six hour race in 2025, offering a totally different result and event to the round 12 months ago. Ferrari, this time, kept cool under pressure to win overall, as the threats of heavy rain eased throughout the race - something the Tifosi were praying for at the drop of the green flag. [Photographer Harry Parvin,](https://www.instagram.com/harryparvin/?ref=ontheapex.com) who has shot for the WEC and European Le Mans Series in previous years, and now turns to servicing a number of clients across series and paddocks, has provided *Only Endurance* with a set of exclusive images to enjoy. Here's what he had to say about the weekend in Italy: 'There really is something special about Imola, and I got to enjoy another weekend where I was shooting for race winners. 'There’s a bit of extra buzz when you’re focusing your work on someone who ends up on the top step, not to mention trying to capture that moment when you’re packed in with the brilliant Italian fans below the podium.' ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_01.jpg) 'One of the standout sessions for me was shooting the Senna monument. It’s a tricky one — technically challenging and not the easiest to set up — but when it works, it really works. 'Definitely one of those rewarding shots that stands out in the set. Beyond that, setting up a two-car static shoot in 15 minutes was definitely a sprint to complete, but we got it done and the TF Sport Corvettes looked great again.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_06.jpg) 'Imola’s a pretty condensed circuit but even so some weekends you can’t get to every corner. I managed to spend decent time at some of the classic angles and felt like I really nailed those spots that I got to spend more time at. GT racing was absolutely packed — so many cars bunched up, which makes for great visuals. 'I ended up trackside almost every time it was heavy cloud, so if WEC comes back next year, I’m putting in an early request for bright blue sky.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_07.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/HP-Imola-Landscape.002-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_09.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_12.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Landscape2.001-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_04.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/HP-Imola-Landscape.003-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_15.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Harry_Parvin_X_Only_Endurance_Imola_16.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Landscape2.002-1.png) All images courtesy of [Harry Parvin](https://www.harryparvin.com/?ref=ontheapex.com) [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Porsche to unveil road-legal 963 in June URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/porsche-to-unveil-road-legal-963-in-june/ Last updated: 2025-04-25T15:00:32.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) We've all dreamed about it: road-legal Le Mans Hypercars. Well, Porsche is doing just that, bringing its 963 to the road. The company has released a short video, embedded below, which tells the story of the 917. The 917 was of course Porsche's first overall Le Mans winner, in 1970\. However, the company converted chassis 30 to street spec for Count Gregorio Rossi di Montelera, who raced the car once then returned it to the factory to have it fitted with mirrors, side indicators for turning, a road-legal exhaust, and all the other things needed for driving on the road, not the track. The car still exists, owned by a private owner, kept in the south of France (where else?) and is UK-registered. It recently underwent a full mechanical restoration, preserving original paint and interior. It seems as though Porsche is planning to do something similar with the 963, with the video hinting at a reveal in June, possibly at Le Mans — the date and the subject would line up, even if Porsche won't confirm or deny. "Importantly, as it’s descendent enjoys success on the track today, the spirit and desire within Porsche that allowed the creation of a 917 for the road all that time ago remains very much alive five decades on – prompting the question: what if?", said a Porsche statement. Also, the 963's ancestor, the 962, underwent conversion for the road in the early 1990s at the hands of Dauer Racing. Updates to the all-conquering Group C car meant that it cleared the GT1 homologation rules of the time and sold 13 roadworthy versions before going on to win overall at the 1994 24H Le Mans. *Only Endurance* asked for any more details on the forthcoming car, but Porsche declined to comment and said we have to wait until June (although they added 'but you could start speculating'...). Exciting! We'll just have to wait until then to learn anything more! In the meantime, check out the video above, and the gallery below of the Porsche 917, chassis 30, in road legal form. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313202_3491x2312.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313203_2668x3995.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313204_4240x2832.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313205_2628x3935.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313206_4207x2810.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313207_3651x2439.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313208_3984x2661.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313209_4240x2832.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/313210_3728x2490.webp) ### Mueller and Wehrlein join Porsche Penske for Spa URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/mueller-and-wehrlein-join-porsche-penske-for-spa/ Last updated: 2025-04-25T10:38:20.000Z Nico Mueller and Pascal Wehrlein are confirmed as third drivers in the Porsche Penske Motorsport Hypercar team for the WEC's 6H Spa. Wehrlein will make his first Hypercar appearance just weeks before competing with Porsche Penske at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the third factory car alongside Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr. The 30-year-old made his sportscar debut earlier this year at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, driving for JDC-Miller Motorsports and completing his first competitive action at the wheel of the 963 LMDh. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/M25_0214_a3_rgb.jpg) Wehrlein made his sportscar debut in January with JDC-Miller. Image: Porsche For Spa, the German will join reigning world champions Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre in the #6 Porsche 963, with Mueller racing alongside Julien Andlauer and Michael Christensen in the #5. Both will make their maiden appearances for the factory prototype squad, with Mueller marking his return to the top class after leaving Peugeot at the end of 2024. The Swiss driver has also been confirmed as Porsche's reserve driver at Le Mans. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0330.jpg) Image: DPPI/WEC Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell will return to their third driver roles in the #5 and #6 cars respectively at the 24 Hours, but are unavailable for Spa as it clashes with IMSA's Laguna Seca round. “It’s obviously first-class that I can celebrate my debut in FIA WEC at Spa-Francorchamps and get to know the way Porsche Penske Motorsport works even earlier – every competitive kilometre with the Porsche 963 counts,” explained Wehrlein. “In Kévin and Laurens, I have two team-mates from whom I can learn a lot. I’m really looking forward to competing on such an iconic racetrack as the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0232.jpg) Vanthoor and Estre will welcome a third different in four races. Image: DPPI/WEC “I’m also looking forward to returning to FIA WEC and competing in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps alongside Julien and Michael," described Mueller. "Following my Sebring stint in IMSA and some testing, I will be able to complete more important laps with the Porsche 963\. This is a great opportunity, and I would like to thank both Porsche Penske Motorsport and my Formula E team Andretti for making it possible.” [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Aston: Valkyrie Spa testing crash had 'no effect' on Imola URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-explains-valkyrie-noise-difference-at-imola-wec/ Last updated: 2025-04-22T13:36:05.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Astute trackside observers will have noticed that the two Aston Martin Valkyries sounded a bit different compared to each other at the WEC race at Imola, with the #007 car being a bit quieter and the #009 being louder. *Only Endurance* asked Aston for the reason that the two sounded different, with a spokesperson saying they were 'trying different setups'. He declined to expand further. That said, the Aston Martin spokesperson also confirmed that the Valkyrie crash at Spa-Francorchamps had 'no effect' on the team at Imola, with the reason for the 007 being quieter down to a 'different reason'. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/007-at-Imola-5.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/009-at-Imola-7.webp) The two cars raced at Imola for the second time in WEC competition. All images, including feature image: Aston Martin Aston Martin, Porsche, and BMW were testing their Hypercars at the Belgian circuit, in advance of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps race on Saturday 10th May. The two Valkyries finished 17th and 18th at Imola, as Aston Martin and its factory partner team, The Heart of Racing, continues to learn and understand about the car. Aston Martin will next compete with the Valkyrie on the weekend of May 10th-11th, at Spa in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and on the same weekend in the IMSA Sportscar Championship at Laguna Seca. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Analysis: Could Ferrari have taken a 1-2 on home turf? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/ferrari-lost-1-2-home-turf-imola-wec-toyota-alpine-bmw-porsche/ Last updated: 2025-04-21T18:22:48.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) A Ferrari win in Italy. It's what the *tifosi* dream of, and some will have been there at Imola, in the beautiful Emilia Romagna region of Italy, near Bologna, to witness it. An iconic moment for many of them, no doubt. James Calado summed it up well after the race, saying, 'This is one of the finest wins of my career, because I’d never stood on the top step of the podium in front of our own tifosi before. 'It’s an incredible feeling and I’m proud we managed to return to winning ways after such a long time – and to do it here at home.' However, based on the pace Ferrari had with its three 499Ps — two scarlet factory cars and one yellow 'customer' or 'satellite' car — they could have had at least two cars on the podium, if not three. That is, if it wasn't for a brilliant piece of strategy work from BMW and Alpine. [ANALYSIS: Ferrari out in front at Imola, close behindFerrari set the pace in the long runs at Imola, but they need to deliver in the race on home turf.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-65.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0099-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-practice-analysis-imola-imola-toyota-porsche-cadillac/) So, how did the German and French manufacturers wrangle their way to a largely unfancied podium on Ferrari's home turf? ## Strategy is king at Imola Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) It's a well known fact that overtaking is hard at Imola, with only a couple of genuine spots to make a pass on the 4.9km track. This meant that pit stop strategy would play a huge part in determining the results of the race. The less time you spend stationary in the pits, the more you're out on track. Obvious. The teams almost universally chose to do this by short fueling the cars and then having drivers hit a fuel number, or by not changing tyres. Imola isn't *too* hard on the rubber, so with a bit of management the drivers could make the tyres last way longer than usual. Unfortunately, neither of these data points are available for us to scrutinise in the same way we can look at timing data. We can't see fuel levels through the race, and we have little information on what tyres a car has on at any given moment during the race, or how long they've had them on for. [GALLERY: 6 Hours of Imola in picturesCheck out some top shots from the world’s best motorsport photographers, from the 6 Hours of Imola.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-66.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0489-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-6-hours-of-imola-2025-ferrari-porsche-toyota/) ## Safety car scuppers Ferrari's lead The first safety car was called an hour and a half into the race. The lap before this, Calado had a lead of 17 seconds over the nearest non-Ferrari – Kevin Magnussen in the #15 BMW in third position— and 4.6 seconds on Phil Hanson in the second-placed satellite #83 Ferrari. Looking at the average lap times for the first two hours, it is very obvious Ferrari had a pace advantage. The #51 was running in clean air with no one to hold Calado up, while the cars behind had to, at points, fight for position or be held up. The safety car, though, scuppered this gap. He built it up again, and when he pitted just after the two hour mark to hand over to Antonio Giovinazzi, the lead stood at over 10 seconds to the #83 Ferrari and #15 BMW. Mid way through the Italian's stint in the leading Ferrari, Campbell took the lead, having jumped up through the field with an alternate strategy that got them track position. Although it briefly looked as though Porsche might be able to challenge Ferrari, it was a false dawn: they'd finish eighth in the end, with pace to challenge BMW, Toyota, and Alpine, but not being able to keep up with Ferrari. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC225_042013405036124ND.webp) Porsche led early on but struggled for pace at Imola. Image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography ## Strategy to the fore in second half Another safety car was called in the second half of the race, in what Robin Frijns called a 'hard reset'. What he meant by this was everyone was now putting on new tyres, of varying compounds, to challenge in the two and a bit hours of the race. Ferrari chose a conservative strategy, using soft tyres on the leading #51 Ferrari, now with Pier Guidi at the wheel. This was the conventional, conservative choice because while the medium compound would likely have been the faster choice over a stint – as it's more durable — Ferrari also thought rain was coming. And if rain was coming, the softer tyre would retain heat more than the medium. As it turned out, the soft was likely the correct choice. Initially, Pier Guidi treated his car's rubber carefully in the opening laps of the stint, perhaps of concerns he wear through it too fast and the tyres then be useless if it did rain. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0425.webp) The #51 Ferrari looked the likeliest winner all race. Image: DPPI / WEC However, the threat of rain dissipated and so Pier Guidi was able to create a gap to Kevin Estre, in the #6 Porsche, and Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota. Estre had mediums on his Porsche, while Kobayashi may have had softs on the left and mediums on the right. However, fuel strategy was a whole different ball game. With two and a bit hours to go when virtually everyone pitted under safety car, another single stop wouldn't be enough to get to the end of the race. Conventionally, there would have to be another stop, late on, for a splash of fuel, just enough to get to the finish. Looking at the data for the second half of the race, this was the fuel strategy Ferrari, Porsche and Toyota adopted for their leading cars. However, the alternate strategy was to under fuel the cars under safety car, gaining track position, then come in again for a final stop, earlier than the cars on the 'traditional' strategy, and take the rest of the fuel needed to finish the race. This is what the #36 Alpine and #20 BMW did, as described by Gary Watkins in his excellent [Autosport article](https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/why-ferraris-conservatism-didnt-deny-it-in-an-imola-wec-thriller/10715700/?ref=ontheapex.com) on the race at Imola. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/First-Alpine-podium-of-2025-for-Alpine-at-Imola.webp) Alpine scored an unlikely podium at Imola through clever strategy. Image: Joao Filipe / DPPI An old adage or idiom in racing is to 'do something different', and this is exactly what they need, correctly predicting cars ahead would opt for something more traditional while the cars with less to lose could try something a bit more radical. While this meant the two were down in sixth and seventh after the race restarted with just under two hours to go, the benefit was they has new tyres — softs for Schumacher in the Alpine, mediums for van der Linde in the BMW — and light cars. van der Linde, then, was able to jump temporarily ahead of Pier Guidi at the next round of stops, on lap 172\. It was only temporary — the BMW would stop for the final time on lap 192, taking 1:05, while Pier Guidi would stop 13 laps later, for his splash, taking 48 seconds. But, the strategy moved both BMW and Alpine up to the podium positions and scored them a great victory on a day where many expected Ferrari to dominate the top spots. ## Track temperature leaves #83 out to dry Ferrari's strategy didn't work for the satellite #83 car, though. After the second safety car Robert Kubica sat fifth, behind Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW. While the Ferrari was superior in the hotter temperatures earlier, when the track cooled substantially in the second half of the race, the pace equaled out a little more. This meant that Kubica was not able to pass D. Vanthoor. Running in dirty air and traffic had detrimental affects on the tyres, overheating them and leading to thermal degradation, leaving Kubica with little grip available to make an overtake. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) While the Pole would jump past the Belgian in the final stops, plus Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota, to finish fourth, with Buemi behind then the BMW of D. Vanthoor in sixth, it was somewhat of a disappointing result given they'd run second for a significant portion of the race. It's obviously impossible to say if the alternate strategy run by Alpine and BMW would have benefitted the #83 Ferrari, but what's clear is a strategy that works for a car in the lead doesn't necessarily work for a car mired in the midfield. ## Fuoco and Buemi cost themselves a podium There was a third strategy option, taken by the #50 Ferrari squad and the #8 Toyota, of short fueling under the second safety car to grab track position, then getting the extra later. As is visible in the scatterplot graph above, the #50 Ferrari's stop under safety car was just 48 seconds, on lap 133, with Fuoco now in the car. They'd previously stopped on lap 109, so this dropped them down the order as they were essentially making an extra 'free' stop. At the restart, Fuoco sat 13th, with Buemi a few cars ahead in ninth. Both stopped again soon, lap 148 and lap 149, to collect the extra fuel they'd missed under safety car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0443.webp) Buemi potentially cost his team a podium by fighting with Fuoco. Image: DPPI / WEC When the rest of the field pitted, Buemi and Fuoco then moved up the order, to lead the race. Fuoco had the faster car and was desperate to get by the Toyota, but Buemi's superb defensive driving meant Fuoco could not find a way past. This had to boil over eventually, and it did, colliding at Tamburello. Both survived but Fuoco's resulting puncture dropped him well down the field and out of contention. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC2025_Imola_mp_03429_d2997c6c-59d7-45a0-9b4d-a6e70d55bd82-1.webp) Could Ferrari have taken a 1-2 at Imola? Image: Ferrari Buemi and the #8 Toyota could have scored a podium here with the unconventional strategy. Instead of fighting Fuoco in a clearly faster car, by letting the Ferrari driver through, Buemi could have taken third with Fuoco potentially finisjing second. Such as it was, the two fought over the position, with Buemi losing time to BMW's S. van der Linde and Schumacher in the Alpine, possibly costing himself a podium. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### GALLERY: 6 Hours of Imola in pictures URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-6-hours-of-imola-2025-ferrari-porsche-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-04-21T06:10:12.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) We enjoyed a fantastic race at Imola, with multiple tyre/fuel strategies coming into play in the second half of the race. As wee look back on the race, check out these images of some key moments, cars, and just cool shots from top photographers in motorsport. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0487.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0386.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0489.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/25-04-20_13-14-46_WEC_Imola_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_5617.webp) Image: Julien Kroehl / BMW ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/25-04-20_18-45-10_WEC_Imola_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_6277.webp) Image: Julien Kroehl / BMW ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0021.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0512.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0513.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0579.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0580.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0582.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0585.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC Support Only Endurance's independent sportscar journalism today from £1/$1/€1 a month [Check it out ](https://www.ontheapex.com/membership/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/tjm2520ap302.webp) Image: James Moy Photography / Toyota ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/tjm2520ap603.webp) Image: James Moy Photography / Toyota ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! 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Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC225_042013045432614ND.webp) Photo: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC225_042013491041288AS.webp) Photo: Alastair Staley / Drew Gibson Photography ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC225_042014154852130MS.webp) Photo: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC225_042017542654129MS.webp) Photo: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC225_042019005844706AS.webp) Photo: Alastair Staley / Drew Gibson Photography ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT04672.webp) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT12191.webp) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT06518.webp) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0600.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0534.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0608.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Friday at Imola in pictures URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/friday-wec-imola-in-pictures-gallery-free-practice/ Last updated: 2025-04-19T06:14:52.000Z Check out the images below of Friday at Imola, where free practice 1 and 2 took place for this weekend's 6 Hours of Imola. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/25-04-18_11-22-49_WEC_Imola_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_1603.webp) Image: Julien Krohl / BMW ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/25-04-18_12-00-28_WEC_Imola_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_1750.webp) Image: Julien Krohl / BMW ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/25-04-18_16-37-11_WEC_Imola_BMW_Motorsport_Julian_Kroehl_2913.webp) Image: Julien Krohl / BMW [ANALYSIS: Ferrari out in front at Imola, close behindFerrari set the pace in the long runs at Imola, but they need to deliver in the race on home turf.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-63.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0099.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-practice-analysis-imola-imola-toyota-porsche-cadillac/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WEC225_041816212004590DG.webp) Image: Drew Gibson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT08216.webp) Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0120.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0172.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0178.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0185.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0223.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0243.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC [Everything we know about Genesis: engine, livery, teamGenesis has combined two inline-4s to make a V8, then strapped two turbos to it.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-64.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-9-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/genesis-hypercar-v8-engine-livery-wec-imsa/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0249.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0261.webp) Image: DPPI / WEC ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! 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Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Both-cars-on-track.jpg) Image: Cadillac ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0194.jpg) Image: DPPI / WEC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Pit-out.jpg) Image: Cadillac ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/tjm2518ap04.jpg) Image: Toyota / James Moy Photography Ltd Feature image: DPPI / WEC [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### ANALYSIS: Ferrari out in front at Imola, close behind URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-practice-analysis-imola-imola-toyota-porsche-cadillac/ Last updated: 2025-04-19T03:59:16.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Friday practice for the next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Imola, is done and dusted now, and Ferrari look to be the leaders on long run pace. The Italian squad's #51 car set the fastest average lap time of the day in the second practice session, giving them almost half a second a lap on their rivals. Behind them it looks relatively close, with Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac all in the mix. [Imola BoP: Analysing changes with power-to-weight ratioHow will the new BoP affect the race at Imola?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-61.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0313-1-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/imola-bop-analysing-power-to-weight-ratio-ferrari-toyota-porsche/) However, in the first session, it was actually Cadillac who were quicker on average. Sebastien Bourdais, in the #38 Cadillac V-Series.R, run by JOTA, set a 1:34.339 to go quickest on average, over a seven lap stint from lap 25 to 32 of the car's total. Behind him was the #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, just under half a second off. Ferrari's fastest in FP2 was a 01:35.093 average, set by Miguel Molina, from laps 13-19 for the Spaniard. In all, six cars were within a second of Bourdais in FP1, with a further seven cars within two seconds on average. This included both Peugeots, all three Ferraris, the Toyotas, BMWs, a factory Porsche, an Alpine, and the Proton-run customer Porsche. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0159.webp) Bourdais was quickest on average in FP1\. Image: DPPI / WEC The two Aston Martins, in only their second WEC race, were the only team with both cars outside of this two second window. Alex Riberas, in the #009, and Tom Gamble in the #007, were two and five seconds slower on average than Bourdais. Two of Gamble's laps were impacted by a full course yellow, which likely brought his average down. The #35 Alpine's average, meanwhile, was set by Ferdinand Habsburg, right at the start of the session. With cold tyres and a green track, it can be assumed this lap time is not representative of Alpine's pace, especially as the #36 car, with Jules Gounon at the wheel, was in the mix over a 15 lap stint. In FP2, however, Ferrari's pace started to show. Alessandro Pier Guidi, in the session-topping #51 car, set a 01:33.517 to go fastest on average, almost half a second quicker than Buemi in the #8 Toyota. Pier Guidi set the average over a 14 lap stint, from lap 37 to 51\. Buemi, meanwhile, did a slightly shorter stint, laps 15-25\. This may not mean anything, but it's potentially ominous Ferrari can go longer on tyres and yet set a faster average lap time. Once again, it was fairly close in the midfield. The #5 Porsche was third, followed by the #50 Ferrari — the only team to have both cars in the top five in FP2 — and the #93 Peugeot. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003161_0196.webp) Practice looked promising for Peugeot. But can they deliver in the race? Image: DPPI / WEC It looks like it could be a decent weekend for Peugeot, fourth fastest on average in FP1 and fifth in FP2. Cadillac were quite a way back in the second session, 1.6 seconds off Pier Guidi and Ferrari. But, as Cadillac's FP1 pace was faster, if you put that lap time into the the second session times, they'd be sixth. [5 things to look out for at Imola 6H this weekendTime for round 2 of 2025 FIA WEC. Can Ferrari take a 2nd win, or will their rivals steal it away in front of the Tifosi? 5 things to look out for.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-62.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0239--1-.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/5-things-look-out-for-wec-imola-6h-ferrari-toyota-porsche/) So it's not looking quite so bad, and that's an FP1 time on a less weathered in track at a different time of day. Aston Martin were at the back in what looks to be another learning weekend for the British manufacturer and Anglo-American partner team, The Heart of Racing. That said, they're not miles off the pace, with more learning and analysis undoubtedly taking place overnight. So, if we combine these times to create averages for each manufacturer, we end up with a graph that looks like the above. As we've combined each average for each team — so four lap time values in total — note this can be skewed, like the unrepresentative lap for Habsburg and Alpine. But, it gives us some idea of the order, with Ferrari out in front and a battle between Cadillac, Porsche, Toyota, BMW and perhaps surprisingly, Peugeot. We can then add Alpine into this group oncer the unrepresentative lap has been removed. In the graph above we're using the best average for each team from the two sessions — so two lap time values. Ferrari are, notably, ahead here. They've got well over half a second on their nearest challengers, Toyota. Alpine slot into third here, behind Toyota — just! — and ahead of French rivals Peugeot. Perhaps surprisingly, Cadillac and Porsche are quite a way back here, with BMW splitting them. Aston are only slightly behind Porsche in what they may see as encouraging pace. 'Ended up in the top six, so not too bad,' said Cadillac's Earl Bamber after FP2\. \] 'Good baseline, we had a good test here. We have a bit of work to do overnight, but at least everything lines up from the test. The top 10 is incredibly competitive this weekend, so pushing all the small details and we’ll see how quali goes tomorrow.' Likewise, his teammate Alex Lynn said, 'I think it’s very competitive out there, a lot of fast cars. No doubt Ferrari looks extremely strong, but behind them I think there will be a good fight for the rest.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/WECPorsche2025Imola_JT07040.webp) Porsche seemed to struggle on Friday, but don't count them out. Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche But, this could all be rendered meaningless. As we know teams do not push hard in practice, either through concealing their true pace, or not wanting to put unnecessary stress on the cars. The weather, too, could play a part, as it did to great effect last year. The current forecast is for on-off showers all afternoon on Sunday, which could spice things up considerably. That's it for now. We'll be back with some analysis from qualifying tomorrow, plus any tidbits from the third free practice session. ## Get the Only Endurance newsletter Weekly analysis of sportscar racing, direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Everything we know about Genesis: engine, livery, team URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/genesis-hypercar-v8-engine-livery-wec-imsa/ Last updated: 2025-04-17T10:51:25.000Z [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) Genesis has confirmed that the V8 twin turbo engine which will power the company's first prototype sportscar, the GMR-001, was successfully fired up at the end of February. The engine, which is a 3.2-litre V8 engine with two turbos, is based on Hyundai's inline-4 engine which powers the company's WRC cars. According to a report from *Motorsport Acktuell* last month, Hyundai have combined two of these inline-4s to create the V8. Genesis says the design work for the engine started in June 2024 and was completed four months later. The assembly then took place ahead of the first fire-up, which took place on schedule on 28th February. 'The inline-four engine is a very, very sophisticated, very efficient engine,' said François-Xavier Demaison, Hyundai Motorsport technical director. 'It's a proper race engine, so it's a very good base for developing an engine for WEC. Rallying is a sort of endurance race, so for an engine to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it’s a good place to start from. 'With the time we had available to develop the engine, we immediately knew we did not have enough time to completely design a new engine from scratch. 'For the main part of an engine, you need a long time to design, validate, and of course, to produce. Every part needs to be tested over many kilometers, and the inline-four engine from our World Rally Championship car has already been well proven. It became the logical step to carry over as many parts as possible from the four-cylinder engine.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250417-gmr-001hypercardevelopmentpassesmajormilestoneaftersuccessfulenginefire-up-1-1.webp) Genesis's Hypercar car is essentially two I4s combined, with two additional turbos. Image: Genesis ## First test in August The car's first on-track test will be in August, according to the *Motorsport Aktuell* report. As the team is based close to the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France, it's likely the team will test the car there first, although that remains unconfirmed. 'After the first crank and the first revs in a steady state, we will progressively add more heat into the system, performing long runs,' said Cyril Abiteboul, team principal for Genesis Magma Racing. 'Then with different dynos, we can test in a more dynamic way, reproducing closer the cycles that the engine will do around a race track like Le Mans. 'We can test equipped to the gearbox and the hybrid system until we have the full powertrain,' he finished. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## Debut in WEC at Qatar 2026 The car will make its debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2026, at the first race of the season at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. Genesis is building up an in-house race team at its base in France, together with IDEC Sport, a long-time LMP2 team who Genesis have partnered with for the WEC project. IDEC Sport, together with drivers Jamie Chadwick, Mathys Jaubert, and Daniel Juncadella, finished second in the first European Le Mans Series race, the 4 Hours of Barcelona. Currently the only two drivers confirmed for the Genesis Hypercar programme are Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani, although it's believed all three IDEC sport drivers are also in contention for a seat next year. An IMSA programme, to debut in 2027, has also been confirmed. Currently there are no further details about it, including a partner team. While Chip Ganassi Racing, which last ran Cadillac cars in IMSA and WEC, was believed to be the frontrunner for the programme, the chaces of this have now faded. This may be due to a senior CGR engineer, Justin Taylor, leaving the team for Genesis. Genesis have also recruited Matthieu Leroy, previously race engineer of the #5 Porsche 963, run by Penske, in WEC. Currently it is believed the two teams in contention to run the Genesis IMSA programme are either Pratt Miller, or Bryan Herta Autosport. The former are running an LMP2 car in IMSA this year, with the goal being to attract the attention of a manufacturer for a GTP programme. Bryan Herta Autosport, meanwhile, run TCR cars in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, winning multiple championships from 2019-2023. ## Sign up for Only Endurance Nothing else, Only Endurance Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Livery revealed Finally, Genesis also revealed the car's livery yesterday, a striking orange and red combination, at the New York Auto Show. See a gallery, and a video, below for more pictures. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-1.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-2.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-3.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-4.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-5.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-6.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-8.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-9.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/250416-genesismagmaracingdebutsfull-scalegmr-001hypercarusheringinaneweraofathleticelegance-10.webp) All images credit Genesis 0:00 /1:21 1× [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### 5 things to look out for at Imola 6H this weekend URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/5-things-look-out-for-wec-imola-6h-ferrari-toyota-porsche/ Last updated: 2025-04-16T14:12:49.000Z [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) Finally, it's FIA World Endurance Championship race week again. Feels like it's been age since Qatar, but the championship now heads to Europe for the Imola-Spa-Le Mans leg. Last year at Imola, Ferrari had mighty pace and looked nailed on to win and maybe even take a 1-2-3 — which they finally did do at Qatar this season — until rain and a strategy error saw the win slip through their fingers. So, what can we expect this time, and what should we look out for? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0291.webp) The JOTA Cadillacs had pace in Qatar, but events conspired against them. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Cadillac and JOTA continue gelling Cadillac and. JOTA were going well at Qatar until *that* moment mid-race with Jenson Button and Alex Lynn. We're not here to cast blame, but to look forward. The positives from Qatar were clear: they were fast. The team will be looking to continue that progress in Italy. Looking at the average pace data from last year, Cadillac — then run by Chip Ganassi — were mid-field, behind Ferrari, Porsche, and Toyota. They'll be hoping to be in the fight again with the 'top 3', the only teams to have won in WEC in the last couple of years. [Felipe Nasr on chances of winning endurance triple crownPorsche’s Brazilian star on the chances of completing an iconic motorsport accomplishment later this year.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-58.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/AA4I3188--2--1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/felipe-nasr-on-chances-of-winning-endurance-triple-crown/) Cadillac *have* tested at Imola recently, alongside Peugeot, Alpine, and Porsche. That'll serve them well, since we know that Imola, with its fast-but-twisty, bumpy nature requires a different setup from some other tracks on the calendar. Plus, the V-Series.R tends to go well on bumpy tracks. 'We had a good test at Imola,' said Earl Bamber. 'It was pretty constructive though one of the days was impacted by weather, but that was the same for everyone. We were able to do this test and understand and answer some questions from 2024 there. 'The guys at Action Express have also given us some ideas and directions, so all of that has really helped to accumulate to a good base that I think we've got going towards Imola.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0313.webp) Ferrari led away from a chaotic start last year at Imola. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Will we see a Ferrari win in Italy? Can Ferrari redeem themselves in front of their beloved *Tifiosi* and take a home win? They fluffed their chances last year, not pitting quick enough for wets when the rain came, plus not splitting the strategy and leaving all three cars out on slicks. This lost them a good minute and enabled Toyota to sneak through and take an unexpected win. Ferrari were dominant in Qatar and will be hoping to continue that form into Imola as they pursue their aim of winning the world championships. Perhaps surprisingly, they haven't been pegged back as much as some might think on the BoP front, which could play into their hands. [Imola BoP: Analysing changes with power-to-weight ratioHow will the new BoP affect the race at Imola?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-60.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0313-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/imola-bop-analysing-power-to-weight-ratio-ferrari-toyota-porsche/) 'Expectations for our home race are very high, and although we know it won’t be an easy task, the team has no intention of letting the fans down,' said Ferdinando Cannizzo, Ferrari's WEC programme chief. 'In 2024, the Ferrari 499P demonstrated its full potential at Imola thanks to the excellent work done in the simulator and pre-race testing to develop a set-up tailored to this specific circuit. 'This year we’re starting from a solid base, also taking into account the improvements in brake cooling introduced with the joker in 2024 and the developments carried out over the winter break. 'We know that won’t be enough to bring home the result we’re aiming for – we still remember the mistakes that cost us victory last year. Preparation, focus, attention to detail and team spirit will therefore be essential to replicate the excellent performance seen in Qatar and take on an ever-stronger and more competitive field.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0499.webp) Aston have raced the Valkyrie twice since its global debut in Qatar. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Aston Martin getting into their stride Aston Martin have now raced the Valkyrie for 23 hours and 40 minutes — almost a full Le Mans. And, they raced at probably the toughest track in the world — and survived with no real issues. So the car's reliable. Now the question is extracting pace out of it and fighting with the rest of the pack. 'This was a satisfying performance from Valkyrie and wholly underlines the good progress the programme is making with every lap we complete,” said Adam Carter, Aston's programme chief, after Sebring. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) 'Sebring is well renowned for being a tough test on any racecar, let alone a new hypercar. But we were confident in the car’s ability to go the distance, and the fact that it did it so well is a huge testament to everybody working on the programme and a good indicator of the inherent potential of the car.' This'll be the car's second WEC race and first in Europe. It's also completely different to anywhere its raced so far, so it'll be interesting to see how it goes, and what learnings Aston has taken from Sebring and Long Beach that it can employ at Imola to move the Valkyrie up through the field. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0476.webp) LMGT3 promises to be as close as ever in Italy this year. Image: DPPI / WEC ## LMGT3 will be a dogfight — again LMGT3 is proving to be a worthy successor to GTE. Yes the cars might not be quite as exciting, and there's no pro subclass because there simply isn't room to accommodate one. But the on-track product is great, at least. There's the whole discussion about torque sensors and the associated issues teams are facing with them, but that'll pass as they're more widely understood. What I want to see is whether McLaren and United Autosports can live up to their potential and claim a win. They have pace over a single lap in qualifying — they've taken the last two poles, at Bahrain at the end of 2024, and Qatar — but so far they haven't been able to use this and take a win. Lexus were a surprise in Qatar, both in the Prologue and in the race weekend. Would be great to see ASP and the Japanese manufacturer continue this run of form out of, by far, the oldest car on the grid. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0278.webp) The rain caused chaos last year — and cost Ferrari an almost-certain win. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Imola and unpredictable weather Imola was a good race last year, almost exclusively because of the rain chaos and uncertainty it created. Until then it was... eh. Not great — but not bad either. Hopefully this year we'll get a more competitive race in the dry. However, great track as it is, overtaking is hard at Imola and qualifying will be key. [What we know — and what we don’t — about McLaren’s HypercarMcLaren have finally announced their long-awaited Hypercar. But what do we know about it?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-59.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/McLaren-WEC.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-about-mclarens-hypercar/) Traffic, too, will be an issue. The Italian circuit is narrow and, at times, twisty (Tamburello-Villeneuve complex, Acque Minerali to the chicane) so Hypercar drivers will need to pick their moments carefully. Likewise, GT3 drivers will need to be prepared to compromise. That said, regarding weather, the region is well known for being a little unpredictable with weather. And, looking at the forecast, there is a small, fluctuating chance it'll rain during the race. Enough for teams to need to change tyres? Who knows. But the possibility is there. [ ![Powered by the Tomorrow.io Weather API](https://weather-website-client.tomorrow.io/img/powered-by.svg) ](https://www.tomorrow.io/weather-api/?ref=ontheapex.com) Either way, it's sure to be a good race with eight manufacturers in each class going for the win and 36 cars in total. If you're a paid member, let us know what you're most looking forward to in the comments, or tag us on social media, @onlyendurance, with your thoughts. We'll be back with BoP analysis when it's released, plus some pre-weekend thoughts from various teams and drivers, later this week. ## Sign up for Only Endurance Nothing else, Only Endurance Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Imola BoP: Analysing changes with power-to-weight ratio URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imola-bop-analysing-power-to-weight-ratio-ferrari-toyota-porsche/ Last updated: 2025-04-14T22:55:18.000Z Ferrari dominated proceedings at Qatar, taking their first 1-2-3 in WEC history. Surprisingly, though, they haven't been pegged back for the race on their home turf — a race they almost won last year. Let's investigate the BoP changes and use power to weight ratio to see what the race may look like. ## Weight The majority of cars have been given a weight increase here — 5 cars, compared to 3 losing weight. The headline news is Porsche losing 11kg, dropping from 1064kg to 1053kg. Ferrari have been handed a 8kg increase, while Cadillac have gained the most at 11kg. This makes sense, as the two were by far the fastest at Qatar. Peugeot have lost a kilogram, now at 1030kg, the minimum weight of a Hypercar according to the regulations. Alpine have lost two kilograms, while BMW have gained 5kg, and Aston Martin 8kg in their second WEC race. Toyota, meanwhile, remain at 1065kg, 1kg more than they raced with at Qatar. ## Power (before 250kph) The big movers here are Alpine, gaining 11kW to take them up to 519kW. BMW have also gained 8kW, while Ferrari and Cadillac both gain 7kW. Aston Martin have alsop gained a single kW to take them up to 504kW from the Cosworth-built V12. Porsche and Toyota, on the other hand, lose power — 5kW for Porsche, 3kW for Toyota. Peugeot remain at 520kW — the lightest car with the most power. ## Power (after 250kph) Both Alpine and Peugeot will lose 5.4% of power after they exceed 250kph. Porsche and Toyota will gain 1.2% and 3.6%, and Ferrari will lose 1.8%. You can see the effect of this in the graph above. ## Energy per stint Some big movers in energy per stint, messaged in megajoules (MJ) here. Cadillac will gain 8MJ to use over a single stint, while Peugeot will lose 6MJ. The top 3 – Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota — sees the Italian manufacturer gain 3MJ, while the latter two lose 5MJ and 2MJ compared to Qatar respectively. ## Power-to-weight ratios Peugeot are on top here, as they've got the lightest, most powerful car. The Alpine has gained a decent amount too, while the Aston loses out to Ferrari. Toyota, as usual, have the lowest power to weight below 250kph, with Porsche's ratio also low. BMW and Cadillac are very similar. It's a completely different story post-250kph though. Cadillac go from 0.490kW/kg to 0.500kW/kg, putting them quite substantially ahead of everyone else. The other seven manufacturers are all fairly evenly matched. While having a lower ratio than in Qatar, Toyota have jumped ahead of BMW to have the second highest ratio after Cadillac in this metric. Aston, BMW and Ferrari lose out the most when comparing Qatar to Imola, losing 0.006kW/kg. Peugeot are the biggest gainer — they gain 0.004kW/kg race on race, but they also lose out hugely after they hit 250kph, from 505kW/KG to 0.479. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### IMSA Long Beach: Just how much quicker were Porsche? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/imsa-analysis-long-beach-how-much-quicker-were-porsche-bmw-cadillac-acura/ Last updated: 2025-04-13T18:49:20.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) I wasn't originally going to write about IMSA's Grand Prix of Long Beach for *Only Endurance.* Officially, we're only planning on covering IMSA's Endurance Cup rounds, because we simply do not have the time or resources to cover the shorter IMSA races. The Long Beach race certainly wasn't a classic. BMW's Dries Vanthoor stuck his car on pole for the third time in a row, led early on until a full course caution at pretty much the ideal time made the GTPs pit. Porsche's quicker work in the pits meant they came out on top, and led from there, through another full course caution. Felipe Nasr led home Matt Campbell for Porsche's second consecutive 1-2 and Nasr and teammate Nick Tandy's third win on the bounce. Done. But, how much quicker were Porsche? And could — should — BMW have won this? ![Race start at Long Beach, with the two BMWS leading the two Porsches.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/cobb-IMSA-LongBeach-120425-28745.jpg) BMW started well but couldn't maintain the lead later on. Image: BMW ## Small gaps We've looked at the average lap times for each car, over the course of the race. Porsche *were* quickest. But only by less than two tenths a lap compared to their nearest competition, the BMWs. In the first stint, laps 1-16 before the full course caution, D. Vanthoor led from his teammate Sheldon van der Linde and Tandy in the #7 Porsche. Tandy initially dropped back a bit from the two BMWs, but did begin to close that gap before the yellow came out. If you look at both top 20% average lap times, and the overall average for the stint, Tandy is almost three tenths slower in a traffic-free lap (the top 20% laps) but is a little closer in the overall average. Tandy presumably wasn't pushing here, biding his time and either waiting for a yellow or planning to jump the BMWs in the pits, either through undercutting or faster pitstop work. That yellow did eventually come. And by the time the race restarted, Porsche were ahead, 1-2. ## Subscribe to Only Endurance Nothing else, Only Endurance Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. If you look at the pit stop times, Porsche were five seconds quicker than the BMWs in the pits. When they were separated by under a second coming into the pits under yellow... yeah. It's obvious what will happen at exit. I don't understand why the #25 BMW, with Sheldon van der Linde in the car in the first stint, pitted later than everyone else (alongside Meyer Shank Acura's Tom Blomqvist, in the #60 car). It dropped them right back from second to 10th. ![#7 Porsche 963 on track at Long Beach](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/311851_4965x3310.webp) Both Porsches, led by the #7, jumped the BMWs in the pits. Image: Porsche ## Porsche consolidate a lead Looking at the second stint of the race, laps 22-40 between the two cautions, this was when Porsche consolidated the lead. By the end of the stint, the Brazilian had a four and a half second lead over his teammate Matt Campbell. The Aussie, meanwhile, had 1.75 seconds on Philipp Eng in the pole-sitting BMW behind. If you look at the averages, Nasr was quickest overall, but Campbell was actually slightly quicker in the traffic-free laps, early on in the stint after the restart. On the other hand, Eng was slightly quicker than Campbell in traffic but fell off in the top 20% times, by almost three tenths a lap on average. [Felipe Nasr on chances of winning endurance triple crownPorsche’s Brazilian star on the chances of completing an iconic motorsport accomplishment later this year.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-56.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/AA4I3188--2-.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/felipe-nasr-on-chances-of-winning-endurance-triple-crown/) Eng did manage to stay with the Porsches, or at least Campbell, in this period of the race though. If you flipped the script so Eng was at least in front of Campbell in second, would the Porsche driver have had the pace to overtake the BMW? Probably not. And with only a couple of tenths overall on Nasr, arguably Nasr may not have found a way by either. ![#24 BMW M Hybrid V8 on track at Long Beach](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/cobb-IMSA-LongBeach-120425-29659.webp) Vanthoor and Eng took third behind the Porsches at the flag. Image: BMW ## Porsche sweep to a 1-2 Our analysis found that, to make an overtake in the GTP class at Long Beach, you needed a positive time delta of around 0.329 on the car ahead. BMW never had this after the first caution period — Eng gradually dropped back from Tandy in the lead and Campbell in second. But, crucially, Porsche rarely had this in the first stint when they were behind. So, the question is: had they been able to stay ahead in the pits, would the German manufacturer have been able to keep Porsche behind? It's obviously impossible to say, but based on this data, it's certainly within the realms of feasibility. As it was, Nasr had the pace to keep both Campbell and Eng behind, and actually pulled out a gap of 12 seconds to Eng over the 30 laps which comprised the final stint. Finally: check out the [full race results](https://imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com/Results/25%5F2025/07%5FLong%20Beach%20Street%20Circuit/01%5FIMSA%20WeatherTech%20SportsCar%20Championship/202504121405%5FRace/03%5FResults%5FRace%5FProvisional.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), and see what [Porsche themselves had to say](https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/ppdb/2025/04/porsche-wins-both-classes-in-the-long-beach-street-race.html?ref=ontheapex.com). ![Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr holding their trophies and celebrating after winning the race at Long Beach..](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/311879_5492x3661.webp) That's three wins on the bounce for Tandy (left) and Nasr. Image: Porsche *Feature image: Porsche* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### What we know — and what we don't — about McLaren's Hypercar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/what-we-know-and-what-we-dont-about-mclarens-hypercar/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T12:49:19.000Z McLaren have *finally* announced their Hypercar programme. What a surprise, eh? With three new manufacturers joining WEC in two years, it's going to be a busy time for the series. Here's what we know, and what we don't, about the new programme. [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ## The details McLaren, of Formula 1 and Indycar fame (plus other series) will enter the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2027, with a Hypercar. > WE'RE BACK! 🤩[@FIAWEC](https://twitter.com/FIAWEC?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ontheapex.com), see you on track in 2027 🧡[#McLaren](https://twitter.com/hashtag/McLaren?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ontheapex.com) [pic.twitter.com/WimrCUHUV3](https://t.co/WimrCUHUV3?ref=ontheapex.com) > > — McLaren (@McLarenF1) [April 10, 2025](https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/1910249081835839815?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=ontheapex.com) We know they'll enter with a car that uses the LMDh ruleset. This is similar to the majority of other WEC Hypercar manufacturers — namely Cadillac, Porsche, Alpine, and BMW in the 2025 season. They'll be joined by Genesis 2026, and Ford in 2027. ### Chassis We don't officially know what the LMDh car's chassis spine will be. However, reports indicate that the British manufacturer has chosen Dallara as its partner, with the Italian motorsport company currently developing the car in conjunction with McLaren. This would make McLaren the third manufacturer to use Dallara's chassis as the basis for an LMDh car, joining Cadillac and BMW. Will the car look similar to these two? At this point, it's hard to say. As we noted in our Hyundai/Genesis announcement, LMDh cars that use the same chassis spine don't have to look the same. In fact, in that article, we used the example of Cadillac's Dallara-based V-Series.R, and BMW's M Hybrid V8, as an example. These do not look very similar at all, yet they are both underpinned by the same chassis. The McLaren, Cadillac and BMW don't appear to look too similar either, which is good, past the 'generic modern prototype sportscar' look. But we'll have to see what it actually looks like when it hits the track. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Medium-14237-McLarenSolusGT002.webp) Could the new McLaren Hypercar use the V10 from the Solus GT? Image: McLaren ### Engine McLaren's choice of engine appears to come down to three different options. It could use the V8 from its successful GT3 car, the 720S Evo, which also competes in WEC. It could also use the Judd V10 from the Solus GT road-going hypercar. Or it could use the V6 twin-turbo engine from the Artura. The V8 or V6 seem the most likely from a fit point of view. For what it's worth, BMW use a twin turbo charged V8, while Cadillac use a naturally aspirated V8 (that sound 🤤). But OE founder Tim thinks he hears a V10 engine in the 16-second teaser, so who knows... ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0718.webp) McLaren already race in WEC, in LMGT3\. Image: DPPI / WEC ### On track programme United Autosports, co-owned by McLaren CEO Zak Brown, runs McLaren's LMGT3 programme in WEC. It therefore isn't too much of a stretch to imagine the Yorkshire-based team running McLaren's Hypercar programme too. But, we simply don't know at this point. ### Drivers Once again, a bit ol' "we don't know". With so many manufacturers either in Hypercar already or entering in the next couple of years, finding drivers for a Hypercar programme is getting harder and harder. McLaren's driver development programme has a number of drivers in it, but they are all fairly young with no real sportscar or top flight series experience, with the exception of the Indycar team's Pato O'Ward. Could we see him in the sportscar, maybe as a one-off at Le Mans? Who knows at this point. The same for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from the F1 team. I do think, though — and this is just personal opinion — with other drivers being snapped up, that they'll have two drivers per car. That's the same as Aston Martin have done with the Valkyrie programme this year, and the model Porsche have used for both IMSA and WEC. Both then add a third driver for the longer rounds in each series. Will more manufacturers, existing and yet to join, pick up this model? It remains to be seen, but does come with considerable benefits. ### When will we know more? *Only Endurance* has heard on the grapevine that more details are expected to be released at Le Mans, via a press conference the day before the race. We'll be there in force so will get as much info as we can to share with you. Exciting times for WEC! [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Felipe Nasr on chances of winning endurance triple crown URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/felipe-nasr-on-chances-of-winning-endurance-triple-crown/ Last updated: 2025-04-11T17:30:08.000Z [SPONSORED BY the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Download The Racing Line on iOS today and get 70% off a year's subscription! [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) Felipe Nasr is one of three Porsche drivers who's won the opening two races of the IMSA Sportscar Championship this year, alongside Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor. He's an incredibly accomplished sportscar driver, with three wins apiece at Daytona and Sebring, including two this year. He's also won three IMSA championships, and won Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta too. But the one race win he hasn't added to his CV so far is Le Mans, unarguably the biggest race on the endurance racing calendar. It's the quintessential 24 hour race, popularising the format after it debuted in 1923 and creating the base for endurance racing right up to the present day. ## Endurance triple crown - in a single year? Any racing driver wants to add Le Mans to their CV, and Nasr is no different. But this year is particularly different for the Brazilian, and his IMSA teammates Tandy and L. Vanthoor. That's because they have the chance to do something no other driver has ever done: win Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans in a single year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/7-14.webp) The #7 Porsche 963 of Tandy, Nasr and L. Vanthoor at Daytona. Image: Kevin Dejewski 13 drivers have won the so-called 'Triple crown of endurance racing', that being Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans. To win the unofficial title, you can win the races in any year; Tandy became the latest driver to add his name to the list when he won Sebring last month. But, no one has won all three in a single year. That means the three could add their names to the history books and become true legends. If they can do it, it's very unlikely to be repeated again any time soon, making them unique in the world of racing, at least for a while. In addition, Nasr could become the first South American to win the triple crown, and additionally the first Brazilian to win Le Mans. So there's lots at stake, especially for the 32-year-old. Finally, all three drivers can't achieve this momentous achievement this year. While Tandy and Nasr will be in the third Porsche at Le Mans, L. Vanthoor will be in the full-time #6 machine alongside Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet. Tandy and Nasr will have Formula E world champion Pascal Wehrlein alongside them. ## 'Beating and learning from the best' says Nasr In a recent IMSA media call, I asked Nasr about the chances of winning the triple crown, as well as his thoughts on Le Mans this year. 'Well, I told Laurens \[Vanthoor\] several times—if he's still thinking to drive against us... I think that made him think,' he began, as he answered the question from *Only Endurance.* 'But, I think that's the great part when you're with great drivers and against great drivers: you want to beat the best. You want to learn from the best, and you want to go fight against the best ones.' Porsche's eight Hypercar/GTP drivers are, undoubtedly some of the best sportscar drivers in the world. Tandy is the only driver to have won the 'Big Six' endurance races: Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans, Petit Le Mans, Spa 24H, and Nurburgring 24H. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/FW6I0052.webp) The #7 963 took a second win on the trot at Sebring. Image: Jacob Saddler Then you have L. Vanthoor, who only needs to add Le Mans to his resumé to join Tandy as the second driver to accomplish that feat. Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet are also incredibly accomplished sportscar drivers, while Michael Christensen, Julien Andlauer, and Matt Campbell are on the same level as well. Alongside his sportscar success, Nasr also has F1 experience to his name, with two years spent in F1 in the mid 2010s.. He then spent a year out of racing before making his debut in IMSA with Action Express Racing and Cadillac. He switched to Porsche for 2023, for the commencement of the 963 LMDh programme. [SPONSORED by THE RACING LINE](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Banner-Ad-1-1.png) ## Nasr's aim: win Le Mans (obviously) 'For sure, when we go to Le Mans, you have several top-level drivers and teams, but the aim remains: we want to go out there and win,' the sportscar star continued. 'We want to win the race. For sure, on a personal level, it's a race I haven't won yet. It's no different—I will do everything I can to be fighting for an overall victory there as well.' That said, though, the Brazilian isn't really focusing on Le Mans just yet. 'Well, I like to think one race at a time,' he said to reporters on the call. 'That's how I've been approaching all my career. I try to dedicate the maximum I can at each event, and that's exactly what we're doing. We've got Long Beach, Laguna, a couple of tests in between, and then we'll start thinking about Le Mans.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Qatar_JT2025024770.webp) Porsche's 963 has been very successful in its three years in sportscar racing. Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap As a brand and a manufacturer, Porsche are obviously keen to win the race this year. The 963 has accomplished almost everything it set out to do when it made its debut in 2023, winning races in IMSA and WEC and the drivers' world championship for Estre, L. Vanthoor, and their former teammate, veteran Andre Lotterer. But, it hasn't won Le Mans yet. Can a sportscar — and indeed, a sportscar driver — be considered truly great if they haven't won Le Mans? Maybe, maybe not. But as Nasr says, he is racing with, and beating, the best in the business at Porsche, and he has probably the best chance of his career to add the 24 hour classic to his list of wins. Roll on June! *Feature image: Jacob Saddler* [SPONSORED by the racing line](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) **This post is brought to you by* [**The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)**, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [**Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Williams GC and Only Endurance launch iRacing event URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/williams-gc-and-only-endurance-launch-iracing-event/ Last updated: 2025-04-08T14:39:40.000Z Only Endurance is proud of confirm a collaboration event with Williams Gaming Club that will see the two communities combine for a 3 Hour race at Spa Francorchamps. Using the Endurance pits (to fit more cars!) the three hour event will be hosted on the Satruday 26th April, and will be broadcast live on the Williams Sim Racing twitch [channel](https://www.twitch.tv/williamssimracing?ref=ontheapex.com). The expanding 'LMH/Dh' and GT3 classes will be in action, mirroring the WEC event that will take place there just a few days after. Teams of 2-8 drivers will share duties with full live stewarding to keep things under control. ***Interested in racing? Enter your team*** [***here***](https://www.thesimgrid.com/championships/14177?s=MA40qlTR&ref=ontheapex.com)***!*** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Spa-Markus-Jutz-1-1.png) And if it's any added incentive to get signed up, OE Founder Tim Fullbrook will be taking part! Keep your eyes peeled for the OE Ford Mustang on track. Tim Fullbrook: 'I'm really excited to be working with Williams Gaming Club to be bringing this event to life. I've wanted to host a bigger event with the Only Endurance Community for some time, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the two groups of motorsport and sim-racing fans come together for some flat-out action.' ***Full Details:*** - Track: Spa Francorchamps (Endurance Layout) - Cars: IMSA Cars: BMW M Hybrid V8, Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Acura ARX-06 GTP, Porsche 963 GTP, Ferrari 499P, BMW M4 GT3, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), Ferrari 296 GT3, Audi R8 LMS EVO II GT3, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Ford Mustang GT3, McLaren 720s GT3 EVO, Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22 - Set ups: Open - Start type: Rolling Start - Fast Repair: 1 - Team size: Min 2, Max 8 - Weather: Forecasted (Closest to event date) (No rain) - Sim Time of day & Date: Closest to real-life date & Race start time - Fastest lap: 1 Point - Point System: IMSA scoring - Leave Marbles on Track: On - Incident Limit: First Penalty: 25x, after every 8x - Practice, Qualifying & Race: Starting track state: Generate & Carry over (50%) ### Event Timing: - 18:00 PM (UK) -> 1hr practice - 18:45 PM (UK) -> Drivers briefing then rest of practice - 19:00 PM (UK) -> (10 minute) 3 lap solo qualifying - 19:10 PM (UK) -> (3 hour) Race start [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### WEC's 'Full Access' series from Qatar now on YouTube URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wecs-full-access-series-from-qatar-now-on-youtube/ Last updated: 2025-04-08T14:23:48.000Z *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* SPONSORED [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) [Check it out ](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) The FIA World Endurance Championship's Full Access programme, chronicling the behind the scenes of February's season-opening Qatar 1812KM, is now on YouTube. Ferrari's win, the Cadillac mid-race disaster crash between Jenson Button and Alex Lynn, the TF Sport Corvette win... it's all in there. [WATCH: Ferrari’s behind the scenes video on Qatar hat-trickSee behind the scenes footage detailing how Ferrari took a 1-2-3 at the WEC season opener in Qatar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-54.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0668.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/watch-ferrari-499p-behind-the-scenes-video-qatar-hypercar-hat-trick/) It's almost 45 minutes long, and is the perfect thing to get you back in the mood to watch world championship sportscars before the series returns next weekend at Imola. It spent the weekend exclusively available on WEC TV, but it's now on YouTube for everyone to enjoy. Check it out below! [WEC issue apology after Qatar 1812KM app failuresThe championship has awarded discounts to viewers in response to global broadcasting issues.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-55.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0653.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-issue-apology-after-qatar-1812km-app-failures/) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Audi selling classic LMP cars URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/audi-selling-classic-lmp-cars/ Last updated: 2025-04-02T15:14:22.000Z Audi have announced they will be selling their factory LMP prototypes in driveable condition for the first time. The newly created 'Audi Sport racing legends' will offer their cars to exclusive customers with support to run the cars at events. The first car will be exchanged in the middle of this year, to an unnamed collector. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/A250358_large-1.jpg) The #2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro that could be yours... Image: Audi Potential customers got their first look at the first available cars on Wednesday, at Audi's Neuburg an der Donau centre. No doubt the star attraction was chassis 207 of the LMP1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, driven by Romain Dumas, Loïc Duval and Marc Gené to victory at the FIA World Endurance Championship's 6h Spa in 2012\. The presentation marks the start of the sales phase for these rarities, with the project group presenting to a select audience three more times this year, at the Jim Clark Revival in Hockenheim, the Le Mans Classic, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) “We are rebuilding these chassis together with reconditioned parts from that time into racing cars according to strict standards and with a high level of expertise,” says Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/04/A1612941_large-1.jpg) “In some cases, even the developers from that era are involved in the current projects. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro is one of the fastest racing cars we have ever built. Our customers become part of a select circle, benefit from our motorsport expertise and receive comprehensive support.” Customers will receive a comprehensive support package from Audi: regular technical inspections, the offer of repairs, but also a spare parts service and expert advice from former developers. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Exclusive: Le Mans to run on Bugatti Circuit from 2026 (update: April Fools!) URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/exclusive-le-mans-run-bugatti-circuit-from-2026/ Last updated: 2025-04-08T10:54:19.000Z *Update: This was, of course, an April Fools joke. Hope it gave you a chuckle!* *Now to think of next year's...* *Only Endurance* has learned that the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be run on the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit from 2026 onwards. This marks a major shift from running on the Circuit de la Sarthe, the 8.5 mile, 13.626km track, mostly made up of public roads. The race has been run on the longer circuit since 1923, but this will cease from 2026 onwards. The reason for this, we have learned, is due to some local opposition to the race. While many locals in the Le Mans region and the larger French department of Sarthe are happy to have roads closed for a week in June, there are some who are not. But, running on the Bugatti Circuit alleviates these concerns. It's a purpose-built race track that uses the main straight, pits, and Dunlop Chicane from the regular track, before diverting off at drivers' right during the Forest Esses. The circuit then rejoins the regular track at the Ford Chicanes. The ACO has had unfortunately had to bow to the pressure from the disgruntled locals. But, the good news is, the race will still run, with a full 24 hours of action. More details, *Only Endurance* believes, will be released at the annual ACO press conference in June, in the week preceding this year's race — the last, at least for the foreseeable future, on the Circuit de la Sarthe. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### WEC issue apology after Qatar 1812KM app failures URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-issue-apology-after-qatar-1812km-app-failures/ Last updated: 2025-03-27T15:23:49.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) The WEC has published an apology and issued discounts to customers after the FIAWEC.TV app suffered significant problems during the Qatar 1812KM. The paid-for broadcast, which is available globally via the championship's app, had significant outages during the opening round of the season. In a [statement shared on social media on Friday](https://x.com/FIAWEC/status/1903101062115959251/photo/1?ref=ontheapex.com), the championship apologised for the 'inconvenience and disappointment', but did not provide any explanation into the heavily interrupted coverage. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0331.jpg) Thursday's knock-out LMGT3 qualifying session was almost entirely missed on the broadcast, with a large swathe of the pole position-deciding Hyperpole segment for the class also disrupted. However the problems would not stop there as fans around the world would be unable to view the start, and almost the entire first hour of the race. In response, the series is has made the 6H Imola free to fans who bought the Qatar single-race package, in addition to providing a 15% discount for season pack customers on the same option in 2026\. Alternatively, a friend can use the discount code for subscribing for a season pass this year. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### For Sale: The only minivan to race in the Spa 24 Hours URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/for-sale-the-only-minivan-to-race-in-the-spa-24-hours-2/ Last updated: 2025-03-27T14:11:18.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-2-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) **The Peugeot 806 Procar that raced in the 1995 Spa 24 Hours is up for sale, currently listed for** [**€57,500 on Racecarsdirect.com.**](https://www.racecarsdirect.com/Advert/Details/152815/peugeot-806-procar-1995?ref=ontheapex.com) The Spa 24 Hours might be the annual GT3 festival, but it wasn't until 2001 that the legendary Ardennes enduro welcomed GT cars. Prior to that it was a touring car event, and even welcomed some incredible oddballs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/927375-1.jpg) The Kronos Racing-prepared 806 that took on Spa. Image: Racecarsdirect.com In just two months, a standard Peugeot 806 family van was converted by Belgian rally nuts Kronos Racing into a fully-fledged endurance racing machine. Starting with a body and chassis sourced from Peugeot’s factory in Hauts-de-France, the 806 underwent an impressive upgrade plan, including the transplant of the 2.0L, 4-cylinder engine from the Group A 306 Maxi rally car and racing suspension and other parts from the 405 Mi16 and 406 Supertourisme touring cars. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/927391-1.jpg) The typical comforts of a minivan were gone, except the dash. Image: Racecarsdirect.com But the incredible story doesn't stop there. The 806 went on to qualify 12th, yes P12, overall for the 1995 Spa 24 Hours, and third in the Procar category – unsurprisingly upsetting some of the other teams who entered more 'racetrack familiar' Astras, Civics and M3s. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-03-26-at-22.45.08.png) The 806 was impossible to miss in a field of hardcore Touring Cars. Image: Eurosport Understandably the car (van) was a fan favourite, with driver Pascal Witmeur recalling 'Every time we went through Raidillon, people applauded. 'The public loved it because, apart from being unusual, it often ended up on two wheels.' However the 806 would not see the checkered flag, retiring after 10 hours, but its impact on the Spa 24 Hours was secured. This truly is a one-of-a-kind racecar. Check out the ad for the sale details! [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### ANALYSIS: Looking at why Porsche chose Wehrlein for Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-why-porsche-chose-wehrlein-le-mans-da-costa-muller/ Last updated: 2025-03-26T18:51:22.000Z As announced yesterday, Pascal Wehrlein will drive the #4 Porsche 963 alongside Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr at Le Mans. [Wehrlein joins Tandy, Nasr for Porsche assault on Le MansThe German Formula E world champion will attempt to help his teammates complete a historic first.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-50.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/310059_5040x3360.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wehrlein-joins-tandy-nasr-porsche-le-mans/) This is obviously a 'promotion' for the German — he says it's a 'dream come true' and he is 'extremely grateful' for the opportunity. On Porsche's side, they chose him because 'Pascal Wehrlein has fully convinced us with his performance in testing and his participation in the 24 Hours of Daytona. As the reigning Formula E World Champion, he has earned his Le Mans debut at the wheel of a Porsche 963.' Wehrlein's rivals for this were Nico Müller — who will act as Porsche Penske Motorsport's reserve driver for Le Mans — and António Félix da Costa, who will race an as-yet unspecified LMP2. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Comparing Müller and Wehrlein It's quite tricky to directly compare these three drivers. They've never driven the same car in the same (endurance/sportscar) race — in fact, they've never even driven in the same class in the same race. But what we can do is compare Wehrlein and Müller's performances at Daytona and Sebring, where they both raced customer Porsches. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/85-08.jpg) Wehrlein made his sportscar and endurance racing debut at Daytona. Image: Kevin Dejewski ### Wehrlein at Daytona Wehrlein made his endurance and sportscar debut at Daytona this year, driving the #85 JDC Miller customer Porsche alongside Gianmaria Bruni, Tijmen van der Helm, and Bryce Aron. He's an experienced driver with considerable knowledge and ability — his two years in F1, racing for Manor and Sauber attest to that. And he's won the Formula E world championship, which can be tricky to win due to the closeness of the competition. So, he's no slouch. That said, he's an endurance racing rookie and will have one race under his belt before Le Mans, unless he's parachuted into a customer Porsche in either WEC or IMSA before then to gain extra experience. But, as you'd expect from a platinum-rated driver, he was decently on the pace. in the window along with the other drivers in the JDC Miller car and from Porsche's other customer, Proton. Lap times don't tell the whole story, though — it's important to look at percentage difference. As you can see from the graph, Matt Campbell was, on average with this metric, the fastest Porsche driver. Wehrlein was 1.11% off him on average, or 0.55% off Bruni, the fastest driver among the eight drivers in the JDC Miller or Proton cars. In terms of time in the car, Wehrlein did 204 laps over the race — just over 26% of the total distance covered by the JDC Miller car, 777 laps. Bruni did the most, 234 laps, while Aron 142 and van der Helm 196\. This equates to eight stints, with 34 laps done under caution for Wehrlein - 16.6% of his total. [The motorsport film which spawned Drive to SurviveA documentary about Audi’s win at Le Mans in 2008 was at least partially responsible for the slew of motorsport media that came after.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-53.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/A152984_large.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/motorsport-film-drive-to-survive-truth-in-24-audi-le-mans-2008/) ### Müller at Sebring Müller took the seat for Sebring, alongside full-time drivers Bruni and van der Helm. Müller comes with more sportscar experience than Wehrlein. He raced for Peugeot in the FIA World Endurance Championship for two years, and before that raced in the LMP2 category in 2022\. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I0157.webp) Mueller did 109 laps onboard the #85 Porsche 963 for JDC Miller Motorsports. Image: Jacob Saddler Previous to that he did nine years in DTM, finishing second in the championship twice, in 2019 and 2020\. For context Wehrlein raced in DTM as well, winning the championship on his third attempt in 2015. So, Müller is also no slouch, and has more quite a lot sportscar experience than Wehrlein. That said, Müller also only raced the 963 once, this year at Sebring, amid his full season focus on Formula E (the same as Wehrlein). So, how did he do at the old airfield? Well, in general, very respectively. He beat Bruni in our average metric to be the fastest of the Porsche customer team drivers, nine hundredths faster than the sportscar veteran. He also beat Neel Jani, Le Mans winner and world endurance champion in 2016. Percentage wise, he was 0.54% on average slower than Nick Tandy, who won the race. He was 0.09% faster than Bruni, and 0.23% faster than van der Helm — who Wehrlein was slightly slower than at Daytona. Lap count wise, Müller did 109 laps out of the 352 completed by JDC Miller. That's 30.9% of the race. Bruni did 134 laps, while van der Helm did 108\. Müller did 11 laps under yellow - just over 10% of his total. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Comparing Müller and Da Costa Unfortunately we cannot directly compare Wehrlein with Müller and António Félix Da Costa because Wehrlein was an endurance racing debutant at Daytona. But we can compare Müller and Da Costa, as they both raced an Oreca LMP2 at Le Mans in 2022, before Müller switched to racing the Peugeot 9X8 at the team's debut the following race, at Monza. Da Costa won the race in LMP2, finishing fifth overall driving the #38 JOTA Sport Oreca. Müller was in the #10 Vector Sport Oreca, finishing 22nd in class, 27th overall. But we're not bothered about lap times. What we are bothered about is performance. Using the same metric – top 20% lap times from each driver, averaged out to a single value — we can see that Nyck de Vries was the quickest LMP2 driver that year. Da Costa was 0.13% off de Vries on average, or 0.277\. Müller was slightly slower, 0.34% off de Vries (0.21% off da Costa), or 0.728 (0.451 off da Costa). And in terms of lap counts, they were all very similar: De Vries did 135, Da Costa on 130, and Müller on 131. [Jordan Taylor: ‘So many unknowns’ at Le Mans for WTRWayne Taylor Racing will fulfil a long-held ambition in 2025: racing at Le Mans. But it’s a big undertaking for the team, as J. Taylor explains.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-52.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FW6I9618.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jordan-taylor-so-many-unknowns-at-le-mans-for-wtr/) ## Conclusions When you look at the above, Da Costa is, in purely numerical terms, faster. If we play driver maths based on the data above and nothing else, Da Costa was faster than Müller at Le Mans in 2022, while Müller was faster than Wehrlein compared across races in 2025. Obviously this is meaningless. As all three have driven Porsche machinery in the past, either in Formula E or in sportscars, the German manufacturer will have a lot more data to play with. One note: we didn't look at Da Costa's year at JOTA in a customer 963, because the car has been upgraded and amended since, and WEC BoP is very different from IMSA's, making basic comparison pointless. My basic inclination here is Porsche believe Wehrlein has a higher ceiling potential than Müller and Da Costa. Yes the German was slower compared to other Porsche drivers at Daytona when you compare his performance against Müller's at Sebring. But Porsche say he 'convinced' them in his performance at Daytona.. so that's that. [GALLERY: WEC’s curtain-raising Qatar 1812KMThe first round of the 2025 FIA WEC season, through the lens of Harry Parvin![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-51.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/037_20250222_WEC_00_QATAR_AF_HP.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-wecs-curtain-raising-qatar-1812km/) The other thing in play is internal politics. Rumours in the Formula E paddock say Da Costa will be departing the Porsche stable at the end of the current season, with Müller partnering Wehrlein there next year. If Da Costa is to depart Porsche's sportscar programme too, it would explain why he's 'only' in LMP2 this year for Le Mans. Finally, a note on Sebastian Vettel. The German tested with Porsche last year and was seemingly in play for a race seat at Le Mans in 2024\. But it never happened. Porsche haven't *completely* ruled out the chances of it happening in the future, but it's probably better not to get hopes up too high, lest it doesn't happen. Which it probably won't. So, tl;dr: Wehrlein did well at Daytona in his first ever sportscar race, and almost certainly has room to improve, which is probably why he was chosen to race for the factory team at Le Mans over Da Costa or Müller. *Feature image: DPPI/WEC* *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Wehrlein joins Tandy, Nasr for Porsche assault on Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wehrlein-joins-tandy-nasr-porsche-le-mans/ Last updated: 2025-03-25T13:26:13.000Z Pascal Wehrlein will join Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy for Le Mans this year in the third Porsche, the #4 car — and he could help the two complete an endurance racing first. Porsche's reigning Formula E champion raced the JDC Miller Motorsports customer Porsche at Daytona and impressed with his pace. He's now been 'promoted' to a factory seat for Le Mans, as well as continuing his Formula E campaign. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Wehrlein's 'dream come true' This year, then, will mark Wehrlein's Le Mans debut, in a Porsche. What could be better? 'Competing for Porsche Penske Motorsport at Le Mans is a dream come true for me,' said the Formula E world champion. 'I'm looking forward to this major challenge because, unlike in Formula E, I have to share everything in the Porsche 963 that I would normally tailor specifically to myself: seating position, setup, strategy, and more.' 'Of course, I want to add major titles in other series to my Formula E World Championship victory, but my primary goal is to do a strong job for the team and learn as much as possible. Porsche has such an iconic motorsport heritage; I am extremely grateful for this opportunity.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/85-06.webp) Wehrlein raced a 963 for the first time at Daytona this year. Image: Kevin Dejewski ## First ever single year triple crown winners? Looking at the wider implications of this, it seals in the ability for three drivers to achieve a historic first. Tandy and Nasr won at Daytona and Sebring, alongside Laurens Vanthoor, the biggest two races in the IMSA Sportscar Championship calendar. All three now have a unique opportunity to win Le Mans in the same year — something that's never been achieved before. Ken Miles came close in 1966 but lost Le Mans by 20 metres, due to Ford's oversight of the rules (or political meddling — whichever version of the story you choose to believe). However, all three of them cannot achieve this historic first. Whereas Tandy and Nasr are full-time IMSA drivers and only race in the FIA World Endurance Championship each year at Le Mans, L. Vanthoor is a full-time WEC driver, and only competes in the longer Endurance Cup events at Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I3188--1-.webp) Tandy, Nasr and L. Vanthoor won at Daytona and, pictured, Sebring. Image: Jacob Saddler The Belgian will continue with Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet in the full-time #6 car at Le Mans, which means he'll be against Tandy and Nasr to achieve this historic first. It's hard to say who has the 'better' opportunity to do this, out of Tandy/Nasr and L. Vanthoor. The latter has an upper hand in that he's a full-time WEC driver for Porsche Penske, so is familiar with the series and team that runs the car in Europe. But, Tandy and Nasr are hugely competent drivers — wins and championships that outnumber the vast majority of their competitors — so getting up to speed won't be hard for them in June. And, they'll have a former F1 driver and FIA world champion in the car during the race. On the other hand, L. Vanthoor will have Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet, again two hugely competent race drivers. It's a toss up, and will be a fascinating battle to watch. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002330_0188.webp) The #4 car has been Porsche's 'third' car at Le Mans for the past two years. Image: DPPI / WEC ## Da Costa in LMP2 The other piece of news here is that António Félix da Costa will return to LMP2 for his seventh assault on Le Mans. He missed 2024 – the first Le Mans he's missed since 2018 — due to Porsche wanting him to focus on Formula E. It's not yet clear what team he'll be racing for — Porsche say he'll race an Oreca prototype but given the French manufacturer's dominance in LMP2, this doesn't give much away. 'I am very happy to be back at Le Mans after one year absence,' said the 33-year-old. 'In my last LMP2 appearance, I won the class. That’s my goal again this year. I can’t wait to attack alongside my teammates in June.' ## Wehrlein 'convinced' Porsche Meanwhile, Porsche's motorsport chief says Wehrlein has convinced them of his speed and ability, enough for them to give him a chance in a factory car at the biggest race of Porsche's year. 'The Porsche driver roster is absolutely top-tier and incredibly deep. It only makes sense to leverage our strong personnel from the Formula E factory team for the third Porsche Penske Motorsport entry at Le Mans," said Thomas Laudenbach, Porsche's motorsport vice president. "Pascal Wehrlein has fully convinced us with his performance in testing and his participation in the 24 Hours of Daytona. As the reigning Formula E World Champion, he has earned his Le Mans debut at the wheel of a Porsche 963\. 'António Félix da Costa, making his seventh start in France, will undoubtedly be among the fastest LMP2 drivers once again.' *Feature image: Porsche* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Jordan Taylor: 'So many unknowns' at Le Mans for WTR URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/jordan-taylor-so-many-unknowns-at-le-mans-for-wtr/ Last updated: 2025-03-24T11:53:13.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) There are a lot of unknowns and new things for the Wayne Taylor Racing team to get their heads around before competing for the first time at Le Mans, said Jordan Taylor. 'I think there's just so many unknowns for a team going there,' said Taylor, one of the drivers in the IMSA full-time #40 WTR Cadillac V-Series.R, and one of three drivers who will be racing for the team at Le Mans, alongside brother Ricky and team regular Filipe Albuquerque. 'Our technical director, Brian Pillar, went there with Ricky \[Taylor, Jordan's brother\] a couple years ago to support Ricky and spent the whole race with the team to kind of get a head start and understanding. The older Taylor brother last raced at Le Mans in 2022, driving for COOL Racing alongside Yifei Ye and Niklas Krütten. The trio finished seventh in LMP2, in their Oreca 07-Gibson. And J. Taylor, the younger of the two brothers, has raced at Le Mans nine times in total, eight of them with Corvette Racing, from 2012 to 2022\. He won the race in the GTE Pro class in 2022, and has finished second in the same class three further times. Neither of them, or for that matter Albuquerque, has ever raced in the top class, though. And Wayne Taylor Racing has never raced at Le Mans, period. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/54390680885_f3c2b9dcb8.webp) WTR will bring over one of their Cadillacs for the French endurance classic. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing 'A lot of the crew guys and engineers have had some level of experience, but there's just so many new things. It’s a completely new rulebook. 'You're dealing with a whole different group of people, a small language barrier. I think just understanding all the different rules. We don't have slow zones in America, all those little things. 'I think the good thing is we do have some time to prepare. Obviously, you'd always want some more, but I think everyone knows how big the challenge is and how big the undertaking is. WTR will be going up against new competition in the Hypercar class at Le Mans, including the Ferrari 499P, which has won the endurance classic for the past two years, and the Toyota team with the GR010, the world manufacturers/teams' champions for the past six seasons. Plus, the team will have new competition in the Cadillac camp, in the form of Cadillac Team JOTA, the General Motors factory team in WEC. JOTA themselves are race winners, albeit not with Cadillac, having won the 6 Hours of Spa in 2024 when they were a Porsche customer team. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I2588.webp) J. Taylor races the #40 WTR Cadillac full-time in IMSA alongside Louis Deletraz. Image: Jacob Saddler 'They're already doing their due diligence contacting people that have done the event before to kind of get some more insight,' said J. Taylor. 'I've even been reaching out to some of the Garage 56 group to kind of get some help from them either from a logistics point of view or who they used, all little things like that. I think everyone's all hands on deck.' J. Taylor was part of the Hendrick Motorsports team who raced the invitational NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Le Mans in 2023, acting as the reserve driver for the race. Wayne Taylor Racing certainly has its work cut out for the race in France. An old anecdotal phrase, from the 60s when Ford started racing at Le Mans, 'It takes three years to win Le Mans' might be relevant for the Cadillac squad this year. Many will be keeping a close eye on them amidst the 21-strong Hypercar field for the French endurance classic. *Feature image: Jacob Saddler* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: WEC's curtain-raising Qatar 1812KM URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-wecs-curtain-raising-qatar-1812km/ Last updated: 2025-03-22T14:21:46.000Z For the second year, Qatar's Lusail International Circuit plays host to the opening round of the WEC schedule – and despite it being a typical, modern day venue, it provided an intriguing contest. Trackside was [photographer Harry Parvin](https://www.instagram.com/harryparvin/?ref=ontheapex.com), who worked directly for the championship for a number of years and now finds himself supplying his imagery to drivers from Ferrari, Corvette and beyond. Exclusively for OE, Harry has shared his favourite shots from the event for us to enjoy, here's what he had to say about shooting the Qatar 1812KM. *"Back in Qatar for the second time, which always helps refine what you want to shoot. There was a real mix of light across the Prologue and race week, but it made for some great variety. This circuit really comes alive at night—unlike many tracks that fade into darkness (Spa, cough cough), Qatar is brilliantly lit, making night sessions a dream to shoot.* *"While it’s not my favourite circuit for photos, it’s a diverse place. The mix of modern architecture, skyscrapers, and bold run-off areas offers plenty of variety. The paddock is sleek and well-designed, making it a great spot for portraits.* *"We finally got one proper sunset this time. Last year, haze ruined the golden light, but this time, it all came together.* *"The highlight? Seeing all my clients on the podium. Dani Juncadella and his TF Sport teammates taking their first win was special—nothing beats the energy of a race victory.* *"Next up: multiple team launches at ELMS Barcelona. Can’t wait."* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/050_20250224_WEC_01_QATAR_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/085_20250226_WEC_01_QATAR_TB_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/006_20250221_WEC_00_QATAR_AF_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/006_20250224_WEC_01_QATAR_AF_HP-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/081_20250228_WEC_01_QATAR_AG_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/093_20250228_WEC_01_QATAR_JC_HP.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/053_20250226_WEC_01_QATAR_JC_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/084_20250228_WEC_01_QATAR_AG_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/225_20250221_WEC_00_QATAR_TF_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/009_20250221_WEC_00_QATAR_AF_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/226_20250222_WEC_00_QATAR_TF_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/020_20250221_WEC_00_QATAR_JC_HP-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/006_20250224_WEC_01_QATAR_AF_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/632_20250301_WEC_01_QATAR_TF_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_Best_off_02_08.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/014_20250221_WEC_00_QATAR_TB_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/041_20250220_WEC_00_QATAR_TF_HP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/055_20250227_WEC_01_QATAR_JC_HP.jpg) All images courtesy of [Harry Parvin](https://www.instagram.com/harryparvin/?ref=ontheapex.com) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### WATCH: Ferrari's behind the scenes video on Qatar hat-trick URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/watch-ferrari-499p-behind-the-scenes-video-qatar-hypercar-hat-trick/ Last updated: 2025-03-21T11:56:22.000Z Ferrari scored its first ever FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar 'hat-trick' last month in Qatar, taking the top three positions on the podium. It's quite an achievement, and to mark the occasion Ferrari have released the newest episode of their behind the scenes video series on the team's weekend at Qatar. Check it out to see how the Italian manufacturer was undefeated in the race, and took all three positions on the podium, with the #50 car of Nicklas Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco, and Miguel Molina taking the victory. They also took fastest lap, a 1:38.359 set by Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 car, which finished third. Giovinazzi also took pole position for Ferrari, marking a momentous winning weekend for Ferrari. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### The two Mustangs taking on the Nordschleife in 2025 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/the-two-mustangs-taking-on-the-nordschleife-in-2025/ Last updated: 2025-03-19T18:09:33.000Z **Haupt Racing Team are set to run the Ford Mustang GT3 at the Nürburgring in 2025, marking a first for the American model in the modern SP9 era.** The team, based opposite the Döttinger-Hohe straight, will run a pair of Mustangs in the full 10-race Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) and at June's Nürburgring 24 Hours. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/466150515_1198742931908188_266151457086972439_n-1.jpg) HRT Ford testing at the Nordschleife in late 2024\. Image: HRT Both cars will run in the SP9-PRO class, which is the NLS' premier category. On Wednesday morning, the team confirmed the driver crews across the two cars, as well as fetching blue and yellow liveries. The blue #2 Mustang is headlined by three-time 24h Nürburgring winner Frank Stippler, who moves over from Audi machinery to the HRT Ford, and features Ford Performance factory driver Dennis Olsen who has raced the Mustang in every event it has been entered in since its debut. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/id-2025-03-19_nls_preview_03.jpg) Image: Haupt Racing Team HRT retain the services of newly signed Ford Factory Driver Arjun Maini, who has raced for the team in multiple championships since 2022, and take on Nico Bastian who will tally his seventh 24H Nürburgring this year. On the other side of the garage, the yellow #6 car stars Ford factory talent in the form of Dirk Mueller, who was the first to test the Mustang GT3 on the Nordschleife in November last year, and new factory representatives Jusuf Owega (who could forget *that* [moment in 2024](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7r7SPLNurQ/?ref=ontheapex.com)) and David Schumacher, with HRT regular Dennis Fetzer the fourth driver. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/id-2025-03-19_nls_preview_07.jpg) Image: Haupt Racing Team *The first round of the 2025 NLS season takes place this weekend, you can watch it* [*live and free on YouTube.*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LZc4j%5FmJ3M&ref=ontheapex.com) *Want to keep tabs on multiple championships?* [*Download The Racing Line App* ](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com)*to stay up to date with schedules and streams from around the racing world.* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Footer-Ad-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### The must-watch motorsport film which inspired Drive to Survive URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/motorsport-film-drive-to-survive-truth-in-24-audi-le-mans-2008/ Last updated: 2025-03-19T15:33:49.000Z These days, if you want to watch a motorsport film, documentary or TV series, you're not at a loss of what to watch. Drive to Survive is obviously the big one, but there's a plethora of other motorsport media to enjoy. 'Rush', the story of the 1976 F1 world championship battle between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, came out over 10 years ago and is still one of the best motorsport films. The 'F1' movie, with Brad Pitt playing an aged racing driver returning to F1, will be released this summer. And there's absolutely tons of documentaries to watch, from subjects ranging from F1, sportscars, Indycar, NASCAR, you name it. [GALLERY: The 2025 Sebring 12 HoursExclusive imagery from the second round of the IMSA season.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-48.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/AA4I0926--1-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-the-2025-sebring-12-hours/) But, why do we have such a choice? Well, I'll tell you: it's down to a single documentary, released in 2009. It was called [*Truth in 24*](https://www.nflfilms.com/work/truth-in-24?ref=ontheapex.com), and it focused on the story of Audi's win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008. Back in 2008, Audi were coming off the back of a very successful run at Le Mans, with seven wins in eight years. Most of these had been taken with the R8 — not the road car, but the 'original' R8, a sportscar prototype which itself revolutionised endurance racing in the early 2000s. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/A152999_large.jpg) Audi took sportscar racing by storm in the early 2000s, with the R8\. Image: Audi But in 2006 Audi introduced the R10, a new prototype with a headline feature: a diesel V10 engine. These days, diesel has gone out of fashion thanks to dieselgate,. but in the mid 2000s it was all the rage. A diesel-powered car had never won Le Mans, but Audi believed it was possible. And so it was, winning at the first attempt in 2006\. It won again in 2007, but 2008 was a different story: the R10 was now three years old and Peugeot, Audi's main competition at the time, had a new diesel prototype of their own, the 908 HDi FAP. *Truth in 24* is the story of how Audi beat Peugeot at Le Mans and made the R10 a legend. Anyway, back to the documentary. It was broadcast on ESPN in the United States, on March 20th (so almost 16 years ago, to the day), a day prior to that year's 12 Hours of Sebring. [Contemporary](https://www.autoblog.com/news/review-audi-and-nfl-films-find-i-truth-in-24-i?ref=ontheapex.com) [reviews](https://www.autoblog.com/news/catch-em-truth-in-24-em-this-friday-on-espn?ref=ontheapex.com) at the time heralded it as 'one of the best racing films of all time', according to Autoblog. It was later made available for free on iTunes after that year's race at Sebring. And now it's on YouTube for anyone to watch. A slew of motorsport documentaries, films and movies followed Truth in 24\. *Senna*, Asif Kapadia's documentary about three-time F1 world champion Ayrton Senna, followed in 2010\. *Rush* followed in 2013, as did other lower-profile creations such as *Journey to Le Mans*, JOTA Sport's documentary about racing at Le Mans in 2014\. The *Ford vs Ferrari* (also known as *Le Mans '66*) film hit screens in 2019, and the documentaries on the Williams and McLaren founders, Sir Frank Williams and Bruce McLaren, released in 2017. A *Truth in 24* sequel also followed in 2012, titled *Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts*, focusing on Audi at the 2011 edition of Le Mans. And, in 2019, Netflix's TV series on F1, *Drive to Survive*, released, which has been credited with the worldwide growth of F1 since. Later this year Brad Pitt's F1 film will be released in cinemas globally as well. Would all this have happened if it wasn't for *Truth in 24*? Maybe, maybe not — it's obviously impossible to say. Maybe Liberty Media would still have bought F1 and commissioned *Drive to Survive* regardless. But my own belief is *Truth in 24* played a big part in showcasing the phenomenal stories and narratives that take place in motorsport every single year, and made TV or film producers sit up and take notice of motorsport as a potential source for content. Personally, it nurtured my interest in endurance racing, and led me to where I am today. Both *Truth in 24* and its sequel are must-watches, not just for fans of endurance racing, but fans of motorsport in general. *Feature image: Audi* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Action Express: 'Unfortunate circumstances' ended Sebring win chances URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/action-express-unfortunate-circumstances-ended-imsa-sebring-win-chances/ Last updated: 2025-03-18T17:51:15.000Z Following Sebring, we wrote an article looking at Action Express Racing's final couple of hours, and the fact they had the pace to win, but being off-sequence compared to the Porsches stopped them challenging for the win. [SEBRING: Did Cadillac let the win slip through their fingers?Porsche won at Sebring, but Cadillac could have won if it weren’t for a strategy error.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-47.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FW6I9896-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-cadillac-win-slip-through-fingers-porsche-penske-tandy-imsa/) It turns out there was more than meets the eye to these final few hours, with the pitstop sequence issue not down to strategy. Action Express's race strategist, Peter Baron, got in touch to explain more. Here's what he told us: *'It was an interesting race for us in clean air. Our car was great. We were able to lead because of circumstances. We got passed by the #7 \[Porsche\] for the lead with around two hours to go or something like that. Then, immediately after that, like a couple of laps later, #6 \[Porsche\] showed a very impressive exit out of turn 7 that had us all scratching our heads and they got by us going into \[turn\] 10.* *'When our driver said he had a very good exit out of seven and doesn't know what happened. So then we fell back to third, right? Then we were on plan to just make it as a two stop race with two hours, 50 minutes to go in the race.* *'And then if you look at all the stints, the number of stints and fuel milage. We were consistently, I would say one second to the good on pit stop time compared to the Porsches with our fuel saving, our energy saving, and we were quite good with that, with our performance.* *'But then it was the next to last stop that we had an unscheduled pit stop, that forced us to pit four laps early than what we wanted to. Our intent was to run a full stint, but we had to pit four laps sooner.* *'That was by no means a strategy decision. So that happened. And then the following pit stop we had an extra 10 seconds added to our stop working on a repair. So we went from third to fourth with that one.* *'So then when the final yellow comes out, we're in fourth, the BMW's third. And when you look at Sebring last year, there was a late run with new tyres at the end of race that got Deletraz the win over the 01 \[Cadillac\] car.* *'So we figured for sure the first two Porsches are staying out, but most of it, there's going to be a mix with cars behind it, whether they come in for tyres or not.* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) *'And we just said, heck, the BMW is coming in. We'll just come in. We'll beat them. We knew we had a fuel advantage on them and anybody else that comes in, maybe it's a tyre fight to the end. You know, let's stick her up and hopefully we could salvage something to improve on our fourth place where we were at that time.* *'And it turns out there were a lot of lapped cars in there that we thought maybe they'd be fighting for position on the same lap and might come in anyway. And, you know, they all stayed out.* *'So we dropped back and had too many lapped cars to contend with.* *'But it was alright; we came into that last pit round fourth where we stopped for tyres and we finished fourth.* *'It was an unfortunate set of circumstances that caused us to go from contending to the lead. The Porsches are very good in the time that they need to be very good.* *'And our performance was very consistent. Their performance peaked, I would say in the last bit of the race, and it just left it as a tough one for us.'* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I0318.webp) Action Express led for a considerable portion of the race — but not when it mattered. Image: Jacob Saddler So, it wasn't a strategy error as we originally had thought, but an 'unspecified issue' as Baron put it. He declined to go into more detail on that, just saying it forced them to make an unscheduled stop, four laps earlier than they were planning to come in. Contrary to Jack Aitken's post-race statement that the team 'had to take a splash', Baron said they 'would have made it on fuel energy'. He added that it may have been 'a bit tight, so we added a very minor splash just to be safe. But we would not have pitted for that. Tyres were the reason.' Looking at the timing data in order to corroborate Baron's explanation, it does line up. Frederik Vesti pitted the #31 Cadillac on lap 262, under yellow, along with the two Porsches. The race went green again on lap 266 before another immediate yellow, going green again on lap 271. Vesti lead until lap 289, apart from a lap where Nick Tandy in the #7 Porsche passed him, then Vesti got the lap back. Tandy then passed him on lap 289. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/31-car-night.webp) Action Express didn't quite have the pace in the darkness. Image: Cadillac Vesti pitted on lap 293, while the Porsches pitted on lap 297\. This is the '4 laps earlier than scheduled' which Baron mentioned. At this point, Earl Bamber replaced Vesti, until the end of the race. Jaminet then passed Bamber on lap 300, demoting the Kiwi to third. The #25 BMW, which had had Marco Wittmann at the wheel, pitted on lap 316, with Robin Frijns replacing Wittmann. Bamber would pit six laps later, but got jumped by Frijns because, as Baron said, they needed to repair the car which set them back 10 seconds. This put Bamber in fourth, where he remained until the final caution period of the race. Bamber pitted at this point, along with Frijns, to take new tyres under the caution in an attempt to beat the Porsches, who were on an older, used set by this point. Bamber exited ahead of Frijns, but Neel Jani, in the #5 Proton Porsche had not pitted under caution, passing Bamber as a result for position. Some lapped cars, who hadn't stopped either, also got by, although not for position. In the end, as Baron relates, they weren't able to chase the Porsches down, finishing fourth having overtaken Jani with just over 10 minutes to go. So there you have it — the full story behind why the #31 Cadillac wasn't able to challenge for the win in the final hour of the race. Sorry to Action Express for accusing them of a strategy error. We hope this sets the record straight! *Feature image: Jacob Saddler* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: The 2025 Sebring 12 Hours URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-the-2025-sebring-12-hours/ Last updated: 2025-03-21T18:19:54.000Z Feast your eyes on some exclusive photography of the 73rd Sebring 12 Hours, courtesy of regular OE Photographer [Jacob Saddler.](https://www.instagram.com/jacobsaddphotos/?ref=ontheapex.com) The heat, the bumps, and the mayhem, all through the lens. Here's what Jacob had to say about shooting Sebring: *"Overall Sebring is one of my go to tracks as media. Every turn gives you something to look forward too from both the race and the fans.* *"I haven’t shot at Sebring for a little while, so going back you realise just how incredible an event it is. There is atmosphere everywhere, and it’s fun to try and capture that in an image.* *"It’s very fun to watch a private jet or classic aircraft take off from the airport with a GTP car coming straight at you and having the plane in the background. Sebring is by far one of the most enjoyable tracks to shoot for myself."* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I0668--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I9896--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I9968.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I9250.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I8537--3-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I7995.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I7960--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I2024.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I0828.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I9188.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I9489-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I0143.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I1322.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I1790.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I0644.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I0949.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I3188.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I3103.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I8406.jpg) Images property of Jacob Saddler/Only Endurance ### SEBRING: Did Cadillac let the win slip through their fingers? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-cadillac-win-slip-through-fingers-porsche-penske-tandy-imsa/ Last updated: 2025-03-17T16:38:00.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-2-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) What a great race in Sebring! The Floridian track always produces the goods, and this year was no different. While Porsche won — as I predicted in both the pre-race analysis, and in [OE predicts](https://www.ontheapex.com/oe-predicts-12-hours-of-sebring-imsa/) — and made it look easy, taking a 1-2, it really wasn't all that simple. They had competition from all three of their manufacturer competitors, with Cadillac providing, perhaps surprisingly based on practice pace and qualifying, the stoutest challenge. Firstly: if you look at the overall race pace average, calculated by taking each car's top 20% lap times in each hour, finding an hourly average, and then averaging out each hourly average into a single value, the #31 Cadillac was actually the quickest car over the 12 hours. Okay, yes, it was mere tenths between the Cadillacs and the two Porsches. And in reality, average lap times often don't matter, because of all the variables which don't affect the average (traffic, out laps, tyre wear, etc). But it does show that Cadillac definitely had the pace to win. So the question: did Action Express and Cadillac let a win slip through their fingers? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I9652-1.webp) Porsche controlled Sebring, but it wasn't all plain sailing. Image: Jacob Saddler ## Porsche's fuel saving masterclass While Cadillac may have had the pace, they didn't get the strategy right, like Porsche and team operator Penske did. Porsche's fuel saving eliminated the need to make a 13th pitstop in the final hour, for a splash of fuel. Cadillac were handed a lifeline in the final caution period, but after the race went green for the final half hour, could not make up the time to the leading Porsches and the Acura of Nick Yelloly. ''Unfortunately, we were just a little bit off sequence to the leading Porsches and it just caught us out a bit at the end when we had to take a splash,' said Jack Aitken. Earl Bamber, in the car for the final stint, dropped back to fifth when he pitted for the final time, behind Neel Jani in the #5 Proton Porsche. He was stuck behind his former Porsche teammate for about 15 minutes, overtaking him with just over 10 minutes to go. But, he couldn't catch Yelloly or the Porsches to get on the podium. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I7982.webp) Bamber is doing a dual IMSA/WEC campaign this year. Image: Jacob Saddler 'We had to come in for a splash with about 40 minutes left and we tried to take the alternate tire strategy, but we thought it might work but the dirty air was just too much,' said Bamber. 'We just didn’t make our way forward. The car was good, so it is bittersweet that we didn’t get a podium. We’ll just have to roll into Long Beach.' Look at the average lap times, and the top 20% average, in that final half hour. Bamber was just a small amount off Yelloly, Jaminet and Nasr — mere hundredths. 'I think when they night came around, we didn’t have that extra gear that the others did,' Aitken said. *Update: Action Express team members have got in touch to give us more info that wasn't immediately obvious, for the reasons why the team went off sequence and had to take the extra pit stop for a splash of fuel at the end. We will be writing another article to present this side of things. Stay tuned!* ## Ups and downs for Cadillac Our pre-race analysis found that Cadillac were lacking pace in the long runs in practice, compared to the long runs Porsche, Acura and BMW were doing. This, quite clearly, was not the case in the race. The #31 led 131 laps, 37.1% of the race. Despite this, though, they didn't finish on the podium. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) 'IMSA just keeps impressing me with how chaotic and crazy it is to race this year,' said Frederik Vesti, Action Express and Cadillac's endurance racing rookie. 'I really enjoyed my time in the car today. I left everything out on the track and it’s painful not to get the podium. 'I really felt like we had the car to win or be on the podium today. Really proud of Cadillac Whelen. Having the issue in quali starting out, I think Jack did a great job in stint one to get us in the lead. 'I enjoyed lots of laps in the lead today and I had a lot of restarts from the lead, which is fun and I learned a lot. We’ll be back. I’m already looking forward to Laguna.' While the Wayne Taylor Racing-run Cadillacs struggled throughout, with issues ranging from a faulty throttle linkage, which Cadillac told *Only Endurance* was fixed after Ricky Taylor's #10 car dropped back early on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/54390680820_696c5c9c0f.webp) The #10 Wayne Taylor Cadillac had throttle issues early on. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing However, he then made contact with the #023 Triarsi Ferrari, blaming throttle problems, and the team later lost laps fixing the issue for good in the pits. They received a 60-second stop/go penalty for their trouble, adding to their woes. Brendon Hartley then crashed the other car a few hours in at Sunset Bend, also adding to Wayne Taylor's dismay. 'That is probably the most disappointing Sebring 12 Hour I have been to,' said the team owner, father of drivers Jordan and Ricky, both of whom race for the team. 'It is sad because we have such great support from Cadillac and DEX. The team worked so hard, and the drivers did such a good job. As we weren’t that competitive in Qualifying, we decided to build a race car for the race. 'And now that the race is over, even though we didn’t get the result we wanted, we were running the same times as the top cars.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I0949.webp) The race didn't go to plan for WTR. Image: Jacob Saddler But, despite these issues, there are reasons to be cheerful. As Taylor says, both cars weren't too far off the pace of the #31 Action Express-run, Whelen-sponsored machine, a few tenths a lap on average when looking at the top 20% overall average lap time. ## Porsche, and Penske, perfect If the #31 Cadillac led 131 laps in total, the #7 Porsche led 161 — 45.6% of the race. Like at Daytona, the #7 was the superior Porsche in Sebring — the #6 never even led a lap, although it spent 84 laps in second (the #31 spent 120 laps in second, for context). But, all things considered, it really was a perfect race from Porsche. The only time they came unstuck was the race control mishap in the first round of pitstops under caution, where race control failed to open the pits for the leading Porsches and Acuras, but did open it for the other cars in GTP. But they bounced back from this to take a solid 1-2\. As an example of their pace domination, in the second half of the race, the two factory Porsches were always in the top five fastest cars when looking at top 20% hourly averages. They were consistently amongst the quickest three or four cars in the field for the last half, with the #7 quickest overall in hours 6 and 12. 'Victory at Daytona, and now Sebring: We’ve won the 36 Hours of Florida,” said Urs Kuratle, director of factory LMDh motorsport at Porsche. 'That was one of our most outstanding races, absolutely flawless. I’m ecstatic. All the drivers and the entire team put in an incredibly strong effort: pit stops, strategy, car – everything went perfectly.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/AA4I3188.webp) Porsche were victorious at Sebring. Image: Jacob Saddler *Feature image: Jacob Saddler* *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### OE PREDICTS: 12 Hours of Sebring URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/oe-predicts-12-hours-of-sebring-imsa/ Last updated: 2025-03-15T13:37:36.000Z *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) The 12 Hours of Sebring is almost upon us. The field is looking exceedingly close amongst every single class, but how will it turn out? We've come up with some predictions. Let's see how right we were next week! ## Race win ### Prototypes ***Phil:*** It looks tight between BMW, Porsche, and Acura at the top end. I'd love to see BMW take their first major endurance race victory with the M Hybrid V8, but I think Porsche will win out and it'll be the #7 car of Nick Tandy, Felipe Nasr, and Laurens Vanthoor who will get the win. They were supreme at Daytona and I think they'll get a second on the bounce, with Tandy completing endurance racing by winning every major race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/OE-Predicts-Sebring.003.png) Credit: Jacob Saddler for Only Endurance In LMP2, this is always a dogfight, and with it essentially a spec class it's very hard to pick a winner. But my prediction for the win goes to Spike, the #99 AO Racing Oreca. PJ Hyett is an extremely good amateur, while Dane Cameron obviously knows his way around a race car and Jonny Edgar is a young, quick driver who has a future in this sport. Plus they were fast in qualifying and quite clearly have a quick car. ***Tim:*** From the qualifying performance, and through running the numbers in practice, it looks very close at the front. BMW, however, really are a team revived in 2025, and I think that the #24 crew have a point to prove after that heartbreaking conclusion to Daytona. [SEBRING: BMW on pole but Porsche top long runsDries Vanthoor took his second IMSA pole on the trot, but Porsche hold the cards for the race at Sebring.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-46.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FW6I8228-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-imsa-bmw-on-pole-porsche-top-long-runs/) Dries Vanthoor is operating at his best, Eng and Magnussen are looking solid, and I think they're going all-in on a landmark anniversary victory – it'll be tough to stop the #7 Porsche, but my heart's telling me they can. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/OE-Predicts-Sebring.002.png) Credit: Jacob Saddler for Only Endurance The LMP2 category is looking as close as ever, but the #11 TDS Racing seems to have made a real step forward this year. Steven Thomas claimed a very strong pole on Friday afternoon, and teamed with a fired-up Hunter McElrea, who was seriously impressive at the venue 12 months ago, and Peugeot Hypercar driver Mikkel Jensen, this is the car to beat on the bumps. ### GTs ***Phil:*** I think GTD PRO will go to Corvette's way. While they were a little way back in qualifying that often doesn't mean all that much in IMSA and especially at Sebring. Corvette are always quick at Sebring and have won multiple times here. The driver line up is probably the best line up of any GTD PRO team and they were quick in practice 3\. As for which car, I'll pick the #3 of Antonio Garcia, Daniel Juncadella, and Alexander Sims. Let's hope, though, Nicky Catsburg in #4 can stay safe at restarts. [Catsburg: ‘Mayhem’ at restarts with GTD class splitWith GTD and GTD PRO cars now being split at restarts, Corvette’s Nicky Catsburg is predicting mayhem at Sebring.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-45.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/4-01.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/catsburg-mayhem-gtd-pro-class-split-restarts-imsa-sebring/) In GTD, like LMP2 this is hard to pick and often depends on the strength of the bronze driver. I'm going to pick the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin for the win. Robichon did decently in qualifying to put the car sixth, and Tom Gamble is a quick gold-rated driver with a big future ahead of him. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/OE-Predicts-Sebring.004.png) Credit: Jacob Saddler for Only Endurance ***Tim:*** The GTD classes were locked-out by Ferrari in qualifying, but I don't think they've quite got the firepower across the 12 Hours. The GTD PRO scrap will come down to BMW and Corvette, and after their Daytona duff-up the Paul Miller and Pratt Miller cars will be at it again. This time, BMW come out on top, the #48 of Max Hesse, Dan Harper and Jesse Krohn take the class win. Seconds out, round two... And in GTD it's been hard to look past the Mercedes-AMG cars across Practice, and even into Qualifying. The reigning class champions, the #57 Winward Racing AMG won the race last year, and I wouldn't look past them defending that result in 2025. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## First retirement ### Prototypes ***Phil:*** I'm going to hold out hope here and say Lamborghini will survive longer than expected, although I think the pace won't be exactly fast from the Italian manufacturer. Instead I'm going to pick the #31 Cadillac, via getting involved in an early race incident. Cadillac seem to be struggling for pace a bit and through pushing too hard to make early progress I think they'll come unstuck. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/OE-Predicts-Sebring.005.png) Credit: Jacob Saddler for Only Endurance ***Tim:*** Sadly, I'm still not convinced the Lamborghini-Riley effort have things settled after what was an extremely difficult Daytona. The SC63 went really well on the bumps in 2024, and I was really impressed by Grosjean's pace in the car, keeping the race-leading Porsche at bay for an entire stint to stay on the lead lap. But, things haven't progressed, and it feels like this programme is starting anew in 2025. ### GTs ***Phil:*** Ford were strong at Daytona and the issues in WEC were due to specific changes made to the car for that series. But Sebring is a car breaker and maybe, just maybe, they haven't got the issues sorted just yet. So I'll pick one of the Fords for first retirement from GTD PRO. Which car? Equal chances but I'll pick one and say the #64. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/20250313-b-08184.jpg) Image: Ford And in GTD, I'm going to predict one of the Lamborghini Huracans comes unstuck early on and crashes. Again it's hard to say which specific car but I'll go with the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lambo. ***Tim:*** There's always tonnes of action in the GTD ranks, but at Sebring that often boils over into some big incidents. So I'm predicting the first retirement will come from the middle of the pack, and it'll be the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari getting clunked in some early race traffic shenanigans. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### SEBRING: BMW on pole but Porsche top long runs URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-imsa-bmw-on-pole-porsche-top-long-runs/ Last updated: 2025-03-14T22:06:38.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) As ever in IMSA, the battle for the win at this year's 12 Hours of Sebring will be *very* close, if the long run data from the three practice sessions is anything to go by. While BMW's Dries Vanthoor took pole for the second time in a row in IMSA competition, it's their German manufacturer rival Porsche who look the strongest for race day. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I7816.webp) Could Porsche take victory at Sebring with the 963? Image: Jacob Saddler ## Porsche top long runs in FP1 and FP2 The #6 Porsche set the fastest long run in the opening practice session, in the hands of Mathieu Jaminet. However, this was only five laps long — the car only did 15 laps in the session — from lap 11 to 15. The #10 Cadillac, in the hands of Filipe Albuquerque, started his longest run of the session on the same lap, but went longer, to lap 19\. He was more than four tenths off on average, but that may be because the run was longer — we simply can't tell. Similarly, as usual with data from practice sessions, we don't know about fuel levels. Even though Jaminet pitted the Porsche after only five laps, he could have been fueled for more. It's very hard to know. The fastest BMW was the #24 — in fact, the #24 the fastest BMW in each of the three sessions, on average — in fourth, behind both Porsches. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I7151.webp) This is Dries Vanthoor's first time ever at Sebring. Image: Jacob Saddler Philipp Eng's long run in the car, from lap 14 to 27, was the longest GTP run of the session, placing him fourth. That seems very good for BMW, and just a few mere hundredths behind Daytona winner Nick Tandy in the #7 Porsche, whose long run was from lap 11-17. The two Acuras were together, Renger van der Zande in the #93 and Tom Blomqvist, on a longer, slightly slower run in the #60\. Both started on lap 11 but whereas the Dutchman pitted on lap 16, Blomqvist went a few laps longer, pulling into the pit lane on lap 19. Looking at FP2, and the #6 Porsche, this time with Kevin Estre at the wheel, is again faster. Estre's long run is much longer than Jaminet's in FP1 — three times as long, at 15 laps. The big movers in this session, though, are Acura. They jump up though, with the #93 of Indycar star Alex Palou just a smidge over three tenths off Estre, on average, a lap. The sister car is fourth, behind the #7 Porsche, although those two and the #85 JDC Miller Porsche are all very close. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I9216.webp) Acura look to be behind Porsche and BMW on race pace. Image: Jacob Saddler In fact, you could add the #5 Proton Porsche and the #24 BMW into that mix as well. Cadillac appear to have lost out massively in FP2, with the three slowest long runs. They're slower even than backmarkers Lamborghini and new boys Aston Martin, and by some margin too. Together with a subpar qualifying performance, maybe things aren't looking all too rosy at Cadillac right now. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## BMW jump ahead in FP3 Kevin Magnussen's long run in the third practice session jumped him ahead of the Porsches. The #24 BMW driver was almost half a second quicker than Tandy and Jaminet behind him. The Acuras were behind the Porsches and BMWs again, although not by much and likely not enough to 'worry' the team at Meyer Shank or HRC US. There's seven tenths there between the top six cars — again, very close, certainly within a margin of era. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I8464.webp) After losing out at Daytona, BMW are hungry for victory. Image: Jacob Saddler The Cadillacs, again, seem to struggle slightly. A trend seems to be that the Wayne Taylor Racing-run cars, the #10 and the #40, are slower than the #31\. This does make some sense, as WTR are still new to the Cadillac, whereas AXR have been racing it since 2023. Aston Martin were, once again, ahead of Lamborghini. As the BoP analysis showed, Lamborghini have by far the best power-to-weight ratio of any GTP car in the field, so to be behind a car making its series debut and competitive debut at Sebring... 😬 [SEBRING BOP: Analysing weight & power for the 12H raceHave Cadillac been shafted? How will Aston Martin fare at their first Sebring? We examine the BoP figures, using power to weight ratios.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-44.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/10-05-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-bop-analysing-weight-and-power-for-the-12-hour-race/) ## What does this all mean? As the results from each session are relatively consistent, we can form somewhat of a pace guide. In the graphs above, we've created some averages to put together what we think the order will be. In the first graph, we've added together the averages from each session for each team to find an average for each across all sessions. If a team has two cars this means we're adding six individual averages together. If a team has one, that means just three. In the second graph, we've taken the best average from each session for each team. If a team only has a single car, that's not possible — so the six out of the nine teams displayed are identical across both graphs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/FW6I7057.webp) Lamborghini are likely aiming just to get further than at Daytona. Image: Jacob Saddler The top three teams, though, do have two cars. The order doesn't change and the gaps between each don't change either. While it's hard to draw any real, definitive conclusions — there are just too many variables — the consistency indicates this is what we might see in the race. Porsche a couple of tenths a lap quicker than BMW, with Acura a further few tenths back. Cadillac, meanwhile, will likely struggle. They may be more than a second a lap on average off Porsche. Aston Martin may be faster than Lamborghini, although both will likely just be aiming to finish the race. *Feature image: Jacob Saddler* *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Catsburg: 'Mayhem' at restarts with GTD class split URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/catsburg-mayhem-gtd-pro-class-split-restarts-imsa-sebring/ Last updated: 2025-03-13T13:36:19.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) Corvette's Nicky Catsburg 'predicts mayhem' at restarts with the new-for-2025 GTD class split at IMSA race restarts after cautions. 'In the past, you would have GTD cars between you and the last thing you want is a GTD car touch you or you touch a GTD car and that affecting your race,' he said. 'So I would take a little more care with a GTD car than someone in GTD PRO because that wasn’t for position. So now with GTD PROs all together, I predict mayhem.' Previously at race restarts in IMSA, the GTD cars across both GTD and GTD Pro were grouped together, with the pro/am GTD cars mixed in with the professional GTD Pro cars. However, in 2025, this has changed, with the two classes now being split for the restart, with GTD Pro cars in front of GTD. The last thing a driver in either class wants is to impact their race by making contact with a car they aren't fighting for position with. So, as Catsburg said, caution would be taken when the cars are grouped together to avoid contact. But now, with the two split, they'll be fighting for position in each group, which could result in the Dutchman's prediction of mayhem. [GALLERY: New Sebring liveries for BMW, Corvette, AcuraSome teams are bringing new liveries to Florida’s day-to-night endurance race.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-41.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Corvettes_PMM_Sebring_1-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-new-sebring-liveries-for-bmw-corvette-acura/) 'If IMSA keeps officiating like they do now, I predict that people may just ram each other off. That’s something that I really hope does not happen. 'Because you’ve survived for 11 hours and then in the end you are just waiting to get smashed. That shouldn’t be. I hope they officiate this a bit stronger or they try and set the tone in the drivers’ briefing to put more emphasis on it. 'You want a nice show but I also want fair racing so let’s see. But I don’t think the splitting of the field will necessarily help.' ## Aggressive racing in GTD [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) Aggressive racing between GTD cars isn't unheard of, with the on-track action getting feisty especially towards the end of the race. In 2024 at Sebring, Corvette's Daniel Juncadella was [very critical](https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/juncadella-slams-shocking-gtd-pro-driving-standards/?ref=ontheapex.com) of driving standards in the GTD Pro class after contact with Lauren Heinrich in the #77 AO racing Porsche took him out of the fight for third late on. Plus, he was also critical of Jack Hawksworth after contact with the Briton's Vasser Sullivan Lexus at an restart earlier on in the race. And, this year at Daytona, the Corvette of Tommy Milner and the BMW of Connor de Phillippi made contact late on in the race after De Philippi's teammate Augusto Farfus in the sister BMW repeatedly blocked Milner. [SEBRING BOP: Analysing weight & power for the 12H raceHave Cadillac been shafted? How will Aston Martin fare at their first Sebring? We examine the BoP figures, using power to weight ratios.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-42.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/10-05-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-bop-analysing-weight-and-power-for-the-12-hour-race/) Last year, Antonio Garcia [blamed](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/08/22/corvettes-garcia-abs-encouraging-too-much-contact-in-imsa/?ref=ontheapex.com) ABS for contact issues between GTD cars, with his car being taken out on the first lap of the race at Road America after [contact](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/08/05/rockenfeller-apologises-to-sims-after-imsa-road-america-first-lap-contact/?ref=ontheapex.com) with Mike Rockenfeller's Ford Mustang GT3. Garcia, then, has a different view on the class split compared to his Corvette team mate. 'Now that GTD PRO and GTD are split (on restarts), I think it’s going to be better,' he said in an IMSA pre-Sebring media call. 'At night you don’t know who is behind you; you just see lights. I know the GTD lights are yellow but it’s very difficult to know who was following you. Now that things are split, I think it will make things easier for both classes. 'We know we are going to be fighting our class on the restart and not get in the mix with (GTD) or them with us. So I think that was a good call, and at Daytona it was a big upgrade,' he finished. What do you think about the GTD class split at restarts? Let us know on social media — tag us @onlyendurance and let us know your thoughts. [Deletraz: Cadillac ‘gives you confidence’ on brakesWhile both LMDh-rules cars, the Cadillac and Acura have some notable differences when behind the wheel, say Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-43.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/40-08-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/deletraz-cadillac-gives-you-confidence-on-brakes-imsa-sebring/) *Feature image: Kevin Dejewski* *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Deletraz: Cadillac 'gives you confidence' on brakes URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/deletraz-cadillac-gives-you-confidence-on-brakes-imsa-sebring/ Last updated: 2025-03-11T19:19:03.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) The Cadillac V-Series.R gives its drivers confidence on the brakes and is better on the bumps at Sebring, Wayne Taylor Racing's Louis Deletraz said. 'I would say the Cadillac is very good on bumps, especially the exit Turn 1 or in Turn 17 it gives you confidence, allows you to brake late and just rides better', the Swiss driver told reporters, in response to a question from *Only Endurance* about comparing the Cadillac with WTR's previous car, the Acura ARX-06. The 27-year-old likely has fond memories of the Acura; he won Sebring last year for WTR, alongside Jordan Taylor and Indycar star Colton Herta. 'Last year’s Sebring was fantastic,' he said. 'With the victory, I have very good memories from it. It was one of the best victories in my career.' Regarding further differences, or similarities, with the Acura, Deletraz was able to further expand in response to *Only Endurance*. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/53597331176_e2339a32b4.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/40-06.webp) Last year, WTR raced with Acura (left). This year, they've switched to Cadillac (right). Images: Wayne Taylor Racing (L) / Kevin Dejewski (R) 'It's definitely interesting to have been in both cars because you can see where both have strong parts. I would say it's not that different, but definitely the way the Cadillac rides over bumps is slightly different.' 'But we did not really drive by night in the test. I think we learned a lot about the car, had made a good race setup, so I'm quite excited to see how we get along there. 'But until the night comes, actually bring at the end of the race, I think that's when we'll have real answers and hopefully we're in a similar position to last year to win it,' he finished. ## Taylor: Cadillac 'stronger on tyre deg' Deletraz's WTR teammate, Jordan Taylor, further expanded on Deletraz's answer, going into how the Cadillac treats its tyres better than the Acura. Jordan Taylor: 'The last couple of years were obviously against the Cadillac and you come up with these ideas of strengths and weaknesses, and I think when you race around each other, you kind of get an idea of it. 'We always knew the Cadillac was a little bit stronger on tyre deg and just naturally the way probably the geometry of the car is, the way it works, the tire is a little bit different. 'That felt a little bit realistic at Daytona. I think Sebring will be a whole different animal now. It looks very hot on the weekend, so that's going to be interesting.' [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) The weather at Sebring tends to be hot, with temperatures in the 30°C (86°F) range a regular occurance. This affects the tyre life on the cars, as if the track temperature is hot, the tyres will warm up faster and thus thermally degrade at a quicker rate. So, a car the treats its tyres may be at an advantage. 'I've been re-watching last year's race to get an idea,' Taylor continued. 'It seemed like tyre deg was a big part of it and the Cadillacs did seem strong last year over the long runs. So, I think it's interesting.' ## Deletraz's 2024 late-race send Cadillac led the race late on with Sebastien Bourdais at the wheel of the Chip Ganassi Racing-run #01 Cadillac, but in the cooler temperatures cat night, the Acura was working well. Deletraz hunted the Frenchman down and took the lead with an audacious, brave move at the hairpin with six minutes to go. He'd go on to win the race by 0.891 over Bourdais. In the pre-race interviews for this year's race, Deletraz reflected on the move for the win last year. ![Louis Deletraz celebrating his win at Sebring in 2024 after climbing from his car, with fireworks in the background.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/53596451142_226ff1aef4.webp) Deletraz was delighted with his first Sebring win last year. Image: Wayne Taylor Racing 'We're quite good friends,' he said, in response to being asked if he and Bourdais had spoken about the move for the win and the subsequent contact. 'I think in the heat of the moment without seeing TV it's always different, and I'm sure he was frustrated because we both wanted to win. But we were both very respectful to each other. Hard, but respectful. 'It's so easy to push each other out, not give each other room. and cause the yellow. I think we're fine. He was not personally angry at me. It was more just, I think, frustration.' ## WTR 'still learning' Despite making progress in understanding the Cadillac, Taylor said Wayne Taylor Racing are still finding new things about the car and its nuances. 'Obviously, we're still learning,' said the American. 'I think the setups that the teams decide on have a huge influence on so many factors. We did a lot of big swings at our Sebring test to get an idea of what works in the day versus night and long run versus short runs. 'So, hopefully we can make the right decisions this week that will benefit us,' he concluded. Because Sebring is a day-to-night race, over a concrete surface which heats up and cools down differently to regular tarmac track surfaces, setting a car up for Sebring is often a compromise between being fast in the day, or fast at night. Due to the way IMSA's caution periods work, many teams focus on being fast at night, at the sharp end of the race, and sacrificing race pace in the day as a result. We'll have to see how Wayne Taylor Racing approaches its first Sebring with Cadillac, a race notoriously tough on drivers and cars. As two-time winners of the race, though, in 2017, the first year of the DPi regulations, and in 2024, WTR certainly knows how to win this race. This year's 12 Hours of Sebring begins at 10:10am local time, or 2:10pm UTC. *Feature image: Kevin Dejewski* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: New Sebring liveries for BMW, Corvette, Acura URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-new-sebring-liveries-for-bmw-corvette-acura/ Last updated: 2025-03-10T21:41:39.000Z The 12 Hours of Sebring ~~race~~ week-long rave/party/festival is this weekend, and a few teams have revealed some new special liveries their cars will be sporting for the weekend. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-2-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Corvette A Corvette Racing car, not in yellow? Say it ain't so. Corvette's Sebring livery is inspired by the livery used on a Corvette raced in IMSA's GTO class in 1987, built by a company named Protofab and sponsored by Mobil 1. The new livery's base colour is white, with blue accents and some red to complete the look. The #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be driven by Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella, while the sister #4 machine will have Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, and Nico Varrone at the wheel through the race. ![#3 and #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Corvettes_PMM_Sebring_1.webp) Image: Corvette Racing ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/IMG-20250310-WA0072.jpg) Image: Corvette Racing [SEBRING BOP: Analysing weight & power for the 12H raceHave Cadillac been shafted? How will Aston Martin fare at their first Sebring? We examine the BoP figures, using power to weight ratios.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-40.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/10-05.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-bop-analysing-weight-and-power-for-the-12-hour-race/) ## BMW BMW, meanwhile, will celebrate 50 years of BMW North America, with a special livery to signify the occasion. Fittingly, the German manufacturer made its North American debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1975, with Brian Redman, Allan Moffatt, Sam Mosey, and Hans-Joachim Stuck driving the #25 BMW 3.0 CSL to victory, just weeks after BMW North America was established, with a three-lap lead over the Porsche in second place. Thus, the #25 BMW this year will sport the special livery. Can Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns, and Marco Wittmann repeat the success? *Images below courtesy of BMW* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/3840-2133-max--1-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/3840-2133-max--2-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/3840-2133-max--3-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/3840-2133-max--4-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/3840-2133-max--5-.webp) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Acura Finally, the Meyer Shank Racing Acuras will also sport new liveries as well. The #93 Acura ARX-06, driven by Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, and Alex Palou, now sports red colours. The #60, with Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, and Scott Dixon at the wheel, will now be in light blue, with dark blue accents. Lovely stuff. ![#60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/482808339_1438654480883685_3211752540742514748_n.webp) Image: Meyer Shank Racing ![#93 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/482828990_1438654494217017_3065819843916992524_n.webp) Image: Meyer Shank Racing *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### 5 things to know from the Le Mans entry list URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-entry-list-2025-5-things-to-know-wec/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:35:55.000Z *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) The ACO have published their [provisional entry list](https://assets.lemans.org/explorer/pdf/courses/2025/24-heures-du-mans/uocyygucshl9wt73upgk.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com) for the 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours. A field of 62 cars, consisting of 21 Hypercars, 17 LMP2s and 24 LMGT3s, will take to the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe in June for the 93rd running of the French endurance classic. To save you the time of scrolling through the spreadsheet with a ruler pressed against your screen, here's the key storylines you need to know about... ![The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac illuminated in darkness at Daytona, with the illuminated big wheel in the background.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/10-08-1.webp) Wayne Taylor Racing will face a new challenge this year: Le Mans. Image: Kevin Dejewski ## Four Cadillacs in Hypercar A record four Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh machines will be present in the top class, as the ACO extends an invite for the first time to Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing. The IMSA GTP squad will field 2017 DPi champion brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor, with team regular Filipe Albuquerque completing the trio in the #101. 'It has always been our plan to go to Le Mans with a shot at the overall win,' said Wayne Taylor, team principal. 'When I was there with Cadillac in 2002, I was driving and both my kids were with me as spectators. Now, 20 years later, they are here driving for me with Cadillac. It is very exciting. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) 'Cadillac has built an amazing race car. This is such an important event and to be competitive you must arrive with everything in place. I believe we now have the car to beat. 'With the combination of Cadillac and our team partners at JOTA and AXR, we have a really strong organization. We are grateful to have a chance to compete at Le Mans.’ The #311 Action Express, Whelen-sponsored Cadillac will also return, having raced at Le Mans in 2023 and 2024\. They'll be hoping for better in 2025, given their previous two appearances in France have resulted in crashes — Jack Aitken crashing on the first lap in 2023, and Pipo Derani's heavy shunt into the barriers in 2024. And JOTA will contest its first Le Mans as a factory team, after two years as a customer team in Hypercar and many years bossing LMP2, even coming close to winning overall in 2017 when the LMP1s began dropping like flies. ![The #7 Porsche 963 leading a train of cars exiting the esses at Road Atlanta, 2024.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/M24_6356_fine.webp) Porsche won the GTP teams title this year at Petit Le Mans. Image: Porsche ## IMSA invitees take up ticket to La Sarthe Porsche Penske have routinely received a third entry to bring an extra Porsche 963 to Le Mans, but this year they earnt that extra ticket through winning the 2024 GTP title. This means they get invited to bring a third entry as a result of their 2024 GTP title success. The [#4](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/4/?ref=ontheapex.com) car will feature Rolex 24 winners Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy, with the third driver still to be confirmed. Pascal Wehrlein is rumoured to be favourite for the seat, and the conversation surrounding Sebastian Vettel hasn't completely died down. Wehrlein raced at Daytona in the JDC-Miller Motorsports customer Porsche and impressed, so don't be surprised to see Porsche's reigning Formula E world champion alongside Nasr and Tandy, this year's Daytona 24 winners, in June. AWA will bring their [#13](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/13/?ref=ontheapex.com) Corvette Z06 GT3.R to the LMGT3 class after Orey Fidani booked a ticket to Le Mans with his Bob Akin Award in 2024 - a separate title for the best-placed Bronze driver in IMSA GTD. ![#60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Losail International Circuit, Qatar, for FIA WEC.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0315.webp) Iron Lynx switched to Mercedes machinery for 2025\. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI ## Third Mercedes-AMG and Porsche in LMGT3 The two German marques have bolstered entries at the 24H. Firstly, Iron Lynx add a another Mercedes-AMG to their programme after winning the 2024 ELMS LMGT3 title, the [#63](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/63/?ref=ontheapex.com) driven by father-son pairing Stephen and Brenton Grove. The space for this third car is secured via their LMGT3 title success in ELMS last year, with hindsight now slightly awkward, since it was achieved with Lamborghini machinery. Manthey also add a third Porsche after their Asian Le Mans Series success, and it's worth noting that the renamed Ziggo Sport Tempesta [#193](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/193/?ref=ontheapex.com) Ferrari takes up the GT World Challenge Europe Bronze invite from 2024. ![The GR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 at Spa Franchorchamps, entering the 'bus stop' chicane, followed by a Ligier LMP3 car.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/66c88bb84565a.webp) GR Racing has been racing in ELMS, but uncertainty remains about 2025\. Image: Tim Hearn / ELMS ## GR Racing on reserve list GR Racing have been included on the reserve list for the race. Why, you might ask, is this surprising? Well, that's because Mike Wainwright, the team owner, has recently been [found guilty](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2d3z87yn51o?ref=ontheapex.com) of making bribery payments in order his company, [Trafigura](https://www.trafigura.com/?ref=ontheapex.com), to access the Angolan oil market. Wainwright's been sentenced to 32 months in prison in Switzerland, with the company being fined $148m. The GR Racing team is still listed on the [entry list for the European Le Mans Series](https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/article/more-cars-and-more-manufacturers-for-2025-elms-674e65722c2992145bd66066?ref=ontheapex.com), with Wainwright still listed as a driver. He's also listed as a driver on the Le Mans entry list, despite the conviction. ![A Lamborghini SC63 in the pit lane at Daytona International Speedway, 2025.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/63-07.webp) Lamborghini's SC63 is only racing in IMSA's Endurance Cup this year. Image: Kevin Dejewski ## Lamborghini's unsurprising absence This isn't necessarily something we learnt directly from the entry list, more a reminder to fans of the 'Charging Bull.' Due to their lack of presence in the WEC Hypercar class, Lamborghini do not gain automatic entry or extended invites via their single-car IMSA programme. It's worth noting that a Lamborghini did in fact win a Le Mans invite, as Iron Lynx claimed the ELMS LMGT3 title last year. But, the subsequent split between the team and manufacturer sees that space taken by the third Mercedes-AMG operated by the Italian organisation, as the invite goes to the team responsible — not the manufacturer providing the car. Whether Lamborghini return to WEC, and therefore Le Mans, remains to be seen, in either GT3 or in Hypercar with the SC63\. That said, the new Lamborghini GT3, based on the Temerario road car, is due to make its global debut next year. Lamborghini are surely going to want the car to race on the biggest GT3 stage on the planet. But with the WEC grid, currently at 36 entries and with a non-negotiable maximum of 40 entries, gaining the addition of Genesis next year and more prototypes likely on the way in 2027, space is at a premium. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) A few other little things we've noticed... - The two Aston Martin Valkyries are listed as US-flagged on the Le Mans entry list. That's because The Heart of Racing, the team operating the programme, are US-based. However, on the [WEC entry list for Qatar](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/01%5FLOSAIL/00%5FEvent%20Info/2%5FProvisional%20Entry%20List%20V1.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com), they are British-flagged. We asked Aston Martin about the discrepancy and were told the US-flagged Le Mans entry is correct, and to ask WEC about the British flags on the WEC entry list. We did, but received no reply. - Proton Competition's second Porsche 963 is first reserve. The team has five entries already in the race, the WEC-entered Porsche 963, two cars in LMP2, one of which is partnered with Iron Lynx, and two WEC-entered Ford Mustangs in LMGT3\. If any entries pull out before the race, Proton could have two entries in each class – equalling AF Corse for the most entries in the race, with six (three Hypercar, one LMP2, two LMGT3). - More than half the LMP2 field is entered as pro/am, with 8 cars in the all-pro 'main' class and 9 in the 'sub' class. This marks the first time the pro/am cars outnumber the all-pro cars, despite the class as a whole having one more car than last year (17 in 2025, 16 in 2024). *Feature image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI* ### SEBRING BOP: Analysing weight and power for the 12 hour race URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/sebring-bop-analysing-weight-and-power-for-the-12-hour-race/ Last updated: 2025-06-28T21:36:51.000Z Sebring is just around the corner — exciting stuff! The race is truly unique, on a surface like no other in world motorsport and a race that can literally cause cars to fall to pieces. IMSA has [released](https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2025/03/06/TB-IWSC-25-36-Sebring-12hr-BoP-03062025.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com) the Balance of Performance tables, so let's examine where we are and see if we can make any early predictions about the order in Florida next weekend. ## Weight ## Power [Assessing each Hypercar team’s performance in QatarHow did the teams do in the WEC season opener at Qatar?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-36.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0539-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/assessing-rating-hypercar-teams-performance-qatar-wec/) ## Energy per stint ## Power to weight Power to weight is how you can really make some kind of sense of balance of performance. As we can see, compared to [Daytona](https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2025/01/22/TB-IWSC-25-25-Daytona-Rolex-24-BoP-01222025.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com), the biggest losers here are Acura. They had amongst the best power to weight among the four main contenders at Daytona (not counting Lamborghini...) but they've been nerfed for Sebring. Why? Because they've lost 22kW of power since the 24 hour race in January, while also gaining 7kg in weight. BMW have also lost out in the power to weight, having lost 8kW of power. We've also included values from the [Sebring test](https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2025/02/06/TB-IWSC-25-28-Sebring-Test-BoP-02062025.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com), which was held last month. This shows that Acura lost 20kW of power for that, and have lost a further two 2kW for the race weekend. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) Cadillac, meanwhile, have done rather well, at least compared to Daytona. They've gained a little bit since then, although have been nerfed since the Sebring test. Porsche run an almost identical power to weight compared to Daytona, after being given a boost for the test. Meanwhile, new boys Aston Martin have the second-highest power to weight, although this has come down since the test, having lost 9kW of power. That said, they've also lost 12kg in weight, so... swings and roundabouts. Lamborghini are the only team to have gained in the power to weight chart compared to the test. They'll run an almost identical power to weight ratio as they did in Daytona, just 0.001kW/kg down. [Gunn: Sebring and Qatar ‘completely different’ for ValkyrieAston Martin now have race experience under their belts with the new Valkyrie. But will that help for the upcoming race at Sebring?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-39.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/_007_Valkyrie-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gunn-sebring-qatar-completely-different-valkyrie-imsa-aston-martin/) ## Why have the changes been made? Let's examine, for a minute, why these changes may have been made, both since the last IMSA race at Daytona, and since the Sebring test. Below is each team's average and best average lap times from Daytona. To explain briefly the methodology here: to calculate the average we've calculated each car's average across the race, then added the values for each team together to create an overall team average. For the best average, we've taken each team's best car average from the race to display. If it's got a black line around it, it's the best lap time. If it's slightly opaque with a white line around it, it's the average from all cars from that manufacturer. As you can see, in both metrics when comparing Porsche, BMW, Acura, and Cadillac, Cadillac came out worse. That said, the best average wasn't that far off Acura, but they were slower, even by a whisker. [ANALYSIS: How Porsche took victory at Daytona 24 2025, part 1Porsche went from not looking quite on the pace before Daytona, to winning and almost taking a 1-2\. How?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-37.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/7-03--2--1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-porsche-took-victory-daytona-rolex-24-2025-part-1/) This, then, makes sense why they were given a decent break for the Sebring test, although so were Porsche, the quickest team at Daytona across both metrics. As already discussed, Acura lost quite a bit for the Sebring test, as did BMW, although not nearly as much as Axura. Now let's look at the Sebring test, using the same methodology as above. The picture has now changed, with all three main contenders much closer together on pace in both metrics. In terms of best averages, Porsche lead, followed by Cadillac, followed by Acura, with BMW the slowest of the four. Between Porsche, Cadillac, and Acura, there's just a smidge over two tenths between all three. The same order is true of averages from all cars from each manufacturer, although the gap between the top three is bigger, standing at just under four tenths. In relative terms, that's still small considering that's an average from five sessions at the Sebring test. Lamborghini are fourth quickest, followed by Aston Martin, who with a new car are, understandably, slowest. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## What does this mean for the race? Everyone except Lamborghini have lower power to weight ratios than at the Sebring test, essentially. Cadillac and Porsche lose the same amount in terms of power to weight ratio, both losing 0.008kW/kg. The way they lose that is different though — Cadillac are given 5kg of extra weight while losing 6kW of power, while Porsche's weight drops 2kg but lose 9kW. In the end it works out as 0.008kW/kg lost for both. Acura lose 0.005kW/kg, while BMW lose 0.003kW/kg. Aston also lose 0.005kW/kg, while Lamborghini actually gain 0.001kW/kg. Good for them. Let's hope they have a chance to use it... unlike at Daytona. [WATCH: Valkyrie Hypercar unsilenced at SebringThe first footage of the Cosworth V12 let loose during IMSA Testing at Sebring![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-38.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Video.001-2.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/watch-valkyrie-hypercar-unsilenced-at-sebring/) A very quick word, too, for energy per stint. Lamborghini have lost 12MJ since Daytona, while everyone else has lost some since the Sebring test. Predictions? It's hard to really say given teams almost certainly were not pushing at the test. It's going to be close, but I think Porsche will be the strongest. However, as we've seen countless times at Sebring, often pace doesn't matter, with reliability and keeping it on track taking much greater precedence at the old airfield. We'll be back with long run pace analysis from the practice sessions next week. Catch you then. *Feature image: Kevin Dejewski* *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Gunn: Sebring and Qatar 'completely different' for Valkyrie URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gunn-sebring-qatar-completely-different-valkyrie-imsa-aston-martin/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:36:15.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) Sebring and Lusail International Circuit at Qatar are 'completely different' setup-wise, Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn told media in a call prior to next weekend's IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring. 'Setup wise, you're looking for something completely different', Gunn said when asked by *Only Endurance* how racing the car ar Qatar will impact and effect the race at Sebring. 'They couldn't be two more different tracks. Qatar is very high grip, smooth. I would say has way more longer, faster corners, whereas Sebring is obviously bumpy. 'The temperature will be very different as well. That's a key thing. So there isn't that much of a crossover in terms of actual car setup,' he said. [Assessing each Hypercar team’s performance in QatarHow did the teams do in the WEC season opener at Qatar?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-35.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0539-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/assessing-rating-hypercar-teams-performance-qatar-wec/) While Lusail's track surface is incredibly smooth, with long, sweeping corners more suited to motorbikes than cars, Sebring is almost the opposite. Its concrete slabs, dating back to the 1950s, have never been replaced, making the track surface very bumpy and uneven. It also features a range of corners, many of them taken at relatively slow speed — a characteristic notably lacking in Lusail. However, while car setup between the two won't be the same, Gunn did say there is some crossover in other areas. 'But there are lots of things on the electronic side, also on the driving side, how we prepare the car lap to lap. 'There's lots of changes in the car that we can make as drivers. And also just as drivers as well, getting the feeling of the car. 'We're all still very inexperienced with this class, but every time we get in the car is essential for us because we're getting more and more confident, more and more comfortable.' ![Two Aston Martin Valkyries rounding a corner at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, in daylight.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/A_brace_of_Valkyries.webp) Aston Martin's Valkyrie made its debut at Qatar in the World Endurance Championship. Photo: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography While he's driven for Aston Martin for many years now, Gunn is typically more familiar with GT cars than prototype machinery. Most of his teammates, including Roman de Angelis, Tom Gamble, Marco Sørensen, and Alex Riberas, are in similar positions. But, Gunn said, having experience with the Valkyrie in a race environment will help the programme at Sebring, Gunn said. 'I think having very recent race experience is going to help,' said the Briton. 'There is some crossover of staff between the two programs. So there's going to be lots of information helping the two programs throughout the year. 'Everything that we learn from each series is going to have a direct help for the other series and that is really, really important for our progression.' With Sebring known for its car-breaking abilities over the bumps, the team participated in the IMSA-sanctioned test at the track last month, although unfortunately Gunn himself wasn't able to test as he was overcoming what he described as a 'small injury niggle'. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0329-1.webp) Gunn drove the Valkyrie at Qatar in WEC, on the car's debut. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI 'Yeah, so I did do two days in Sebring, I think the week after the sanction test', he told reporters on the call. 'I was due to test in Sebring last month, but I had a small injury niggle that I was trying to get over. So I missed that, but I was on board with the team watching everything live every turn of the wheel. 'I think the development curve was still very positive from what I heard, and having driven Sebring at the end of last year, it's an incredibly different track to driving the GT3 car. 'I think your perspective is just completely different. You feel certain bumps that you never knew existed, having driven hundreds of laps in the GT3 car. 'But yeah, as far as I'm aware the test went very well. The test went well at the end of last year as well. It was the first time that we ran the car in its straight pipe configuration. And that was incredible. So yeah, only good memories of that.' [WATCH: Valkyrie Hypercar unsilenced at SebringThe first footage of the Cosworth V12 let loose during IMSA Testing at Sebring![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-34.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Video.001-1.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/watch-valkyrie-hypercar-unsilenced-at-sebring/) But Gunn was also realistic, saying that Aston Martin were currently not at the level they needed in order to challenge their competition, who have been racing in GTP in IMSA since 2023. 'We have to be realistic. We're not ready to be competing with the top guys in the class. That takes time. 'We have massive respect for our competitors. I keep saying this, it's definitely something that I don't say lightly, but we're up against some of the best teams, manufacturers and drivers in the world. 'And that's a huge challenge. We are starting from two years behind these guys. We have massive respect for them and we need to work incredibly hard to get to that level. 'This year is really going to be a big learning year for us. We have to find many ways to develop all the areas. And that takes time. But we're ready for that,' he finished. Aston Martin and the Heart of Racing-run Valkyrie team will make its IMSA Sportscar Championship debut at Sebring, in the classic 12 Hours race, next weekend. The race will take place on March 15th, starting at 10:10am local time, or 14:10 GMT/UTC. *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Verstappen.com will race GT3s in GTWC Europe this year URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/verstappen-com-racing-gt3s-gtwc-europe-2025/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:36:34.000Z *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) Four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has announced his own team will [race](https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/news/2920/2025-entry-verstappen.com-racing-confirms-endurance-cup-assault-with-aston-martin?filter%5Fteam%5Fnews=0&ref=ontheapex.com) in the renowned GT World Challenge Europe series this year. Chris Lulham will make a major step into real-world motor racing, having been part of Team Redline, who Verstappen races for in sim racing. Lulham will co-drive the #33 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, run by [2 Seas Motorsport](https://www.2seasmotorsport.co.uk/news/verstappen-com-racing-announces-2025-program?ref=ontheapex.com) in the series' Gold Cup, with Thierry Vermeulen and Porsche Cup star Harry King at five Endurance Cup rounds. At the five sprint cup races, Vermeulen and Lulham will share the #69 Ferrari 296 GT3, which is run by Emil Frey Racing. There will be a total of 15 races throughout the 10 circuit venues, such as two one-hour races at each Sprint Cup round and three-hour races at Monza, Nurburgring and Barcelona with the historic 24 Hours of Spa being the most demanding affair. *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) [Verstappen](https://news.verstappen.com/en/article/5723/?ref=ontheapex.com) said: 'It has always been my dream to support young drivers and for a while now, I have been trying to create the possibility of a sim driver to progress to real world racing. 'With Chris Lulham, now being promoted from Team Redline sim racing to our GT3 Sprint and Endurance Racing, teaming up with Thierry Vermeulen, who has been competing for Verstappen.com Racing for a few years now, we take it to the next step.' 'It is a really exciting prospect and I can’t wait to get started,' added Fullham. 'We already had a very thorough and busy off-season preparing for what is coming. 'It is an unbelievable chance and I can’t wait to make the most out of this opportunity.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/VerstappenCOM_Racing_-_Render_Ferrari_296_GT3_GTWC_2025_2.jpg) Redline sim-racer will compete full-time in the GTWCE across two GT3 cars – Photo: GT World Challenge Europe Lulham compared sim-racing to the real-world having worked a comprehensive off-season programme with the four-time F1 champion and Vermeulen himself boasting two full seasons of Sprint Cup experience. 'Max has been working side-by-side with Thierry and myself, developing and setting up the car,' Lulham said. 'Both are very friendly with me and very cooperative and supportive. 'I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. 'I am really thankful for the opportunities via Verstappen.com Racing.' 'The experience is very different with so many people at a racetrack working to support you. 'In a simulator, you are by yourself, focusing on your own performance. 'It feels fantastic to have such a big team supporting you. 'Driving a real car is physical, not super comparable in terms of the experience, but the technique is very similar. 'The main difference is, of course, the G-forces. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) 'The things I have learned with Team Redline over the past four years, we apply the same at the real racetrack. 'That for me has made the step very smooth. I would say it’s come very naturally.' The #33 Aston Martin's Endurance Cup campaign will begin with the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard on 11-13 April, followed by Monza on 30 May–1 June and the 77th edition of the Spa 24 Hours on 26-29 June, concluded by the Nurburgring (29–31 August) and Barcelona (10–12 October) races. Meanwhile, the #69 Ferrari's Sprint Cup will kick off at Brands Hatch on 3-4 May and continue towards Zandvoort (16-18 May), Misano (18-20 July), Magny-Cours (1-3 August) and Valencia (19-21 September). The Prologue pre-season test will see the GTWC Europe paddock testing together on 10-11 March. ### WALLPAPER WEDNESDAY: WEC at Qatar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wallpaper-wednesday-wec-at-qatar/ Last updated: 2025-06-28T21:37:46.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) The 2025 Qatar 1812km is in the [rear view mirror](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/01%5FLOSAIL/579%5FFIA%20WEC/202502281400%5FRace/10%5FHour%2010/03%5FClassification%5FRace%5FHour%2010.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), but that doesn't mean we can't share some stunning photos from the action at Qatar for to use on your phone, laptop, tablet, or any other tech. The entire pack is downloadable — the download link is at the bottom of the page. The shots below are lower resolution versions to act as preview versions. We obviously don't know what size you need, so the images in the pack are quite large. You're free to resize as you see fit. [Assessing each Hypercar team’s performance in QatarHow did the teams do in the WEC season opener at Qatar?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-31.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0539.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/assessing-rating-hypercar-teams-performance-qatar-wec/) We've also noted each image's individual photographer credit on this page, and the agency or company responsible. Please don't reshare the images without crediting the original photographer. The individual photos in the pack also have the original photographer credited in the metadata. *Feature image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI* ## Landscape ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0209--1-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0213.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0323.webp) Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0364.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0532.webp) Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0556.webp) Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0658.webp) Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0705.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0710.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI [Ferrari’s Qatar win starts world title bid on right footFerrari’s goal this clear is very clear: winning the world championship. A win at the opening race of the season at Qatar is exactly what they needed.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-32.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0670--1--1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferraris-qatar-win-starts-world-title-bid-on-right-foot/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0713.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025008911.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025015704.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025016142.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025020815.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025021211.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025024799.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025025336.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/WEC125_022814082123800ND-2.webp) Image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Portrait ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0477.webp) Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025017474.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/Qatar_JT2025025217.webp) Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap [Did Cadillac have the pace to take on Ferrari at Qatar?The Cadillacs looked quick in the first two hours of the race. But could they have taken on the dominant Ferraris to challenge for the win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-33.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0636--1--1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/did-cadillac-have-pace-take-ferrari-qatar-wec/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/WEC125_022711564406766DG.webp) Image: Drew Gibson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/WEC125_022814082114527MS.webp) Image: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/WEC125_022817390311345DG.webp) Image: Drew Gibson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/WEC125_022817524511672DG.webp) Image: Drew Gibson [Qatar wallpapersQatar wallpapers.zip59 MBdownload-circle](https://www.ontheapex.com/content/files/2025/03/Qatar-wallpapers.zip "Download") [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Rating each Hypercar team's performance in Qatar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/assessing-rating-hypercar-teams-performance-qatar-wec/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:37:30.000Z *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) First blood has been drawn in this year's FIA World Endurance Championship, in what is sure to be a tense battle. But how did each Hypercar team do? Well, we've got the data. Specifically, we've calculated each manufacturer's average lap time, taking the top 20% laps from each car and averaging them together to find an average value for each team. ![An Aston Martin Valkyrie in the pitlane at Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, from overhead.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/_009_Valkyrie_pits.jpg) Aston Martin and its new Valkyrie performed decently on the car's debut. Image: Alastair Staley / Drew Gibson Photography ## Aston Martin *#007 - Tom Gamble, Harry Tincknell, Ross Gunn* *Overall car average: 01:44.342* *#009 - Alex Riberas, Marco Sørensen, Roman de Angelis* *Overall car average: 01:44.360* *Team average: 01:44.351* A brand new car, new drivers to WEC, and a new team to running prototypes. All things considered, Aston Martin's first race with the Valkyrie went alright. The team will have learnt a lot simply by having the car on track in a race environment. Testing is great and you can learn a lot, but there's no substitute for racing. It's where the things you learn in testing are tested and the car truly comes alive. Unfortunately, the #007 did retire with transmission problems, which weren't able to be fixed during the race. But to get one car to the finish after 10 hours is an achievement in itself and something the team should be proud of. 'We knew this was going to be a ‘learning weekend’ for Valkyrie,' said Aston Martin's head of endurance, Adam Carter. 'And we’ve encountered some of the ‘teething issues’ you would associate with a new racing programme. That said, we have been encouraged by the race pace both cars showed during their stints. We saw plenty of indications throughout our time during the Qatar Prologue and the opening race that give us cause to believe we can be competitive as the season matures. 'We’ve learned a huge amount over this past week, gathered considerable data, and this gives us plenty to build on as we look ahead to Valkyrie’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut at Sebring in two weeks’ time.' [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Rating: 7/10 ![Two factory Porsche 963s on track in fading light at Lusail International Circuit, Qatar.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/WEC125_022816412110728DG.JPG) The Porsches never threatened the sharp end of the field in Qatar. Image: Drew Gibson / Porsche ## Porsche *#5 - Julien Andlauer, Michael Christensen, Mathieu Jaminet.* *Overall car average: 01:43.906* *#6 - Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Matt Campbell.* *Overall car average: 01:43.970* *Team average: 01:43.938* Let's be honest here. Porsche did not do well at Qatar. Last year, Porsche won the race with the #6, the first win for an LMDh-rules car in WEC. Plus, they finished 1-2-3, just as Ferrari did this year, with a customer car in second and the other factory car in third. This year, Porsche were nowhere. They were, on average, the slowest team of those who'd competed last year, almost nine tenths a lap off Ferrari. The fact they scored some points, with the #5 car finishing 10th, is somewhat remarkable and a testament to the skill of the drivers and the guys on the pitwall. In general, though, Porsche were largely anonymous in this race, and all weekend, since they failed to get either car into Hyperpole. They never troubled the leaders in the race and only managed to get towards the sharp end via the off-kilter strategy with the #5 car. Porsche's customer team, Proton, were as anonymous as the factory cars, finishing behind both and only in front of the Aston Martins. Porsche, and Proton, will be hoping for better — much better — in Italy. ### Rating: 4/10 ![Two Peugeot 9X8s on track at Lusail International Circuit, exiting the pits.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0215.jpg) Peugeot did well to get a top 10, but more pace is needed. Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ## Peugeot *#93 - Jean-Eric Vergne, Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen* *Overall car average: 01:43.791* *#94 - Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen, Stoffel Vandoorne* *Overall car average: 01:43.846* *Team average: 01:43.819* Peugeot are so frustratingly inconsistent. Last year the team looked as though they were on the verge of a breakthrough, almost taking a podium at Fuji and going one further at Bahrain, taking third. That was the 'new' 9X8's first podium. Here, they finished a best result of ninth, with the #93 car, and never really looked like challenging for more. Despite the fact that the 'old' 9X8 almost took a podium here last year. It makes no sense. They've spent a joker upgrading the suspension, which supposedly will help the car's performance on bumpy tracks, which has been both versions of the 9X8's achilles' heel. So we'll have to see what it's like on bumpier, more old-school tracks such as Imola, Spa and Le Mans, the last of which is of course made up of predominantly public roads (although much less than in years past, these days). At the same time, though, reasons to be cheerful: both 9X8s were quicker than both factory Porsches over the race distance. That's something at least, although I very much doubt that'll be a trend over the season. ### Rating: 5/10 ![#36 Alpine A424 at Lusail International Circuit, in darkness, lid by floodlights.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/A-mixed-start-to-the-season-for-Alpine-Endurance-Team-at-the-Qatar-1812km.jpg) Alpine's A424 didn't work well as the track temperature cooled. Image: Thomas Fenetre / DPPI / Alpine ## Alpine *#35 - Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi* *Overall car average: 01:43.689* *#36 - Jules Gounon, Mick Schumacher, Fred Makowiecki* *Overall car average: 01:43.859* *Team average: 01:43.774* Nul points, as the French team would say, for Alpine this past weekend. Pointless? Probably not, but I think they'd have wanted and expected better. They started well, with Habsburg running third in the early stages and generally keeping his rivals behind him, but gradually they seemed to fade as others moved up ahead of them and asserted dominance. The A424 is a good car; it's fast and balanced. The reliability is always a question mark given the Mecachrome engine, but it survived at Qatar, which is something. Then again, it survived in the Middle East race last year, the A424's first race, then both cars blew up early on at Le Mans within half an hour of each other, before the darkness had arrived. So it's hard to say if Alpine's joker upgrades have helped just yet; we'll only really be able to judge that in June. But anyway. No two ways about it: 13th and 14th for Alpine is disappointing and not what they would have wanted, after showing pace potential in both the Prologue and free practice. Even more so given the #35 car was quicker than both Peugeots on average over the race distance, and in general, when looking at the team average, they were quicker than their French rivals too. ### Rating: 4/10 ![#38 Cadillac V-Series.R at Lusail International Circuit.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/38-car-race.jpg) Cadillac had the pace but came undone in calamitous fashion. Image: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography / Cadillac ## Cadillac *#12 - Alex Lynn, Will Stevens, Norman Nato* *Overall car average: 01:43.254* *#38 - Jenson Button, Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais* *Overall car average: 01:43.652* *Team average: 01:43.453* First off: Cadillac had the pace to win this race. It's obviously impossible to say whether they'd have won. There's too many variables there, far too many. But they had the pace. And, yet again, it wasn't to be. *That* crash between the two cars put to bed any hopes of a decent result, and the #12 had to go into damage limitation mode to score eighth and at least take home some points. It's a huge shame, because we were robbed of a great race at Qatar the moment Lynn rear-ended Button's car as the race was about to go green again. I'm not here to cast blame; I'll let online comments do that. But Cadillac were the only team with true pace to be able to take it to Ferrari. And yet, it wasn't to be. [Did Cadillac have the pace to take on Ferrari at Qatar?The Cadillacs looked quick in the first two hours of the race. But could they have taken on the dominant Ferraris to challenge for the win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-29.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0636--1-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/did-cadillac-have-pace-take-ferrari-qatar-wec/) Just look at the averages. Behind the three Ferraris, the #12 was the fastest car, although there wasn't much in it with the BMWs and the Toyotas. And that's with likely internal damage, in one way or another, to the front end after the crash. But, the American manufacturer, now partnered with JOTA, have shown they have genuine pace and the ability to fight at the front with the front runners. And JOTA of all teams know how to win races. Both just need to execute on the potential. ### Rating: 6/10 ![Two Toyota GR010 Hybrids on track at Lusail International Circuit, Qatar, rounding a corner.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/tjm2528fe29.jpg) Toyota limited the damage at a track the GR010 Hybrid didn't suit. Image: James Moy Photography / Toyota ## Toyota *#7 - Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, Nyck de Vries* *Overall car average: 01:43.350* *#8 - Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa* *Overall car average: 01:43.360* *Team average: 01:43.355* After looking off the pace at both the Prologue and in free practice, to finish the race fifth and sixth is truly sterling work from Toyota. They hadn't looked like challengers at all leading up to the race, and a poor qualifying from Hartley in the #8 machine just added to the Japanese-German team's misery. It looked as though the race was going to be a long, hard slog. But through perseverance and generally staying out of trouble, keeping their noses clean — something Toyota is consistently excellent at — they came away with a good result: 'damage limitation' the team called it. They struggled at Qatar last year, too, and have been very clear since the Prologue this year that Lusail is not a track the GR010 Hybrid suits. They're clearly expecting to be more on the pace from Imola onwards, where they took a surprise win last year after the rain came and Ferrari dropped the ball on strategy. Okay, yes, they were more than three tenths on average per lap slower than Ferrari. Yes they were beaten by a BMW. But that doesn't matter account for the fact that prior to the race, fifth and sixth would have a dream result, considering they were eighth fastest in the long runs in the Prologue and in free practice. ### Rating: 8/10 ![The #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 on track at Lusail International Circuit.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/25-02-28_19-14-47_BMW_WEC_Qatar_Julian_Kroehl_7488.jpg) BMW finished 'best of the rest' on a day where Ferrari were superior. Image: BMW [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## BMW *#15 - Kevin Magnussen, Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello* *Overall car average: 01:43.328* *#20 - Robin Frijns, Sheldon van der Linde, Rene Rast* *Overall car average: 01:43.349* *Team average: 01:43.338* BMW were the true sleeper agents of this race. They didn't have the pace to challenge Ferrari, but were able to fight Toyota and come out on top, finishing 'best of the rest'. While the #15 finished fourth, the #20 wasn't far behind either, just 17 seconds off the team car at the flag. A touch over 13 seconds off the #7 Toyota. 'This was a very good start to our second season in the FIA WEC,' said Andreas Roos, the head of BMW M Motorsport. 'Our two BMW M Hybrid V8s showed strong pace from the Prologue, and with a second place in qualifying, we underscored our ambition to compete for the podium. Unfortunately, the Ferraris were a bit too strong in the race, but we are satisfied with fourth and seventh places.' As Roos said, the BMWs fell back during the race with the two Toyotas ahead for a significant period. But towards the end, the race swung back into BMWs favour, with Vanthoor, Marciello, and Magnussen able to retake fourth, beating the mighty Toyota. ### Rating: 9/10 ![The #50 Ferrari 499P in the pitlane at Qatar's Lusail International Circuit, with the driver's eyes visible through the windscreen.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0698-3.jpg) Ferrari took its first factory 499P win outside France at Qatar. Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ## Ferrari #50 - Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen Overall car average: 01:43.041 #51 - Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi Overall car average: 01:43.060 Team average: 01:43.050 Almost perfect from Ferrari at Qatar. They maximised their pace advantage to take a 1-2-3, and, importantly, maximum points for the manufacturer championship. They did enjoy a decent pace advantage over their rivals, but early in the race, the Cadillacs were quicker. And as we've explored before, the American cars may have been able to genuinely challenge if they hadn't have taken each other out. But it wasn't to be, and in the end it gave Ferrari a fairly easy ride to the finish. Toyota looked menacing at times and sometimes were very close to taking a position off them, but never *really* looked like having the pace to put the Italians under real, genuine pressure. [Ferrari’s Qatar win starts world title bid on right footFerrari’s goal this clear is very clear: winning the world championship. A win at the opening race of the season at Qatar is exactly what they needed.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-30.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0670--1-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ferraris-qatar-win-starts-world-title-bid-on-right-foot/) Ferrari tend to be in this position and then somehow have the win stolen out from under their noses — Imola 2024, anyone? — but this time they were able to come out on top. The drivers were all keen to emphasise that this win is a result of a winter of hard work and graft from everyone at Maranello. 'First of all, I want to thank the entire team for the work done over the winter, which allowed us to arrive here in Qatar with great potential to exploit', said Fuoco. 'We performed very well in the race, both in tyre management and strategy. What we achieved today, with three Ferraris in the top positions at the end of a World Endurance Championship race, will go down in history.' The only thing to take the shine off the result was the other factory car, the #51, getting a slew of penalties and finishing third. Calado, Giovinazzi and Pier Guidi definitely had the pace to win, but that requires a clean race with no errors — something the #50 crew did, and the #51 did not. Such is life. A word, too, for Robert Kubica's excellent defending under pressure from Pier Guidi at the end of the race. Superb work from the Pole. ### Rating: 9.5/10 *Feature image: Charly Lopez / DPPI* *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Ferrari's Qatar win starts world title bid on right foot URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/ferraris-qatar-win-starts-world-title-bid-on-right-foot/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:37:55.000Z "After claiming success at Le Mans last year, we were determined to begin 2025 by showing our potential, because we have a major goal – to chase the world title for Ferrari. Scoring 38 points here in Qatar is undoubtedly ideal as we pursue this dream." These are the words of Ferrari factory driver Miguel Molina after taking victory in the opening race of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship at Qatar. The Italian manufacturer has made no bones about it: they are chasing the world title this year. The win at Qatar — a 1-2-3, no less, with the factory cars taking a 1-2 in the manufacturers championship, as the second-placed "satellite" #83 car doesn't score manufacturer points — gets that title bid off to a good start. Back in 2023, the aim was very simple for pretty much any manufacturer in WEC: win Le Mans. Even Toyota, winners for the past five years at that point, were relishing the chance of going up against more competition, after being offered only token challengers since 2018. But Ferrari have been there, done that — twice. They've proved the Ferrari 499P is a Le Mans-winning car. Yes a third win on the trot would undoubtedly go down well at Maranello, but the aim this year is broader: win the world title. Molina's teammate in the #50 car, Nicklas Nielsen, emphasised this team-wide aim in his pre-season comments. 'Winning at Le Mans in 2024 motivates us to compete for victory in this year’s 24 Hours as well, but I think our goal now is also to win the world championship,' he said. You can't be clearer than that. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0561.jpg) Image: DPPI/WEC While the management didn't mention the world title explicitly in their post-Qatar comments, the underlying implication is still there. “This result repays all the effort and the hard work carried out from the second half of last season, particularly during the winter, when we focused on preparing for races at circuits where we did not perform well in 2024, such as Qatar', said Ferdinando Cannizzo, Ferrari's head of endurance race cars. 'Today, the team did an outstanding job: we encountered no issues on any of the three cars and executed an excellent strategy to recover ground with the number 51 499P. This is just the beginning of what will be a long and complex season, and we must approach every single round with this same attitude.' [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Not just manufacturers title — drivers' too The drivers, too, are keen to have the title 'world champion' bestowed on them. Earlier in the season, James Calado told reporters, *Only Endurance* included, that the world championship was now his aim. 'Two Le Mans is great, but of course they \[Ferrari\] want a world championship,' he said. *Only Endurance* asked if, before winning Le Mans, that was the aim, and now that's been achieved, if the goal has switched. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/03/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0684.jpg) Image: DPPI/WEC 'The aim was always to win both,' said Calado. 'I've always said from the start, I prefer a championship over Le Mans. Le Mans is just one race. Yeah it's massive and there's a lot of media, there's a lot of TV footage, but what counts more for me is a world championship.' So, while Calado and his teammates Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi didn't win at Qatar, second is still a good result and good points towards winning the championship. *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### Did Cadillac have the pace to take on Ferrari at Qatar? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/did-cadillac-have-pace-take-ferrari-qatar-wec/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:38:21.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) This is going to be a reasonably short post because after watching a race for 10 hours, taking almost 3000 words in notes (along with my fellow motorsport journalist, and all-round superstar, [Mo Rehman](https://bsky.app/profile/m0rehman.bsky.social?ref=ontheapex.com)), and writing around 3000 prose words already today (including a [1700-word Hypercar race report](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/02/28/ferrari-sweep-podium-with-dominant-1-2-3-at-qatar/?ref=ontheapex.com)), I'm shattered. But I couldn't resist taking a quick look at the analysis file WEC and Al Kamel send out before heading to bed. The question on my, and I think most people's lips, after the Qatar 1812km, won comfortably by Ferrari in dominant 1-2-3 fashion, is: could Cadillac have challenged for the win today? We know from the Prologue and free practice analysis that the two pacesetters, from when wheels first hit the track surface last Friday, were Cadillac and Ferrari. We were expecting an almighty battle between them in the race. [WEC ANALYSIS: It’s all looking exceedingly close at QatarOnly Endurance crunches the long run pace from free practice 1 and 2 to work who’s looking quick at Qatar. It’s close, very very close…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-28.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FP3-Analysis.001-1.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-analysis-exceedingly-close-at-qatar-ferrari-cadillac-porsche-toyota/) However, after *that* crash 2h20m (roughly) in, both Cadillacs had damage of some form which meant they weren't racing at their full potential. So we only got two hours of them racing at their full potential. Plus, because they were both racing mid pack after separate incidents for both Will Stevens and Earl Bamber in the first hour, they were naturally going to be slower than the leading two Ferraris. Both the Italian cars were in clean air and not fighting for position, which obviously slows you down considerably. And, track conditions also changed massively in the race, as it went from warm and sunny in the daylight, to dark and cold in the night time as it neared midnight and the end of the race. So, it's hard to say for sure what Cadillac could have done. But, my instinct is yes, they could have done. The data shows us that, in the first hour, the #38 Cadillac of Earl Bamber was two tenths faster, when you take his top 20% laps and average them out, compared to the #51 Ferrari of James Calado. The Kiwi sat fourth for the first 15 minutes, until he was spun — or rather, spun himself — while passing bronze-rated James Cottingham, in the #59 United Autosports McLaren, tagging the McLaren at turn 1 and spinning as a result. He dropped back to 14th, but then went on a tear, setting two overall fastest laps, then setting another on the hour. After the pitstops had shaken out, he sat an incredible sixth – partly due to strategy work from JOTA and Cadillac. In the second hour, he was even quicker, with an average of 1:43.144\. To further solidify the fact the Cadillacs had genuine pace, at least in the day-time, Stevens had an average over the hour of 1:43.337, second quickest on average. The next quickest average was the Calado, in the #51 Ferrari, almost three tenths on average off Bamber. After the crash, the #12 Cadillac, with Stevens replaced by Lynn, was still relatively fast — fourth quickest on average, two and a bit tenths slower than Calado's teammate Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 Ferrari. Jenson Button, who had replaced Bamber in the #38, was among the slowest cars on average that hour. So, we'll have to wait to see how well the 2009 F1 world champion has adapted to the Cadillac, after a year in the Porsche. If you want more evidence, look at the overall averages, calculated by averaging out each hourly average for each car. The #12 Cadillac was the fastest car, on average, after the three Ferraris. And Stevens, Lynn, and Nato were only just over two tenths slower per lap over 10 hours. Plus, they were almost certainly carrying almost some form of damage to the front end of the car after Lynn rear-ended the team car. But anyway. Did Cadillac have the pace to challenge Ferrari? An emphatic yes. The crash inadvertently robbed us of a great battle between Ferrari and Cadillac today. But, one thing is for sure: JOTA and Cadillac mean business this season. I'm off to bed. Good night. There'll be more analysis of the race at Qatar over the weekend and into next week. But first, I need rest. See the full race results from Qatar [here](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/01%5FLOSAIL/579%5FFIA%20WEC/202502281400%5FRace/10%5FHour%2010/03%5FClassification%5FRace%5FHour%2010.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), and if you're interested in checking out the analysis, it's [here](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/01%5FLOSAIL/579%5FFIA%20WEC/202502281400%5FRace/10%5FHour%2010/23%5FAnalysis%5FRace%5FHour%2010.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com). [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### How Giovinazzi took pole at Qatar, plus Toyota and Porsche URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/how-giovinazzi-took-pole-at-qatar-plus-toyota-and-porsche/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:38:52.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) So, Ferrari's Antonio Giovinazzi [took pole](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/01%5FLOSAIL/579%5FFIA%20WEC/202502271820%5FQualifying/90%5FClassification%5FQualifying.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com) for the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener at Qatar. Great stuff, not entirely unexpected, although both Tim and I thought either Cadillac or BMW would take it. [OE PREDICTS: How will WEC’s Qatar 1812km go down?How many predictions can Tim and Phil get right for the WEC season opener?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-26.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/OE-Predicts-Qatar.001.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/oe-predicts-how-will-wecs-qatar-1812km-go-down/) But not so: Ferrari had the pace to took pole, the #51 crew's second pole in 24 months. However, looking at some of the data, in two of out three sectors at Lusail International Circuit, Giovinazzi wasn't actually the quickest everywhere in Hyperpole. In fact, he was third quickest in both sector 1 and 2, regaining all that time in sector 3 to take pole. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Frame-1.png) As you can see from the track map above — I'm no designer, you can probably tell — D. Vanthoor was quickest in sector 1 in the all-important Hyperpole session. Giovinazzi was 0.072 off here, with his teammate and countryman Antonio Fuoco, in the sister #50 car, in-between, 0.031 off the BMW driver. Going into sector 2, Alex Lynn was fastest, with Giovinazzi 0.049 slower than the Briton. In this case, D. Vanthoor was in-between, 0.010 faster than Giovinazzi, making him 0.039 slower than Lynn. Giovinazzi then regained that time in sector 3, 0.114 faster than D. Vanthoor and almost two tenths faster than Fuoco. Lynn was 0.369 off in sector 3, losing the time he'd gained in sector 2 as the quickest driver through that sector. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) 'Starting from the front tomorrow here in Qatar is the result of the great teamwork we have done in recent days,' said Giovinazzi after qualifying and Hyperpole. 'I am thrilled and want to thank all my teammates and the team. In qualifying, I put together a strong lap, but I knew the challenge would be really tough in the decisive Hyperpole session, where I managed to improve and secure this fantastic result. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Ferrari_499P_25_WEC_Qatar_quali_Giovinazzi-1.jpg) Giovinazzi was delighted with his pole position. Image: Ferrari 'We have an excellent car, and starting first and third is undoubtedly important, but the race will be very demanding, and we need to execute everything perfectly.' ## What happened to Toyota and Porsche? Toyota, the current world manufacturers' champions, have been struggling at Qatar, same as they did last year. Porsche, whose #6 crew of Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor are the world drivers' champions (alongside Andre Lotterer) too have been struggling. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0267.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Qatar_JT2025022075.jpg) Toyota and Porsche are struggling a bit at Qatar, but the race may change their fortunes. Images: DPPI (left) and Juergen Tap / Porsche (right) Out of the four cars these two powerhouse teams have, only one made it through to Hyperpole, the #7 Toyota in the hands of Nyck de Vries. So, what happened? Well, it's hard to say. There's no obvious place where either were losing time in qualifying... it seems they are just lacking pace at Lusail. Take a look at the diagrams below. We've taken the #6 Porsche's best qualifying sectors, and the #7 Toyota's Hyperpole sectors, to try and form a picture around this. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Frame-2.png) In the case of Porsche, it seems Estre lost the largest amount of time in sector 3\. Although, in sectors 1 and 2 he lost almost a second, 0.984\. His overall lap was +1.776 slower than the qualifying lap of Giovinazzi in the first session, with the optimal slightly quicker. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Frame-3.png) And, for de Vries in the #7 Toyota, he lost the most time in sector 1, but like Estre, if you add up the other sectors he lost more in those combined than he did in sector 1\. De Vries's optimal lap was also his overall best in Hyperpole, but he couldn't match Giovinazzi, more than a second off. So, a bit of a mixed bag. Our analysis revealed yesterday Porsche's race pace *might* be better than the single lap pace, so they could move up into the points by the end of a long 10 hour race. Toyota are maybe struggling more, so don't expect miracles there, although having got into Hyperpole, de Vries is at least starting ahead of the two Porsches. [WEC ANALYSIS: It’s all looking exceedingly close at QatarOnly Endurance crunches the long run pace from free practice 1 and 2 to work who’s looking quick at Qatar. It’s close, very very close…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-27.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FP3-Analysis.001.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-analysis-exceedingly-close-at-qatar-ferrari-cadillac-porsche-toyota/) The same cannot be said for Brendon Hartley, who qualified the #8 Toyota and had a torrid time of it. Both of the brand new Aston Martin Valkyries qualified in front of him — not good for Toyota. But like [Sean Gelael said](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/02/27/gelael-expecting-to-have-more-grip-as-he-takes-lmgt3-pole/?ref=ontheapex.com) after LMGT3 qualifying — for a 10 hour race, qualifying is just show. The race is the thing that matters. And we can't wait! *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### OE PREDICTS: How will WEC's Qatar 1812km go down? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/oe-predicts-how-will-wecs-qatar-1812km-go-down/ Last updated: 2025-02-27T10:43:56.000Z The first race of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship is almost upon us, and to say it's highly anticipated by motorsport fans is probably underselling it a bit. There are 36 cars, equally split between two stellar classes. Eight manufacturers will race bespoke prototypes in Hypercar, with the new Aston Martin Valkyrie and its naturally-aspirated V12 engine causing fans to go weak at the knees. [WEC ANALYSIS: It’s all looking exceedingly close at QatarOnly Endurance crunches the long run pace from free practice 1 and 2 to work who’s looking quick at Qatar. It’s close, very very close…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-25.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0209-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-analysis-exceedingly-close-at-qatar-ferrari-cadillac-porsche-toyota/) And in LMGT3, it's as close as ever, with nine manufacturers duking it out for honours in a hotly contested class, which this year includes Mercedes for the first time. *Only Endurance* has readied a few predictions for qualifying and the race. We'll come back to these after the on-track action has finished to see how we did. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/OE-Predicts-Qatar.002.png) Could Cadillac take their first win in WEC? Image: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI ## Race win ### Hypercar ***Tim:*** The factory Ferraris are without doubt the cars with the best shot at winning on Friday after very strong runs across the Prologue and into Free Practice. But I'm going to go with my heart over my head on this one, and the prospect of Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA scoring the American marque's first win at the inauguration of their partnership would be something very special. ***Phil:*** I can't look past Ferrari for the race win. They've had pace all week and were incredibly strong at the Prologue. They've done a lot of work over the winter to optimise and refine the 499P, and it feels like they're ready to take the next step. Don't get me wrong, they'll have to fight for it. But everything is lining up for a red wave on Friday. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-2-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### LMGT3 ***Tim:*** We look set for a really interesting season in LMGT3 with plenty of driver market shuffles in the off-season. Whilst Lexus have been quick across the Prologue and Free Practice, they have the unfortunate score being the only manufacturer to not score a podium in the category. TF Sport Corvette had a double podium to round-out 2024, and I think that was an epiphany moment on how to get the job done in LMGT3\. Keating to win on his WEC return, the #33 takes the class win. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/OE-Predicts-Qatar.004.png) Team WRT have had a good start to 2025\. Image: BMW Motorsport ***Phil:*** This one is harder to predict because it all depends on the bronze and silver drivers. On track the Lexuses have looked fast since the Prologue but I'm not convinced the RC F GT3 has the pace over 10 hours. I'm going to go slightly left-field and pick the #31 WRT BMW, with its driver duo of Yasser Shahin, Timur Boguslavskiy, and Augusto Farfus. WRT know how to win races and have started the year strong, especially with the win at Bathurst. Shahin proved himself in WEC competition last year, Farfus is quick, and Boguslavskiy is solid. ## Pole ### Hypercar ***Tim:*** Dries Vanthoor's Rolex 24 pole position was definitely a the start of a new chapter for him, but also for the BMW M Hybrid V8\. Our analysis showed that BMW don't necessarily have the race pace, but they were fast in the Prologue and Qualifying will be their chance to grab a headline early doors. The #15, and the younger Vanthoor brother get the pole. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/OE-Predicts-Qatar.003.png) BMW may have the pace for pole. Image: BMW Motorsport ***Phil:*** The new Cadillac-JOTA partnership has started strong and had good one lap pace all week, since the Prologue. While I think Ferrari's well-oiled machine might outdo them over the race distance, I think Cadillac could provide a shock and take pole. Which car? It could be either, but Bourdais is experienced and knows this car well. I'd stick him in the car and and watch him fly. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide-2.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### LMGT3 ***Tim:*** The LMGT3 qualifying format has been shuffled for 2025, only Bronze drivers will take part in the knock-out session, with the cars that make it through to the top ten shootout being taken over by the team's Silver-rated driver. With that in mind, it's hard to overlook the one-lap pace of the Vista AF Corse Ferraris, but I think it will be the 6h Fuji-winning #54 on pole with Francesco Castellacci taking top spot. ***Phil:*** Ben Keating is a weapon in qualifying and knows how to pull performances out of the bag. TF Sport and the Corvette team have looked quick since the Prologue and are understanding the Z06 GT3.R more and more. The new qualifying format for LMGT3s might throw a spanner in the works, but the team's silver driver, Jonny Edgar, is quick and has been racing in sportscars for a while now. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/OE-Predicts-Qatar.005.png) Ben Keating is back in WEC competition. Image: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI ## First retirement ### Hypercar ***Tim:*** I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the reliability of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, instead I think that one of the Peugeot 9X8s will be the first to retire. Even in its second iteration, the French LMH has still suffered reliability concerns and more often than not we've seen drivers pull aside for a 'turn it off and on again' protocol with limited success. ***Phil:*** Just because it's a new car, I expect one of the Aston Martin Valkyries to retire at some point with new car teething troubles. It ran faultlessly in the Prologue but stopped on track in the first free practice session, with what Aston Martin called a 'new car glitch'. Will it be the first Hypercar race retirement of the year? Maybe, maybe not. I just hope it gives a good show. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/OE-Predicts-Qatar.006.png) Image: Javier Jiminez/DPPI ### LMGT3 ***Tim:*** The Ford Mustangs have had a tough time in LMGT3 over the last year, and that misfortune has carried into 2025 with the #77 Proton Competition car experiencing a significant fire during the Prologue. Given the fact that the car has undergone a complete front-end rebuild, it wouldn't be a surprise to see it throw the towel in first during the race. ***Phil:*** Mercedes and new customer partner Iron Lynx have had some small sensor issues over the week, and while it doesn't appear to be anything serious, it wouldn't surprise me to see a Mercedes retire with similar issues in Qatar. This one is hard to predict because, again, it depends on the bronze and silver drivers. I just hope the Iron Dames' bad luck doesn't continue this year — they deserve to do well after a torrid year in 2024 with Lamborghini. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-3.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### WEC ANALYSIS: It's all looking exceedingly close at Qatar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-analysis-exceedingly-close-at-qatar-ferrari-cadillac-porsche-toyota/ Last updated: 2025-03-09T11:40:27.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) Race day for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship is finally upon us. But how will it go down? And how much has changed since the Prologue? Well, the free practice sessions give us some clues. Firstly, let's quickly examine what the pace order from the Prologue was. We thought, based on analysis performed by *Only Endurance,* that the order looked something like this: Ferrari, Cadillac, BMW, Peugeot, Alpine, Toyota, Porsche and Aston Martin. [WEC ANALYSIS: It’s all looking exceedingly close at QatarOnly Endurance crunches the long run pace from free practice 1 and 2 to work who’s looking quick at Qatar. It’s close, very very close…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-24.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0209.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-analysis-exceedingly-close-at-qatar-ferrari-cadillac-porsche-toyota/) This hasn't changed all that much in the practice sessions. Ferrari and Cadillac are still at the top, but there's also a surprise addition (relative to the Prologue) of Porsche behind them. Then comes Peugeot, Alpine and BMW, then Toyota, then Aston Martin. With that said, let's look at this in detail. As you can see from the graph, the satellite #83 AF Corse Ferrari topped the long run pace in FP1\. New boy Phil Hanson did a eight lap stint to set this average, a 01:43.857, under a third of the expected stint length in the race, of 30 laps. So, obviously, this may not be representative. But, that said, Ferrari factory driver Alessandro Pier Guidi did a 10-lap stint and was just four hundredths slower, so it's hard to say. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0136.jpg) Ferrari are emerging as favourites this weekend. Image: DPPI / WEC Behind them was the #12 Cadillac of Will Stevens, with the Briton doing exactly the same stint as Pier Guidi — lap 2 to 11 — to go just over two tenths slower than the Italian. New Porsche Penske factory driver Julien Andlauer was fourth, which moves Porsche up from languishing near the back in the Prologue to nearer, at least, the sharp end of the pack. The Frenchman was well over half a second off Hanson's average, but shows Porsche have put in the hours in the gap between the Prologue and free practice. Or maybe they've just misplaced some sandbags. Who can say. Peugeot, BMW, and Alpine are all grouped together. They're not ginormous amounts off Ferrari and Cadillac — the fastest BMW, the #20 of Robin Frijns, was eight tenths a lap off, while the fastest Peugeot, the #93 of Mikkel Jensen, was 1.2s off. But it's significant enough that we might see them fall back in the race. Toyota are still in the doldrums a bit, as you can see in both graphs. The Japanese-German manufacturer struggled here in the past last year and it seems those struggles are continuing this year as well. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0424--1-.jpg) Toyota struggled for pace at Qatar last year, and the same seems to be happening this year. Image: DPPI / WEC If you listen to the team they don't sound overly confident about the race ahead. Consider Ryo Hirakawa's statement, 'The car is working better than in the Prologue which is a good thing, but we are not yet in the top group in terms of lap time, unfortunately. 'We never give up and I feel like the team is on the case. We are doing our best; the race will be challenging but let’s see what we can achieve.' So, if you're expecting Toyota to suddenly be quickest in the race, as we've seen them do before... like last year, don't bank on it. But at the same time, don't ever count them out, the wily old foxes. Looking at FP2, the pace window shrinks quite dramatically. We've got seven of the eight manufacturers with at least one car within half a second of each other, based on long run pace. Surprisingly, Peugeot led the long run pace tables, with the #93 of Jensen at the top, with the Dane setting a 01:43.927 on average, across a 13-lap stint. #50 Ferrari's Miguel Molina, though wasn't far back, just 0.021 thousandths, with the #12 Cadillac of Norman Nato third. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0135.jpg) The Peugeots look to be in better shape compared to last year. Image: DPPI / WEC Fourth to ninth on the FP2 graph there, from the #6 Porsche of Matt Campbell to the #7 Toyota of Nyck de Vries, are covered by two and a half tenths. And from Jensen, as the fastest, to de Vries is just 0.412. The only manufacturer who didn't have a car in that bracket was, perhaps understandably, Aston Martin. Ross Gunn, in the #007 Valkyrie, was the fastest of the two, 1.154 seconds on average off Jensen. That's a much smaller gap than in FP1, so it's coming down — but don't expect them to be challenging the regulars just yet. ## So where does this leave us? [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) In short, it leaves us, or rather WEC, in what looks like a very competitive place. Doing the same as we did at the Prologue — averaging out a team's FP1 and FP2 averages by taking both cars results (graph below) and then taking a team's best result from each session (second graph below), things look very close. A couple of things to note here. Porsche fall back in the first graph because the #5 car, with Julien Andlauer at the wheel, had an outlier lap in its stint in FP2\. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0103.jpg) It's Andlauer's first race weekend in a factory Porsche Hypercar. Image: DPPI / WEC The session wasn't yellow during his stint so I can't remove the lap — it's just something to bear in mind. Maybe he had traffic, it's very hard to know. But it was the car's longest, and fastest, stint. It rectifies itself in the second graph, taking the best average from each team in FP1 and FP2, because the #6 car had a much better average in FP2\. So Porsche jump from second to last in the first graph, to a more representative third in the second. And, we've already said this, but it's just enormously close all through the field. If you look at FP2, apart from (again, understandably — new car and all) Aston Martin, the seven other manufacturers are within six tenths of each other. The same thing I've described for Porsche happens to BMW as well, but the other way round. As far as I can tell this is because their averages for both cars for both sessions are, for the most part, consistent — one car is well within a tenth in terms of average in both sessions, while the other isn't quite as consistent, with eight tenths between the averages it generated in both sessions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00003020_0068.jpg) BMW could be challengers come race day. Image: DPPI / WEC But these averages are also fairly low, so even if you pick the best average BMW did with both cars, from each session, they fall back. This is a bit of an outlier in terms of order, so I think come race day they'll jump back to at least the middle of the field, if not higher up. So, while these graphs may not give us the exact pace order — because it's impossible to know — it hopefully gives some kind of rough idea into who's where. The consistent themes: Ferrari and Cadillac look the strongest, with Porsche, Peugeot, BMW Alpine and Toyota following them. Aston Martin, still learning about the Valkyrie in their and its first race weekend, are a little way back. We'll be back with race analysis after the race, which starts 14;00 local time, 11:00 UTC. Catch you then. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### 7 things we learnt from the WEC 2025 Prologue URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/7-things-we-learnt-from-the-wec-2025-prologue/ Last updated: 2025-02-26T21:22:11.000Z The World Endurance Championship hosted their annual pre-season test, called the Prologue, at the end of last week at the Lusail International Circuit. With no live coverage and a lot of track time, it can be hard to work out what's really going on. Here are the seven key storylines emerging from the running in Qatar. ![The #12 JOTA Cadillac V-Series at Qatar's Lusail International Circuit, side-on, at night.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-Things-WEC-PRologgue.002.png) The two JOTA-run Cadillacs were fast at the Prologue. Image: JOTA ## It's tight at the top, really tight It's what every WEC fan wants to hear, but the competition at the top is looking closer than ever heading into the 2025 season. Four different manufacturers [topped the overall times](https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdKXQVMMVi/?ref=ontheapex.com) across the two days, a first for the championship, as Ferrari, Cadillac, Porsche and BMW all shared the limelight. However the real battle is on the long run pace. OE ran the numbers over the weekend and found that across all four sessions, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA and the factory Ferraris are separated by just four thousandths of a second per lap, with BMW WRT just two tenths further back. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-2.png) ## Reliability concerns continue into third season Top flight sportscars are often seen as bullet proof, and rightly so given their ability to be regularly held to their limit for up to 24 hours. Reliability woes, however, are not a thing of the past and even the big guns are vulnerable. During the first session of the Prologue, the reigning championship-winning #6 Porsche Penske 963 stopped on track with a concerning engine failure – the first of its kind for the all-conquering LMDh. The team are confident that they have diagnosed the issue, but it comes as a stark reminder that even in this high-tech new era, nothing is guaranteed. ![The #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie in the pits at Qatar's Lusail International Circuit, in daylight.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-Things-WEC-PRologgue.003.png) The brand new Valkyrie got off to a good start in Qatar. Image: Aston Martin ## The Valkyrie's positive first steps The Aston Martin may not have challenged at the top of the one lap, or long run pace, but that's not the goal. The v12-powered LMH machines, ironically, quietly set about collecting significant mileage across the two days tallying 549 laps and establishing a baseline for their first race event without any major disruption to their run plan. Harry Tincknell's best time at the wheel of the #007 in Session 4 placed him as the 23rd fastest driver of 54, suggesting that when being given a push the Valkyrie can offer more. There's relative cause for optimism, but still a long way to go for the newcomers. ![The Alpine crew servicing the #35 Alpine in a pitstop at Qatar's Lusail International Circuit.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-Things-WEC-PRologgue.005.png) Don't rule Alpine out this year. Image: DPPI ## Are Alpine the dark horse? Ferrari and Cadillac ended the Prologue weekend as the quickest, but don't rule out Alpine as having 'une petite surprise' to offer in 2025. The French manufacturer may have suffered their fair share of issues in 2024, but that Fuji podium suggests the tide was turning. Our long run data suggests that the pair of A424s have shuffled up the order, challenging Cadillac and Ferrari across the four sessions (notably in the race-relevant Session 4). Granted, they will still need to take another step in order to beat the established names, but there's positivity heading into year two of the programme. ## Lexus, Ferrari and Corvette show progress Heading into the second season of the LMGT3 class, there are three marques looking to improve on last year's results. Lexus, Ferrari and Corvette all showed strong pace across the Prologue, with the Akkodis ASP RC Fs topping both sessions on Friday. ![The two Corvettes Z06 GT3.Rs in the pits at Qatar's Lusail International Circuit, with one facing the 'fast lane' and the other in its pitstall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-Things-WEC-PRologgue.006.png) Could Corvette spring a surprise this year? Image: DPPI The #78, the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari and #33 TF Sport Corvette were the only cars to feature in the top five in every session, suggesting that they have the balance across the day-dusk-night conditions. 2023 GTE AM champion Ben Keating makes his return to the WEC in that #33 Corvette, and posted the 16th fastest time, and with 2024 Qatar pole-sitter Tom van Rompuy just half a second back, the times suggest the Z06 GT3.R is the strongest in the hands of the Bronze drivers. ## Silver selection crucial to LMGT3 success Mandatory to every LMGT3 driver crew is a Silver driver. Nestled amongst the headline-grabbing pro driver and the all-important Bronze, the Silvers are often overlooked – but with new rules and multiple moves in this part of the driver market, 2025 looks to shine the light on this set of drivers. ![The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 at Qatar's Lusail International Circuit, in daylight.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-Things-WEC-PRologgue.004.png) Bronze and silver drivers are crucial to their team's success in LMGT3\. Image: DPPI LMGT3 qualifying will have an updated format this year, where Bronze drivers compete in a knock-out 12 miunte session to secure their car a spot in Hyperpole, before handing over to their Silver teammates who will then decide the top-10 positions in the 10 minute session. Previously the Bronze drivers would do both sessions. Vista AF Corse, Heart of Racing, TF Sport, Akkodis ASP and United Autosport all have reason to be pleased, sharing six drivers all making the top ten overall fastest laps in the class during the Prologue. The #21 and #54 were 1-2, Simon Mann's fastest 1:54.790 was just two-hundredths faster than Francesco Castellacci, Zacharie Robichon was over a tenth further back in the #27 Aston Martin, WEC debutants Johnny Edgar and Finn Gehrsitz of the #33 and #78 respectively both dipped under the 1:55 mark, with United Autosport's new signing Sebastien Baud the sixth fastest Silver. ![Ferrari's James Calado putting his helmet on in the pits.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-Things-WEC-PRologgue.007.png) After Calado had issues last year, new rules around driver weights have been introduced. Image: DPPI ## Every kilogram matters in closest sportscar era Shortly after the Prologue, the WEC have introduced a new system of 'Compensation Ballast' to minimise the weight differences between cars as a result of individual driver weight. The system has been introduced after calls from a number of drivers towards the end of 2024 to balance the cars evenly. Ferrari's James Calado was the most vocal on the matter, even admitting to [unintentionally hospitalising himself](https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/calado-reveals-hospital-scare-amid-weight-loss-push/?ref=ontheapex.com) in an effort to lose weight. WEC's new system sees ballast added to the average weight across three drivers in order to clear a regulated minimum of 82kg. Case in point that in this extremely competitive era of sportscar racing, every kilogram matters. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-2.png) > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### REMINDER: The WEC Qatar 1812KM is on Friday URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/reminder-the-wec-qatar-1812km-is-on-friday/ Last updated: 2025-02-24T17:44:03.000Z [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) The 2025 WEC Qatar 1812KM will start at 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Friday the 28th February, after an adjustment by the championship to push the race start back by two hours. Due to the beginning of the period of Ramadan, which begins after sunset on race day, the WEC took the decision to host the race before the weekend to avoid minimal overlap. That means official track time begins midweek on Wednesday with two, 90 minute sessions. Thursday sees the final Free Practice before Qualifying in the evening, starting with the knock-out LMGT3 session at 17:00 local, and an hour later we should know how our first grid looks for 2025. Here's the full timetable: [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Qatar-Timetable.001.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) Whilst Sunday might be the traditional race day for motorsports around the world, the WEC is no stranger to hosting races on days other than Sunday. The 6H Spa has been regularly held on a Saturday, with the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition hosted on a Friday, and when part of the WEC calendar the Sebring 1000 Miles was held on the Friday in order to avoid clashing with the IMSA's legendary 12 Hour. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://bit.ly/TRLappOE?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-1-1.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ### PROLOGUE ANALYSIS: Making sense of the long-run data URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-prologue-qatar-analysis-cadillac-ferrari-toyota-porsche-data/ Last updated: 2025-06-28T21:38:41.000Z *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars, with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) There's no two ways about it: Ferrari and Cadillac are looking quick, with the FIA World Endurance Championship's pre season testing event, the Prologue, done and dusted. The two were near or at the top of the fastest lap times almost all the time — Cadillac had a car in the top 5 of each of the four sessions, and Ferrari went one better by having a car in the top 3 in every session. But the overall fastest laps don't really matter because the race next weekend at Qatar is 10 hours long. So, it's the long runs for each team and car which will propel them to victory. *Only Endurance* has crunched the numbers and put together a rough hierarchy that can be used as a yardstick going into race week. *Methodology: we've found each car's longest stint in each session and averaged out the lap times to create a single average for each car. Laps under full course yellow have been removed, and out laps, plus the following lap, have also been removed.* All images credit WEC / DPPI unless otherwise mentioned ## Day 1 — red, red, red As you can see from the graphs, the two Ferraris reigned supreme in the long runs in the opening day of the Prologue. The #51 car's stints were session topping in both cases. James Calado's 27 lap stint in the first session was enough to put him top, by just over a tenth from his teammate Miguel Molina in the sister #50 car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0397.jpg) The #94 Peugeot was, perhaps, a surprise third, but as we'll see, this may not be a fluke from the French manufacturer. Loic Duval's stint in the opening session, though, was quite short — just nine laps. The two BMWs looked quick too, but the two Toyotas were only mid pack. A sign of things to come? Unlikely given Toyota's experience; they tend to quietly go about their business, shock no one, and then are very rapid in race week. BMW's Robin Frijns said in a statement to media: 'I think it went alright. We had a test programme before arriving to Qatar, we followed it pretty much and everything feel fine. 'Now we need to put the puzzle together and prepare ourselves for the race weekend which is a bit different. 'As we don’t drive at night during FP1 and FP2, today was our only opportunity so that was quite important for us. Now it’s all about discussions and see how we can improve the package we have for the race.' The Porsches were surprisingly far back in both sessions on day 1, and on the second day too (spoilers). Again, this could just be a case of the German manufacturer sandbagging... or they could be lacking pace. It is impossible to know until next week. However, the real stars were the JOTA-run Cadillacs. The American manufacturer now has two cars, run by JOTA, a team with an immense amount of experience and knowledge in the WEC. They placed fourth and fifth in the second session, behind the trio of Ferraris – excellent work from the new partnership. The #38 car, in the hands of Jenson Button, did a 30 lap stint in the second session, while Alex Lynn did 20 laps in the sister #12 car. 'If the path you travel is down a corridor, our corridor is very wide at the moment because we’re making sweeping changes to try different things, which is what testing is for,' said JOTA co-founder and director Sam Hignett. 'What’s really encouraging is wherever we go, it’s a definitive answer. We’re narrowing the corridor to find the best window where the car operates. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/38-car-right-side-cornering.jpg) Image: Drew Gibson Photography 'We should roll into race weekend in pretty good shape. We can go testing and do things, but it’s just not the same as being at the Prologue. There’s so many bits and pieces, working with the other cars, GT car traffic, working with the race director, pit lane rules and full-course yellows. It is absolutely the best test session we do all year.' Otherwise, Alpine were there or thereabouts, eighth in both session with either car. The #36 was the top car for the French manufacturer in the first session, with Jules Gounon doing a 12 lap stint in the car. Paul-Loup Chatin did Alpine's quickest stint in the next session, quicker than Gounon's from the earlier session and slightly longer too, at 15 laps. This, though, is still far short of the 31-32 lap stints the Hypercars were managing last year, with BMW confirming to media that they're aiming for similar stint lengths this year. Finally, Aston Martin were in the mix with the new Valkyrie, putting the car through its paces, on track with its WEC competition for the first time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0472.jpg) Tom Gamble did a 28 lap stint in the second session, 1.6s off the pace on average. Good work from the Briton, with a Hypercar a huge step up from the GT3s he's been used to in previous years. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png)](https://bit.ly/TRLoe?ref=ontheapex.com) ## Day 2 — a mixed bag In some ways, the second day of the Prologue was a continuation of the first. Cadillac and Ferrari continue look strong, while others are peeking their heads above the parapet. But, it's worth noting a few things here. Firstly: Alpine and BMW are beginning to show pace. It's both manufacturers sophomore seasons in the WEC with their Hypercars, and maybe the pace that we know is in those cars is starting to emerge. It certainly looked as though that were the case at the end of last year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0334.jpg) Gounon did his magic in the fourth session to go second quickest on average, under two and a half tenths off Ferrari's Antonio Fuoco. The Frenchman in the French car did a 23 lap stint to achieve this. Fuoco, on the other hand, managed 25 laps before pitting. Good showing for Alpine. Behind Gounon was Bamber, who completed a full 30 lap stint, just 0.055 off the Frenchman on average. BMW, meanwhile, in the first session managed a 10 lap stint, with Raffaele Marciello at the wheel of the #15 car, to go third. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0305.jpg) This was only 10 laps though. The German manufacturer's longer stints, in the fourth session, were some way down the order. Peugeot, too, impressed, sixth in the third session and sixth and seventh in the fourth. They were long stints, too, in the fourth session — 25 for Mikkel Jensen in the #93, 30 for Stoffel Vandoorne in the sister #94. Toyota and Porsche continued to be, perhaps, slightly lacklustre. That said, the #6 Porsche, in the hands of Kevin Estre, was only three and a half tenths off Fuoco in the fourth session, with an 18 lap stint. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0424.jpg) The Toyotas, meanwhile, did 30 lap stints in the fourth session, with Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 car and Nyck de Vries in the #7 machine. Considering most other cars in front of them did shorter stints... maybe it's not looking so bad for Toyota. And anyway, there's a good chance they're sandbagging. ## Making sense of all this [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Article-Ad-1-1.png)](theracingline.app) However, even with averaged out long run data, it's hard to actually make sense of all this data. So, in order to try and put together some kind of hierarchy, we've done more sums. The first graph, above, shows the average from each manufacturer two cars (for simplicity's sake we've cut the two customer cars from this section), averaging out the eight values from the sessions, four from each car (one for each session). This shows Cadillac and Ferrari are, essentially, neck and neck — just four thousandths in it. BMW aren't far back at all, a tenth and a half or so, and Peugeot are just a couple of tenths back from BMW. Alpine and Toyota are very similar — a hundredth in it — with Porsche a little further back and Aston Martin, as can be expected given they've got a brand new car, in last. But, if you take a manufacturer's best average from each session — so we're only averaging out four values, instead of eight — the picture changes slightly. When looking through this lens, Ferrari have jumped Cadillac and now sit over two tenths on average faster than the American manufacturer. Peugeot have also jumped BMW, although it is ridiculously close between the two. Alpine are also within a tenth of both. Toyota, Porsche and Aston Martin remain in the same order, roughly the same distance apart, although Toyota have dropped a bit off the back of Alpine. ## Conclusions Really, this doesn't mean much. The teams won't have been running the cars at full pace just yet and the drivers won't have been pushing. We don't know what tyre compounds or sets they were on — WEC's timing does not give access to this data — and we don't know fuel loads. Or, maybe, it could be a decently accurate barometer. Who knows; it's impossible to say right now. If you go one further and average out the two values for each manufacturer above, Ferrari are ahead, followed by Cadillac, BMW, Peugeot, Alpine, Toyota, Porsche and Aston Martin. But that could, and probably will, all change in race week. We'll be back with the charts and graphs to analyse the free practice sessions and qualifying, and to examine how the order has changed since the Prologue. Catch you then. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### GALLERY: WEC Prologue day 1 action URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-wec-prologue-day-1-action/ Last updated: 2025-02-21T22:31:17.000Z The first day of the Prologue is done and dusted for the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2025\. We've chosen some shots to give you taste of the goings-on in Qatar, at Losail International Circuit. Looking for results? [Session 1 overall lap times](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/01%5FLOSAIL/578%5FFIA%20WEC/202502211300%5F1st%20Test%20Session/03%5FClassification%5F1st%20Test%20Session.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com), or [session 2 overall lap times](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/14%5F2025/01%5FLOSAIL/578%5FFIA%20WEC/202502211800%5F2nd%20Test%20Session/03%5FClassification%5F2nd%20Test%20Session.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com). All images WEC / DPPI. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0001.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0219.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0240.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0252.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0273.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0280.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0281.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0292.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0302.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0304.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0307.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0315.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0317.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0321.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0322.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0323.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0324.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0325.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0326.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0341.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0342.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0355.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0357.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0358.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0359.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0369.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0370.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0371.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0374.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0390.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0412.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002940_0415.jpg) ### Le Mans Ultimate adds Porsche, Aston Martin GT3s, other improvements URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-ultimate-adds-porsche-aston-martin-gt3s-other-improvements/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T12:52:00.000Z The development on Le Mans Ultimate continues, with Studio 397 and Motorsport Games today announcing the release of the latest DLC pack, which adds the Porsche and Aston Martin GT3 cars to the game. This means, with the extra addition of the Ford Mustang GT3, which is free content to all players, the game is only missing the Lexus RC F GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, to complete the roster for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship GT3 field. The new-for-2025 Aston Martin Valkyrie is also not present in the game right now, and will arrive at a later date. The same can also be said for Qatar's Losail International Circuit, which will host the season opener for 2025 next Friday. DLC pack 4, containing the Porsche 911 GT3.R and Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, will release on February 25th, and will cost £5.99 / €6.99 / $7.49\. The Ford Mustang GT3 will be provided for free to anyone who has bought the early access version of the game on Steam. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/1920x1080Feb-update-1.jpg) ## Other improvements The update also includes a new tyre model for the GT3 cars, which Studio 397 says is a 'significant update from the last release'. The studio have worked with real-life drivers and data to update the tyre model, which they say should be more realistic and stable. It will enable 'players to push with confidence throughout their stint', and sees the balance shifted rearwards, allowing more aggressive setups to be used in each individual car's operating window. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/1920x1080Mustang_7.jpg) The new model also includes increased load sensitivity on the rear tyres, decreasing what Studio 397 calls the 'push' on the rear tyres, typically found at high speeds. The slip curve and transient thermal grip loss have both been tightened too, resulting both in more grip and performance loss when a tyre is pushed beyond its limits. Finally, thermal degradation has also been tweaked. This means the benefit from aggressive sliding over longer stints has been reduced, so you'll need to take more care of your tyres — something that's essential in 24 hour racing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/1920x1080Porsche_6-2.jpg) ### New head-up display There's also a new head-up display in this release, which improves the access to data you'll have while in the car. You'll be able to see tyre compound and virtual energy data in the top left of the screen, plus if any drivers around you have been pinged by the stewards and have outstanding penalties. The multi-function display (MFD) has also had some improvements, helping you know which cars around you are directly in competition with you. Much like other sims, drivers laps ahead or behind will now have colours applied to their names — red for drivers about to be a lap ahead, blue for drivers a lap behind. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/1920x1080Aston_8.jpg) And in the top-right section of the HUD, you'll see a 'last lap' addition, to help you assess your current performance. You can also reset the time delta via a keyboard shortcut, and sector splits have been upgraded to ensure accuracy. You'll also see an estimated number of laps left in the race, based on the top category in that specific race. Finally, you'll also see a new damage display, which Studio 397 says is one of the most requested features from players. The display will have four states — white for normal, yellow for minor damage, red for major and flashing red for a missing part of the car. ## Studio 397 chief Stephen Hood says... 'The last update in December 2024 brought a significant increase in players to the game with LMGT3 cars and new features. We believe the improvements, new cars and additional circuit layouts for this release will delight fans and keep you engaged with a game that continues to move in a positive direction.' *All images credit Motorsport Games / Studio 397* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Qatar Balance of Performance analysis: Porsche, Toyota heaviest URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/qatar-wec-balance-of-performance-porsche-toyota-ferrari/ Last updated: 2025-02-20T12:25:58.000Z It's that time of year again, when we get the first Balance of Performance tables for the upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship season. In all four aspects of the BoP, we have compared the new values against the values from the final race of 2024, held in Bahrain, and the first race of 2024, held in Qatar. While it's very hard to know what this all means, it can at least give some context to the 2025 numbers. ## Weight The first thing to note is most cars are lighter than they ran in 2024\. This doesn't apply to all — Porsche are considerably heavier now, running at 1064, the second heaviest car of the field. Toyota's GR010 remains the same weight it did at Bahrain, but is considerably lighter than the 1089kg it ran at in Qatar last year. Toyota struggled with a lack of pace at the first race of the season last year, so it's good to see it's been evened out a bit now. Ferrari are running considerably lighter than last year, at 1037kg. It will be interesting to see how this affects the 499P and its balance. Cadillac are both running at minimum weight, 1030kg. Peugeot is just 1kg heavier, the same the old 9X8 ran at Qatar last year, in its final race before the new car was introduced. The French squad will surely be hoping for big things considering they were five minutes away from getting a podium last year. Alpine are lighter than they were in 2024, while BMW are just 1kg heavier than at Bahrain last year. Both cars had impressive ends of the year so it'll be interesting to see if the form can be maintained. And new boys Aston Martin come in at 1042kg with the Valkyrie, slightly lighter than Alpine but heavier than BMW and Cadillac, plus fellow LMH-rules rival Peugeot. ## Power (before 250kph) As you can see, Peugeot have been given very consistent power BoP, at 520kW for all three races. They are at least 12kW heavier than everyone else, with Alpine and Porsche both on 508kW. Ferrari's 499P will be the least powerful car in the field, at 501kW, while Toyota only fare slightly better, at 503kW. Everyone else is between Ferrari and Alpine/Porsche, including the Valkyrie at 504kW. ## Power (after 250kph) Peugeot go from the most powerful car in the field, to the least. The 9X8 will lose 5.8% power after the car passes the 250kph mark. If the French squad are the biggest loser in terms of power after 250kph, Toyota are the biggest gainer, at 3.4%. Ferrari won't lose any power at all, while Porsche will gain 0.8%. Keep in mind the power loss/gain after 250kph was only introduced mid-season last year, so there are no stats for Qatar 2024. ## Energy per stint Finally, you can see in the table that energy per stint differed massively at Qatar last year, but this year it is a bit more equal. The highest is 909MJ, for Toyota and Porsche, while the lowest is 897, for Ferrari. Last year Toyota had 914MJ at Qatar to use per stint; they were doing 32 lap stints, equating to 28.5MJ used per lap. Ferrari, meanwhile, were doing 31 lap stints with 902\. Porsche, too, were doing 32 lap stints with 900MJ. *Feature image: DPPI / WEC* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Andlauer: Porsche Penske promotion my 'biggest challenge' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/andlauer-porsche-penske-promotion-my-biggest-challenge/ Last updated: 2025-02-19T10:45:21.000Z *This post is brought to you by* [*The Racing Line*](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar app. Get session times for over 150 series, from rally to bikes, single seaters to sportscars with customisable notifications and built-in streaming.* [*Download on iOS today!*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-racing-line/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) Porsche's newest factory Hypercar driver, Julien Andlauer, told *Only Endurance* that his promotion to the senior factory squad will be the biggest challenge of his racing career. 'I'm just really looking forward to getting started. I think this is the biggest challenge of my life that I have so far,' the Frenchman said. 'Looking back at the last few years, my journey with Porsche started eight years ago already. It's great to see that I evolved in the family, we grew up and got better every year. 'To be able to step up as a factory driver a couple of years later, at the moment for sure the most prestigious programme, is great. I'm super excited to finally be there.' Andlauer became a Porsche 'young professional' driver for the 2018 season. He raced with the Dempsey-Proton team in GTE-Am until the end of the 2023 season, then moved up to Hypercar for 2024, again with Proton Competition. In just his third Hypercar race at Spa-Francorchamps, he impressed by making multiple passes at Eau Rouge and Raidillon, and setting the race's fastest lap, a 2:06.459\. Analysing the top 20% average lap times, the Frenchman was faster than several Porsche Penske drivers and was within two-tenths of a second of Kevin Estre, the fastest Porsche driver on average. ![The #99 Proton Porsche 963 at Spa-Francorchamps in 2024.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/WEC324_050912155504448MS.jpg) Andlauer was joined by Jani and Tincknell at Proton last year. Image: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography 'To be performant in motorsport is easy,' he said when asked about what made that race at Spa special. 'To do a good quali is easy, to have a good stint is easy. But to put it all together, to be performant in quali and then the whole race and to succeed with the trophy, is very difficult,' he said, starting off his answer. 'I think that \[race at Spa\] was proof, because at the end of the day we had a good quali. We had very good preparation. That was the first time, and I think almost the only time last year, we had a full testing programme done in practice, without any issue on the car. That brought us to the race with clear numbers. ![The #99 Proton Porsche 963 at La Source corner at Spa-Francorchamps in 2024.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0236.webp) Andlauer impressed in the #99 Proton Porsche at Spa in 2024\. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI 'Then we had good car balance, good objectives, a good starting position,' he continued. 'When everything is setting up well, you go into the race with more confidence, and you can just deliver the best performance from yourself. 'And it's always easy to perform whenever everything goes well and you have a good strategy, car, etc. 'So at the end of the day, I just did my job, similar to the other days. But I think I just had everything working very well around me and the team did a mega job to deliver a good car and good performance. So then I just did my best,' he concluded. However, for 2025, the Frenchman has been [promoted](https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2024/motorsports/porsche-motorsport-season-2025-night-of-the-champions-38082.html?ref=ontheapex.com) from the customer Proton squad to the senior, Penske-run factory team. It's something Andlauer has been working towards for a while, and means he'll team up with Michael Christensen and countryman Mathieu Jaminet in the #5 machine. [VIDEO: See Ferrari’s 2025 499P and hear from the driversCheck out the 2025 Ferrari 499P and hear from the six factory drivers about the season ahead.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-22.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FERRARI_499P_2025_01_13df63a8-f373-406e-9444-91e16db7f1cd-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/video-see-ferraris-2025-499p-and-hear-from-the-drivers/) 'Mathieu's a Frenchman obviously, we've raced together a few times. We got to see each other many times on the track, but also off track a few times. Racing together, we have a good basis in terms of how we work, but also in the car and out of the car, it always matched. 'With Michael, I've always been quite close to his success. He won Le Mans the year I joined, in 2018, and I won in GTE-Am too. 'So I always looked at him and looked at what he was doing. I was a reserve driver for the GTE programme a few times too, so I was close to what they were doing in the programme. 'It gave me good confidence — that's going to be my teammate, he's super professional, super quick, has a lot of experience in factory programmes, but also in PPM \[Porsche Penske Motorsport\] because it's his third year in the programme.' ![The #5 Porsche 963 during a pitstop, with mechanics refueling the car and cleaning the windscreen, plus a driver change.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002545_0122.jpg) The #5 sees two new drivers, Andlauer and Jaminet, join Christensen. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI 34-year-old Christensen has raced for Porsche since 2012, when he joined the German manufacturer's young driver programme. He was a crucial part of the GTE Pro effort from 2015 onwards, winning the title in the 2018-2019 WEC season, plus the Le Mans win in 2018. He moved up to the Hypercar programme in 2023, and while he's yet to win a race overall, has proved his worth. Jaminet, meanwhile, mirrored Christensen's Porsche history in terms of GT racing, except the 30-year-old raced in IMSA instead of WEC. He'll be doing the longer races with Andlauer and Christensen this year, at Qatar, Le Mans, and Bahrain, alongside racing full-time in PPM's IMSA programme. 'It is, for sure, different,' says Andlauer, on racing with two drivers in a Hypercar, rather than the regular three. 'I had the opportunity to do it two times, together with Neel \[Jani\] in Spa and Sao Paulo. It has some good sides, especially because you're quite limited with the testing, or you're having little issues during the race week, it gives you the opportunity to have a little more driving time, a bit more focused on your testing programme. 'When you jump in the race, you feel a bit more prepared than when you've got three drivers, where you don't have so much free practice time before the race. [JOTA assign driver crews for first Cadillac seasonCadillac Hertz Team JOTA have set out their driver trios for the 2025 WEC season, but who’s with who, and why?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-20.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/JOTA-Driver-Crews.001.png)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-assign-driver-crews-for-first-cadillac-season/) 'The other thing is, once you're in the race, you're in the mindset of, OK, I'm going to be the starting driver. That's my objective. Or, I'm going to be the middle driver, or I'm going to finish the race. 'So when you've got three drivers, you jump in the car, you do your stint and it's clear what you have to do. But if you start and then finish the race, you're gonna have to change this mindset a little bit. Maybe from smooth side of surviving at the start, to beast mode at the end of the race. 'It's not a downside, but you have to manage yourself this way.' ![The #5 Porsche, #99 Proton Porsche, and #6 Porsche exiting the pitlane at Spa.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/PorscheWEC2024_Spa06642.jpg) Proton will be the only customer Porsche team in WEC this year, along with the factory cars. Image: Juergen Tap / Porsche After his impressive season last year with Proton, Andlauer said he was told about his promotion prior to Bahrain. With the season approaching, the pressure is building, he said. 'You feel it coming more and more,' he said, laughing. 'So maybe the pressure start to kick in a little bit, but it was the case already last year. I would say for sure the pressure is going to be different, a bit more pressure and maybe more responsibilities as well. A strong management behind. '\[I'll be\] carrying a bit more than only me and the team on my shoulders, when I'm in the car, because you're representing I would say the best manufacturer or car brand in the world. 'But when you put the helmet on, you keep the brain connected. You just focus on what's you need to do, your objectives and what you're here for. So I would say I'll do my best to transform it into good pressure.' [GALLERY: Shots from Alpine’s A424 test at MonzaCheck out the 2025 Alpine A424 from all the angles, with shots from the French squad’s latest test at Monza.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-21.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-shots-from-alpines-a424-test-at-monza/) And what of his expectations going into the year? Like most racing drivers, the Frenchman says he's taking the year race-by-race. 'It's super difficult to have objectives without having set a wheel on the track with the new team,' he said. 'I'm new in the in the team, and we have a new engineer, so there's a couple of heads that changes a little bit on car #5. 'So maybe the the structure is not going to be as solid as the #6 car, because I mean they they've had the same conditions for the last two years, and they were very successful at this. ![A mechanic changing a wheel on a factory Penske-run Porsche.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/24hLeMans24_061603084323669DG.jpg) A factory team is a different beast compared to a customer team. Image: Drew Gibson 'This doesn't mean we're going to be worse, or we should expect to be not as performant or organised as them, but we will really take the time to make it, let's say, in a very professional way.' 'Objectives... trying to get solid routines already from the first weekend, \[and\] to be able to perform and to score very good points for manufacturers' and drivers championships.' 'I'm not even sure if we'll be able to step into the top five, or top 10\. Or, maybe we're going to be very performant. Maybe the car's going to be amazing, and we're going to feel really good in it. 'So it's a bit of an unknown area I would say. So we'll do our best. We'll try to score good points; if we can get a podium or win, we'll for sure jump on the opportunity. 'But I think we're going to have a bit more of a clear answer after The Prologue.' The Prologue, WEC's two days of pre-season testing, is fast approaching, taking place on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd February at Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Stay tuned to Only Endurance — we'll have full analysis and reports from the sessions. The first race of the season, 1812km Qatar, takes place the following Friday, 28th February, with the race starting at 14:00 local time. *Feature image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography* [Iron Dames x Porsche: ‘new chapter’ for female racing driversThe Iron Dames project will take a step up in 2025, joining forces with Porsche.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-23.png)Only EnduranceMohammed Rehman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/IL-WEC-LEMANS-STE-27-8891.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/iron-dames-porsche-new-chapter-female-racing-drivers/) > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### FOR/AGAINST: Is WEC's 2-car manufacturer mandate good or bad? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/for-against-wec-2-car-manufacturer-mandate-good-bad/ Last updated: 2025-02-17T11:16:39.000Z Single-car manufacturer entries in the FIA World Endurance Championship are no more this year, with every manufacturer factory entry now requiring two cars full-time in the series. Single-car entries have long been the bedrock of sportscar racing. Just recently the Glickenhaus and Alpine single car entries kept up the competition against Toyota when the Japanese-German manufacturer was dominating the world championship. [INSIGHT: How the current top class sportscars differTRL spoke to multiple drivers taking part in the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours to find out how the various Hypercars and GTPs differ, and what’s the same.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-18.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/31-04-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/insight-how-current-lmh-lmdh-sportscars-differ-wec-imsa/) We've already lost Lamborghini, as the Italian team was unable to commit to two full-time cars in WEC for 2025, irrespective of other issues faced by the Lamborghini Iron Lynx entry. Isotta Fraschini, too, have pulled their 2024 single-car entry from competition. And Vanwall haven't entered either, although this may not be due to the 2-car mandate. It's possible we'll lose more in the future when, inevitably, the manufacturer boom in Hypercar dies down. Let's look at the reasons for and against the requirement. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002545_0069.webp) Two cars is standard for many manufacturers, but now it's mandated. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI ## For — easier to understand At its heart, in theory, the 2-car mandate makes WEC easier to understand. And that's a good thing for everyone — fans, teams, drivers, media, commentators, the lot. With two cars for every works team, it does away with the old system of the top car in a race scoring constructor points, but both cars scoring points towards the driver's championship. If the series wants to entice more fans into watching, it's probably good to follow what other FIA and European championships do, with each team having two cars. They both score manufacturer points, and they both contribute. In the previous system, looking at race results, it required manually looking at who finished where to determine who scored points. That's gone now, though, with a much easier system similar to other FIA championships. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0235.jpg) Running two cars means teams can collect double the data compared to a single-car effort. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI ### Level playing field It also gives the manufacturers a level playing field. If a team has a single car, and that car retires, they're out. But, as long as they can afford it, if they're required to enter two cars, they've now got equal opportunity compared to their rivals. It also means that teams do the same amount of running in a race environment. No longer will a team be in a self-perpetuating cycle of only running a single car, gathering less data and knowledge compared to their two-car rivals. This becomes a vicious circle of the two-car teams gathering more data, so they pull further and further ahead. ### More competition In theory, this could also mean in future we see more competition. While Lamborghini's Hypercar programme wasn't designed with two cars in mind, future manufacturer programmes — Hyundai/Genesis, Ford — will be. So instead of, potentially, two new entries, one from each, we'll see four. Already it's having positive effects. We've seen Cadillac go from a single-car entry, run by Chip Ganassi, to a two-car effort run by JOTA. Awesome. [Cadillac’s JOTA partnership shows they’re finally taking WEC seriouslyPartnering with long-time WEC squad JOTA might turn out to be a smart move for Cadillac.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-17.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Rookie-Test-2024-3.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillacs-jota-partnership-shows-theyre-finally-taking-wec-seriously/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/1004_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND.webp) Cadillac will enter two cars in WEC in 2025, up from one in 2023 and 2024\. Image: Cadillac/JOTA ## Against — smaller manufacturers sidelined However, mandating two-car entries effectively sidelines smaller manufacturers unable or unwilling to field multiple cars. The small, independent manufacturers are a key part of sportscar racing. They prop up the series when there's a dearth of manufacturer entries, and they add to the show when, like now, there are droves of manufacturer entries into the sport. By sidelining them, it means they can't enter the series. And that is a massive shame. 2025 will be the first time in years without an independent manufacturer in the top class, a team dedicated to racing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2023-WEC-Sebring1000-FPM-CFR_4278.webp) Vanwall, a.k.a ByKolles, last raced in WEC in 2023\. Image: Focus Pack Media / WEC ### Removes space for customer entries While it's great seeing the number of manufacturer entries — imagine saying a decade ago that we'd have eight manufacturers racing in the top class of WEC — it does mean that there's a lack of space for customer entries. Customer entries are a newish concept to WEC, since they weren't really viable in the LMP1 era with the very complex hybrid spaceships. And, technically, there is space for four more cars in 2025, with the maximum entry being 40 and the entry list standing at 36. But, the Hypercar entry will expand in the next couple of years. Currently WEC has 2 customer entries, the Proton Competition-run Porsche 963 and the AF Corse #83 Ferrari 499p, although for the latter, "satellite" may be a better term. If the grid is going to expand further, these customer cars will be the first to go. Much like independent manufacturers, customer cars are a vital part of sportscar racing, so it'll be a shame if or indeed when there's no longer space for them. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002718_0004.webp) If a manufacturer needs to reduce its budget, they can no longer run a single car. Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ### Two cars or no cars The other problem with requiring manufacturers to enter two cars is it means if a manufacturer quits, they'd be required to leave the series altogether, instead of downscaling to a single-car entry. We've already seen this with Lamborghini. In the past, teams such as Glickenhaus ran two cars for a little while, then downscaled to one. Rebellion did the same. It might have been an option for other teams in the current mid-late 2020s Hypercar era, if they don't see the success they want. But it's now not an option. Of course, there is the possibility of customer entries for these manufacturers picking up the slack. But, as long as you could afford a proven, successful car like the Porsche 963 — at the moment the only true customer LMH/LMDh available anyway — why go for something lesser that even the factory team, or at least partnered factory team in some cases, couldn't make work? ## Pros and cons As is evident, there are benefits to this new-for-2025 rule. But there are significant drawbacks too. It remains to be seen what impact it'll have on the series going forward — right now it's probably too early to tell. Let us know what you think on social media. Tag @onlyendurance and let us know! *Feature image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### VIDEO: See Ferrari's 2025 499P and hear from the drivers URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/video-see-ferraris-2025-499p-and-hear-from-the-drivers/ Last updated: 2025-02-14T14:31:09.000Z Ferrari have [launched](https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/media-centre/articles/499p-2025-launch?ref=ontheapex.com) the 2025 version of the 499P, the car that's won Le Mans for the past two years running. For those familiar with the 499P, this won't look that different. The red-with-yellow-accents colour scheme remains, with the yellow 'Giallo Modena' stripe now making its way from the cockpit down the car, on top of the sidepods, towards the rear wing. The car also features the HP logo prominently, with the Italian manufacturer sponsored by the American computer giant both in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and in F1. Ferrari says its focused on optimising the technical package of the car for 2025\. The only development joker it has employed so far has been the brake cooling ducts and front fin around the headlights, which was new for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo last year. See the new livery and the 2025 499P here, plus hear from the six factory drivers — Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen in car #50, and Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi in car #51. *All images and video courtesy of Ferrari* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/FERRARI_499P_2025_01_13df63a8-f373-406e-9444-91e16db7f1cd.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/FERRARI_499P_2025_04_244f220f-c3f9-492e-9c27-440fc1c3db39.webp) '2025 will see us in our third consecutive year in the top class of the FIA WEC, aiming to build on all the strong results we have achieved so far and, above all, become even more consistent,' says Antonello Coletta, Ferrari's global head of Ferrari endurance and Corse Clienti. 'In previous seasons, we experienced highs and lows – mainly because 2023 was our debut year, and in 2024, the team had to continue progressing within a category that was still new to us. This learning phase has continued, and in the 2025 season, I hope we can be front-runners in the fight for the world championship title. 'We have to be humble, as we are competing against many manufacturers in this championship, some of whom are more experienced than us, having been involved in this category for much longer. 'We have made several organisational changes and continue to do so. I believe we have taken a crucial step forward, particularly in our technical knowledge of the car. Let’s remember that the technical development of the 499P took place in an exceptionally fast-paced and intense timeframe ahead of its race debut in 2023\. 'If we had more time to begin with, we could have accelerated this learning phase, which instead, we continued during the races of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. We have therefore improved both our knowledge of the car and all operations, both on track and at Maranello, showing growth on all fronts.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/FERRARI_499P_2025_06_98c2c215-63ae-48e1-9fc6-0433596bdc05.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/FERRARI_499P_2025_09_66e946d3-777d-4e54-9779-288b69b2b7a0.webp) 0:00 /2:54 1× ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/FERRARI_499P_2025_DRIVERS_50_TEAM_02_6348fab8-d8de-4d32-a9c8-d4c378f897b3.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/FERRARI_499P_2025_DRIVERS_51_TEAM_02_7cee9e72-d7a3-4bec-a077-bcc802446f09.webp) 'Over the winter, we worked on the car and all our operational tools, seeking to optimise them in every area while improving our racing team,' Ferdinando Cannizzo, head of endurance race cars at Ferrari, said. 'From the second half of the 2024 season onwards, we introduced many modifications to the car, all compliant with the regulations. Half of these focused on improving reliability, around a quarter on regulatory updates, while for the rest, we sought to optimise all areas where we found performance gaps with our competitors. 'In 2025, while there are no ‘joker’ updates, there are many areas for improvement. Over the winter break, we worked hard to expand the set-up window, evaluating new philosophies aimed at better exploitation of the aerodynamics on the one hand and of tyre performance in all conditions on the other. 'To complement all this, we are committed to the continuous development of control systems. This aspect continues to improve across all areas to enhance precision and provide ever-faster responses to driver inputs.' > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### WATCH: Valkyrie Hypercar unsilenced at Sebring URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/watch-valkyrie-hypercar-unsilenced-at-sebring/ Last updated: 2025-02-21T18:44:07.000Z The Aston Martin Valkyrie has had it's V12 soundtrack unleashed at its most recent test outing. IMSA teams have convened this week at Sebring for an official test ahead of the 12 Hours in March, which will be the Valkyrie's debut in the GTP class. The British LMH is powered by a slightly modified version of the 6.5L naturally aspirated V12 engine found in both the road-going and AMR PRO variants, producing a goosebump-inducing howl. [‘No reason’ hybrid omission will impact Valkyrie: Aston Martin’s Adam CarterAston’s new Valkyrie LMH features a 6.5L V12 — but no hybrid unit. Aston’s head of endurance doesn’t believe this will have an impact, though.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-16.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Valkyrie-Social-Post.007-4.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-hypercar-no-hybrid-impact-adam-carter/) Noted by fans during the November Daytona test, that V12 sound was somewhat muffled, and Aston Martin confirmed to Only Endurance that they had ["overcompensated" the silencing.](https://www.instagram.com/p/DFs5WwbM0aN/?ref=ontheapex.com) Judging by the video from renowned YouTuber [Lanky Turtle](https://www.youtube.com/@LankyTurtle?ref=ontheapex.com), those "safe" silencers have come off, and the V12 has been released. Bravo. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Banner-Ad-Wide.png) Aston Martin THOR Team Principal Ian James had this to say about the updates to the Valkyrie's tune, “We made a bit of adjustment to the silencing on the car, and everyone keeps coming up and congratulating me so I think we’ve moved in the right direction,” he said. “It sounds glorious out there! You don’t need the tracker to find where it is on track. GT guys are like, ‘We love it when this car overtakes us.’” [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Footer-Ad-1-1.png)](https://www.theracingline.app/?ref=ontheapex.com) ### JOTA assign driver crews for first Cadillac season URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-assign-driver-crews-for-first-cadillac-season/ Last updated: 2025-02-11T13:10:59.000Z Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA have finalised their driver crews for the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season, the team's first with Cadillac. The British team confirmed after the WEC season finale in Bahrain the six drivers that would make up the two-car effort, but now have assigned the seats for the #12 and #38 V-Series.Rs. But why have the Hypercar race-winners picked these particular triplets? [VIDEO: See JOTA and Cadillac’s new livery for WEC 2025See how well the gold Hertz livery has transitioned from Porsche machinery to the Cadillac.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-13.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/1005_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND-1.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/video-jota-cadillac-hertz-gold-new-livery-wec-2025/) 'Each of these drivers brings something unique to the table, and as a team, our job was to establish which combinations made the most sense to maximise the overall strengths of the group', said JOTA team principal Dieter Gass. 'While character and personality play a big role in team dynamics, driving style and preferences were also key factors in determining who would be paired in each car.' Let's take a look at each car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/JOTA-Driver-Crews.004.png) Lynn, Bourdais, Button and Stevens chat during the December Paul Ricard Test. Image: JOTA ### #12 - The hungry young guns after trophies The #12 Cadillac V-Series.R has a driver lineup that should demand attention from competitors given their on-track tenacity and overall speed. Will Stevens is criminally overlooked in terms of his ability behind the wheel of a current top class prototype. The 2022 WEC LMP2 champion has helped propel the Team JOTA Hypercar programme to be considered genuine threats to the manufacturer teams, most notably with the march to the first privateer win of the Hypercar era at last year's 6H Spa. [INSIGHT: How the current top class sportscars differTRL spoke to multiple drivers taking part in the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours to find out how the various Hypercars and GTPs differ, and what’s the same.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-11.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/31-04.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/insight-how-current-lmh-lmdh-sportscars-differ-wec-imsa/) Stevens and 2024 teammate Norman Nato are once again reunited in the #12, with the Frenchman looking to take a step forwards in his second season with Team JOTA. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/JOTA-Driver-Crews.003.png) Image: DPPI Dovetailing his race seat with Formula E commitments saw him miss out on that historic Spa victory, so he'll be hungry to ensure the next win comes when he's in the car. But how he adapts to the Cadillac will be interesting to follow, and that process may be accelerated by the third driver in this squad. Cadillac factory driver Alex Lynn, formerly of the #2 Chip Ganassi Cadillac Hypercar squad, will play a crucial part in advancing Stevens' and Nato's understanding of the V-Series.R across all scenarios. The British driver has proven a stellar talent behind the wheel of the American prototype, marked particularly by his performances in the first four races for the programme in WEC where the #2 was one of only two cars to finish in the top five – the other being the championship-winning #8 Toyota. *In a sentence: Quick, bold, and a threat to the big names.* ### #38 - The 'Three Bs' and their shared experience Coined JOTA's 'Mighty 38' for what feels like forever, the Cadillac carrying the number synonymous with JOTA sees the more experienced drivers in one car. 2009 Formula 1 Champion Jenson Button was retained by the team for 2025, with the British driver joined by Cadillac factory aces Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/JOTA-Driver-Crews.005.png) Bourdais joined Bamber (left) and Lynn (right) for two races in 2024\. Image: Richard Prince Bamber has been a mainstay in the GM brand's time in Hypercar, racing the Chip Ganassi-run #2 alongside Lynn throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons – peaking with an overall podium at Le Mans. Bourdais moves across from his two seasons in the #01 IMSA GTP Cadillac, where the Frenchman won three races including the 2024 season finale at Petit Le Mans. [Cadillac’s JOTA partnership shows they’re finally taking WEC seriouslyPartnering with long-time WEC squad JOTA might turn out to be a smart move for Cadillac.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-12.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Rookie-Test-2024-2.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillacs-jota-partnership-shows-theyre-finally-taking-wec-seriously/) Beyond the trio being similar physically in terms of height and weight, placing two factory Cadillac drivers alongside Button could pay dividends for Team JOTA. There's no denying that the 45-year-old is seen as the weaker driver of the three in current prototype machinery, but unlocking his ability in the V-Series.R will prove vital for helping the #38 towards the sharp end. That's where Bourdais and Bamber step in. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/JOTA-Driver-Crews.002.png) Unlocking Button's best is Bamber and Bourdais's task. Image: Drew Gibson/JOTA The duo have been part of the car's development in 2022, it's first forays into competition, and latterly it's development into a championship challenger in GTP and vastly improved package in WEC – you simply won't find two drivers with more combined experience with the V-Series.R. Additionally, the driving styles of the trio compliment each other well. Bamber can be aggressive and make his way through the field. Button is smooth and fast, and excellent in wet or changeable conditions. Bourdais is quick and known to be excellent at car setup, although that could apply to all three. *In a sentence: Bamber and Bourdais are the drivers who can unlock Button's undeniable pace.* ### Drugovich not in Valkyrie due to no 'close link' between F1 and WEC teams URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/felipe-drugovich-aston-martin-valkyrie-wec-imsa/ Last updated: 2025-02-10T11:26:37.000Z Aston Martin's F1 reserve driver Felipe Drugovich won't race the British manufacturer's Valkyrie in the FIA World Endurance Championship due to there not being a 'close link' between the two programmes. The Brazilian told *Only Enduranc*e at Daytona, 'I think coming from Aston Martin F1, I expected there to be a bit closer link, but it wasn't such a close link.' Meanwhile, weasked Aston Martin why Drugovich hadn't been selected for the programme. In response, Aston Martin told us they wouldn't comment why certain drivers had, or had not, been picked. But, Adam Carter, Aston Martin's head of endurance motorsport, did tell OE this: 'We reviewed and assessed a wide-ranging collection of drivers from the point of the programme's inception, with a keen eye placed on those associated with Aston Martin programmes, both present and from the past. 'We made our decisions, along with our partner The Heart of Racing, based on a number of criteria, and we concluded on the line-ups we have because we felt they represented crews that gave us the best potential for success,' he said. Finally, we asked if Drugovich has ever driven the LMH version of the Valkyrie, with the answer being no. [The verdict on Aston Martin’s Valkyrie squad, driver-by-driverOE’s Tim and Phil deliver their verdicts on the Valkyrie driver roster![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-9.png)Only EnduranceTim Fullbrook![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Ross-Gunn-1-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/the-verdict-on-aston-martins-valkyrie-squad-driver-by-driver/) ### Drugovich's CV Drugovich won the Formula 2 championship in 2022 and became Aston's F1 reserve driver shortly after. However, the 24-year-old has been on the fringes of F1 ever since, with no spot available as a race driver for Aston Martin, since both seats are filled by Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. With a lack of racing opportunities in F1, Drugovich has branched out into sportscars — but not with Aston Martin. Instead, he has raced in the European Le Mans Series for Vector Sport, in the LMP2 class, and at Le Mans in Hypercar with Cadillac. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002330_0265.webp) Drugovich raced the #311 Cadillac at Le Mans, his first time at the 24 hour endurance classic. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI This was his first experience in a top class car, racing with the factory Cadillac team, run by Action Express Racing. He largely impressed, keeping the car on the road in his first race in a Hypercar and at Le Mans. Unfortunately, they'd finish 15th in class, 31 laps down, after Drugovich's fellow Brazilian and teammate, Pipo Derani, crashed at Indianapolis with five and a half hours to go. Drugovich was, however, invited back to the team to be the fourth driver for the Daytona 24 Hours last month. Unfortunately, this race didn't go to plan either, with Drugovich's teammate Frederic Vesti crashing hard on the oval, and the car needing quite a bit of time in the pits to be repaired. They'd eventually finish 16th overall, or ninth in class, 50 laps down. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/31-16.webp) Drugovich returned to the Whelen-sponsored Action Express Cadillac team for Daytona. Image: Kevin Dejewski ### Same manufacturer, separate programmes But, given what Drugovich told us at Daytona, and the comment from Carter, it seems that although they're under the same banner, the F1 and WEC/IMSA programmes are not particularly close. That's a bit different from the other manufacturers in WEC who are also involved in F1\. Both Alpine and Ferrari have had their F1 junior or reserve drivers drive their sportscars, with Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc driving the A424 and 499P at the 2024 Bahrain rookie test. It remains to be seen whether the links between Aston's programmes get closer, or whether they'll still be distanced from each other. [‘No reason’ hybrid omission will impact Valkyrie: Aston Martin’s Adam CarterAston’s new Valkyrie LMH features a 6.5L V12 — but no hybrid unit. Aston’s head of endurance doesn’t believe this will have an impact, though.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-10.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Valkyrie-Social-Post.007-3.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-hypercar-no-hybrid-impact-adam-carter/) *Feature image credit: Aston Martin F1* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### The verdict on Aston Martin's Valkyrie squad, driver-by-driver URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/the-verdict-on-aston-martins-valkyrie-squad-driver-by-driver/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T12:53:04.000Z With Aston Martin having revealed their full six-driver roster for its IMSA Sportscar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship campaigns, OE’s Tim and Phil had some thoughts to share on each driver. Do you agree with us? [Aston Martin unveils Valkyrie liveries and driver lineups for WEC and IMSAThe much-anticipated project will make its competition debut at the season-opening WEC race, the 1812km Qatar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-7.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Valkyrie-Social-Post.002-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-imsa-wec-driver-lineup-livery/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Driver-Photos-in-article.001-1.png) Image: Jurgen Tap/Porsche ### Harry Tincknell: The perfect pilot to lead the Valkyrie ***Tim:*** There’s no doubting that Tincknell is the headline driver of the programme, and the perfect pilot to lead the Valkyrie programme into its tender first race events. The British ace might be known for his speed, reliability, and intelligence behind the wheel, but it’s his experience in the development of numerous prototype and GT programmes that will be invaluable to the Valkyrie. Not to mention his time with Proton Competition’s Porsche 963 in Hypercar meaning he is the most experienced across the 6-man squad when it comes to the current top class. ***Phil:*** Tincknell is obviously very experienced and has raced a multitude of GTs and prototypes over the years. He’s the ideal driver for Aston Martin, The Heart of Racing, and Multimatic to lean on to gain understanding about the car quickly, rapidly gaining knowledge about setup and balance. And on track, he’s a safe and reliable pair of hands, while also being quick. He was faster than Neel Jani in the Proton Porsche last year at Le Mans, although Julien Andlauer had the upper hand on both. Regardless, Tincknell’s an excellent choice for ‘lead driver’ of the 6-man squad. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Driver-Photos-in-article.003.png) Gamble is a gamble for Aston Martin, but he could prove to be a new Hypercar star. Image: Aston Martin ### Tom Gamble: A genius new signing? ***Tim:*** The new signing, and the driver that could be the one to watch. Before spending two years in McLaren’s GT3 roster, the 23-year-old had been picking up IMSA experience with Heart of Racing, and returned to their GTD squad for Daytona this year to help score a class podium. A prototype champion, Gamble spent last year mixing it amongst the best of the best in GT World Challenge Europe, and definitely has that quality of “put him anywhere and he’ll be quick.” Keep your eye out for him. ***Phil:*** A bit of a left-field pick, but could be genius. Gamble’s won championships in prototypes, namely the ELMS LMP3 championship with United Autosports in 2020, and has raced in LMP2 in the past with race wins to his name. Last year he was in British GT and GT World Challenge Europe, racing with McLaren in both championships, and while he had good results, there was no real stand out "wow" moment. So, it’ll be interesting to see how he handles this step up to the top class of a world championship, and how much he learns from Tincknell's experience. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Driver-Photos-in-article.002.png) Image: DPPI ### Alex Riberas: The solid hand and part of the family ***Tim:*** Riberas has been part of the Heart of Racing setup since before it was even called that, so it’s no surprise to see him bag a seat in the WEC squad. Team Principal/driver Ian James trusted him with the team’s transition into the World Championship, and whilst he might not be the out-and-out fastest behind the wheel, it’s his ability to get the job done that will make him important in this first season. Put simply, you don’t win at Long Beach and Lime Rock park without knowing how to get your elbows out. ***Phil:*** A solid pick and he’ll probably do fine, but I can’t help thinking it’s not the most exciting choice. Aston’s got a load of drivers on its roster and there are countless other drivers from sportscars and beyond looking for drives in the booming top classes of IMSA and WEC, so I think this one comes down to the Spaniard’s links and history with The Heart of Racing. That said, he’s a good driver, with previous GT success under his belt, and I have no doubt he’ll slot in well. [‘No reason’ hybrid omission will impact Valkyrie: Aston Martin’s Adam CarterAston’s new Valkyrie LMH features a 6.5L V12 — but no hybrid unit. Aston’s head of endurance doesn’t believe this will have an impact, though.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-8.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Valkyrie-Social-Post.007-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-hypercar-no-hybrid-impact-adam-carter/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Driver-Photos-in-article.004.png) Sørensen is Aston Martin's most successful driver of the modern era. Image: Aston Martin ### Marco Sørensen: Aston Martin's trophy hunter ***Tim:*** There’s no two ways around it, Sørensen is the most successful Aston Martin driver in the WEC, and it’s his dedication to the marque through GTE PRO and wider customer programmes that means his selection is thoroughly deserved – and that’s before we mention his on-track ability. Fellow class champions Kevin Estre and Alessandro Pier Guidi have made the transition to the top category, Sørensen should follow that example with ease. ***Phil:*** I don’t think there’s a driver more associated with Aston Martin than Sørensen. He’s waited a long time to get his shot at the top class and for that reason alone, and the years of loyal service he’s given Aston, he deserves this chance. Plus, he’s quick in a GT car, having won GTE PRO twice and GTE AM once over the years. Will be interesting to see how that translates over to prototypes — his only prototype race was Le Mans in 2021 with High Class. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Driver-Photos-in-article.005.png) Ross Gunn has years of experience racing GTs with Aston Martin. iImage: Aston Martin ### Ross Gunn: No prototype experience? No problem. ***Tim:*** Born and bred an Aston Martin driver, Ross Gunn’s rise through the ranks marks him out as one of the finest sportscar drivers of his generation. His dependency to deliver a hot lap in qualifying or climb the order in a race-defining stint, means he’s the perfect pick to head the IMSA GTP effort, a championship where he has over four years experience. No prototype experience? No problem. Gunn is exactly the kind of driver that will thrive in the current global top category. ***Phil:*** Gunn seems to fly a bit under the radar, but he’s a good pick to drive the Valkyrie in IMSA. He’s a GT driver through and through, though, and I wonder how his Aston GT experience — which he has in spades — will translate to a Hypercar. As far as I can tell he’s never raced a prototype in WEC, IMSA, and ELMS. Modern professional racing drivers are nothing if not adaptable though, so I’m sure he’ll pick up traffic management quickly and be on pace from the first race weekend at Sebring. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Driver-Photos-in-article.006.png) De Angelis has been racing with THOR in IMSA since 2020\. Image: Aston Martin ### Roman De Angelis: The champion with a new challenge ***Tim:*** To many De Angelis was the curveball, but the Canadian is as close as you can get to home-grown Heart of Racing talent. GTD champion in 2022, and Runner-Up a year later, the 23-year-old has a mature head on his shoulders. He might take a little longer to adapt to the LMH than the factory aces in the squad, but that won’t be for lack of trying. I’d expect De Angelis to treat 2025 as his one shot at developing into a fine prototype driver. ***Phil:*** De Angelis might be the name some, especially those in Europe, say “who?”. But he’s cut his teeth in IMSA racing for multiple years with The Heart of Racing and Aston Martin. With his familiarity with THOR, he was the obvious pick for the IMSA programme. However, the first — and so far — time he’s raced an LMP2, at Le Mans in 2024, he was almost a second off Olli Caldwell’s average lap time when taking the top 20% lap times for each driver. It’ll be interesting to see how does in the Valkyrie in GTP, and in the longer races in WEC alongside Riberas and Sørensen. --- What do you think? We want to hear your verdict! Share the link to this article on social media, tag @onlyendurance, and let us know your thoughts. ### GALLERY: Shots from Alpine's A424 test at Monza URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-shots-from-alpines-a424-test-at-monza/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T12:53:11.000Z Alpine recently tested the A424 at Monza in Italy, getting their 2025 season officially under way. The French manufacturer also [announced](https://media.alpinecars.com/alpine-endurance-team-presents-its-crews-and-livery-for-the-2025-season/?lang=eng&ref=ontheapex.com) its final driver line ups for the year, with Fred Makowiecki and Jules Gounon joining Mick Schumacher in the #36, while Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi team up in the sister #35. [Schumacher’s commitment to Alpine is great news for WECMick Schumacher’s commitment to Alpine for 2025 means he could be even stronger in his sophomore WEC season.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-2.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002330_0278.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/schumachers-commitment-alpine-great-news-wec/) [‘Ready to bring them on board’: IMSA’s Doonan on AlpineMcLaren and Ford are expected to confirm their future involvement in top class sportscars imminently. Genesis are coming. Could Alpine come to IMSA too?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-4.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0538-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/ready-to-bring-them-on-board-imsas-doonan-on-alpine/) They published a huge number of shots for us to enjoy from the test. We've chosen a selection — check out the refreshed livery featuring the French tricolour 🇫🇷 *All images: courtesy of Alpine.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--24-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--31-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--36-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--43-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--44-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--45-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--47-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--48-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--50-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--52-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--55-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--56-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--57-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--59-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--60-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--64-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--65-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--66-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--69-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--70-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--71-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--72-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--74-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--75-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--77-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--78-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--79-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--81-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--83-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--96-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--107-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--188-.webp) Image: DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--190-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--195-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--207-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--210-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--227-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--228-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--229-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--230-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--232-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--233-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--235-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--237-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--243-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--244-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--246-.webp) Image: Antonin Vincent / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--256-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--270-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/2025-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship---Alpine-A424--272-.webp) Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ### 'No reason' hybrid omission will impact Valkyrie: Aston Martin's Adam Carter URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-hypercar-no-hybrid-impact-adam-carter/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T12:53:22.000Z Aston Martin's Adam Carter, the manufacturer's head of endurance motorsport, told reporters that he believed there was no reason why the Valkyrie AMR-LMH would be impacted by its lack of hybrid, compared to other top class cars in IMSA and WEC. 'We're entering, fundamentally, with a rear-wheel drive car, same as LMDh cars are rear-wheel drive only,' Carter told select media, in response to a question asked by Only Endurance. 'It comes down to that torque control at the drive shaft. So I see absolutely no reason to be at a deficit.' The Valkyrie is powered by a naturally aspirated, 6.5-litre V12 engine. This is the same basic engine as in the road car, but the British manufacturer has made some vital changes to ensure that it can last for 24 hours at racing speed. However, despite those changes and the need to adhere to the LMH regulations that the car is built to, the race car's engine shares much of its DNA with the road car, Aston says. [Aston Martin unveils Valkyrie liveries and driver lineups for WEC and IMSAThe much-anticipated project will make its competition debut at the season-opening WEC race, the 1812km Qatar.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-1.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Valkyrie-Social-Post.002.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-imsa-wec-driver-lineup-livery/) ## 'Pros and cons' to hybrid However, the race version of the Valkyrie lacks the hybrid component the road car possesses. This has 'pros and cons' according to Carter. 'All systems have pros and cons. Ultimately, that's part of the challenge of what we've been going through in testing and what lays ahead of us. 'Obviously, don't know where the competition is. There are benefits, should we say, of having a hybrid system, where you've got that theoretical, almost instantaneous torque delivery. 'V12s have a different torque delivery behaviour than other combustion engines. So ultimately everybody will have pros and cons within their toolkit in order to tackle that torque control.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_02.jpg) The Valkyrie AMR-LMH (left) alongside the production Valkyrie (right). Image: Aston Martin However, despite this, Carter told the group that it was key that the Valkyrie was developed as a Hypercar — a point he kept returning to. 'So, it's very important to us that the car was developed as a Hypercar, and it's a Valkyrie product. It's part of the Valkyrie extension, of that whole Valkyrie car, which has the 6.5-litre V12 at the heart of it. 'In order to take a 6.5L V12 in that package, run the V12, and meet the other regulatory requirements within WEC and the Hypercar rules, it's not possible to create \[hybrid\] and meet all the other requirements. 'Also, Aston Martin V12 engines feature as part of the powertrain throughout the product range, and running a sustainable fuel lean burn engine for us, is also a synergy with that road car strategy as well.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_WEC_04.webp) The car has retained the iconic Aston Martin V12 from the production version. Image: Aston Martin But, how exactly does this work within the regulations? 'Obviously, everything is based on closed loop torque control and drive shafts. So how you generate the torque at the rear wheels is, for want of a better word, controlled. And then it's about how good a job you do in achieving that control. 'That process is similar to an LMDh, with rear-wheel drive. Obviously, with the LMH cars that run in hybrid, they run with four-wheel drive. But the way the regulations are positioned around that, we're confident that we have a very capable package.' Finally, with V12 engines being heavier than the V6s or V8s that their rivals use, Aston had to make a trade off. 'Hybrid units come with a significant consequence. So to take a car which is also carrying that V12 power unit, which come with a mass trade-off as well, when you do the summation of everything, it then becomes a, let's say a different challenge. 'Also how hybrid systems are developed, if you look at hybrid system of a Valkyrie, it's actually on the rear axle, not the front. So then you're into different chassis, concept, monocoque, etc. 'You change more front end, which comes with even further mass because it's not just an adaption of what you have. Moving it forward within that Hypercar regulation set, in terms of it reflecting what's allowed within that, and the mass penalty is significant,' Carter concluded. ## 'Foundation of a race car' The Valkyrie started life in 2018 as a project to develop a track car was also usable as a road car. Due to this, Carter told the group that it had the nature and foundations of a race car since then. 'Fortunately, because the platform that the Valkyrie is, it doesn't present that many \[challenges\] in terms of aerodynamic concept," Carter said, in response to a question from Only Endurance on the biggest challenge developing a road car into a race car. 'The Valkyrie road car has the benefit of having an active hydraulic, active ride control system and active aerodynamics with front and rear wing flaps. 'So moving that car from its concept into a passive aero car, I wouldn't say, created any particulate challenges, but it did create a reasonable shift in the concept of how we worked on the aerodynamics. 'The rest of it, I would say the very nature of the Valkyrie car leans itself well to being the foundation of a race car.' The passive vs active aero that Carter mentions is a key point. The original road-going version of the Valkyrie had active aerodynamics, in the form of adjustable front and rear wings, which are automatically adjusted by the car's onboard computer. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_IMSA_01.webp) The active aerodynamics from the road-going Valkyrie have been removed. Image: Aston Martin However, these kind of the aerodynamics are not permitted in the WEC's Hypercar regulations. Comparing them, then, is 'unfair' according to Carter. 'It's not a straight forward answer, because of the way the production car operates with active aerodynamics,' Carter said, in response to being asked how much downforce has been lost in comparison to the road car. 'So, obviously, the LMh car is a passive vehicle, whereas the road car is a fully active hydraulic platform car . So, it'd be unfair to do a comparison because in different conditions, the active car is giving itself different performance.' ## More Valkyrie DNA However, it is maybe surprising just how much of the LMH version of the car looks similar to the production version. 'So obviously, you're all aware of performance window elements. So we've had to redefine the aerodynamics of the car. If you look at the car, actually, we went out with great intention of leaving as much of the, let's say, outward facing surfaces, as per the Valkyrie surfaces. 'So it's very important that it's the full representation of the Valkyrie where possible. 'In terms of the repositioning, in the performance window, a lot of that is on the underfloor, the under floor front wing area. And you'll also see, as with the other LMDh and LMH cars, an amount of work put in place around the aerodynamic stability criteria. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_WEC_03.webp) Many of the car's aero surfaces are the same, or similar, compared to the roadcar. Image: Aston Martin 'So apertures in the fenders and rear wing end plates, etc. But largely largely from a performance perspective, it's in the underbody, and then we've left large portion of the upper surfaces as per stock Valkyrie,' Carter finished. All that remains, then, is to see how the Valkyrie does on track. It'll make it's global racing debut at Qatar in the WEC season opener, in the hands of The Heart of Racing and drivers Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble, Alex Riberas, and Marco Sørensen. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 150 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Aston Martin unveils Valkyrie liveries and driver lineups for WEC and IMSA URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-imsa-wec-driver-lineup-livery/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T12:53:37.000Z Aston Martin have revealed the liveries the Valkyrie AMR-LMH will race with in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship, in addition to the full driver lineups for both series. The WEC line up will comprise of the already-announced Harry Tincknell and Alex Riberas, with rising British star Tom Gamble joining Tincknell in the #007\. Long-time Aston Martin factory driver Marco Sorensen will partner Riberas in the #009 car. Over in IMSA, the car will be driven by existing Heart of Racing drivers Ross Gunn and Roman de Angelis. Gunn and de Angelis will join the WEC team for the longer races in the world championship, including at the season opener in Qatar and at Le Mans in June. Gunn will partner Tincknell and Gamble to create an all-British line up, while de Angelis will co-drive the #009 with Riberas and Sørensen. The Valkyrie AMR-LMH will race with a British racing green livery in the world championship, and a blue Heart of Racing-derived livery in the US-based IMSA championship. As previously announced, Heart of Racing will run both programmes concurrently, with full factory works support from Aston Martin. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Alex-Riberas-2-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Marco-S-rensen.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Roman-de-Angelis-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Ross-Gunn.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Tom-Gamble-2.webp) From top left: Alex Riberas, Marco Sorensen, Roman de Angelis, Ross Gunn, Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell (not pictured) will race the Valkyrie in IMSA and WEC. Images: Aston Martin ## 15,000km covered in testing Aston Martin and The Heart of Racing have covered over 15,000km in testing with the Valkyrie AMR-LMH, across a test programme in Europe, the Middle East, and United States. To put this into context, [Ferrari](https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/hypercar/articles/ferrari-499p-development-tests-concluded-for-2022?ref=ontheapex.com) completed over 16,000km in testing for the 499P in 2022, before its debut in 2023. Tracks Aston Martin have tested at include Silverstone and Donington in the UK, where testing began in July 2024, plus Vallelunga and Jerez in continental Europe. The European programme then switched to testing in the Middle East, at Bahrain and Qatar. The US test programme, meanwhile, put the car through its paces at Road Atlanta, Sebring, and Daytona. “You can always be further up the road, but I'm happy with how the programme has progressed and with the reliability we have shown,” says Ian James, team principal of The Heart of Racing. “The whole team, from design to AMPT, from the manufacturing element to the race team, I couldn't be happier in terms with how everything is integrated.” ![An image of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, in its blue IMSA livery.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_IMSA_02-1c25c1d36956f26c.webp) The Valkyrie will race with a special blue livery in IMSA. Image: Aston Martin ## From road to race car The Valkyrie famously started life as the ultimate road car. It then morphed into the AMR Pro track day car, and now into the Valkyrie AMR-LMH. It retains the iconic V12 engine from the road car, although it has been developed to run leaner, in order to fit the LMH and Hypercar regulations. [‘No reason’ hybrid omission will impact Valkyrie: Aston Martin’s Adam CarterAston’s new Valkyrie LMH features a 6.5L V12 — but no hybrid unit. Aston’s head of endurance doesn’t believe this will have an impact, though.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Valkyrie-Social-Post.007.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/aston-martin-valkyrie-hypercar-no-hybrid-impact-adam-carter/) This means the power is limited to 680bhp, or 500kW, down from over 1000bhp in the road car. The two big focuses for the V12 have been fuel efficiency and reliability, Aston says. “Running lean to reduce the amount of fuel you are carrying to deliver the required stint energy is important,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin's head of endurance motorsport. “We operate the engine slower than it's capable of because we require less power. The lower power limit within the regulations creates an opportunity for us to revisit the torque curve and reduce frictional losses by reducing engine speed to increase fuel efficiency.” ![A side view of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, in green WEC livery.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_WEC_03-214118c23e47a98c.webp) Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble, Alex Riberas and Marco Sørensen will race the Valkyrie in WEC. Regarding aerodynamics, the original Valkyrie aero has been evolved to meet the LMH regulations, with a solid base from the road car. In fact, Adrian Newey, one of the most successful racing car designers ever, was partially responsible for the original car's design, alongside Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichmann. “It would be almost unimaginable for Adrian, one of the greatest racing car designers in history, to design a car and not think about it going racing at some point,” said Carter. The car's suspension features double wishbones front and rear, with pushrod actuated torsion bar springs with adjustable side and central dampers. As with every Hypercar or GTP, the Valkyrie runs on 189-inch Michelin Pilot Sport tyres. 'The absolute performance is limited by the regulations, irrespective of development,' Carter explained. 'There’s a minimum weight, a power limitation through driveshaft torque control and an aerodynamic performance window. Every competitors’ car model gets measured in a full-size wind tunnel. So, it's about optimising the characteristics of the Valkyrie within the fundamental performance contributors.' ![The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH in green WEC livery, flanked by the Aston Martin DBR1 and the road car version of the Valkyrie.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_01_HERO-c6f34972be5dfefa.webp) Aston Martin has one overall win at Le Mans, with the Aston Martin DBR1 (left), in 1959\. Image: Aston Martin ## A lineup containing youth and experience With six drivers across Aston's IMSA and WEC programmes, they've got a lot of experience in sportscars and endurance racing to tap into, plus youth. 23-year-old Tom Gamble is a former factory driver for McLaren. He won the Autosport British Racing Drivers Club award in 2018, which gained him an F1 test with the British team. He's raced twice at Le Mans, in 2021 with GR Racing, finishing 14th in the GTE-Am class, and 2023, alongside Salih Yoluc and Dries Vanthoor for Racing Team Turkey. Unfortunately, the latter effort only managed 87 laps, retiring due to a suspension issue. Gold-rated Gamble also won the 2020 LMP3 championship in the European Le Mans Series, racing for United Autosports. His contact with The Heart of Racing, and therefore Aston Martin, comes from racing for THOR in IMSA's endurance races at Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta in 2022\. ![An image of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, from the 3/4 view, in its blue IMSA livery.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/Aston-Martin-Valkyrie-Hypercar_IMSA_01-927e193ba863719f.webp) Ross Gunn and Roman de Angelis will spearhead Aston Martin's IMSA effort. Image: Aston Martin 'I rate him very highly as a natural talent and he deserves a chance in the spotlight at the highest level of sports car racing,' says James. The other driver announced today in Aston's WEC programme needs no introduction to Aston Martin fans. Sørensen is the manufacturer's most successful active driver, having won the WEC GTE championship three times, twice in 2016 and 2019-20 in GTE Pro, and once in 2022 in GTE-Am. He also won Le Mans in GTE-Am in the same year. 'He's among the most experienced and successful drivers to ever race for Aston Martin and he’s waited a long time for his chance at the top class,' says James. 'Having worked with him, having seen his ability and how cool he is under pressure, I think he's a perfect fit for this programme.' The Valkyrie will make its global racing debut at the 1812km Qatar, the season-opening race of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, on Friday 28th February 2025\. It will make its IMSA debut a few weeks later, at the 12 Hours of Sebring, on Saturday 15th March. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### ANALYSIS: How Porsche took victory at Daytona 24 2025, part 2 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-porsche-took-victory-at-daytona-24-2025-part-2/ Last updated: 2025-02-01T14:58:17.000Z If you haven't read part 1 of our in-depth analysis of this year's 24 Hours of Daytona, you may want to read that first before reading part 2. [ANALYSIS: How Porsche took victory at Daytona 24 2025, part 1Porsche went from not looking quite on the pace before Daytona, to winning and almost taking a 1-2\. How?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-16.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/7-03--2-.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-porsche-took-victory-daytona-rolex-24-2025-part-1/) And, if you really don't want to read that, a brief tl;dr: Porsche stayed mostly in the shadows in the first half of the race, leading for periods at a time but never with a sustained lead and pace over other cars or teams. They took a 1-2 towards the half way of the race, with Felipe Nasr leading in the #7 and Matt Campbell in second onboard the #6 car. At this point, Nasr held at six second gap over Campbell, who also had a similar gap — to within a few thousandths of a second — to Meyer Shank Acura's Scott Dixon. ## Yellows breed yellows However, the 1-2 wouldn't actually last that long. A caution, the eighth of the race, saw all the GTPs pit. Braun, who'd taken over from Dixon in the #60 Acura, now led from BMW's Kevin Magnussen, with Campbell third and Nasr's teammate in the #7 car, Nick Tandy, fourth. The race went green again on lap 397, but as we always say in racing — yellows breed yellows. In the three minutes of racing between cautions, Campbell took second off Tandy. Because the ninth caution was soon so after the eighth, a wave around wasn't required. The race went green again on lap 402, with just under 11 hours and 20 minutes remaining. Looking at the average laps for the next hour (or more accurately, the next 55 minutes; spoiler, that was how long this green flag period lasted), Campbell was almost two tenths faster per lap than Braun. In between these two was Magnussen, just a few hundredths slower per lap on average than Campbell. The Australian, in the #6 Porsche, duly took the lead off Braun at the ~~bus stop~~ Le Mans chicane. He duly ran away from Braun, with the GTPs pitting in between. But, as ever in IMSA, the next caution was just around the corner — the 10th of the race. Mathieu Jaminet replaced Campbell in the #6 at the pit stops under caution, while Laurens Vanthoor was now in the #7\. At the restart, lap 449 with 9 hours and 50 minutes remaining, Jaminet kept the lead with L.Vanthoor in fifth. This is when Porsche really began consolidating their lead. Jaminet fended off Acura's Tom Blomqvist, in the #60 car, for the lead for almost 20 laps, with the Briton sometimes getting to win a couple of tenths to the Porsche. L. Vanthoor, meanwhile, made his way up the field, passing Raffaele Marciello in the #24 BMW, and Ricky Taylor, of the #10 Cadillac V-Series.R, to take third. He then began challenging Blomqvist, slowing the Acura up and enabling Jaminey to pull away to take a five second lead. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-12.webp) On lap 469, L. Vanthoor finally took second off the Briton to give Porsche a 1-2 again. Looking at the average lap times for this period is quite interesting. While the #60 Acura, which had Dixon, Blomqvist and Felix Rosenqvist at the wheel during this period, had a faster average lap time, the two Porsches were slightly quicker in terms of top 20% average lap time. Similarly, the #24 BMW had a slightly slower average lap and top 20% average lap time. Looking at the pitstop data, the two Porsches did spend around 10 seconds less in the pits during this almost four hour period with no cautions. But the gap was extended by pure grunt work from the Porsche drivers, just lapping consistently and slowly but surely building a gap to the cars behind. When the next caution came out, the lead over Eng in the #24 and Dixon, onboard the #60, was up to almost a minute. Of course, this was eradicated by the caution, but that's how IMSA works and the manufacturers know this. Anyway. At the end of the caution, the Porsches still led from Dixon and Magnussen, who was back in the #24 after taking over from Eng. Dixon would receive a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding, promoting Magnussen to third. The former F1 driver quickly passed Campbell to take second, and began to hunt down Tandy, who had used the opportunity to run away again, creating a gap of around three seconds, depending on traffic. In terms of average lap times for this period, laps 609-711, Magnussen was the fastest driver on track in terms of top 20% averages, laps that would have been unaffected, or mostly unaffected at least, by traffic. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/24-13.webp) The Porsche drivers were actually slower than many of their rivals when looking at this metric, although only by a few tenths. However, the Porsche drivers made up the time lost in outright fastest averages by having much quicker overall averages. We can take from that that they were faster through traffic, either taking more risks than their rivals, or simply able to better manage it. Magnussen was over a second slower in terms of overall averages, compared to Kevin Estre, who was fastest. With this being the Dane's first sportscar race in quite a while — in between his stints in F1 he did a year at the Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac squad — it makes sense that he was maybe not taking all the risks through traffic. Lap 713 saw the 13th, and penultimate, caution of the race. At this point, Tandy, had stopped a few laps before and handed over to Felipe Nasr, who would finish the race in the #7 Porsche. There were now less than 2 hours left in the race when it went green. Crunch time. Nasr led from Dries Vanthoor, in the #24 BMW. The rapid Belgian had been quick at the start, and BMW hoped similar track conditions, and the same driver, would propel BMW to victory. Of course, as we know, D. Vanthoor came unstuck by making contact with a GT car at turn 6\. This broke the front bodywork and impacted the aerodynamics and balance of the car, leading D. Vanthoor to have to pit before the end, finishing fourth. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/25-05.webp) When you look at the average pace of these final two hours, it's surprising just how close the BMW and #60 Acura, with Tom Blomqvist at the wheel, were to the two Porsches. In fact, the #7 Porsche of Nasr was not the quickest car, in both top 20% average laptimes for the final two hours of the race. This award went to his teammate, Matt Campbell, in the #6 machine. With the final caution done and the race back to green with under 40 minutes to go, it was really time to throw caution to the wind. Campbell led at the restart from D. Vanthoor and Nasr, with Blomqvist fourth. Almost immediately, Nasr overtook the BMW in front of him, with D. Vanthoor now really struggling with broken front bodywork. The German manufacturer had opted not to fix or replace it at the stop under caution, and the Belgian had to pit under green in order to have it replaced. It was now a three horse race between Campbell, Nasr and Blomqvist. Despite Nasr being slightly slower in terms of average 20% in these final 20 laps, he was faster in the overall average, taking more risks in traffic. He duly caught and passed Campbell for the lead on lap 768, with just 20 minutes remaining. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/60-02-1.webp) After losing the lead, though, Campbell had to fend off Blomqvist. Unfortunately for Porsche, the dream of a 1-2 at Daytona wasn't to be. Blomqvist passed the Porsche with just minutes left in the race. The Briton set about catching Nasr, and he had the pace to do so. Although the gap came down by around half a second in the five minutes left in the race, it wasn't enough time to catch the Brazilian. After the race, Blomqvist told media, in response to a question by *The Racing Line*, that if he'd had more time, he believed he could have caught Nasr. 'I think honestly we had really good pace there at the end,' said Blomqvist. 'I think I had a little bit of extra pace on them. 'It's difficult to say. Maybe if there was 10 minutes more, we might — might — have got to the back of them. But, I mean, who knows? 'I think going into that stint I didn't actually expect to be able to fight them. When I knew I had a chance, I just kind of gave it everything, and thankfully we managed to get one of them. So yeah, very, very happy for that,' he concluded. In the end, though, Porsche took the spoils and were able to claim a second consecutive Daytona victory with the 963. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/02/7-30.webp) > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### 'Ready to bring them on board': IMSA's Doonan on Alpine URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/ready-to-bring-them-on-board-imsas-doonan-on-alpine/ Last updated: 2025-06-24T16:42:36.000Z The explosion of manufacturer interest in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship is unpredecented. IMSA has five manufacturers and double digit full season entries in GTP. WEC has almost a full F1 field in Hypercar alone. It's incredible. And yet, more are on the way. WEC will herald the arrival of Genesis, the Hyundai-owned luxury brand, in 2026, and 2027 will likely see Ford and McLaren back in the top class of at least one of the two championships. But, there's potential for IMSA's top class to gain another entrant, one that has so far only raced in WEC. It is, of course, Alpine. ## 'Can't think of a better way to establish yourself' 'Yeah, no doubt,' Doonan replied when *Only Endura*nce asked the IMSA president if there was any hope of getting the French automaker, owned by Renault, to enter a team in IMSA. 'I can't think of a better way if you're a new automaker, or re-establishing yourself in the North American market. Can't think of a better way to to launch it and build brand awareness than to come race with us,' he continued. ![John Doonan, IMSA president, at an IMSA press conference at Daytona.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/JohnDoonan-02.webp) Doonan spoke to **The Racing Line* after his IMSA press conference at Daytona. Image: Kevin Dejewski Renault re-launched the Alpine brand in 2017 with the A110, a pretty two-seater sportscar which played on the brand's heritage from the 20th century. However, the car was only sold in Europe and did not make its way to the States or North America. IMSA requires manufacturer entrants to sell more than 2,500 vehicles in the United States each year. This means that, with no presence in the US or North America, Alpine cannot currently enter the US's premier sportscar series. But, with Alpine scheduled to enter the North American market in 2027, this opens the door to the French brand entering IMSA. ## 'The welcome mat is out' 'You know, we've spoken to Bruno Famin and the Alpine folks and the welcome mat is out for them,' said Doonan. 'So when they're ready, we're ready to bring them on board,' he finished. It remains to be seen whether Alpine take up IMSA's offer. Only Endurance has reached out to Alpine to see if the French manufacturer had a comment in reply, but so far we have not received a response. We will update this article if we receive a reply. *Feature image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### ANALYSIS: How Porsche took victory at Daytona 24 2025, part 1 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-how-porsche-took-victory-daytona-rolex-24-2025-part-1/ Last updated: 2025-01-28T12:39:30.000Z While analysis from the Roar test and practice indicated Porsche were a little down on pace compared to Cadillac, Acura, and BMW, this did not turn out to be the case in the 2025 24 Hours of Daytona, the 63rd edition of the race. Indeed, Porsche won the race. In fact, the German manufacturer almost took a 1-2, if it wasn't for Acura's Tom Blomqvist overtaking Matt Campbell, who had been leading heading into the final hour, in the final few minutes of the race. ## Dries Vanthoor creates a gap Dries Vanthoor, in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, qualified his car on pole on Thursday. At the start of the race, he held the lead and created a gap to those behind. His lead was up to over 11 seconds seconds by the time he pitted for the first time on lap 33, and over 25 seconds when he handed over to Philipp Eng after his 59-lap double stint. Looking at the data, D. Vanthoor was over a second quicker on average than Acura's Nick Yelloly, Cadillac's Jack Aitken, Blomqvist, and Porsche's Felipe Nasr in that opening hour and half. Yelloly triggered the start of the second GTP pit cycle on lap 50, where he handed the #93 Meyer Shank Acura over to Daytona debutant Kaku Ohta. ![The #24 BMW on the infield at Daytona International Speedway, with an LMP2 behind.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/24-05--1--1.webp) D. Vanthoor was rapid at the start in the #24 BMW. Image: Kevin Dejewski The graph below shows D. Vanthoor's average compared to the drivers behind, when you take the fastest 20% of laps set by each driver and average it out. The BMW driver was well over a second faster on average than Yelloly, and around eight tenths faster than Aitken in third. However, this doesn't tell us the whole story. If you average out all 50 laps from each driver, we can see that D. Vanthoor wasn't the fastest on average. In fact, he was slower than Blomqvist, Aitken and Yelloly, sometimes by quite a margin. Put both of these things together — the top 20% average and the overall average — and this indicates that he may not have been as fast through traffic, but when he had clear road ahead, he pulled away and created the gap. When he pitted to hand over to Eng, though, D. Vanthoor clouted the pit wall on drivers left as he entered. While the car was undamaged, it meant the team had to move the car back to the correct position before servicing it, which cost time and lost them the lead. Eng would rejoin the race in fourth for the start of his stint. ## The cautions start During this period, Nasr sat in the top 5 but not threatening for the lead. By the time he pitted on lap 58, he was almost a minute behind Vanthoor. Anyone who watches IMSA regularly will know that caution periods, or full course yellows, are a key part of the race strategy in the series. The first caution at Daytona this year occured when Ohta was in the lead for Acura, 2 hours 11 minutes into the race. The Japanese driver had a 6.3 second lead over fellow IMSA debutant Frederik Vesti, in the #31 Action Express Cadillac. Nick Tandy, who'd taken over from Nasr when the Brazilian pitted, was third in the #7 Porsche. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/31-07--1-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/93-01--1--1.webp) Vesti, in the #31 Cadillac (left), and Ohta in the #93 Acura, led on debut at Daytona. Images: Kevin Dejewski The entirety of the GTP field pitted during this caution. Ohta's stop took longer than most other cars and he dropped to the back, promoting Vesti to the lead and Tandy into second. Tandy took took the lead for the time, from Vesti, on the lap after the restart. This was also Porsche's first time in the lead. The next few hours were a flurry of lead changes. The pace was very similar between the front runners. We've calculated averages for each hour of the race for each car in GTP, taking the top 20% laps and averaging these out. Above is each car's average across the first six hours. As is displayed, the #24 BMW was fastest for the first two hours. After this, it became a mixed bag, with different cars having fastest averages at different points within the first quarter of the race. Tandy led from when he overtook Vesti to the start of the fourth hour of the race. He was briefly overtaken by Rene Rast in the #25 BMW, but took the lead back after a few laps. As the race got older, the BMW performance declined to the point they were 'mid-table' in the hourly averages. But, they were still running at the sharp end, with Tandy and then his teammate Laurens Vanthoor leading for the majority, with Kevin Estre second and the BMWs third and fourth. The four were only separated by less than a tenth in the fourth hour. Porsche were finally beginning to show the pace they'd been hiding for more than a week at Daytona; while BMW had displayed they had pace to challenge from the initial test sessions at the Roar. ## Kobayashi's surge The fifth hour, though, came a new challenger: the #40 Cadillac. The Porsches took a supporting role for the next hour, after leading for much of the previous 60 minutes, giving Cadillac the lead. This was almost single-handedly down to Kamui Kobayashi in the #40 Cadillac. If you look at his average lap time here, he was more or less three tenths faster than the #6 Porsche of Kevin Estre. ![The #40 Cadillac in the day time at Daytona International Speedway.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/40-02--1-.webp) Kobayashi surged into the lead in the fifth hour of the race. Image: Kevin Dejewski It took Kobayashi to go from ninth, at the end of the race's third caution, with 4 hours 30 minutes to go, under 20 minutes to take the lead off Estre. His average lap time in this period was 1:38.709, two tenths faster than Estre, six tenths faster than both Drugovich, who'd been fighting for the lead, and L. Vanthoor. While Kobayashi didn't pull away in the 14 laps he was in the lead, he was able to keep it and fend off Estre and L. Vanthoor until he pitted on laps 170, relinquishing the lead. The Japanese driver was a tenth and a half quicker on average compared to Estre, and almost three tenths faster than L. Vanthoor. The next caution soon came about, and Kobayashi handed the car over to Louis Deletraz. Unfortunately, Deletraz would be slightly too eager to get on the power at the restart and would spin at turn 1, hitting the barriers and ricocheting back on track, taking out multiple lower class cars in the process. ## The night hours It was the under the cover of darkness when Porsche started to really stretch their legs. The 963 is particularly condition-sensitive and has tended to work better in cooler air and track conditions in the past. This rang true again at Daytona. In the week leading up to the 24 hours, Florida experienced an unusually cold snap of weather. Arriving at the track on Thursday, temperatures were in single digits. Needing a woolly hat and three layers of clothing was certainly not what *The Racing Line* expected on arrival at the iconic oval an hour or so from Orlando! While it did warm up significantly for the race, it got cold again during the night. This was excellent news for Porsche, and it really showed in the timesheets. ![The #7 Porsche at Daytona International Speedway, taken from the rear, with rear headlights blazing red.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/7-21.webp) As it got darker, and therefore cooler, the Porsches climbed through the field. Image: Kevin Dejewski For the purposes of brevity, we're going to skip forward to when Porsche took the lead in the middle of the ninth hour, with Nick Tandy in the #7 car and Mathieu Jaminet in the #6. At this point, Tandy had a lead over Jaminet of around 12 seconds. Over the hour, the #7 Porsche was the second fastest in terms of top 20% averages, with only the #25 BMW, with Rene Rast at the wheel and down in seventh, faster. The other #24 BMW, with Dries Vanthoor at the wheel, iinterrupted Porsche's 1-2, though, taking second off Jaminet. Aitken, in the #31 Cadillac, overtook Jaminet as well. In terms of average lap times for the entire hour, the Frenchman was actually the second slowest car on track over the hour. D. Vanthoor began to chase down Tandy as Aitken caught both of them. On lap 292, with the gap to Tandy having come down from 13 seconds to 4.3, Aitken took second off the BMW. With D. Vanthoor now third, the two began to hunt down Tandy. For this entire period, from when D. Vanthoor overtook Aitken to when D. Vanthoor pitted on lap 302, both were substantially quicker in terms of average lap times than Tandy and Jaminet. In fact, over this period, Jaminet was a little quicker than his teammate, which accounts for why Tandy was caught so quickly by D. Vanthoor and Aitken. Aitken overtook D. Vanthoor on lap 293 and proceeded to catch Tandy, closing the gap to just a few tenths when they pitted starting lap 302. ### Cadillac and BMW have a turn in the lead When the pit stop cycle had shaken out, the lead had changed, with Vesti once again in the lead for the second time in the race. A caution, the sixth of the race, was called soon after the Dane took the lead through the pit stop cycle. Unfortunately for Cadillac, at the restart, he later lost this at the restart, dropping down the order. He later told media: 'I had a really good rhythm, just cruising along and trying to save my tires and then the full yellow came. 'Suddenly, I found myself in the lead and not having done any cold brakes, cold car stuff. From the lead, I didn't really know how much I could push and then I lost some positions. ![The #31 Cadillac at night with the ferris wheel in the background at Daytona International Speedway.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/31-17.jpg) Vesti led in the darkness but his sportscar inexperience showed at the restart. Image: Kevin Dejewski 'But I then got back into a good rhythm. So, we lost a bit of positions, but pretty happy with how I ended the stint. It's a learning experience. 'It is my first time out, and the goal is to be there at the end. It is a bit of practice, of course we're racing, but it's all practice and learning for the hours ahead.' Eng, in the #24 BMW, now held the lead, and he did so Julien Andlauer took the lead off him on lap 333, putting the #5 Proton Porsche 963 into the lead for the first time. At this point, the two factory Porsches were second — Estre in the #6 — and sixth, with Nasr at the wheel of the #7\. However, the seventh caution of the race was called, putting a temporary halt on proceedings. ### Porsche's formation flying At the restart the #10 Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque led, but not for long: Filipe Nasr surged through the field from sixth at the restart to lead by the end of the 11th hour. His average lap time was significantly quicker than those behind him, one and a half tenths faster than Scott Dixon in the #60 MSR Acura and seven tenths faster than Albuquerque. It took Nasr just five laps to take the lead off the Portuguese driver, and from there, he simply ran away: 10 laps later the lead was almost four seconds and it kept growing from there. But, Dixon was also on a charge and soon followed Nasr through to take second from Albuquerque. Behind, Nasr's teammate at Porsche, Estre in the #6 car, was around 2 seconds back from Dixon. ![The #6 Porsche on the banking at Daytona International Speedway, at night with headlights blazing.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/6-05.webp) Campbell passed Dixon to put Porsche 1-2 with half the race to go. Image: Kevin Dejewski Estre pitted first, handing over to Campbell, with the positions otherwise unchanged. The Australian was around 8 seconds back from his fellow Antipodean, but the #6 Porsche driver was soon able to catch and pass Dixon, giving Porsche a 1-2, with just over 20 minutes until the half way point in the race. In the next half of this analysis, we'll examine how Porsche consolidated their 1-2 and almost took it to the flag. It would have been the first Porsche 1-2 at Daytona since 1987. In the meantime, why don't you read our analysis of how Chip Ganassi Racing won their final race with Cadillac last year at Petit Le Mans? [How Cadillac conquered a 2-lap deficit to win Petit Le MansRoughly 2 and a half hours into this year’s Petit Le Mans, the #1 Cadillac was two laps down and looked, for all intents and purposes, to be out of the running for the overall win. With the two Penske-run factory Porsches leading, Renger van der Zande was in amongst![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-15.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/01-car-front-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-cadillac-conquered-2-lap-deficit-win-petit-le-mans/) *Feature image: Kevin Dejewski* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### GALLERY: Daytona 24 race images URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-daytona-24-race-images-rolex/ Last updated: 2025-01-27T15:30:25.000Z The 24 Hours of Daytona has finished for another year. Enjoy looking back at the race with these fantastic images, courtesy of Rolex! Feature image: © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_00097_.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_02846.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_06394.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_07089.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_07958.webp) © Rolex ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_08114.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_08236.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_10052.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_10064.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_10067.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_10075.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_14825.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_15480.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_16484.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_19918a.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25el_22838.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_00988.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_01628.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_02836.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_04024.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson\\Zach Stovall ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_04847.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_05528.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_07650.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_08649.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_09905.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_10359.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_10795.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_10982.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_11300.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_11336.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25sc_13299.webp) © Rolex/Stephan Cooper ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25zs_01740.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson\\Zach Stovall ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/dayt25zs_02126.webp) © Rolex/Jensen Larson\\Zach Stovall > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Possible puncture for #31 Cadillac causes crash, Vesti 'feeling all okay' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/uncture-for-31-cadillac-causes-crash-driver-vesti-feeling-all-okay/ Last updated: 2025-01-26T06:02:36.000Z A puncture for the #31 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R caused a crash which put the car out of contenbtion for the win in this year's IMSA Daytona 24 Hours. Daytona debutant Frederik Vesti was at the wheel of the car at the time, crashing on the final part of the oval as the tyre gave up. 'I'm feeling all OK,' said the Danish racing driver in a statement to media. 'It was a pretty big crash. Initially I thought it was a mistake from my side. 'But after I saw the video, it looks like a puncture or some other failure, which is very, very unfortunate for the team. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/PXL_20250126_054519008.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/PXL_20250126_054529536.jpg) The #31 Cadillac in the garage, being repaired by the team. Vesti hit the wall hard on the banking, ricocheting back across the track and coming to rest on the other side of the oval banking. He initially tried to drive the car back to the pits, but there was a large amount of damage to the front of the car, including broken suspension and bodywork hanging off. The safety crew art the track recovered the car and towed it back to the garage, where it remains with the team working on fixing it. 'We were running in such a good position for the race,' Vesti continued. 'I think it was almost halfway through and we were among the top teams in terms of pace and strategy and everything. 'Really frustrated and sad for the team who put so much effort since testing in November, the Roar and everything. They are still working to bring back the car into the race. It would be a pretty amazing effort if we could actually finish the race with a crash like that. For now the focus is to analyze what we wrong and see what we can do for the rest of the race,' he concluded. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### #93 MSR Acura in garage at Daytona with rear left suspension failure URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/93-msr-acura-in-garage-at-daytona-with-rear-left-suspension-failure/ Last updated: 2025-01-25T23:29:11.000Z The #93 Meyer Shank Acura is currently in the pits, after stopping on track with Alex Palou at the wheel, in the fifth hour of the 2025 Daytona 24 Hours. The Spaniard, a 3-time Indycar champion, was running just inside the top 10 at the time. The car's break down caused a full course yellow, eliminating gaps built over the past couple of hours. The car was towed back to the pits and, once back in the Acura garage, mechanics swarmed all over it. Acura and HRC representatives have confirmed to The Racing Line that the car has a rear left suspension failure. The mechanics removed most of the bodywork and at least some of the floor as they worked as fast as possible to get the car back out on track and in the race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/6c89cd37-c1e8-4493-b8d1-584773f3cbd0.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/PXL_20250125_225658158.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/PXL_20250125_225805748.jpg) 0:00 /0:57 1× ### PRACTICE ANALYSIS: Acura, BMW still strong, Cadillac moving up URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/practice-analysis-acura-bmw-still-strong-cadillac-moving-up/ Last updated: 2025-01-24T23:24:17.000Z It would seem, looking at the long run pace in the three practice sessions for the Daytrona 24 Hours, that BMW and Acura are still mostly on top, emerging as favourites for the win. That doesn't tell the whole story, though. While BMW took pole with a last gasp effort from the rapid Dries Vanthoor on Thursday, and their long run pace is near or at the top when analysing the averages, anything can happen in 24 hours and strategy will certainly come into it. 'I think especially BMW looks strong,' Porsche's Laurens Vanthoor told *The Racing Line.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/6-03.webp) The #6 Porsche will start the race 10th. Image: Kevin Dejewski 'But last year,' he continued, 'we were also not the favourite going into the race and in the end, with strategy, after 24 hours we were there. I think it's quite close. It'll come up to details with track temperature and other cars after 24 hours and how the track evolves. 'I think that's going to play more of a role than just the pure performance,' said the Belgian. While Vanthoor is undoubtedly correct, and his assessment may well turn out to be correct: let's take a look at the long run averages and try to put together some trends for the race. ### BMW and Acura continue form from the Roar At the Roar test last weekend, the BMWs and Acuras were the class of the field. They were topping the outright sessions and the long run pace tables, as TRL's analysis showed. This seems to have largely continued in the three free practice sessions for the race itself. When taking each car's fastest single stint, practice 1 was topped by the #93 Meyer Shank Acura. This stint, seven laps long, had former BMW man Nick Yelloly at the wheel, with the Briton well over a second faster on average than the next car, the #25 BMW of Sheldon van der Linde. The sister Acura was third, with the three Cadillacs next up in fourth, fifth and sixth. Both van der Linde and Rosenqvist, in that third-placed #60 Meyer Shank Acura, had longer stints than Yelloly, with van der Linde pitting after nine laps and Rosenqvist after 10. It's impossible for us to say why Yelloly was such a substantial amount faster than his rivals, but it surely places Acura in a good spot going into the race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/93-01.webp) The #93 MSR Acura was the fastest car on average in practice 1\. Image: Kevin Dejewski That said, as L. Vanthoor alluded to, conditions were not favourable or representative in practice 1\. Florida has been undergoing a long, uncharacteristic cold snap since before the Roar, with temperatures in the single digits. The race, though, will be much warmer as the cold snap breaks, meaning tyre degradation will be higher and the teams will face unknowns going into the race. Looking at the average stint times again, the Porsches seem to be struggling. They sat 10th and 11th in the long run standings in practice 1, even behind the #63 Lamborghini. ### Cadillac coming on strong in practice 2 and 3 Rain during practice 2 caused many cars to stay in the dry garages, with only six of the 12 GTPs venturing out. With the two BMWs, and one of the Acuras, choosing to stay in the garage, the two Wayne Taylor-run factory Cadillacs rose to the top of the pile on average long run pace. The #40 car was the quicker of the pair, Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel. He did four laps in the stint, out of the car's six in total, all with the Japanese driver at the wheel, setting a 1:37.564 on average over those four laps. Brendon Hartley was half a second off in the sister #40, unable to match his WEC Toyota teammate. Encouragingly for Porsche the #7 car was next, with Tandy just a smidge off Hartley. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/40-06.webp) Kobayashi was rapid in practice 3 in the #40 Cadillac. Image: Kevin Dejewski But in practice 3, BMW were back, with the #25 car — which will start from the back of the GTP field after a technical issue with the high voltage system in qualifying — fastest on average, with Rene Rast at the wheel. The German did a five lap stint to set his 1:37.877 average, under a tenth slower than van der Linde in the first session. Cadillac, though, were again there or thereabouts. Kobayashi was again the fastest of the Cadillacs, just under two tenths on average off Rast and quicker than Felipe Drugovich in the Action Express-run, Whelen-sponsored #31 Cadillac. But, Kobayashi's stint, at 13 laps, was substantially longer than Rast's. While it's impossible to know fuel levels or tyres, details the timing does not provide, this must be encouraging for Cadillac. The fastest, longest stint in practice 3 was 19 laps, L. Vanthoor in the #7 Porsche, setting a 1:38.618. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/31-07.webp) Could Action Express and Cadillac take another win at Daytona? Image: Kevin Dejewski ### Anyone's game The conclusions we can draw from this are frustratingly vague: it's anyone's game. While BMW look to be very strong, and Acura too, Cadillac seem to have as-yet unrevealed pace and you can never, ever count Porsche out in endurance sportscar racing. As many will know, Daytona 24 Hours is dominated by a single thing, year in, year out: cautions. Because of the way IMSA and its headlining Sportscar Championship use caution periods, many drivers insist you simply need to stay on the lead lap until the final quarter of the race. This final quarter is when it all happens, then. Teams begin to show their true pace as they push to move up the field, after essentially doing the racing equivalent of treading water for the previous 18 hours. But, with four manufacturers so closely matched on the timesheets, one thing's for sure: we are, once again, in for a banger of a race in what continues to be a golden age for sportscar racing. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### INSIGHT: How the current top class sportscars differ URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/insight-how-current-lmh-lmdh-sportscars-differ-wec-imsa/ Last updated: 2025-02-12T09:50:25.000Z Somewhat unbelievably, we're going into the third year of the LMH-LMDh joint 'convergence' ruleset across the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA Sportscar Championship. The time's flown by! At this point, it feels like the top classes in both championships have achieved some stability and maturity. Part of the reason for saying this is we've had enough time to have multiple drivers driving at least two, sometimes more, of these new top class sportscars across both series. So, how do these different cars — potentially across the two rulesets — feel in comparison to each other? Where are the similarities? Where are the differences? In order to find out, *The Racing Line (*ed: now *Only Endurance)* spoke to drivers from Wayne Taylor Racing, which for this year has switched from Acura machinery to Cadillac for the IMSA Sportscar Championship. Out of the team's seven drivers for this weekend's forthcoming Daytona 24 Hours, they've all driven at least one other LMDh or LMH car. Specifically, we spoke to Jordan Taylor, Will Stevens, and Brendon Hartley, three drivers with large amounts of experience racing lots of different cars over their careers. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/WayneTaylor-01.webp) After a stint with Acura, Wayne Taylor's team is now back with Cadillac for 2025\. Image: Kevin Dejewski ## 'More similarities than differences' 'There are more similarities than differences,' according to Brendon Hartley. This weekend at Daytona, he'll be racing alongside Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, and Will Stevens in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. However, his 'day job' is with Toyota, driving the Toyota GR010 Hybrid in WEC. 'Well, they're the same weight. Same tyre. Same aero window. In the end, the cars are all put in a very similar window. So there's a lot of similarities. The LMDhs have all rear-wheel drive. '\[On the LMHs\] we have a front diff, with the LMDhs we don't. But as we've seen in WEC and also IMSA, the cars race on track, wheel to wheel, pretty similar. So yeah, I'd say there's more similarities than differences,' he concluded. This is an important point — while the LMDhs, such as the Cadillac, Porsche, Acura abnd BMW, all of which will race in IMSA's Daytona 24 Hours this weekend, only send their regenerated elrectrical energy to the rear axle, the LMHs, such as the Ferrari, Toyota and Peugeot in WEC, send the power to the front axle, temporarily turning the powertrain into all-wheel-drive (AWD). [BMW and Acura on top in long run averages at Daytona RoarExamining the long runs from the six Roar before the 24 sessions, preceding the 2025 edition of the Daytona 24 Hours.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-14.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Badraoui-Roar-IMSA-1-18-25-12154-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/bmw-and-acura-on-top-in-long-run-averages-at-daytona-roar/) Does this cause the cars to feel different? No, says Hartley – because in WEC's Hypercar, the hybrid can only kick in after a certain speed. 'It's pretty minimal, because in the Hypercar category, if you're running the front wheel drive, you can't activate it until after 190\[kph\],' said the Kiwi. 'So it's effectively a rear wheel drive car. For the most part, until you're up to speed anyway. 'I mean that's what's the beauty of the rules. There's all these different manufacturers, different concepts and we're all competing for the same bit of racetrack. 'It's pretty fun that I've got to drive a few different cars, and I've always got a quite a big driver manual to go through and to get up to speed even if they're all very similar. 'They're all very different as well, from a systems point of view, and how you operate everything. 'But my teammates have been great getting up to speed and I'm enjoying driving the car. I haven't done too many laps yet but there'll be time in the race to get plenty of laps in,' Hartley concluded. ## 'Same steering wheel, but every knob is different' This 'systems' point, that Hartley raises, and maybe one of the biggest differences between the various cars. To learn more about the differences in the cars' specific systems, Jordan Taylor was on hand to answer more. 'There's so many different systems on these cars, that when you come at it from a completely different perspective, the strategies are much different,' said the American. 'So it's the same steering wheel, but every label is different, every knob does something different, the terminology is different.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/Taylor-01.webp) Jordan Taylor will race the #40 WTR Cadillac V-Series.R in IMSA this year. Image: Kevin Dejewski The steering wheel the LMDhs use is a [Cosworth CCW (Cosworth Carbon Wheel) Mk3](https://www.cosworth.com/motorsport/products/ccw-mk3/?ref=ontheapex.com). This is one of the spec parts of the car provided by Cosworth to all the LMDh manufacturers, across IMSA and WEC. But, while the wheel looks the same, the manufacturers can customise its functions to their own needs. That includes changing what individual buttons or rotaries do, creating new or custom labels, and changing the layout on the screen. Any seasoned sim racer will know this customisable feature set well, as many sim racing wheels, the games themselves, and third party software, offer lots of customisable options. 'So it's interesting to learn the different strategy of how they've gone about the systems. And for us drivers, learning how to use those different systems in different sections, different corners, different parts of the track,' Taylor concluded. How hard, though, is it to adjust to a new car, especially one across the different rulesets? Hartley gave his input. 'I haven't yet,' said the Kiwi when I asked whether he'd instinctively gone to change a setting that he'd normally change on the Toyota and had to adjust to change it on the Cadillac. 'I did drive the sim a week and a half ago, for that reason, to get up to speed with the controls. 'But maybe it takes a little bit more memory, brainpower, like being asked on the radio to make a setting change. Maybe it takes me another second or so to make the change, to make sure I get it right.' And how do you learn how to make the various setting changes on the multi-function displays? Simple — by reading instructions. 'I've always got a quite a big driver manual to go through, and to get up to speed even if they're all very similar,' said Hartley. 'They're all very different as well from from a systems point of view and how how you operate everything. But my teammates have been great getting meup to speed and I'm enjoying driving the car. 'I haven't done too many laps yet but there'll be time in the race to get plenty of laps in,' he finished. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/40-01.webp) The two Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillacs at Daytona. Image: Kevin Dejewski ## 'Everyone has the same balance issues' With the cars built to the same regulations, or very similar ones in terms of the LMH and LMDh rulesets, there's naturally going to be some form of crossover between the various cars. 'All the cars are relatively similar' said Will Stevens, who will be racing the #10 car with Hartley and their teammates, Jordan Taylor's brother Ricky and veteran Filipe Albuquerque. He's also one of six drivers who will be racing for Cadillac Team JOTA in WEC, with JOTA being Cadillac's new factory team in the world championship. [VIDEO: See JOTA and Cadillac’s new livery for WEC 2025See how well the gold Hertz livery has transitioned from Porsche machinery to the Cadillac.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-15.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/1005_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND-2.JPG)](https://www.ontheapex.com/video-jota-cadillac-hertz-gold-new-livery-wec-2025/) 'There's obviously going to be changes in the way the arrow map works, what the car, wants doesn't want. But I think from a balance perspective, I think everyone has the same balance issues, because we all try to ultimately push the grip to the maximum we can. 'So I think the Cadillac's known to have good traction. I think that's pretty a well-known fact, that we feel good in that area. That's something that I feel coming from the Porsche to the Caddie, that I feel an improvement on.' As Stevens mentioned, the traction the Cadillac has, especially out of low and mid-speed corners, is one of the car's strengths. This is something Taylor also alluded to, with his experience of having raced two Cadillacs in IMSA last year. 'Obviously both cars have strengths and weaknesses, but having raced the Cadillac last year, we kind of knew where it would be strong, and we can kind of instantly feel like it does have pretty good traction all the time, and tyre deg does seem a little bit better,' Taylor said. Traction is something the Cadillac has shown to be one of its strengths over the last two years, with the car putting the rubber to the road better than some of its rivals in both IMSA and WEC. Now, with Wayne Taylor Racing running two of the three factory Cadillacs in IMSA, and JOTA racing two Cadillacs in WEC, the drivers who last year raced a Porsche, or an Acura, or a Toyota in WEC, will be able to experience that strength first hand. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/WillStevens-01.webp) Will Stevens is now racing factory Cadillacs in both IMSA and WEC. Image: Kevin Dejewski 'But honestly, I can't say for sure until I get into a proper race and have long runs and and ultimately feel evolution of a race run,' Stevens continued. 'It's very very difficult to compare. We're doing such short runs here with four drivers getting through the field. You ultimately don't do many laps. So it's really difficult to get a true reading, but by the end of Sunday, I should have a better idea,' the Briton concluded. Taylor also commented on the balance, saying the two — the Acura ARX-06 and the Cadillac – did feel different to drive when behind the wheel. 'It feels different,' he said. 'Like the way you turn in the corner. the way the steering responds to your inputs. It has a different sensation.' 'When you look at the lap times, these cars ultimately get to a very similar laptime, but the feeling and sensation is quite different which is amazing. 'But yeah, the tendencies and driving style is definitely changed between the cars. The Cadillac does feel a little bit heavier, but a bigger window to drive in. The Acura seemed like it was a narrow window to drive in, but a little bit more nimble, feeling kind of more on top of the track,' he said. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* *Feature image: credit Kevin Dejewski* ### BMW and Acura on top in long run averages at Daytona Roar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bmw-and-acura-on-top-in-long-run-averages-at-daytona-roar/ Last updated: 2025-01-20T14:52:52.000Z As you probably know by now, BMW's Dries Vanthoor [set the fastest single lap time](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/01/17/bmws-dries-vanthoor-sets-pace-in-daytonas-roar-before-the-24/?ref=ontheapex.com) in the Roar Before the 24 test for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours. BMW looked strong for the whole weekend, topping three sessions. Acura was fastest in the first session and Porsche took the fifth and sixth session. The sixth was particularly notable because it was topped by Neel Jani in the customer Proton Competition-run machine in very wet conditions. However, as we know, one lap pace doesn't really tell the whole story in test or practice sessions. The real meat of the session is in the long run pace, which is obviously what the race will be made up of over the 24 hour period. As we can see in the graph above, the two BMWs and the two Acuras were on top in the long run averages, as well as over one lap. But, digging deeper, the #24 BMW, which had the fastest overall long run pace with a 1:37.110\. This was only over four laps in the second session. Similarly, the #60 Acura's fastest average was set in the first session, over five laps this time. If we remove these two, the fastest average was set by the #25 BMW, a 1:37.208, over 11 laps in the second session. This was over four tenths up, on average, compared to the #93 Acura, with a stint of 12 laps, also in the second session. Either way, the two Porsches were quite a way off the BMWs and Acuras. The Porsche's fastest 'long runs' were also not that long; the #7 did its fastest time, a 1:37.939, in the fourth session over five laps. The slightly slower #6 set an average best of 1:38.019 in the first session, over seven laps. The fastest Cadillac on average was only slightly behind the two Porsches. The #31 car, operated as ever by Action Express and sponsored by Whelen, set a 1:38.078 in the first session, over six laps. And Lamborghini were quite a way off the other four manufacturers; eight tenths on average slower than the aforementioned #31 Cadillac, with the Italian manufacturer'sd fastest average long run coming in the second session, set over 13 laps. That's one bright spot for Lamborghini - that the fastest avertage stint was quite a bit longer than some of their rivals. If we slim down the selected data to just the fastest car, on average over a long run, from each manufacturer (not counting the two customer Porsches), we can see the rather stark difference between them. While Porsche and Cadillac are fairly close to each other, they are almost a second away from BMW and Acura, who are split by mere hundredths. The Wayne Taylor Racing-run Cadillacs have some work to do, approaching half a second off the #31 car on average. But, given the car is brand new to them, plus the strength of the WTR squad and its drivers in general... they'll go away and do their homework to be right up there by race day. ## Flipping it Let's flip this around. We've looked at the fastest average long run data. Now let's look at the longest single run for each car and manufacturer, and the lap times opf those runs, across the six sessions the GTPs took part in (the seventh and final session was for bronze drivers only, from LMP2 and GTD). The #7 Porsche, plus the #31 and #40 Cadillacs, had the longest uninterrupted (as in, they didn't pit) runs at the Roar, of 17 laps each. Of these, the Porsche was the quickest — a 1:39.294\. The #40 Cadillac wasn't far off, with a 1:39.416, both in the fifth session. The #31 Cadillac had its run in the third session, but was partially during a caution period so recorded an unrepresentative 1:56.178. These caution periods could have skewed the data, as the cars obviously use less fuel when under full course yellow as they're going slower. The tyres, too, see less wear as less force is being put through them. If we look at the times set on these longest runs, we can see the Acuras are quite a bit faster than the third fastest car, the #25 BMW. The Lamborghini is also up there in fourth, surprisingly. Some cars — the two WTR-run Cadillacs, the #40 and the #10, #5 Proton Porsche, and the #6 Porsche, set their longest runs during the third session. This was interrupted by cautions, as already mentioned, and so these lap times, all in the 2:00s, are unrepresentative. But, given the #31 Action Express-run Cadillac only achieved a 1:39.216 on its second longest run, of 12 laps, Cadillac may currently be lacking in long run pace. The WTR Cadillacs all had runs shorter than 10 laps other than the stints which were interrupted by cautions. That said, the Porsches aren't looking too hot either. As mentioned, the #7 Porsche, with its 1:39.294, may also be struggling on the long runs. ## BMW and Acura leading, but it's early days So, in summary: however you look at the data, the Acuras and BMWs would appear to be on top right now. They have the quickest long run pace on average, plus the quickest long run pace looking at each car's longest run. Neither achieved the 17 laps the Cadillacs or Porsche did, but it's only early days. The teams surely are not showing their full hands yet; we'll almost certainly only see truly what they've got to offer in the race, maybe even in the latter stages as things go down to the wire. But nonetheless, it's interesting to examine this data to try and work out some trends. We'll be back with analysis from practice and qualifying for the Daytona 24 Hours later this week, plus other insights and interviews as the week goes on. *Feature image: © 2025 Brandon Badraoui / LAT Images / IMSA* > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### VIDEO: See JOTA and Cadillac's new livery for WEC 2025 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/video-jota-cadillac-hertz-gold-new-livery-wec-2025/ Last updated: 2025-01-13T19:00:59.000Z A little earlier, Cadillac and JOTA — Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, to give the new partnership its full name — unveiled their new livery in a series of studio photographs taken by Drew Gibson. JOTA have now shared a video to go alongside the photos, showcasing the new livery for the Cadillac V-Series.R. 0:00 /0:37 1× Video: JOTA Sport After spending two years on the customer Porsche 963s that JOTA ran, with the team claiming a win at Spa in 2024, the gold Hertz livery has transitioned well to the Cadillac. The team have added more red and black, with the livery fading from gold, to off-white on the sidepod, to black at the back. They've also used yellow and red to differentiate the liveries between cars, with the #38 using yellow highlights and the #12 using red. [JOTA has initial taste of Cadillac machinery at Paul RicardCadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s six 2025 race drivers drove the V-Series.R in an initial test, and gave their thoughts to the media.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-9.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Photo--getting-in-car--5.jpeg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-first-taste-cadillac-machinery-lmdh-paul-ricard-test/) You can also see the new LCD number panels close to the rear wheels. These have replaced the old 'leader lights' system, and will show each car's position, along with other info, during the race. See the still shots of the car below. The Cadillac/JOTA factory partnership will kick off on track in the 1812km Qatar, on February 28th at Losail International Circuit. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/1000_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/1001_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/1002_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/1003_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2025/01/1004_Cadillac-Hertz-Team-JOTA_Liveryunveil2025_ND.JPG) All images copyright Drew Gibson Photography [JOTA’s Sam Hignett and David Clark on the team’s past, present, and futureThe Racing Line spoke to JOTA Sport directors Sam Hignett and David Clark about transitioning from an LMP2 team to a leading Hypercar squad with a factory partnership.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-11.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/LMDH-24h-Le-Mans-24-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-sam-hignett-david-clark-past-present-future-cadillac/) > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### JOTA has initial taste of Cadillac machinery at Paul Ricard URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-first-taste-cadillac-machinery-lmdh-paul-ricard-test/ Last updated: 2024-12-13T11:17:22.000Z JOTA has had its first taste of Cadillac machinery, in a test at Paul Ricard on 10-12 December. The British team will race two Cadillac V-Series.Rs in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, with Will Stevens, Norman Nato, Jenson Button, Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber behind the wheel of the two cars. All six drivers were present in the south of France for the test, which JOTA and Cadillac say was a learning experience ahead of 2025\. A single car was used at the test, a carry-over from 2024\. [Cadillac’s JOTA partnership shows they’re finally taking WEC seriouslyPartnering with long-time WEC squad JOTA might turn out to be a smart move for Cadillac.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-7.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Rookie-Test-2024-1.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillacs-jota-partnership-shows-theyre-finally-taking-wec-seriously/) The team also has possession of two brand new Dallara chassis but, in cold damp conditions, the team didn't want to chance "wadding up a new chassis", a Cadillac spokesperson told *The Racing Line.* There will be a further on track test at an unspecified circuit before the WEC prologue takes place in Qatar, which precedes the opening race of the year, the 1812km Qatar at Losail International Circuit in the Middle East. See below for quotes from all six drivers, plus some early pictures from the test. ## Earl Bamber “I think JOTA is bringing a new energy to the Cadillac project. They have a lot of knowledge. They know how to win races so it’s great to see. "We’d like another 10 days of testing before we get to Qatar, but we’re limited, so this is the first big block to gain information to then head over into the short Christmas break, do our homework and go to the next test.” ## **Sebastien Bourdais** “It was quite a good experience. We worked our way through a bunch of changes and I think we learned quite a bit together and ended up with a car feeling that was quite good despite some challenging conditions with very low temperatures. "I think we have a really good group of people and I enjoyed working with the engineers, everybody within the team and the other drivers. It was productive. Quite excited to get going with Cadillac and JOTA. It’s going to be a fun year ahead.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/12/Photo--drivers-confer--1.jpeg) JOTA and Cadillac have hired a stellar driver line up for 2025\. Image: JOTA / Cadillac ## **Jenson Button** “It’s been a great couple of days. I felt at home in the car, which is nice when you first drive out. The seat position is obviously different and what you see is different, the pedal feel and the steering feel, so it takes a minute. But I feel comfortable in the car. It sounds lovely. There’s always a little giggle when it kicks in. At 44, I still get that. It’s nice to see how the team is working with the new car. We’re running so many tests for them to really understand the car. The car seems to listen to changes well. I’m looking forward to the season to start.” [JOTA’s Sam Hignett and David Clark on the team’s past, present, and futureThe Racing Line spoke to JOTA Sport directors Sam Hignett and David Clark about transitioning from an LMP2 team to a leading Hypercar squad with a factory partnership.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-8.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/LMDH-24h-Le-Mans-24-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-sam-hignett-david-clark-past-present-future-cadillac/) ## **Alex Lynn** “It’s been a cool start with JOTA. The team’s prestigiousness speaks for itself with what they’ve achieved. Us as drivers, having driven this car for the last two years, are excited to see what JOTA can do with this car, so the motivation is off the scale already with this team to succeed and do it very quickly as well. "Having good experience with the car is obviously fundamental and hopefully fast-tracks our learning period with myself, Earl (Bamber) and Seb (Bourdais) coming through the car with a lot of knowledge.” ## **Norman Nato** “Feels nice to really have a first try of the car full push and start working on 2025 season. Plenty of things to try, understand with our new package and also collaborate with Cadillac people. "Felt good in the car, noise of the engine is amazing. Had so much fun during this first day. We keep preparing for 2025.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/12/Photo--Bamber--Bourdais-with-engineers--3.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/12/Photo--getting-in-car--4.jpeg) For Button, Nato and Stevens, this was their first chance to drive the V-Series.R. Images: JOTA/Cadillac ## **Will Stevens** “It’s nice to come to a track that as a team we’re more familiar with, so it’s good to start the learning process of getting to grips with the Cadillac here. Overall, we’re learning what the car needs and as a team operationally to start to work with the car and systems. "You iron out the things you need to learn now before we get going next year. I think 2024 was a good learning year for everybody coming into 2025\. We had a lot of potential. We definitely should have finished up higher in the championship than where we ended up, but it’s encouraging that we could fight with the manufacturers even as a privateer. "I think it gives us a lot of confidence going into ‘25 with a manufacturer behind us in Cadillac. Obviously, the responsibilities and the program as a whole a much bigger now. "We have a responsibility to develop the car, know the areas we need to work on to improve performance and carry on from where they were fast in ’24 and try to improve the package. I think all the ingredients are there between Cadillac and JOTA to have a very successful partnership.” ## Bob Friend, JOTA team manager “I think it’s been a good first test and the relationship with Cadillac and GM and Dallara has been really well. "We’re learning each other’s’ language and getting over that first day at school stuff. The driver feedback sounds like it relates well to where the car is right now. It’s a new language of a car so there are a lot of things to learn. "The reason we brought so many people to this test is so we learn it quickly and when we go to the next test it’s all muscle memory and we’ll get further down the road. "This test, from my point of view, is about relationships and car understanding and how to put a time together with that car. The next step is two cars running at the same time for at least a bit, making sure that we don’t step on each other’s toes.” > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Iron Dames x Porsche: a ‘new chapter’ for female racing drivers URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/iron-dames-porsche-new-chapter-female-racing-drivers/ Last updated: 2025-01-13T08:31:40.000Z After six years since its founding in 2018, the Iron Dames project has undeniably led the way for nurturing and promoting female racing drivers, not just in sportscar racing, but across motorsport. The team have competed in the past six editions of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans with all-female driving crews, and do not intend to stop any time soon. During these instances, their iconic pink liveries adorned Ferrari and Porsche LM GTE machinery, as well as a Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 EVO2 earlier this year. Now, the entire project has separated from its parent team, Iron Lynx, which provided most of the technical support up to this point. Instead, it has partnered with Porsche. A spokesperson said: 'Iron Dames is now an independent brand that operates autonomously under the umbrella of DCRS *(DC Racing Solutions)* and has no direct affiliation with Iron Lynx. 'Joining forces with Porsche represents a new chapter, with Iron Dames competing in several international endurance racing championships in partnership with Porsche Motorsport. 'The racing operations are being conducted in collaboration with expert Porsche-affiliated teams, such as Proton Competition and Manthey. 'Iron Dames x Porsche also combines both brands’ shared values and mission to inspire and develop the next generation of female racers." ## The exponential growth of the Iron Dames During the 2024 sportscar season, the Iron Dames competed in five GT3 championships globally. This included the FIA World Endurance Championship, SRO's GT World Challenge Europe, the endurance rounds of IMSA's SportsCar Championship, plus the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and its support series, Le Mans Cup (LMC). The Iron Dames are more present than ever, making the project a prominent force in elevating and spotlighting female talent behind the wheel. ![An Iron Dames Porsche 911 LMGT3.R drives by a European Le Mans Series logo bollard](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/12/-85-IRON-DAMESPorsche-911-R....jpg) The Iron Dames will use Porsche machinery for the foreseeable future. Image: FocusPackMedia / Marcel Wulf For 2024 alone, they brought on eight new drivers across rally, sportscars and karting disciplines. Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting are two of the most recognised amongst the Dames, for their commitment to the programme since they entered Le Mans in 2019 with Manuela Gostner, in partnership with Kessel Racing. The results from 2024 have proved disappointing, not matching up to the Dames' Bronze-cup 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps victory in 2022. [Iron Dames’ Gatting on ‘challenges’ with Lamborghini’s GT3The Iron Dames have struggled with bad luck and reliability this year, their first season partnered with Lamborghini.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-5.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0519.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/gatting-iron-dames-lamborghini-challenges-porsche-manthey/) Lamborghinis were fielded in all but the ELMS where they partnered with Proton Competition and Porsche. They actually had the most success in the European championship, taking a win in Imola and a further second place at the season finale in Portimao, finishing fourth in the championship. ## Expecting change with 'Iron Dames x Porsche' Manthey commanded the 2024 WEC season in the LMGT3 category, winning four out of eight races and both the LMGT3 drivers and teams championships. This, then, gives the new-look Iron Dames squad a great base for a championship challenge in 2025. Unsurprisingly, they're looking to turn over a new, fresh page in 2025, with big things expected from the collaboration with Porsche, Manthey and Proton. 'I’m thrilled to be staying with the Iron Dames for 2025 with Manthey,' said Rahal Frey, who was speaking to the official WEC news website. 'Their enormous experience will take us to the next level and it will be great to be driving the #85 Porsche again in FIA WEC. 'We have already started working together, and it feels great. I welcome Célia \[Martin\] to our line-up, too. I’m excited to see what step she can take. Let’s get it started!” And her teammate Michelle Gatting echoed her Swiss co-drivers words, saying, 'I’m super-happy to be back in FIA WEC next year and to be competing in my seventh 24 Hours of Le Mans.' 'Besides that, we will be back with Porsche in without doubt the most well-known and respected team in the paddock – Manthey. 'It’s a huge step for the Iron Dames initiative, and I cannot wait to see what we can do.' ![Sarah Bovy winks her right eye and shows a thumbs-up at the camera ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/12/ELMS-2024-Portimao-FPM-GT-9778.jpg) Sarah Bovy claimed six pole positions across the WEC and ELMS – Photo: © 2024 / FocusPackMedia / Gabi Tomescu In the 2024 WEC season, reliability woes denied podium or race-winning results in the Lamborghini, though it certainly demonstrated pace. Owing to the fact Manthey also won Le Mans, the Dames now have a decent chance of surpassing their best result at Le Mans, a fourth-placed finish in 2023\. That said, the 2024 result of fifth in the endurance classic was a rare highlight in a tough year. And, the project's aims of elevating female racing drivers into the higher echelons of motorsport, typically dominated by men, are slowly coming to fruition. Sarah Bovy has utilised the Dames project to further her career and become an FIA Silver-graded driver. And Gatting is now paid and contracted under Porsche as an official driver — a huge step up for her racing career. ## A spotlight shines on a new name Célia Martin, one of their new drivers from the 2024 LMC, is taking on the spotlight at the upcoming Asian Le Mans Series (AsLMS), ELMS, WEC and IMSA championships at the very least. [In an interview with *Motorsport Week*](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/12/03/celia-martin-on-her-emotional-first-season-with-the-iron-dames/?ref=ontheapex.com), she described how the Dames project made 'her dream come true'. Part of the Dames initiative includes nurturing the drivers against all of their challenges and Martin is undoubtedly set for the most challenging racing season in her career. ![Celia Martin poses for the camera after taking her first Le Mans Cup pole position](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/12/IL_ELMS_PR_LOR4062.jpg) Célia Martin started on pole for her second Le Mans Cup race. Photo: Iron Dames Bovy, who Martin will replace in the Iron Dames WEC squad as the team's new bronze-rated driver has been an unquestionable force for the Iron Dames in qualifying. However, with Bovy not racing for the team in WEC this year, Martin will step up to the plate as the new Iron Dames qualifying driver. However, LMGT3 qualifying and Hyperpole has been tweaked for 2025, which will see the bronze-rated driver behind the wheel in the first session. The silver driver, in this case Frey, will then take over for Hyperpole. Bovy is still an Iron Dame and will team up with Martin and Gatting for their AsLMS campaign, which will close off the Dames' sportscar season for 2024. The two four-hour races at Sepang will serve as the perfect prelude for Martin's step up to one of the highest profile teams that Iron Dames fields, plus preparing her for the spotlight of a world championship next year. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Schumacher's commitment to sportscars is great news for Alpine URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/schumachers-commitment-alpine-great-news-wec/ Last updated: 2024-11-28T17:36:59.000Z Alpine today announced their FIA World Endurance Championship lineup for 2025, cutting a familiar face, adding a new one, and firming up another's future. Let's quickly go through what's changed: - Matthieu Vaxivière, who's driven for Alpine for quite some time, won't race for the French squad in 2025. - Former Porsche factory driver Frédéric Makowiecki has [joined Alpine](https://media.alpinecars.com/alpine-announces-its-driver-line-up-for-the-2025-fia-wec-season/?lang=eng&ref=ontheapex.com), confirming a paddock rumour from Bahrain. - Mick Schumacher has committed to Alpine for at least 2025, and [has left his Mercedes F1 reserve driver role](https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/news/mick-to-pursue-new-opportunities-in-2025?ref=ontheapex.com). More on this in a minute. Let's examine these in a bit more detail, starting first with Schumacher. ## 'I want to get back to focusing 100% on racing' These are words from Schumacher's statement on leaving his Mercedes-AMG F1 role. Here is the complete quote: > “I am grateful to Toto and the entire Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team for the insight I have gained over these two years. They have undoubtedly made me a more experienced racing driver because I have got to know the engineering side better. > But watching these cars race and not sitting in the cockpit myself is tough. I want to get back to focusing 100% on racing. I want to be fully committed to the sporting side of motorsport. Ultimately, it is racing that you want to do as a driver, it is racing that gives you that feeling you love.” If we apply a sportscar slant to this, we can infer that Mick is committing, at least in the medium term, to his full-time race driver role for Alpine Endurance Team. Great! Schumacher has been consistently fast compared to his Alpine teammates this year, as we can see from the graph below, where we've identified each driver's top 20% lap times and averaged them out, then ranked them 1-6 for each race, 1 being the fastest and 6 the slowest. He was quickest out of the six race drivers at Losail (Qatar), Le Mans, and Interlagos this year, second quickest at Circuit of the Americas and Fuji, and third quickest at Imola. And, if we calculate an overall average for the three Alpine drivers who competed in every race, Schumacher is on a 1:57.920, while Milesi is just a tenth behind on 1:58.920, and Vaxivière a further two tenths off on 1:58.219\. The team have, been all accounts, very happy with him. After the race at Imola, Alpine driver, and now sporting director Nicolas Lapierre, told [*Motorsport Week*](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/04/23/lapierre-schumacher-had-strongest-pace-at-imola-amongst-alpine-drivers/?ref=ontheapex.com), 'In Imola, I have to say, \[Schumacher\] did a super strong race. He had a very strong pace, probably the strongest pace from the six Alpine drivers.' Mick seemingly committing to sportscar racing means he won't have to split his focus between two entirely different projects next year, instead being able to devote his time, in a racing sense, fully to Alpine. Of course, it's very possible his aim is still to get back onto the F1 grid for 2026\. He's fully admitted in 2024 that his goal is to get back to F1, initially for 2025 but that may now shift to 2026\. Indeed, with Cadillac's looming F1 entry, a seat there could be a key target for him. *The Racing Line* will keep tabs on this going into 2025\. But from the German's strong first year in endurance, it feels like he could forge a very good career in sportscars, with Alpine or another manufacturer. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/A-mountain-of-emotions-and-a-maiden-podium-in-the-FIA-WEC-for-the-Alpine-A424-at-Fuji.webp) Schumacher, Lapierre and Vaxiviere took the Alpine A424's maiden podium at Fuji. Image: Thomas Fenetre / DPPI / Alpine ## Vaxivière in, Makowiecki out Vaxivière's departure from Alpine is somewhat unexpected, although with the Makowiecki rumours something had to give from the driver line up. Lapierre announced his planned retirement before Bahrain, and Gounon was the clear and obvious replacement there. Indeed, when *The Racing Line* asked him about his future at Bahrain, amid rumours of joining Alpine, Makowiecki wouldn't comment. 'I want to finish well here,' he said, indicating around at Porsche's team villa. 'I want to do it well here, finish this year and next year, probably from Monday on, it will be possible to to have a little bit more. 'But I would say, the main thing for me is to finish well with Porsche after 11 years. And after that, for the future is to try to find a place where my way of thinking and working - we have the same way with the people,' he concluded. While Vaxivière may have flown somewhat under the radar in 2024, he compared very well to his teammates across the year. He was second quickest across the six race drivers at Losail, Imola, and Bahrain, plus third quickest at Spa and Interlagos. Makowiecki's addition to the team will likely be a big boost though. He was instrumental in the development of the Porsche 963 a few years ago, and will likely have a lot of wisdom and knowledge to impart to Alpine. Amongst the six full time Porsche Penske drivers, Makowiecki was the fastest at Interlagos, second fastest at Spa, and third fastest at Imola and Bahrain. Amongst such high-profile, world class talent such as Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor or Matt Campbell, you can imagine Alpine will be very glad to have gained Makowiecki. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0418.webp) After a long career with Porsche, Makowiecki will undertake a new challenge with Alpine. Image: André Ferreira / DPPI As to where Vaxivière will end up: there's still a few open seats at various teams, so we could still see the Frenchman on the grid in 2025. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Examining the IMSA and WEC 2025 entry lists, part 2: LMGT3/GTD and LMP2 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/2025-imsa-wec-entry-lists-lmgt3-gtd-lmp2-analysis-part2-rossi/ Last updated: 2024-11-24T18:02:17.000Z WEC's LMGT3 class will see 18 full-time entries, matching the Hypercar class, from nine manufacturers. There'll be nine full-time entries in the GTD Pro class in IMSA, with 21 entries listed on the IMSA entry list for GTD. Meanwhile, in IMSA's LMP2 class, there'll be 12 entries. [Examining the IMSA and WEC 2025 entry lists, part 1: GTP and HypercarTaking a look at the storylines in the IMSA and WEC 2025 entry lists.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-3.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/Aston_Martin_Valkyrie_AMR-LMH_Testing_01.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/2025-imsa-wec-entry-lists-analysis-aston-martin-lamborghini-gtp-hypercar/) ### No Rossi in WEC? One of the most curious things to come out of the WEC entry list is the lack of the #46 car in the LMGT3 class. Motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi raced in WEC in 2024 with the BMW WRT team, alongside Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy in the #46 BMW M4 GT3\. By all accounts he's done well, largely on par with Martin and his colleagues and rivals in other cars. Indeed, when *The Racing Line* analysed Rossi's performance from Spa 24 Hours — not a WEC event, but an Intercontinental GT Challenge race — he was well within the performance window of other BMW pro factory drivers. While he suggested earlier in the year he may not return to WEC in 2025, choosing to do a lone GT World Challenge season instead, this stance appeared to have changed by the final race of the WEC season in Bahrain. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002330_0867-1.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0114.webp) Valentino Rossi made his debut in WEC this year, in a WRT-run BMW M4 GT3\. Images: Julien Delfosse / DPPI, Photo Joao Filipe / DPPI When asked directly by *The Racing Line* whether he'd return in 2025, he responded with 'I think so'. He later expanded on this answer to a group of selected media, *The Racing Line* included, where he said BMW's preference was for him to race in WEC, but it was ultimately his decision. However, listed on the WEC entry are two BMW WRT cars, #31 and #32\. Does this imply he won't be back in 2025? Not necessarily. When asked in Bahrain, Rossi also said he'd make his decision on 2025 after the Jeddah round of the GT World Challenge, which takes place this weekend, November 23rd. *The Racing Line* reached out to WRT and asked whether the lack of a #46 entry is a sign Rossi may not be back in WEC in 2025\. We were told, 'Line ups are still being finalised at this moment in time'. So, hold your horses on Rossi not returning to WEC next year. It could still happen. ### BMW's new M4 evolution BMW will introduce a the new evo version of its M4 GT3 next year. Although this isn't listed on the WEC entry list, it will make its competition debut next year in all GT3-based classes globally, including WEC, IMSA, and the various SRO-hosted championships. The German manufacturer says the new version of the car has improved aerodynamics and chassis components to reduce tyre wear, plus new head and tail lights. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/P90552067_highRes_munich-ger-29th-may-.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/P90552069_highRes_munich-ger-29th-may-.webp) BMW's new M4 GT3 Evo. Images: BMW Alongside this, one of BMW's main customers in IMSA, Paul Miller Racing, will expand to two cars in GTD Pro, up from the single car in previous years. ### Iron Lynx, the Dames, Mercedes, and Lamborghini As is now common knowledge, there are quite a few changes to the Iron Lynx and Iron Dames set up next year. In brief: - The main Iron Lynx squad will switch from Lamborghini machinery to Mercedes - There will now be two Iron Lynx cars on the grid, alongside a single Iron Dames car - The Iron Dames will switch (back) to Porsche, with the team run by Manthey - Claudio Schiavoni and Matteo Cressoni will no longer share a car in WEC, being listed in the #60 and #61 Mercedes-AMG GT3s on the entry list - The familiar Bovy/Frey/Gatting Iron Dames lineup will change as Sarah Bovy will be upgraded to a silver rating in the 2025 FIA driver rankings. She will be replaced in the team by Celia Martin - The IMSA Lamborghini GT3 is listed just as 'Automobili Lamborghini', implying Iron Lynx will not be involved in the entry ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0261.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0378.webp) The pink and yellow Lamborghinis won't be back in WEC next year. Images: Julien Delfosse / DPPI That's a lot of changes! Iron Lynx will need to find new drivers for the expanded programme with Mercedes. It's likely we'll see some factory drivers in there somewhere — Maximillian Gotz, Maro Engel, Lucas Auer, Luca Stolz, etc. They're all platinum-rated, so in the #60 car, with the bronze-rated Schiavoni, they'll need a silver to complete the lineup. And, in the #61 car with Cressoni, they'll need a bronze-rated driver. The bronze-rated driver will likely be an amatuer of some description. However, both Doriane Pin and Sarah Bovy will be silver-rated next year... Out of the two, Bovy is the more likely to slot into an Iron Lynx lineup, with Pin signed up to another year of F1 Academy amid her attempts to break into single seater racing. But, never say never. After all, she's been racing for the Prema-run Mercedes-AMG team in F1 Academy. Or, Mercedes/Iron Lynx could find a young silver driver to slot into the lineup. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/6689650dd8981.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/image2.media5.responsive_12col_16_9.1731926068720.webp) The Iron Dames have been racing a Porsche in ELMS, while the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is a very popular car worldwide. Images: :TimHearn©FocusPackMedia / Mercedes The other interesting thing is the lack of Iron Lynx in Lamborghini's GTD Pro IMSA entry. It's listed simply as 'Automobili Lamborghini'. At the time the IMSA entry list was released, the strained relationship between the two wasn't public knowledge. But internally it was likely still a problem. We'll have to see when a more detailed list is released. The Dames are also listed in GTD and will run a Porsche operated by Proton Competition. They're familiar with the Porsche GT3 car, given they've been racing it this year in the European Le Mans Series. ### The (possible) return of Ben Keating Ben Keating, possibly the world's best amateur racing driver, has been very public in the past about GT3 cars and his dislike for them. However, it seems the tide may be changing. He raced a Ford Mustang GT3 at Lone Star Le Mans at COTA earlier this year, and one of the TF Sport Corvettes in the WEC entry list has the number #33\. This is the number Keating raced with in 2023, the final year of WEC's GTE-Am class, also in a Corvette, next to it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/LM24-FPM-GT-9128-X3.webp) Keating raced a Corvette to success in WEC's GTE-Am in 2023\. Image: Gabi Tomescu, Focus Pack Media The entry currently has platinum-rated Daniel Juncadella listed, who made his debut in WEC in 2024 alongside Sébastien Baud and Hiroshi Koizumi. The former is silver-rated, so with Keating rated as a bronze, that line up would work well. The other car has long-time WEC GT class Charlie Eastwood in it. ## LMP2 A quick word on IMSA's LMP2 class. Not much has changed here from 2024, with United Autosports having two cars, the #2 and #22, plus single car entries from everyone else. Interestingly, Pratt Miller Motorsports, who has operated the Corvette sportscar programme for its entire existence, is listed with a #73-numbered car. Pietro Fittipaldi and Irishman James Roe will drive the car, with a compulsory bronze-rated driver yet to be announced. This marks a return to prototype racing for Pratt Miller, who competed extensively in the 1990s, having built and raced the Intrepid GTP, plus the Corvette Daytona Prototype (remember those?). Otherwise, the PR1 Mathiasen-Inter Europol partnership from last year is no more, with each having separate entries in LMP2 for next year. And, of course, Spike, a.k.a #99 AO Racing, is back in LMP2\. Excellent. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Examining the IMSA and WEC 2025 entry lists, part 1: GTP and Hypercar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/2025-imsa-wec-entry-lists-analysis-aston-martin-lamborghini-gtp-hypercar/ Last updated: 2024-11-23T18:34:41.000Z Witb the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA Sportscar Championship's provisional 2025 entry lists now both public, it's high time we look at both and what to expect next year. This is part 1, looking at the GTP and Hypercar classes in IMSA and WEC. Part 2, coming tomorrow, will look at the entry lists for the GT3-based classes in each championship, plus LMP2 in IMSA. ## GTP and Hypercar You'll see all the usual suspects in IMSA and WEC's top classes, from the likes of Cadillac, BMW, and Porsche in both series, plus Ferrari, Toyota, Peugeot, and Alpine in WEC and the addition of Acura and, notably, Lamborghini in IMSA. [How did the #8 Toyota stage an unlikely comeback to win in Bahrain?Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa looked to be out of it mid way through the race - so how did they win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/icon-192x192-3.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Bahrain-2024-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-did-8-toyota-stage-unlikely-comeback-win-bahrain-porsche-ferrari/) ### Lamborghini's downfall Lamborghini's withdrawal from WEC competition has caused a lot of discussion. When it comes down to it, it was largely the new-for-2025 two mandate that sealed the programme's fate, although there were other factors at play too. When the two-car requirement in WEC was first announced before Le Mans earlier this year, Lamborghini were initially confident the programme could expand to two cars in 2025\. This hadn't been the initial plan — that was to continue with a single car in both IMSA and WEC — but there seemed to be no or very little doubts the WEC programme could expand, at least on a public-facing front. However, in March, before the two-car requirement was publicly announced, former Lamborghini Squadra Corsa chief Giorgio Sanna left the team, with no reason given for his departure, at the time or since. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002718_0305.webp) Lamborghini's LMDh programme will be downscaled to only five IMSA races in 2025\. Images: Javier Jiminez, DPPI He is said to have been the SC63's internal champion. The car had had a somewhat troubled development, with one chassis being written off in a testing crash, meaning that development and homologation was rushed. The on-track performance didn't live up to expectations either, and by September, there were rumblings in the paddock that Lamborghini would struggle to justify or afford a two-car WEC programme in 2025. Additionally, due to poor performance not just from the Hypercar programme but the LMGT3 programme as well, the Italian manufacturer and its factory partner team Iron Lynx were reportedly at loggerheads, playing the blame game. All this has culminated in Lamborghini's complete withdrawal from WEC for next year. It's currently unknown what this means for the IMSA GTP effort, and whether that will continue. It's currently only entered for the IMSA Endurance Cup rounds, the 'championship within a championship', which Lamborghini also raced in next year. Initially there were reports that Lamborghini would enter two cars in IMSA — president John Doonan hinted at an exciting addition to the entry list that was being finalised at the time of the list's publication in October — but these seem to have died down. For its part, Lamborghini released a statement shortly after the WEC entry list was announced. They said: > Competing at the highest level is an honour for Lamborghini Squadra Corse and remains an ambition for the years to come. The change in the FIA WEC sporting regulations which now also mandates brands to field two cars in the Hypercar class from 2025 also changes the terms on which Lamborghini entered the championship this year and is no longer aligned with the company’s strategy. > Lamborghini has therefore evaluated its options and elected to sit out the 2025 FIA WEC while remaining committed to the SC63 development by continuing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the United States. > The pause in the FIA WEC programme also allows Lamborghini Squadra Corse to focus efforts on the development of the new Temerario GT3 throughout the year, with the former set to be formally unveiled after completing outdoor testing during 2025. Notably, this doesn't say Iron Lynx will be running the IMSA programme... There's currently no word on whether Lamborghini could be back in Hypercar in 2026\. The entry list is expected to fill up though, so it may be tough to find a spot. ### THOR and the Valkyrie An exciting addition to the grid in 2025, in both championships, is the arrival of Aston Martin with the Valkyrie LMH. Unfortunately, the car won't race at Daytona in late January, with Aston and The Heart of Racing, who will run the project on the British manufacturer's behalf, choosing to skip the 24 hour IMSA season opener to spend more time developing the car before homologation. It's important to note that Aston never said they'd race at Daytona — they just left the option open. So while a shame, it's not entirely unexpected. What is exciting, though, is the fact they'll have a car in IMSA at all, though. This will be the first LMH-rules car to race in IMSA's GTP category, and one without a hybrid component at that. Let's hope it spurs others on to race in the States too. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/Aston_Martin_Valkyrie_AMR-LMH_Testing_01-1.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/Aston_Martin_THOR_team.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/Aston_Martin_Valkyrie_AMR-LMH_Testing_04.webp) Aston Martin's Valkyrie LMH will race in both IMSA and WEC next year. Images: Aston Martin The WEC two car effort, running with numbers #007 and #009 (it won't be confusing at all with a well-known #7 car on the grid already...) will be helmed by Harry Tincknell and gold-rated Alex Riberas. In IMSA, it's expected Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn will form the full-time driver lineup, with others joining for the endurance rounds. The car tested at Daytona recently in the sanctioned test alongside other cars, so it seems development is going as well as could be expected. Do note that for homologation, because the car is built to the 'bespoke prototype' route set out in the LMH technical regulations, Aston do not have to manufacture or sell 20 Valkyrie road cars in order to have the car homologated. This is the same for every other LMH manufacturer — Ferrari, Toyota, Peugeot, Vanwall, and Isotta Fraschini. ### Cadillac's new partnerships Cadillac and JOTA have officially partnered up for a factory-backed effort run by the British team on behalf of the American GM-owned brand. [Cadillac’s JOTA partnership shows they’re finally taking WEC seriouslyPartnering with long-time WEC squad JOTA might turn out to be a smart move for Cadillac.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/icon-192x192-2.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Rookie-Test-2024.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillacs-jota-partnership-shows-theyre-finally-taking-wec-seriously/) For fans of Cadillac, this is very exciting. Two cars in the series, run by a team who's won multiple WEC races and championships in LMP2 over the years, and a Hypercar overall victory at Spa earlier this year. The gold livery will remain, too, thanks to Hertz's continued sponsorship of the team. The car's will be crewed by Alex Lynn, in the #12 machine, and Earl Bamber in the #38\. They'll be joined by Jenson Button, Will Stevens, Norman Nato and Sebastien Bourdais, although the specific car lineups is unknown at the moment. Over in IMSA, Cadillac will have three factory-backed cars on the grid. Two will run by Wayne Taylor Racing — the Andretti name conspicuously absent from the entry list — and the other by long-time GM-backed team Action Express Racing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002545_0102.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/2024-Cadillac-Racing-Grand-Prix-of-Long-Beach-02507.webp) Chip Ganassi Racing's colourful Cadillacs won't be back in 2025, but JOTA and WTR will run the cars in WEC and IMSA. Images: Javier Jiminez, DPPI / Cadillac ### Acura and Meyer Shank patch up differences Meyer Shank is back in IMSA! Surprisingly, this is with Acura. The two split up after 2023, amid a cheating scandal involving tyre pressure at Daytona, which enabled the team and manufacturer to win the race. Reportedly, this was an isolated incident due to a rogue employee, and not something the team at large knew about. Interestingly, Acura themselves — or rather, Honda Performance Development, at the time's Honda's US racing arm — dobbed the team in to IMSA. This appears to have all been patched up though. Meyer Shank will race two Acura ARX-06s in the full IMSA Sportscar Championship next year, with Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun in the #60\. Former Cadillac and BMW stalwarts Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly will race the sister #93 car. Unfortunately, there is still no sign of Honda bringing the ARX-06 over to Europe to enter WEC. A shame – with how well its Oreca-chassised cousin, the Alpine A424, is doing in WEC, the Acura/Honda would surely see success in the world championship. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/Badraoui-DaytonaTest-IMSA-11-16-24-02991-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/levitt-DISTEST-1124-007853-1.jpg) Meyer Shank will run two Acura ARX-06s in IMSA next year. Images: LAT Images / Acura ### Other notable things There's no second Proton Competition entry in the world championship, as was expected, with just a single #99 car, with Neel Jani at the wheel, listed on the entry list. This is quite interesting, since the German team scaled down its IMSA effort to only race in the Endurance Cup rounds, amid the expected second car in WEC. Maybe we'll see the IMSA car make its way over to race at Le Mans in June? *The Racing Line* has reached out to Proton to see if the team has any comments, but has not received a response so far. Finally, there's no 'boutique' entrants in WEC this year, with a lack of either \~ByKolles\~ Vanwall or Isotta Fraschini on the entry list. This is despite the Vanwall car having a complete overhaul, according to *Total-Motorsport*, with new aerodynamics and a more powerful engine sourced from Pipo Moteurs, which also powered the Glickenhaus 007 LMH. Tomorrow, we'll have part 2 of this article, looking at the GT3-based classes in IMSA and WEC, plus LMP2 in IMSA. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### EXCLUSIVE: 3-times Le Mans winner Lotterer reveals Toyota offer as he reflects on career URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-champion-lotterer-previously-approached-by-toyota-exclusive-career-le-mans-2011/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T12:57:28.000Z Andre Lotterer revealed to *Only Endurance* that he was approached by Toyota before his 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship season with Porsche. He holds the unique distinction as both the very first *and* the most recent champion in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The 43-year-old spoke to *Only Endurance* ahead of his final WEC race for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the 8 Hours of Bahrain where he concluded a lengthy chapter in endurance prototype machinery. Besides winning the inaugural WEC LMP1 Drivers' championship in 2012, as well as recently as a Hypercar Drivers' champion in Bahrain, Lotterer looked back on his prolific stint in top-level sportscar racing. [ABSOLUTE FILTH: Post-race gallery from BahrainSome dirty race cars post-race after the 8 Hours of Bahrain.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-119.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/PXL_20241102_191930485-1-1-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/absolute-filth-post-race-gallery-from-bahrain/) ## Fighting for the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours The German told us his 2011 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fassler, changed his career trajectory. "That was definitely a game changer for my career and the biggest highlight. "\[It\] was epic with an amazing battle with Peugeot," he said, grinning. Lotterer's #2 Audi R18 TDI finished 13.854 ahead of Peugeot's #908 HDi FAP car, driven by Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy, and Simon Pagenaud. Peugeot almost achieved redemption at La Sarthe, after their heartbreak in the previous running in 2010, which saw all four retire at various intervals throughout the race. They won the race in 2009, but weren't able to repeat this in the following two years, against the might of the Joest-run Audi team. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/A1612925_medium.jpg) 2011 Le Mans winners Benoit Treyuler, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler with race engineer Leena Gade – Credit: © Ferdi Kräling Motorsport-Bild GmbH They were in the fight for the lead but the race ended with an all-Audi podium, and Peugeot nearly claimed victory. Furthermore in 2011, Lotterer and co-drivers Fassler and Tréluyer put the only Le Mans podium-finishing Audi albeit on the vital top step. "We were the only car fighting against three Peugeots," he recalled. "We exchanged the lead like 40-50 times and the last pit stop was only six seconds apart on the same lap. "There were amazing stints where we did five stints on the tyres, flat-out. > "It was really pure, flat-out driving." "Sometimes we did a bit \[of fuel saving\] because we had this puncture, so I had to save some fuel to extend the stint so we didn't do a splash. "It definitely changed the trajectory of my career, because that meant that I could negotiate a full-time deal when the work came and then I shifted my career more internationally." ## A tenured friendship with teammates The German highly regarded Fassler and Treyuler as teammates, having driven with them for seven consecutive years from the start to the end of his chapter with Audi in 2016. Lotterer first encountered Treyuler at the beginning of his notable chapter of racing in Japan long before his 2010 Le Mans debut. "The trio I had in Audi, for sure, it's something that was quite unique because I was like a brother with Ben already before joining Audi. "He was my first friend when we arrived in Japan 2003 and we were friends for seven years, and we always wished like it would be so cool to share a car together even though we were fighting each other." Lotterer established a talented reputation in Japan as a regular title contender over a decade prior to his Audi efforts. Both Lotterer and Treyuler each claimed two championship titles in Formula Nippon – currently known as Super Formula – and Super GT. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/TGR_0012.jpg) Andre Lotterer won two Super GT titles in Toyota and Lexus machinery – Credit: Toyota GAZOO Racing His 2011 Le Mans victory was significant in an unfamiliar paddock where he considered himself and Fassler 'underdogs'. The maiden Le Mans victory was the first of three with Audi Sport Team Joest and Fassler and Treyuler. "So, with a lot of holidays together, we're still best friends now and Marcel got added to that after knowing Ben already before. "And I've always had a lot of respect for him \[Marcel\] because I was watching him racing Formula 3, so naturally the three of us were at the same similar staging our career, where this was a huge gig for us. "It was a breakthrough moment, so the three of us had that energy together, and we just got along super well. There were no egos and we supported \[each other\]. "We all had different roles and it was just natural energy that that would bring everyone forward." ## The WEC thrill of LMP1-Hybrid The formation of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012 superseded the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup series run by the Automobile Club l'Ouest – the organisation who governs Le Mans. ILMC ran for two seasons, in 2010 and 2011, and was essentially a prototype for the return of a top level world championship sportscar series. In WEC's first season, Lotterer, Fassler and Treyuler progressed further, winning Le Mans again, for the second time in succession, in addition to the taking the inaugural FIA WEC LMP1 Drivers' title. Besides Peugeot, who prematurely withdraw before the 2012 season began, Audi continued their philosophy of diesel engines which attained success at Le Mans, in both WEC and the American Le Mans Series. WEC specifically marked a new era of top class prototypes, the LMP1-Hybrid category, which featured internal combustion engine-electric hybrid powertrain cars, such as the new Audi R18 e-tron Quattro and Toyota TS030\. The Japanese manufacturer had returned to sportscar racing that very year after an unsuccessful foray into Formula 1. "I'll never forget the first laps of the first R18\. Before that, they were a bit heavy with big engines and quite a lot of inertia, but the first \[hybrid\] Audi was very impressive, it fit me like a glove. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/A191237_medium.jpg) Audi's last Le Mans victory was in 2014 – Credit: © Ferdi Kräling Motorsport-Bild GmbH "Then the cars of after 2014, they became quite technologically super-advanced," he said,"but I remember amazing races." The LMP1 cars introduced in 2014, in what was now known as LMP1-H, had upwards of 1,000 horsepower, deployed with four-wheel drive, making for incredible acceleration and top speeds. At times, the electric motor-battery combination was producing more horsepower than the internal combustion engines. Audi, with a new version of the R18, plus Toyota with the TS040, and new-for-2014 entrants Porsche, with the 919 Hybrid, did battle with all three winning races and championships. "I think of 2014 and '15 in Spa-Francorchamps and in Silverstone driving like a nut case, passing outside through traffic through Maggots and Becketts like the car, you could trust it so much. "In terms of the chassis, the R18 in general was amazing and was really, really fun to drive. "\[The\] 2016 car was was also good, but it took a bit of time to understand and then the programme stopped." In light of the Volkswagen Automotive Group's dieselgate scandal in 2016, Audi decided to close the WEC programme, marking the end of sportscars' most prominent endurance racing efforts, which proved diesel could win the world's biggest endurance race, taking victory eight times with the Audi R10, the R15 Plus, and the R18. ## A new chapter with Porsche Lotterer transitioned to Porsche for the 2017 WEC season with their 919 Hybrid package. "When I moved to the Porsche, it was a completely different car to drive in terms of powertrain. "It was understeering a lot and I needed to adopt a completely different driving style, but in terms of chassis, the Audi was a pure joy to drive; a very instinctive car. In the end, he teamed up with Neel Jani and Nick Tandy in the #1 Porsche. Despite suffering an engine failure at just over 20 hours completed at Le Mans, Lotterer later participated in a gripping fight with Toyota's Jose Maria Lopez at the 6 Hours of COTA. The #1 trio earned their third successive P2 finish albeit with great strength from Lopez who fended on heavily-used slicks. ## Porsche's unforeseen departure "It was a hard one to swallow," he said on Porsche's WEC departure at the end of 2017\. "The feeling was not good and you think 'Where's my career going, specially when you had the offer to race for Toyota \[for 2017\]'! "When the Audi deal stopped, because of my relationship with Toyota \[in Super GT\] in Japan, they made me also a very nice offer but I wanted to race for Porsche. "I didn't imagine that things would collapse and stop so soon." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/M17_2438_fine.jpg) The Porsche 919 Hybrid was the make's last LMP1 before their WEC departure – Credit: Porsche Newsroom A deal with Toyota, as advantageous that would be for Lotterer's WEC continuation, could have also denied his fabulous COTA jostle with Lopez – who joined Toyota GAZOO Racing from 2017. Porsche's departure from WEC and sportscar racing, in 2017 as the 919 Hybrid programme came to an end, left Toyota to continue as the only LMP1 manufacturer. Lotterer went on race with Rebellion Racing, a privateer-funded LMP1 team, during the 2018-19 Super-Season. From 2019, he returned with Porsche in their new FIA Formula E project. In 2023, he formally left FE after a season with Andretti in light of Porsche's then-new LMDh effort – which marked Lotterer's FIA World Endurance Championship return after a three-year absence. ## Returning to the top Together with his 2024 teammates Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre, his win at the new Qatar 1812 km season-opener marked Lotterer's first WEC win since 2015 — plus his first win in Porsche machinery, having not won a race in his seasons in Formula E. Whilst the Hypercar machinery do not reach the levels of speed and downforce of the LMP1-H cars, the new era opened the table to the highest mixture of manufacturers the WEC had never seen before. More so, the #6 Porsche Penske 963 which Lotterer co-drove was one of six different overall race winners, another first for the WEC. Amidst the exciting narrative, [the #6 trio clenched the championship by 37 points](http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/13%5F2024/08%5FBAHRAIN%20INTERNATIONAL%20CIRCUIT/575%5FFIA%20WEC/Final%20Championships/01%5F2024%5FHypercar%5FWorld%5FEndurance%5FDrivers%5FChampionship%5FAfter%5FBahrain.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com) in Bahrain. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002758_0019.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002718_0749.jpg) Lotterer earned his second title against 19 other Hypercars in the 2024 season – Credit: DPPI [How did the #8 Toyota stage an unlikely comeback to win in Bahrain?Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa looked to be out of it mid way through the race - so how did they win?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/OE-Favicon-120.png)Only EndurancePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Bahrain-2024-2.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-did-8-toyota-stage-unlikely-comeback-win-bahrain-porsche-ferrari/) Not a moment too soon, Lotterer attained success again in the form of his second WEC title. So what's Lotterer got planned next? "I've been with Porsche for a long time, so there's the loyalty to stay together and do other projects together. "It can be exciting. We need to see and understand what's possible to do, whether it's with GTs, or taking an ambassador role or do something completely different with someone else." Whatever he decides next, whether he stays in the Hypercar class, races GT3s, or something else, Lotterer will be remembered for his exuberant and deterministic driving style which made his stints amongst the most exciting to watch in the height of WEC's LMP1 era. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Cadillac's JOTA partnership shows they're finally taking WEC seriously URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillacs-jota-partnership-shows-theyre-finally-taking-wec-seriously/ Last updated: 2024-11-17T23:18:17.000Z The Cadillac-JOTA partnership is great news for fans of sportscar racing, for two reasons on the surface. 1) JOTA, a stalwart of sportscar racing and WEC, get a factory partnership after years of impressing in LMP2 and Hypercar with a customer programme 2) Cadillac stay in the FIA World Endurance Championship, when they could have left after the partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing wasn't renewed for 2025 But, with news today about the [driver lineup at Cadillac-JOTA next year](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/11/14/jota-and-cadillac-announce-2025-factory-driver-line-up-for-wec/?ref=ontheapex.com) (spoiler: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais, Will Stevens, Norman Nato, and Jenson Button) it shows the American GM-owned manufacturer is finally taking WEC seriously. ## A half-hearted effort Looking back at Cadillac's 2023/2024 WEC programme, it's fair to say it maybe wasn't as intensive as it could have been. The team had a single car — the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R — run by Chip Ganassi, with Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn joined by Richard Westbrook in the first year of operation. Westbrook left the team after 2023 and essentially wasn't replaced, with Cadillac employing guest drivers from either their or CGR's ranks for the longer races – namely Bourdais for Qatar and Bahrain, and Indycar champion for Chip Ganassi, Alex Palou for Le Mans. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/FIA-WEC-6-Hours-of-Fuji-2024--1-.jpg) Cadillac's 2024 didn't go completely to plan. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI While it was a valiant effort which showed the car's inherent pace, the effort was focused around entering Le Mans. This is exactly what WEC doesn't want — instead, the series wants full season, multiple car commitment from manufacturer teams. Hence the two-car mandate for next year. This has good and bad points — which we'll discuss in the next article in our for/against series — but it does mean we'll get two Cadillacs in WEC next year, which can only be a good thing. For both Cadillac and JOTA, the benefits are enormous. They'll get double the amount of data to learn from, and more chances of success — literally double — plus more brand presence for partners and sponsors. Indeed, when Cadillac and JOTA were still in discussions for the 2025 partnership, the commercial aspect was something Cadillac were keen on, JOTA director and co-founder Sam Hignett told me when I spoke to him. [JOTA’s Sam Hignett and David Clark on the team’s past, present, and futureThe Racing Line spoke to JOTA Sport directors Sam Hignett and David Clark about transitioning from an LMP2 team to a leading Hypercar squad with a factory partnership.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-2.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/LMDH-24h-Le-Mans-24.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-sam-hignett-david-clark-past-present-future-cadillac/) 'We'd always had dialogue with literally all of the manufacturers,' he said. 'And then a year or so ago, the conversations with Cadillac seemed to accelerate a bit, with their existing supplier getting to the end of their contract. 'So yeah, it all stemmed from there. We kept the conversation going and they've seen what we'd achieved obviously. 'Our commercial success as well, is very appealing to them. so bringing the whole thing together has landed us with the two-car factory program.' In 2023, the Chip Ganassi-run Cadillac team have been plagued by issues and misfortune. After taking a podium result in Qatar, they were disqualified for the car's diffuser strakes being very slightly out of tolerance when compared to the CAD. In Spa, Bamber had his enormous accident down the Kemmel Straight when things were looking good for the team. In Brazil they had issues with brakes while running well in the top 5\. In Fuji they qualified on pole, but fell back early on, then crashed late in the race when Bamber made a misjudgement while overtaking traffic. But with two cars in the series, it means if they have issues with a single car, the other car is hopefully still there as a backup. ## Partnership with experienced WEC team JOTA are one of the most experienced WEC teams around, with an entry in the series since 2017 and running at Le Mans for years before that, with a class win in 2014\. They know what they're doing and how to win. While Chip Ganassi Racing are a very experienced team who, undoubtedly, could have won races with the V-Series.R, they maybe lack the specific, detailed WEC experience JOTA have. The American team had to get to grips with new circuits and tracks in the WEC, compared to the US circuits they know well from their extensive IMSA and Indycar experience. With one car, they were generating less data when compared to a team like Penske, and so had less to learn from - essentially a self-fulfilling cycle. The base set up for the WEC programme in Germany was also brand new, so while many team members could have been hired from competitors, it was always going to take time for everything to gel. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/2PPP0322.jpeg) Cadillac JOTA's new driver lineup in 2025\. Image: JOTA But, having raced in WEC since 2017, JOTA know these tracks like the back of their hands. And, with extensive prototype experience, the team will be able to get up to speed with the V-Series.R quickly. 'I think it's the team that brings the experience to Le Mans,' said JOTA's Hignett in our chat about the Cadillac partnership. 'One of the reasons they partnered with us because we do have quite a wealth of experience there. Already we're working with them on our knowledge of Le Mans and what we can do. So I think that that is part of the value.' ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/FIA-WEC-6-Hours-of-Fuji-2024.jpg) JOTA's two gold Porsches will become Cadillacs in 2025\. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI Finally, the driver line up is truly stellar, with Cadillac factory drivers in Bourdais, Lynn and Bamber, plus three hugely experienced drivers in Stevens, Nato and Button. The partnership will hopefully take both JOTA and Cadillac to the next level, and put both in the frame for regular wins and podiums in WEC competition. Hignett's fellow JOTA director and co-founder, David Clark, summed it up well, from the British team's perspective, at the end of our conversation. 'I think it's a great thing for Cadillac that they've got JOTA,' he said. 'Let me just say that, not just because I'm part of JOTA but I think... look at Mercedes. They they could have come into Grand Prix racing like Toyota. But they get a team created by Toto Wolff. And, you know, the rest is history. 'And I think the combination of that is the feeling that we have with Cadillac. It's a very very strong feeling. It's not the onslaught of an enormous corporation,' he concluded. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### INSIGHT: Deep dive into Peugeot's performance with 2024 9X8 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/insight-deep-dive-peugeot-performance-2024-9x8-analysis-le-mans/ Last updated: 2024-11-13T17:59:40.000Z When looking at the FIA World Endurance Championship, it's clear the LMH-rules cars have, generally speaking, a performance advantage over the LMDh-rules cars. Yes Porsche won the drivers' world championship, but Toyota won three races while Ferrari also won two. The others were won by Porsche, although admittedly Ferrari *should* have won at Spa-Francorchamps if it wasn't for unlucky timing (for them) of the red flag towards the end of the race, which handed the customer JOTA team a win with the #12 Porsche 963. The outlier to this is Peugeot. Both versions of the 9X8 have been developed to the LMH ruleset, which allows manufacturers greater design freedom, no spec parts, and the ability to run an electric motor on the front axle. This makes the car four-wheel drive when the hybrid system activates the motor, whereas the LMDh cars from Porsche, Alpine, BMW and Cadillac can only have an electric motor on the rear axle, adding power along with the internal combustion engine. So, if the 'rule' was followed, Peugeot should be 'faster' pace wise than the likes of Porsche. Except they aren't. ## Comparing the gap each race Above, and below, are graphs comparing Peugeot's performance over the 2024 season, compared with Toyota's, who won the manufacturers' world title. We've taken the top 20% laps set by each car, combined them into an average, and then combined each car's average to create a team average for each race. The first thing to note is Peugeot were actually quicker at Qatar. This was the last race with the 'old' wingless 9X8, but the car suited Losail International Circuit almost perfectly, with the track surface almost 'billiard-table' smooth. However, the French manufacturer has stated since that they'd extracted all the performance from the car. Hence, the new 9X8, with a wing. This new car was introduced at the next race, held at Imola. With this new car, compared to Toyota, Peugeot were almost a second off the pace, or nearly 1% on average. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/FIA-WEC-Prologue-2024-Qatar-1.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/FIA-WEC-Imola-2024-2.webp) Peugeot used its old 9X8 for the final time in Qatar, before introducing the new car at Imola. Images: Thomas Fenetre / DPPI (left), Julien Delfosse / DPPI (right) This came down significantly at Spa, but went up again at Le Mans. The gap at Le Mans, though — 2.2 seconds — is deceiving, which is why we've generated an average percentage gap as well as a time gap. Because Le Mans is almost double the length of Spa, the time gap makes it look like Peugeot were 4x slower in France compared to Belgium. In fact, they weren't — they were only slightly slower than they were at Imola. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/24-Heures-du-Mans-2024-Free-Practice-1.webp) Le Mans was only Peugeot's third race with the all-new 9X8\. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI This is a little surprising when you consider the previous year. The wingless 9X8 performed well at Le Mans, if very inconsistently. However, the #93 car was, on average over the race, just under two tenths up a lap compared to the best of the Toyotas, the #7\. The other Peugeot was around 1.7 off the #7 Toyota. And if you take the average from both cars from each team, the gap was again around seven tenths, or 0.31%. So, this almost tripled with the new car. But, where was the time actually being lost? And how did this compare to 2023? ## Losing time in the French countryside Crunching the individual sector times reveals that, in 2024, Peugeot were losing most of their time in the first sector, around 1.3% off Toyota on average throughout the race. Compared to 2023, this is almost 1%. In fact, in all three sectors around the lap, the new 9X8 was slower than the old 9X8 in 2023. The first sector at Le Mans is roughly from the start/finish line until Tertre Rouge. The second sector comprises the full Mulsanne straight, including the chicanes, up to Mulsanne corner. The third sector is the rest of the lap, including Indianapolis, Arnage, the Porsche Curves and the end of the lap with the Ford Chicanes. With Peugeot losing most of their time in the first and third sectors — 1.3% in the first, and 0.94% in the third — it can be deduced that the car is slower in the twisty bits (technical term), requiring downforce, than in a straight line. However, they were still losing 0.64% compared to Toyota on average in the second sector, so it's not like it's all rosy there either. This could be down to any number of things. It was only the car's third race, compared to 2023, when they had a number of races under their belt and almost certainly understood the car more than they did in at Le Mans this year. It could also be down to balance of performance. Although Peugeot were running 6kg lighter than Toyota at Le Mans in 2024 — 1,047kg compared to Toyota's 1,053kg — they both had the same amount of power, 508kW, roughly 681hp. If each 1kg costs a tenth of a second (pure speculation)... that's six tenths of a second, instantly. Peugeot were also losing 0.70% power when they exceeded 250kph, compared to Toyota who gained 0.90%. That'd put Peugeot on 504.44kW, and Toyota on 512.57kW. Clearly, though, the car isn't as good as one of WEC's benchmark cars, the GR010 Hybrid. Towards the end of the 2024 season, WEC reduced the 9X8's weight and increased the power considerably. And as we can see from the graph higher up in this article, at Fuji and Bahrain, this has helped considerably. ## Peugeot getting closer As the 2024 season progressed, it's clear Peugeot got faster. They almost claimed a podium at Fuji, and then did so at Bahrain, albeit when Ferrari were disqualified. But still, a podium's a podium. Before this, at Interlagos and COTA, the 9X8 suffered, way of Toyota's pace. The way to possibly explain this is that the car is still struggling over bumps and uneven surfaces, the same as the old car did. But this wasn't a problem at the smooth Fuji and Bahrain. Sector 1 at Bahrain is from the start finish line to after turn 4\. Sector 2 takes you up to just after turn 12 and the back straight, while sector 3 finishes the lap, with the long straight perpendicular to the main straight. Once again, Peugeot were over 1% off Toyota's average in sector 2 — the bit requiring more downforce than sector 1 and 3\. So while they were closer to Toyota on average during the race in Bahrain — they were still seemingly lacking in downforce. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/Bahrain-24-25.webp) Peugeot took the new 9X8's first podium at Bahrain. Image: Joao Filipe / DPPI The French car was running 34kg lighter than the Toyota in the Middle East — 1,031kg compared to 1,065kg. The Hypercar regulations state that the cars can't be run lower than 1,030kg, so Peugeot is very close to the minimum weight. Power, meanwhile, was 499kW for Toyota, compared to Peugeot with 520kW — the most powerful car on the grid in Bahrain. And yet they were still losing out to Toyota in sectors requiring power — namely, the first and third sectors. That said, the French car was losing 5.20% of its power after 250kph, while Toyota gained 4.20%. ## Looking up towards the end of the season Towards the end of the season, after some rough performances in Brazil and Texas for the French manufacturer, things started looking up in Fuji or Bahrain. While ultimate performance still wasn't found, the #93 car came very close to an inaugural podium for the 2024 9X8, just over 3.5 seconds off the #36 Alpine. And at Bahrain, after the #51 Ferrari was disqualified for exceeding its tyre allocation, the same #93 machine inherited third, which it had lost late on in the race to Ferrari's Antonio Giovinazzi. After qualifying 14th in Fuji and 18th – last — in Bahrain, these results seem very unlikely. So how did they happen? *The Racing Line* asked Peugeot's technical director, Olivier Jansonnie, this very question on the Sunday morning after the race in Bahrain. His answer? "Tyres," he said. "It's as simple as that," the Frenchman continued. "How well you manage your tyres is the biggest contributor of pace at any given time. "We've been consistently slow at the start of the race and stronger at the end because we have fresh tyres." In Bahrain, which Jansonnie said was Peugeot's best race "operation wise", the team saved its medium tyres until the end, using them to great effect up front on the surviving #93 car, while most other cars had already switched to hards. "We knew the race would be all about tyre degradation," said Jansonnie. "We had to make sure that we set targets, we don't get too excited at the beginning of the race, trying to follow people we can't follow because of the missing pace we have. "If we manage to do that, we can stay close in the end." *The Racing Line's* pace analysis backs up Jansonnie's comments. They were 1.94% off at the start, and slightly closer at the end — 1.47% in the final hour, when Toyota turned up the heat to pull away a large gap over everyone else in the field. But, in the middle stages of the race, the French car was mere tenths of a second on average off the Toyota, and, in the fourth hour was actually three tenths up a lap on average. However, this is a flawed analysis because it is very hard to be certain what tyres each car was using and when. This isn't recorded by WEC's timing partner, Al Kamel Systems, and so it's hard to truly work this out. ## Further improving the 9X8 As you might expect, the team are working behind the scenes to improve the winged 9X8\. 'For us, we need to really need to have a car that is much more consistent throughout the race,' Jansonnie told reporters. 'There's too much variation on the the car balance and car performance. Depending on tire wear, track condition, the car is very picky to set up right now. 'It's complicated. What's actually complicated is to understand what should be done to try to cure those issues. 'Trying to start from some facts which you can measure and test, then develop solutions and make sure the solutions worked as they should. So, we're in this process now,' he finished. The manufacturer has been testing new parts in Barcelona, and while Jansonnie wouldn't expand further, the implication is those parts may be future jokers applied to the car in 2025. ### How did the #8 Toyota stage an unlikely comeback to win in Bahrain? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/how-did-8-toyota-stage-unlikely-comeback-win-bahrain-porsche-ferrari/ Last updated: 2025-04-27T21:46:10.000Z It feels like saying this is getting a bit repetitive at this point, but even so: what a fantastic race to close the FIA World Endurance Championship at Bahrain. Bahrain’s become known in WEC circles for producing sub par races at times, but 2024’s edition of the 8 hour race was excellent, with action almost all the time in one form or another. You wouldn’t know it though, considering the #8 Toyota started on pole and won the race. It was anything but a simple lights-to-flag victory, though. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/FIA-WEC-Bahrain-2024--2--2.webp) Buemi retained the lead at the start but soon came unstuck through traffic. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI The standout performance was, undoubtedly, Sebastien Buemi’s, Brendon Hartley’s, and Ryo Hirakawa’s comeback and victory after sinking as low as 10th during the race. While the trio were fast all race, it was only in the final hour, after the second and last safety car, that they unleashed the pace that had been bubbling under the surface for pretty much the whole race. ## Day time The first half of the race, from 14:00 local time to 18:00 local time, was mostly conducted in day time. The sun set at 16:54, so the final hour of the first half was conducted as the track cooled, with no direct sunlight on it. Buemi led from pole and looked comfortable. It is, after all, where these cars work best, in clear air and not following other cars. He didn’t try to pull a gap, though — for good reason. “To be honest, I was managing the pace at the beginning,” said the Swiss driver. “I didn't want to pull out a gap because obviously if we have a safety car, you've just damaged the tires for nothing.” So, while the gap got up to around xx in the first 20 minutes, it’s clear he could have gone much faster. Disaster then struck, with the contact between Buemi and Koizumi in the #82 TF Sport Corvette. Buemi dropped to seventh and was stuck behind the BMW of Dries Vanthoor for 20 laps. His average pace dropped off massively here — whereas in the laps before the spin he was averaging 1:52.5s, after the spin, running in traffic, his lap times went up by three seconds on average. Ferrari’s Antonio Giovinazzi, in the #51 car, inherited the lead when Buemi spun. By the end of the stint, the Italian had a lead of around 5 seconds to Will Stevens, in the #12 JOTA Porsche behind. Buemi, meanwhile, had been stuck behind Vanthoor since his spin, putting more strain on his medium tyres as a result. During the pitstop cycle he did jump from seventh to fourth, passing Julien Andlauer in the #99 Proton Porsche, who after a spell up front was now falling back through the field, and the BMW of D. Vanthoor. This put the Swiss driver back behind his teammate Conway, plus Stevens, who’d used an undercut plus faster work in the pits from the JOTA crew, to take the lead off Giovinazzi. Buemi was now running in mostly clear air, roughly seven seconds away from Conway, with the Briton having a similar gap to Giovinazzi in front of him. Buemi’s pace, despite being on used mediums, was good during the first half of the second hour. With every lap, though, the mediums lost more grip, and soon Buemi, who’d been catching Conway, fell back into the grip of Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche. Campbell spent five laps behind Buemi and then passed him for fourth. The data shows Campbell was, on average, three tenths a lap quicker than Buemi at this stage in the race. Buemi pitted early in his stint as the mediums that he'd started the race on where now done, with no life left in them. He'd also spun on them which may have caused more damage. Campbell pitted a few laps later and, with Michael Christensen at the wheel, sat second behind Giovinazzi, who'd passed Will Stevens in the #12 car during the stint, to take the lead of the race. Meanwhile, after the stops had shaken out, Brendon Hartley, who'd replaced Buemi at the wheel of the #8 Toyota, was fourth, behind Norman Nato, who'd replaced Stevens in the #12 JOTA. For the rest of the first half of the race, Hartley remained in touch with the leaders, but steadily falling back. By the time he pitted at the 3h57m mark, he was 32 seconds off the leader, James Calado in the #51 Ferrari. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/FIA-WEC-Bahrain-2024--3--3.webp) The sun set at 6:55pm, with more than half the race run in darkness. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI ## Night time Ryo Hirakawa was in the car next. Once the next round of stops had shaken out, he sat seventh, 30 seconds off the lead, behind Oliver Rasmussen, who'd replaced Button in the #38 JOTA. The race was now being run under the cover of darkness, albeit with Bahrain's floodlights lighting up the entire circuit. With direct sunlight no longer heating up the track surface, the tyres would last longer and drivers could push more. Game on. The first half was exceedingly clean, with just one brief full course yellow to recover some debris. However, the second half of the race was neutralised twice. Hirakawa's teammate Nyck de Vries led the race at that point in the #7 Toyota. However, an earlier power issue with the car returned during de Vries' stint, enabling Alessandro Pier Guidi, in the #51 Ferrari, to catch and pass. Others soon followed, including Callum Ilott in the #12 JOTA and Fred Makowiecki in the #5 Porsche. Meanwhile, Hirakawa was languishing in seventh, 35 seconds off Pier Guidi in the lead, while Toyota's hopes of winning with the #7 car went up in smoke. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/FIA-WEC-8-Hours-Bahrain-2024-2.webp) Toyota and Porsche had a race-long battle. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI He pitted on schedule on lap 153, once again slightly early and dropped to 14th temporarily before other cars ahead pitted. Matthieu Vaxiviere, in the #35 Alpine, was last to pit, coming in around 15 minutes after Hirakawa had. This meant the Japanese driver was fifth, in front of de Vries who was now facing big power losses as the power issue, later revealed to be a misfire, seemingly worsened. At this point, 15 minutes into the hour, Pier Guidi's lead over Ilott stood at seven seconds. However, just over 10 minutes later, the game changed as the virtual safety car was deployed to recover the #88 Proton-run Ford Mustang GT3, with Gianmarco Levorato at the wheel. The car had caught fire and Levorato had stopped the car on the side of the track. As per the rules, the safety car came out when the virtual safety car procedure ended. This bunched the field up, eliminating the just-over-30 second deficit Hirakawa had to Pier Guidi. When the safety car returned to the pit lane just over 20 minutes later, that gap had been slashed to six seconds. Due to pit stop shenanigans, Hirakawa now sat fourth. The lead had also changed, with Ilott leading, Pier Guidi second, and Makowiecki third. Behind Hirakawa were the two Vanthoor brothers, BMW's Dries ahead of Porsche's Laurens. However, Hirakawa's pace at this stage was not on the same page as the other drivers around him. In fairly short order, he got passed by both Vanthoor brothers plus Nicklas Nielsen in the #50 Ferrari. Hirakawa pitted on lap 181 to be replaced by Buemi for the final hour and a half of the race. Hirakawa's lack of pace didn't massively matter, though, since the safety car was called shortly after for another incident, this time the #94 Peugeot of Paul di Resta breaking down on the back straight. At the same time, the other Proton-run Ford Mustang stopped on track, with an issue that looked suspiciously similar to the earlier issue for the other car. So, with Buemi now in the car, he sat 10th, with the race restarting with an hour and a half to go. To put it mildly, Buemi's pace was electric in this final stage of the race, over a second quicker than any other Hypercar in the last hour. He very quickly worked his way past Stevens, Milesi, Button, Kubica, Jensen, and D. Vanthoor, to put himself fourth with an hour to go. He now had Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche — who looked set to take the drivers world championship along with Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre — ahead in third, roughly 10 seconds up the road. Matt Campbell in the sister #5 car was another 7.5 seconds ahead, with Giovinazzi leading with a four second gap. This meant Buemi had to make up 21 seconds in just one hour if we wanted to win. However, in the end, he didn't actually need to. Fast work in the pits from Toyota enabled him to jump the field, past Giovinazzi, who dropped way down to fifth, from the lead. The battle was now between Campbell and Buemi. It didn't take long, though, for Buemi to pass Campbell. In fact, Campbell only led a single lap before the Toyota driver foyund a way pass, forcing an overtake on a defensive Campbell at turn 8, pushing the Australian off track onto the dirty, sandy, dusty run off area. Campbell, on older tyres than Buemi, who'd had new tyres fitted to his Toyota for the final stint, had no answer to the Toyota from here on in. Buemi would eventually finish 27.539 seconds ahead. So, the safety car periods, in particular the first one, saved Toyota's hopes of winning. That said, considering Buemi had an average pace in the final hour nine tenths faster than anyone else... it stands to reason that the gap pre-safety car could have been closed down, had the race not been neutralised (twice). There are some other interesting things nestled within the data, so we'll be back with a few more bits later this week. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Rossi: Hypercar ‘more similar to a bike’ compared to GT3 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/rossi-hypercar-rookie-test-bahrain-similar-bike/ Last updated: 2024-11-03T15:24:36.000Z After Valentino Rossi’s test in a BMW M Hybrid V8 Hypercar at the Bahrain rookie test, the day after the season-ending FIA World Endurance Championship 8 Hours of Bahrain, he told media that he believes the Hypercar is more suited to his driving style. ‘It's faster,’ said the 9-time motorcycle world champion when The Racing Line asked how similar the car was to a bike. ‘So when you have more horsepower, you have to do also different line. And also like I said with the GT, you are always on the kerb, you always cut. So at the beginning when I arrived and I make normal line like motorcycle, everybody say where you go. ‘You are two metre, I say but the track is there. Yeah but with the GT you don't have to stay on the track. You have to cut everything. ‘So it's another way to drive. This one is more similar to to a bike. Yeah. And also, the speed is higher, but at the same time you have also more grip, so it's very good,’ he finished. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002750_0067-1.webp) Rossi told media that the car feels 'more similar' to a bike than his GT cars. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI ## Encountering GT traffic, and his fast lap This was also Rossi’s first time with slower on-track traffic, having to navigate his way past GT cars, which he raced only yesterday in the 8 hour event. ‘When you are a GT driver, you are always angry with the Hypercar drivers because you think ‘you push me out, you push, you’re close,” he said, laughing and indicating with his hands what happens when a Hypercar driver overtakes a GT car. ‘But today, I understand more from the other side. To have two different categories in the same moment is always difficult, but now I understand also the other side.’ [Rossi: ‘I think I will be back next year’ in WEC‘I think I will be back next year’, were Valentino Rossi’s words when asked in Bahrain by The Racing Line whether the motorcycle legend will return to the FIA World Endurance Championship. It has previously been reported that Rossi may not return to the championship, instead choosing to focus![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0222.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/rossi-i-think-i-will-be-back-next-year-in-wec/) Rossi’s fastest lap time was a 1:50.577, set in the afternoon session on medium tyres. This put him around a second off the fastest time of the day, a 1:49.566 set by Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R. ‘I was a little bit unlucky because I had two set \[of new medium tyres\]’ he said. ‘I think that with the second set that you can improve, but the first set I have a red flag. And after the second set, when I push, I had the traffic of the GT3\. So I tried to overtake, but I spun. ‘So when they say it's over because usually you destroy, flat spot, damage the tyre. But luckily, it was good. So I restart and I make another lap and I make 50.5,’ the Italian explained. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002750_0060-1.webp) Rossi drove the car in both the morning and afternoon session. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI ## A ‘proper race car’ Rossi also commented on the car’s lack of ABS, and how he felt that suited him. ‘I have a good feeling with the car from from the beginning. I feel good because the car have a lot of horsepower, but you have a good feedback,” he told the gathered journalists, including The Racing Line. ‘When you drive, you can understand the car. It's very sensitive, and also the braking without the ABS, I like a lot. It's a lot better for sure. [INSIGHT: How does Valentino Rossi compare to his BMW teammates?Endurance racing news, stories, and analysis![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/07/Fanatec-GT-Europe-VR-7B1A0551.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/valentino-rossi-pace-analysis-vr46/) ‘Sometimes you did some mistake but, it’s something that you can adapt more to your style, because when you have the ABS, you arrive at one point and after is ABS. ‘So I like this better, and also it is a proper race car. So it's more precise, it's more stiff and you have a lot of aero. In the braking is quite impressive, and also, the engine is faster. I like, I enjoy very much,” he concluded, with a big smile on his face. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002750_0061.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002750_0063.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002750_0064.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002750_0065.webp) Valentino Rossi gallery from the rookie test. Images: Charly Lopez / DPPI > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### ABSOLUTE FILTH: Post-race gallery from Bahrain URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/absolute-filth-post-race-gallery-from-bahrain/ Last updated: 2024-11-03T10:54:07.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_191735577.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_191737170.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_191930485.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212525258.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212526104.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212552260.MP.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212731132.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212741927.MP.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212752671.MP.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212757578.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212804664.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212808119.MP.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/PXL_20241102_212814707.webp) ### ANALYSIS: Toyota in driving seat as championships go down to the wire URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-toyota-driving-seat-championships-porsche-bahrain-wec/ Last updated: 2024-11-02T06:06:13.000Z It all comes down to 8 Hours in Bahrain That's just over 10 hours of the total racing time in the FIA World Endurance Championship, for both the manufacturers and drivers titles to be settled. As a reminder, Porsche lead in both, with the #6 Porsche crew of Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre, and Laurens Vanthoor currently ahead in the drivers championship, and the Porsche team ahead in the manufacturers. The drivers title is almost settled — the #50 Ferrari needs to win the race in order to have any hope of winning, and even then the #6 Porsche needs to finish ninth or below. But in the manufacturers battle, there's only 10 points separating Porsche and Toyota, with Ferrari a further seven back from the latter. Toyota locked out the front row in qualifying, putting them in the driving seat, with the Porsches only sixth and seventh. ## Qualifying is one thing, race is another Brendon Hartley told media in the post-qualifying that Porsche 'had looked a bit quicker on the long runs' and, indeed, *The Racing Line's* own analysis has found similar. In the graph below, we've averaged out the top 20% of laps for each car from both practice sessions, FP1 and FP2\. We've then found each car's best session average, from either session, and presented them both on the graph. What it shows is that the two Toyotas and Porsches are very similar on race pace, within a tenth or two when measured by either metric. The #6 Porsche was the quickest out of the four cars in practice, with the #7 Toyota close behind and then the #5 Porsche and #8 Toyota — the polesitters – a little way back, but closely matched. However, the quickest average overall was actually set by the #15 BMW crew of Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann. When *The Racing Line* spoke to D. Vanthoor, he told us that he hadn't been focused on race pace in practice. "I think Lello \[Marciello\] and Marco \[Wittmann\] are more making sure that the car is race-prepped," he said, just an hour before FP3 was due to take place. "My focus is just to get the car as good as I can for my qualifying run. For sure, we do this as well as a group, but they for sure have more priority on the long runs and on the older tyre runs. "Even though, I say that, but I actually go into an old tyre run as well now \[in FP3\], so I'll probably I'll probably figure that out as well." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002718_0012.webp) BMW looked quick on the long runs in practice. Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI Elsewhere in the individual car averages, Ferrari are in the mix with Porsche, Toyota, and now BMW. Meanwhile, towards the back, it's not looking particularly encouraging for Alpine, Peugeot, Lamborghini and Cadillac, either in prospective race pace, or qualifying. All six cars failed to make it into Hyperpole, and they sit out of the top 1o in the race pace averages. And, finally in this section, a word for Proton. They've struggled this year for pace, but it's looking like it might be coming together at Bahrain. In practice they appeared to hold an advantage over the Penske-run factory cars, and they outqualified the other Porsches too on Saturday afternoon/evening. Neel Jani told *The Racing Line* after qualifying that he felt it was all finally coming together after a tough few races for Proton. 'I'm very happy for myself,' he said when asked by *The Racing Line* for his reaction after qualifying. 'But tomorrow's a different story. I hope we can repeat what we did in Spa. It took us some time to come back from Spa, because after that, we struggled. 'Nevertheless I think if we can operationally get all the things together we can be strong. But as I said, we are the only private team that is so small, with one car. 'Operationally, is not easy for us. And that's not because people make mistakes, or they're not good enough. It's just we don't test, we have to learn it on the fly. 'If we get things together, we can be there because the driver lineup is good enough to do it. 'We managed at Spa. Then always, we had little things coming in and I hope really tomorrow, we can get it all together again,' he concluded. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002718_0010.webp) Proton have struggled with little niggling issues this year, but look quick at Bahrain. Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI ## He said, she said While Toyota are tipping Porsche to have the edge on race pace — a fact backed up by TRL's own analysis, although Toyota are very close behind — Porsche were quick to bat it right back at Toyota. 'I think it's a little bit bold to say whether we're going to be "the ones" in the race, because it's only practice, it's so hard to tell,' said Matt Campbell, who qualified the #5 Porsche seventh on the grid. 'Everyone's doing different tyre strategies and approaches, and there's so many heat cycles. And also, you're trying to develop the car a little bit too. 'So I don't think any of us know exactly what to expect when it comes to the race. I mean, of course we would like to think we're going to be the benchmark, but you never know until you get towards the last 10 laps of the stint, because obviously that's where everyone really starts to struggle. 'Tomorrow will be will be difficult, for the first three or four hours of the race. Once it gets a little bit cooler and get into the night time, with no sun, it'll be a different story. 'But yeah, I think there'll be many different approaches and just be about being smart, and looking after your tyres,' he concluded. Bahrain is a track notorious for being very heavy on tyres. The surface is very abrasive, leading to high tyre degradation. You then factor in the high air and track temperatures, with direct sunlight on the track for, as Campbell said, the first three or four hours of the race. And, finally, the track is also very high energy, putting a lot of stress through the sidewalls of the tyres, causing them to heat up quicker and wear faster. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002718_0061.webp) If Toyota win in Bahrain, they win the WEC manufacturers championship. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI So, that means that even if Porsche do have a race-pace edge, they may lose out on tyre degradation. Toyota are generally thought within the paddock to be best on keeping the tyres alive during a stint, which will be vital to winning after the 8 hours has elapsed on Sunday. But, Porsche will know that if Toyota win the race, they can win the manufacturers title. With only the highest-scoring car claiming points in the manufacturers title, if Toyota win and Porsche finish second — Toyota wins the title. Clearly, starting up front will be a big advantage to Toyota. But, over 8 hours, everything can change, especially at a race which runs into the night, starting at 2pm local time and running until 10pm. A final stat to end on: no car which has qualified on pole this year in WEC has gone onto win the race. So, if that stays true, it counts out the #8 Toyota for the win. Is that good or bad for Porsche? Let's see on Saturday. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ## ### Rossi: 'I think I will be back next year' in WEC URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/rossi-i-think-i-will-be-back-next-year-in-wec/ Last updated: 2024-11-01T12:20:02.000Z ‘I think I will be back next year’, were Valentino Rossi’s words when asked in Bahrain by The Racing Line whether the motorcycle legend will return to the FIA World Endurance Championship. It has previously been reported that Rossi may not return to the championship, instead choosing to focus his efforts on the GT World Challenge Europe series, where he started his car racing career a few years ago. However, Rossi’s words in Bahrain, which this weekend is hosting the WEC finale, appeared to refute that. ‘I think I will be back next year, because all the races are good and you have a lot of crowd and the tracks are beautiful,’ he said. The 9-time motorcycle world champion made his debut in WEC this year, driving alongside fellow BMW factory driver Maxime Martin, and bronze-rated Ahmad Al Harthy. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002545_0173.jpg) Valentino Rossi: from motorcycle legend to fully-fledged racing driver. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Rossi became a BMW factory driver in 2022, for the 2023 season. This saw him join teammate Martin on BMW's roster, and fellow LMGT3 driver Augusto Farfus. Plus, the likes of Hypercar driver Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, and Robin Frijns, among others. Rossi is a big draw for the championship, bringing fans in droves to tracks around the world, so the organisers will be delighted that a return is at the very least on the cards. [INSIGHT: How does Valentino Rossi compare to his BMW teammates?Endurance racing news, stories, and analysis![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/07/Fanatec-GT-Europe-VR-7B1A0551.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/valentino-rossi-pace-analysis-vr46/) ## Rossi to test BMW Hypercar on Sunday After Saturday’s 8 hour race, Rossi will also test the BMW M Hybrid V8, the German manufacturer’s Hypercar. He will drive one of the two Hypercars, alongside BMW young drivers Dan Harper and Max Hesse, who will drive the other car throughout the day — as long as both cars survive the race. When asked by The Racing Line about the test, Rossi was emphatic. ‘I’m very very happy to have this chance from BMW,’ he said, grinning ear to ear. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/11/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0141.webp) From GT3 to Hypercar — Rossi will have his first taste of the M Hybrid V8\. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI ‘I push a lot. I am very cool to understand and try the car, because I think it’s very fast. I think I will enjoy Sunday!’ he finished, before having to rush off to a scheduled TV interview. We’re hoping to have a chat with the former motorcycle rider and now racing driver after the rookie test to hear his thoughts on driving the Hypercar, so stay tuned. [Rossi ‘not sure’ if he’s fast enough for HypercarMotorcycle legend and current BMW WRT factory driver Valentino Rossi is ‘not sure’ whether he’s fast enough to race in the WEC’s Hypercar class.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/05/DSX_5565--1-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/rossi-on-hypercar-test/) > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Iron Dames' Gatting on 'challenges' with Lamborghini's GT3 URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gatting-iron-dames-lamborghini-challenges-porsche-manthey/ Last updated: 2024-11-01T11:12:28.000Z The Iron Dames team have faced ‘challenges we weren’t expecting’ according to one of the team’s driver Michelle Gatting, amid their debut year with Lamborghini machinery. 'It's been a tough season so far in WEC \[FIA World Endurance Championship\] and, sure, the Lamborghini has given us some challenges. But the confidence on this specific track is maybe a little higher than all the others,' the Dane said in the pre-race press conference for the WEC season finale, the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Last year, the Iron Dames won their first — and so far, only — GT-class WEC race, taking the flag first in the GTE class, with Gatting winning with teammates Sarah Bovy and Rahal Frey. This year, the popular trio are aiming to repeat their success, with Gatting telling the media that a repeat is the goal. [BAHRAIN BOP ANALYSIS: Ferrari and Toyota gain power, lose weightFerrari and Toyota have been given a BoP break for the final race of the year in Bahrain.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/10/Fuji-2024-6-Hours-1.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/bop-analysis-ferrari-toyota-porsche-bahrain-power-weight-balance-performance/) 'Yeah,' she said when asked if she and her teammates were looking to take the win for a second straight year. 'Obviously, that's always the goal when we go to a race weekend, to redo what we did last year here,' she said. 'It’s hard to assess where we are at the moment. It's for sure going to be a tricky one, but it's going to be tricky for everybody. We just have to try and push on, and hope the car is going to last. 'I think we have shown all the races that if everything is gonna go our way, we can be fighting for the tough positions. And for sure we'll try to race,' she concluded. However, last year the team were racing the Porsche 911 RSR-19, in the GTE class. With GTE having been replaced by LMGT3 for 2024, this year they are racing the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2\. The Italian car has proved tricky for the Dames to get a handle on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002309_0159.webp) The Iron Dames is a project led by Iron Lynx co-founder Deborah Mayer to increase female participation in motorsport. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI When asked by *The Racing Line* in the press conference to expand on the aforementioned challenges, Gatting added to her answer. 'This year, the issues have been mainly reliability with the car. We had issues we didn’t expect to have. Small things in pitstops, not being able to get the wheel nuts off and losing too much time in Sao Paulo. 'There was a small rubber band that broke, so we basically had to retire for reason that just came up unexpected.' However, the Iron Dames sibling team, Iron Lynx, with team co-owner Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Franck Perera (although he has been replaced by Matteo Cairoli for Bahrain) in the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini, have not faced any such issues, as Sarah related. 'The yellow car, car 60, actually ran smoothly the whole year without any sort of issues. But somehow, the bad luck and the reliability issues just brought on our car. 'So in such a championship where the competition in LMGT3 is also extremely high, it is simply just not possible to fight for a championship, when you have, slow pit stops or non-finishes. So yeah, I would say mainly reliability has been the issue this year.' [FOR/AGAINST: Is this a golden age of sportscars?The FIA World Endurance Championship is currently enjoying a rise in popularity from manufacturers and fans alike. All five races so far this year have been objectively good races, with competition in abundance in both the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes. Le Mans, WEC’s crown jewel, was another classic race,![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LineMatt Bye![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/08/24H-Le-Mans-2024-Race--1-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/hypercar-wec-sportscar-golden-age/) ## Back to Porsche? Rumours are flying in the paddock that the Iron Dames squad will switch away from Lamborghini machinery, after just one season racing with the Italian manufacturer, to make a return to Porsche. The Dames have been racing a Porsche 911 GT3R in the European Le Mans Series this year, so they are familiar with the car and the differences compared to both the Lamborghini, and the 911 RSR-19 they drove last year. Gatting and her Iron Dames teammate, Celia Martin, who this year has been racing in the Le Mans Cup, a support series to ELMS, will test the 911 GT3R in the WEC rookie test. This takes place in Bahrain on the day after the season finale 8 hour race. 'The Porsche is not new for us,' Gatting began. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/66f7e339d711b.webp) The Iron Dames have been racing a Porsche 911 GT3R in ELMS this year. Image: Marcel Wulf 'We are doing ELMS this year with the Porsche, and last year with the RSR. So we got an opportunity to test with Manthey on Sunday, myself and my teammate Celia. 'Maybe it's something exciting for next year. I cannot say that yet, but for sure it's going to be nice to go back-to-back with a different car, and see what is the actual difference on this track, compared to the Lamborghini. 'I can’t say much more about that, but I’m excited for Sunday. But now the focus is about the race on Saturday,' Gatting concluded. However, a change of car may not be the only thing in store for the Dames. Sarah Bovy’s driver rating will be upgraded to silver this year, meaning the team will need to find a new bronze-rated driver for 2024. Bovy has been slated for upgrade to silver for the last couple of seasons, but has always successfully appealed the decision so the long-time trio of Gatting, Bovy and Frey can continue. With Martin testing at the WEC rookie test, the team could be looking for a new driver to slot into the lineup somewhere in 2025. Finally, the test with Manthey may also be significant. More paddock rumours say the entire Iron Dames operation may switch to being run by Manthey, Porsche’s "official" customer team, next year. What would happen to Manthey’s current entries, Manthey Purerxcing and Manthey EMA, is unknown. One thing is for certain, though: we at *The Racing Line* hope to see the Iron Dames back on the WEC grid for another year. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Nicolas Lapierre on retiring from racing and his new Alpine role URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/nico-lapierre-retiring-racing-new-alpine-role/ Last updated: 2024-10-30T17:44:00.000Z Lapierre’s professional motorsport retirement marked the end of an era for one of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s most committed drivers. Not only having competed in all seasons in either LMP1 or LMP2 machinery, the Frenchman raced in Automobile Club l’Ouest (ACO)-rules racing beforehand and elsewhere since his Le Mans debut in 2007. The sportscar veteran spoke to *The Racing Line* about when exactly he drew the curtains on racing and into his new role at the Alpine Endurance Team as Sporting Director. Lapierre represented one of the most prominent automotive manufacturers at the top level, Toyota, who continue their efforts in Hypercar today. Moreover, he drove an extensive stint with Toyota before dedicating himself to Alpine from 2016 and for this year, their LMDh project. ## Calling time on his lengthy motorsport career “To be completely transparent, it was quite a long call,” he said on his decision to end over 24 consecutive years of racing. “When I extended my contract with Alpine two years ago at the beginning of the Hypercar project, the plan was to do the development last year and to do the first year because I always wanted to race this car first. “This new Hypercar is kind of the end result for this Alpine project that's been going for a very long time and I wanted to be part of it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/A-mountain-of-emotions-and-a-maiden-podium-in-the-FIA-WEC-for-the-Alpine-A424-at-Fuji-7.jpg) The A424 LMDh is developed with their chassis partner Oreca – Credit: DPPI / Alpine Racing “But my plan in my head, even if I didn't share with a lot of people, was to always to stop after these two years for many different reasons, but I felt it was the right timing.” The 40-year-old claimed four LMP2-class Le Mans 24 Hours victories in his sportscar career. Three were taken with Alpine as he won two WEC LMP2 titles, one of which was also with Alpine. ## Committing further with Oreca, Signatech and Alpine Since winning the 2003 Macau Grand Prix with Phillippe Sinault’s Signatech team, who helped run Alpine’s WEC commitments, Lapierre has continued one of motorsport’s longest professional relationships. “Then I explained my plan to Philippe \[Sinault\] and Bruno \[Famin - Vice-President of Alpine Motorsport\], because, of course, they wanted to know what was the plan for 2025 regarding drivers. “And clearly from the beginning of the year, I said I would most likely not be part of it because I want to start another career which I felt very comfortable with my own team. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Nicolas-Lapierre-4.jpg) Nicolas Lapierre knew Fuji would be his final WEC race as a driver – Credit: DPPI / Alpine Racing “But also it was agreed with Philippe and Bruno that I would take a role in the Alpine management. “Let's say just before Le Mans was the first talk that I would stop at the end of the year. “And then because we wanted to give more track time to Jules \[Gounon\], the reserve driver, we decided to put him behind \[the wheel\]. “Also, it was a great opportunity for me to step back a little bit and to see how the team is operating in the last race and to be with the management, to see how it goes on the race weekend on the other side of the pit wall.” ## Finishing his WEC chapter on a high at Fuji In light of Lapierre’s retirement, the Alpine Hypercar drivers lineup has been altered for the 8 Hours of Bahrain season finale. Charles Milesi will fulfil Lapierre’s former spot in the #36 entry as Gounon will then take Milesi’s normal seat in the #35 with Ferdinand Habsburg and Paul-Loup Chatin. The Mercedes-AMG-affiliated driver first piloted the A424 LMDh at the 6 Hours of Imola, when #35 driver Habsburg sustained an injury during an endurance test with Alpine – which forced him to recover. Gounon took to the wheel of the #35 Alpine once again at the 6 Hours of Fuji in-place of Paul-Loup Chatin, who was busy with a GT racing commitment. Meanwhile at Fuji, Lapierre, alongside his teammates in #36 Alpine, Mick Schumacher and Matthieu Vaxiviere, secured the first podium finish for the Alpine Hypercar programme. From 15th on the grid, Mick Schumacher evaded the multi-car collision on the second lap and charged to third place – assisted by German’s defence in the final hour against JOTA’s Norman Nato and Peugeot’s Loic Duval. “It was quite amazing because Le Mans was very difficult for us,” said Lapierre. “But since then, the team kept improving every time. And honestly, we wanted this season to be a learning season. We knew it was a learning process. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Nicolas-Lapierre-7.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/A-mountain-of-emotions-and-a-maiden-podium-in-the-FIA-WEC-for-the-Alpine-A424-at-Fuji-6.jpg) Alpine took their first podium after an action-packed 6 Hours of Fuji – Credit: DPPI / Alpine Racing “We respect this championship and the opponents that have been there for a very long time. “And fighting with them on our first season is spectacular. “Of course, we want more but we can be very happy and proud about this first season. “And already putting the car on the podium, it's quite good. “On the personal side, I knew before the race \[that\] it was my last race. “It was only me, Bruno, and Philippe knowing. “But it was very special because I wanted to finish on a high and the last race is the one you remember the most. “This podium was extremely special for me, and for the project as well. But for me on a personal side, it was quite magical.” ## Familiarity on the pit-wall Fuji marked his 46th WEC podium appearance as the upcoming 8 Hours of Bahrain on 2 November is set to conclude the season. Lapierre, however, is no stranger to the pit-wall in a senior management role ever since he became team principal of COOL Racing at the end of 2020. Fast forward to this year and the team has harnessed young talents such as Hypercar junior drivers Ritomo Miyata and Malthe Jakobsen who recently won [the European Le Mans Series season finale](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-ao-by-tf-became-elms-champions-in-a-thrilling-finale/) in Portimao. One day after the WEC Bahrain finale, 2022 FIA F3 champion Victor Martins will taste his first laps behind the wheel of an Alpine A424 on Sunday’s traditional Rookie Test. Lapierre explained his new role as sporting director. “My first job will be to take care of the drivers. “So first of all, select them. I'm not alone, I would be working with Philippe and Bruno, of course, but my role is to advise them on which driver, I believe, would be best for the team. “And then try to make them work together… be responsible for the development of the drivers who don't know endurance racing, and try to help them to go in this world as fast as possible. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Nicolas-Lapierre-2.jpg) Nicolas Lapierre (L) and Phillipe Sinault (R) – Credit: DPPI / Alpine Racing “When they're on track, to make them perform as good as possible would be the link also with the technical side. “It's exactly what I love doing here with my own team but with drivers in another step of their career. “I feel I have some credibility to do this because I raced the car like this year \[and\] developed it, so I know this car very well. “I know what it takes to get a good result in the WEC and I know the championship very well. “I hope I can help the drivers to perform better. This is my first goal.” At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Alpine suffered a misfortune outing as both cars retired due to mechanical reliability problems by the six-hour mark. Two races later at COTA, the #35 Alpine performed especially well as a protagonist at the sharp end of the field. At Fuji, the #35 continued their strong performance prior to their drive-through penalty after Milesi unintentionally tapped Charlie Eastwood’s #81 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R around at the final corner – which enabled the #36 to shine through to the chequered flag. ## Looking to the post-Bahrain winter break With the highs and lows of the 2024 season, the attention will soon be on next year and Alpine’s second racing season with the A424 LMDh. “It's very different,” he said when asked how this off-season break will compare to the previous one which preceded Alpine's Hypercar debut. “Now we’ve gathered a lot of data, we have a lot of information from this season. “We focused mainly on the first part of the season, a bit more on performance in the second half. Now we have to work on every detail. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/A-mountain-of-emotions-and-a-maiden-podium-in-the-FIA-WEC-for-the-Alpine-A424-at-Fuji-3.jpg) Alpine is one of eight Hypercar manufacturers in the FIA World Endurance Championship – Credit: DPPI “We know we are in the game. We know we are there, but we also know that we need to take time to improve all the small details from the team – in terms of setup, operation, driving, everything has to be improved through the winter. “But I have to say we will have time to work on it. We know the base we have is strong, it's good, and now we can focus on all the small details and make sure we come back stronger next year and see what it can bring us. “For sure, we have good hope for next year and I think our margin to progress is a bit higher than the others regarding the experience we have on track and hopefully we can be even more in the front next year!” ### BAHRAIN BOP ANALYSIS: Ferrari and Toyota gain power, lose weight URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bop-analysis-ferrari-toyota-porsche-bahrain-power-weight-balance-performance/ Last updated: 2024-10-29T11:41:44.000Z It's the final race of the season and, therefore, the final Balance of Performance update from the ACO and FIA, for the 8 Hours of Bahrain. The championships will be decided at Bahrain and so the BoP updates are of particular interest, given how tight especially the manufacturers' championship is, with only 10 points between Porsche and reigning champions Toyota. There's also a close battle between Alpine, BMW, Peugeot and Cadillac, to see who can win 'best of the rest', with Alpine currently leading that fight. ## Weight The big story is here Toyota and Ferrari have both lost weight: -5kg for Toyota, -2 for Ferrari. Ferrari last lost weight for COTA - 5kg - and they were quick there, winning the race and taking pole. They haven't lost as much for Bahrain, so presumably the hope is they won't have as much of an advantage in the Middle East as they did in the US. That said, Toyota were also very strong in the US — Kobayashi caught Shwartzman at the end of the race but couldn't past him — and they gained 5kg, instead of losing it. The last time Toyota lost weight was for Le Mans, losing 11kg compared to Spa. And, as we know, Toyota was very strong at Le Mans. Toyota's weight for Bahrain will actually be very similar compared to Spa; the Japanese-German cars will be 1kg heavier in the Middle East when compared to Belgium. While Sakhir International Circuit and Spa are obviously very very different tracks, it is interesting to note Toyota were not overly quick at Spa, slower than both Ferrari and overall pacesetters Porsche. They finished sixth and seventh in the end in Belgium. But, they were quick in Fuji, despite the result, and losing 5kg plus gaining power will help their pace. Interesting! ### 'Best of the rest' Alpine, Cadillac, and Peugeot have all gained weight, while BMW have lost weight, and Lamborghini have remained at 1030g, essentially minimum weight. Alpine were strong in Fuji, finishing on the podium for the first time with the A424\. So it makes sense they've been given an extra 4kg to play with. In Japan, Cadillac were quick over a single lap and weren't bad in the race. They've bounced around the same weight for a while too. Will be interesting to see how they do, in Chip Ganassi Racing's final WEC race with the Cadillac. BMW were quick in Fuji too, finishing second and ahead of Alpine. They've lost 1kg, putting them 10kg lighter than Alpine. Finally, Peugeot and Lamborghini. The French squad have gained 1kg, putting them on 1031kg. They achieved their best result of the year at Fuji, but as we'll see in a minute, they've gained power too, which should offset the weight change. Lamborghini, as mentioned, remain at 1030kg as they continue to get a handle on the SC63. ## Power For the last three races, Toyota have been the least powerful car, by quite a margin. For every race since the BoP update for Spa, they've lost power, going from 516kW in Imola to a low of 493kW at Fuji. They've now gained 6kW back. Generally the Japanese-German team has struggled in qualifying over a single lap, while they've been quicker in the race. Bahrain has some multiple longish straights, so it will be interesting to see if the GR010 can use this extra power to make overtakes, especially at turn 1 and turn 4. There's only 4kW between Ferrari and Porsche now, with the 963 still more powerful than the 499P (and GR010), a trend that has continued for most of the season. All three have gained power compared to Fuji. ### Further down the grid Peugeot have gained 7kW compared to Fuji. This vaults the 9X8 over and above Alpine, Cadillac and BMW, all of whom have lost power. Will the French squad be able to unlock this power? Fuji indicated they are beginning to get understand the 'new' 9X8, where they finished fourth. Bahrain should suit the car, being very smooth, although the surface is abrasive, making it hard on tyres. While Lamborghini may be the lightest car, the SC63 is less powerful than the Cadillac, Alpine, and BMW. That means they're also less powerful than the Peugeot, with which there's 1kg difference. ### After 250pkh If Peugeot are the most powerful car in general, they lose out massively when the car passes the 250kph point. They lose 5.2% power, putting them on 492.96kW. That's significant, especially at Bahrain where corners open up after straights to aid overtaking. Toyota, meanwhile, will be the most powerful car after 250kph, although they've lost 1.2% compared to Fuji. They've still got significantly more post-250kph power than Ferrari and Porsche, though – their main rivals. ## Stint energy: close call As usual, the energy the cars can use over a stint is fairly close. Porsche have the most, 911MJ over a single stint, 3MJ more than at Fuji. Peugeot have the least, at 903MJ. Ferrari and Toyota sit on 905MJ and 908MJ — an extra 4MJ compared to Fuji for Ferrari. Toyota's energy remains the same. ### Simulating the WEC championship battles and crunching the numbers URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/simulating-wec-championship-battles-win-bahrain-porsche-toyota-ferrari/ Last updated: 2024-10-28T16:40:14.000Z As ever in the FIA World Endurance Championship, it all comes down to the finale in Bahrain. Toyota have won the manufacturers' and drivers' world championships for the past five seasons (2023, 2022, 2021, 2019-20, 2018-19), but they're on the back foot in 2024. Porsche lead both the drivers' and manufacturers' championships and could complete a sweep of both WEC and IMSA in terms of drivers, teams and manufacturers titles. The German Penske-run squad has already won the IMSA titles, wrapping them up at Petit Le Mans earlier this month, although they didn't win the race overall. [How Cadillac conquered a 2-lap deficit to win Petit Le MansRoughly 2 and a half hours into this year’s Petit Le Mans, the #1 Cadillac was two laps down and looked, for all intents and purposes, to be out of the running for the overall win. With the two Penske-run factory Porsches leading, Renger van der Zande was in amongst![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/10/01-car-front.webp)](https://www.ontheapex.com/how-cadillac-conquered-2-lap-deficit-win-petit-le-mans/) So, how will the WEC titles fare in comparison? *The Racing Line* has crunched the numbers (see caveats\* below - these aren't predictions or anything of the sort) and found, unsurprisingly, Porsche are indeed in the driving seat. ### Drivers' championship: almost a foregone conclusion Going into Bahrain, the #6 Porsche of Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre, and Laurens Vanthoor are on 150 points. 35 points behind them are this year's Le Mans winners, Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen of the #50 Ferrari. Two points behind the Ferrari trio are the #7 Toyota drivers, Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi. Mike Conway, their teammate, is not among them as he missed Le Mans; he sits fourth on 77 points and out of the running for the championship. Bahrain is an 8 hour race, so the winner scores 38 points. In addition, WEC awards a point for pole. So there are 39 points available. This essentially means, in order to win the championship, the #50 Ferrari needs to win with the #6 Porsche finishing lower than 10th. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Fuoco-Le-Mans-0720.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024.webp) Ferrari's Fuoco, Molina, and Nielsen while victorious at La Sarthe, while the #6 Porsche crew have won two races overall this year. Images: Charly Lopez / DPPI (left), Julien Delfosse / DPPI (right) And #7 Toyota needs to win and the Porsche crew not to score points at all, in order to take the championship. To be clear, 10th would be the #6's worst result of the year, by far. Their current worst is sixth in last month's Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas. In the scatterplot graph below, we've tried to apply some statistical analysis\* to this. We've given the algorithm the previous race results for each car, then simulated a randomised result 100 times to find out how likely each car is to win. (This is called a Monte Carlo simulation, for anyone interested.) In the simulation, the #6 Porsche won the championship (not necessarily the race) 97 out of 100 times. The #50 Ferrari won three times. The #7 Toyota duo didn't win at all. We also ran the simulation 1000 times, just to see if anything changed. We don't have a graph for this — it was unreadable — but Porsche won 978 times and Ferrari won 22 times. And once again, the #7 Toyota didn't win at all. The maximum points Fuoco, Molina and Nielsen can end up with are 154, for taking pole and winning the race. This happened twice in the 100 simulations, with the other simulation winning the race but not getting pole. Now, as I've caveated below, this doesn't really *mean* anything. And proper statistics folk would doubtless have tons of issues with how I've done this. But it does represent the relatively tiny chance Molina, Fuoco and Nielsen have of taking the championship, and the even smaller chance Kobayashi and de Vries have. ### Manufacturers' championship: A battle to the end Switching to the manufacturers' championship, things look a bit closer. Porsche have 161 points. Toyota have 151\. Ferrari have 134. The major difference for the WEC manufacturers championship, compared to other series: only the top-placing car for each factory team scores points, and the customer cars from JOTA, AF Corse, and Proton are cut out of the equation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Fuji-2024-6hrs.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/FIA-WEC-Sao-Paulo-2024.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024--1-.webp) The 'big three' WEC manufacturers will duke it out at Bahrain for the manufacturers' world title. Images: Charly Lopez / DPPI, Julien Delfosse / DPPI, Joao Felipe / DPPII This means Porsche and Toyota have three wins apiece contributing to this championship (Porsche won in Qatar, Belgium (Porsche's factory #6 car finished second, to race winner #12 JOTA, a customer car), and Japan, Toyota won in Italy, Brazil, and the USA (finishing second in the race overall to the satellite 'customer' #83 Ferrari)). Ferrari have a single win, albeit the biggest of the year where they earned double points: Le Mans. We ran our simulations again\* to find what *could* happen in the championship. Again, we simulated the result 100 times — shown on the scatterplot graph below. Out of the 100 simulations, Porsche won 72 times. Toyota won 25 times. And Ferrari won three times. So, that essentially means, according to the statistical analysis, Porsche have well over two thirds chance of winning the championship, although not quite up to 75% chance. Toyota have exactly a 1/4 chance of retaining their crown, and Ferrari once again have 3% chance of winning. Interestingly, running the simulation 1000 (again, unreadable on a graph) times did result in Porsche's chances decreasing slightly — winning 689 of the simulations. Toyota won 278, and Ferrari 33. ### \*Some caveats Remember these are just simulations. The algorithm was given some past results and told to simulate a number of future results based on this year's races, with some randomness thrown into the mix as well. It's not all comprehensive or even particularly complex, and there are doubtless lots of issues with the way I've done it. It's not a prediction, or a machine learning calculation, or anything like that. Just simulations to work out possible — but by no means conclusive — chances of winning for each competitor in each championship. Who do you think will win? Will it be as tight as expected? Or will Porsche sweep to victory? > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Nicolas Lapierre: A look back at the veteran sportscar racer's career URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/nicolas-lapierre-a-retrospective-look-at-his-compelling-career/ Last updated: 2024-10-24T12:19:28.000Z Nicolas Lapierre recently called time on his professional motor racing career after having stood on Alpine’s first podium with their A424 LMDh machine. The 40-year-old announced his professional retirement on 2 October 2024, having first stepped into sportscar racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 17 years ago. Furthermore, he stood on the podium in his final race at the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji. The Frenchman made the switch from single-seaters to sportscar racing at the end of the 2000s as the majority of drivers – including himself – aimed for Formula 1. What was an unconventional move became one of the sportscar’s most respected drivers having competed at the heart of the headline projects at Peugeot, Toyota and Alpine. His longevity within the discipline is owed to his matured and cunning approach to motorsport having built up a plethora of experience. He won the 12 Hours of Sebring twice, the World Endurance Championship LMP2 championship title thrice and the Le Mans 24 Hours four times in the competitive LMP2 category. He never quite secured a coveted overall victory at Le Mans with a best of P3 overall on two occasions, having endured instances of misfortune which prevented his high chances. In spite of that, his career tells a story of a resilient, ambitious racing driver who developed a heartfelt love and commitment to sportscar racing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Alpine-A424-tests-in-Portimao.jpg) Credit: ©Joao Filipe / DPPI ## A foundation in junior single-seaters Lapierre, as most racing drivers, began his journey in karting and junior single-seater series. In the 2000s, the screaming V10 and V8 engines of Formula 1 beckoned not only motorsport fanatics, but drivers too. He competed in Formula Renault machinery from 2000 with difficulty finding success until finishing third in the 2002 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup championship. The following year, however, was when he first drove for the team – and team principal – he would achieve success with much later in in his career. This was current Alpine team principal Phillippe Sinault’s Signature Team in Formula 3. Lapierre gained his first major victory at the iconic Macau Grand Prix with Signature. In 2004, he continued in the same team in the F3 Euroseries but broke through to successful results. From seven podiums and three wins out of 20 races, he earned third in the standings – against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica who finished fifth and seventh. This furthered Lapierre's career into GP2 — known until the end of 2004 as F3000 — the series one step beneath the Formula 1 championship. Arden – a team ran by Christian and Garry Horner – was fast becoming the way for certain championship-winning sportscar drivers such as Filipe Albuquerque, Sebastien Buemi and Neel Jani to make a name for themselves in junior formulae. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be for young Lapierre, who did take one victory in 2005. Alongside this commitment was the A1 Grand Prix series ,which had drivers from all over the world proudly representing their countries. Lapierre shone in his 2005-06 campaign having claimed six victories, plus one second-placed finish despite only two pole positions as he showcased his material during the 11 races held. After winning the A1 GP championship, he finished fourth in the following season. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/LM24-FPM-JPW_3329.jpg) Le Mans held its 100th anniversary in 2023 – Credit: FocusPackMedia - Jan Patrick Wagner ## The intrigue of Le Mans In the midst of his single-seater career, Lapierre was drawn by the histioric allure of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the most iconic motorsport races, having begun in 1923. At the 2007 edition, a curious 23-year-old Lapierre took the step and debuted with Hugues de Chaunac’s Oreca-run Saleen S7-R. Piloting a GT1 car with a brutal 7.0L Ford V8 and 600 horsepower made for a unique debut, and the well-respected founder of Oreca would continue his racing relationship with Lapierre for many years to come. He finished in the top-10 of his category with co-drivers Stephane Ortelli and Soheil Ayari. He focused greatly on reaching Formula 1 – as most drivers did – and thus did not think much about sportscars. After three GP2 seasons, however, the door to F1 was closing and his taste of Le Mans and endurance racing tempted him down that pathway. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/A173497_medium.jpg) Audi ruled the top level of sportscar racing in the 2000s – Credit: © Ferdi Kräling Motorsport-Bild GmbH ## A full-time commitment into sportscars From 2008, he fully committed to a discipline which sprung opportunities to work with significant projects, manufacturers and top-level team members. This commitment was of the fullest extent in sportscars and sustained for 15 years. Lapierre drove in the Le Mans Series’ LMP1 category for Oreca-Matmut which begun his lifelong affiliation with Oreca. He co-drove in 2008 with 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner Olivier Panis though unluckily retired from three events and only took one podium at the 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps. Next year returned more success for the duo with the Oreca 01 LMP1, designed by current Toyota GAZOO Racing technical director David Floury. They scored two pole positions and finished fifth at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year – with Ayari’s assistance – in what was Lapierre’s first 24-hour race in Le Mans Prototype machinery. Panis and Lapierre claimed their first win at the 1000 km of Silverstone season finale. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/ELMS-2023-Portimao-FPM-HPR35909.jpg) Oliver Panis (middle) founded the Panis Racing team which participates in the European Le Mans Series – Credit: FocusPackMedia / HarryParvin ## Lapierre’s run as a Peugeot driver Many can characterise the end of the 2000s and the very beginning of the 2010s with a rivalry in the ACO-run championships – Le Mans Series and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup – between Audi and Peugeot. The former were the undisputed benchmark having dominated the top of sportscar prototype racing with eight wins before Peugeot mastered to victory in 2009. The French Oreca-affiliated make returned to endurance racing utilising diesel powertrains like Audi. Just as iconic as was Peugeot’s 2009 victory, was their tragedy in 2010 when all four Peugeots 908 HDi LMP1 cars retired at intermittent points throughout the race – all whilst in the lead fight. Lapierre was part of the #4 Oreca-Peugeot crew which was the last of the four Peugeots to drop. Along with Panis and Loic Duval, the trio fought for a place on the podium during the early hours of Sunday morning before an oil-related fire caused them to retire after 373 laps. Audi, meanwhile, finished all three cars on the overall podium. In spite of this, Lapierre’s first major sportscar victory came at the gruelling 12 Hours of Sebring in the following year. Having faced heartbreak together at Le Mans, the trio sought redemption at the notoriously bumpy Sebring International Raceway. In fact, they beat the Peugeot works entry to claim victory at the 58th running of the event. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/2011_IMOLA_PEUGEOT_908_1.JPG) Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, 2011 – Credit: Stellantis Media ## A new chapter with Toyota Twenty-twelve was a significant year in the sportscar world after the formation of the FIA World Endurance Championship, returning the series name for the first time since 1992 – when coincidently Peugeot were the last Teams’ Champions. Toyota marked a return to top-level sportscar prototype racing with a new LMP1 hybrid programme, also marking Lapierre’s long tenure with the Japanese make. Audi continued into the new era as Peugeot withdrew their project at the last moment. Lapierre was no stranger to ACO-rules racing but was primed to work his talent at the wheel of the TS030 Hybrid. Misfortune struck again at Le Mans after briefly fighting for the lead during the early morning, due to an engine failure. Post-Le Mans, however, Lapierre and co-driver Alexander Wurz won three races. Toyota F1-affiliate Kazuki Najakima joined the duo for 2013 and they all endured a challenging season. Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi won the 2014 WEC LMP1 Drivers’ Championship in the TS040 Hybrid – against the likes of Audi and Porsche. Their races with Lapierre’s assistance in the first four races, however, should not be overlooked after they won at Silverstone and Spa, and a podium at Le Mans and COTA. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/TGR_0038.jpg) #8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid at the 2014 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - Credit: Toyota ## Unforeseen LMP2 downgrade returns Le Mans success Lapierre won six races with Toyota across the years, and lost his 2015 seat at the beginning of that year. This meant that the Frenchman resorted to the LMP2 category to continue his WEC efforts. Hong Kong-based team KCMG ran an Oreca 05-Nissan LMP2, whilst Toyota’s TS040 struggled to fight competitively with the updated machinery from Audi and Porsche. Lapierre participated in the European Le Mans all the meanwhile, so his three WEC races that year were not his only sportscar commitments. Lapierre stood on the podium in his three races with Brits Matthew Howson and Richard Bradley, having replaced a Porsche-committed Nick Tandy. This included a momentous victory at Le Mans which was the first of four in Lapierre’s career. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/2021---Alpine-Story---Circuit.jpg) (L to R) Stéphane Richelmi, Gustavo Menezes, Philippe Sinault, Nicolas Lapierre, Le Mans 2016 © Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI ## Continuing the LMP2 momentum at Alpine In 2016, Lapierre returned to the Signature outfit – known as Signatech Alpine. This solidified his first full WEC season and returned even more success with teammates Gustavo Menezes and Stephane Richelmi. When Toyota notably faced last lap heartbreak at Le Mans, Lapierre and his crew commanded their way to win in the LMP2 category or fifth overall. The season gave them four class victories and only two instances when they did not finish on the podium out of nine races – thus earning championship title glory. Oreca was still associated with the Toyota LMP1 project in 2017 albeit it was their final year in the partnership. This meant that Lapierre returned in Toyota’s third TS050 Hybrid for the 6 Hours of Spa and 24 Hours of Le Mans but unfortunately did not succeed at the latter. ## A bright Super-Season for Alpine and Lapierre The WEC established a ‘Super-Season’ winter calendar from 2018 to 2019, including two Le Mans 24 Hours. Alpine and Lapierre won both of these. Consecutive Le Mans wins highlight the strength of both a driver and their team to have successfully carried their form over the course of a year – something which Toyota begun with the sparse LMP1 (hybrid) grid. LMP2 was a competitive field yet Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Pierre Thiriet were a crew above all their rivals. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/2023-FIA-World-Endurance-Championship-WEC---Alpine-Elf-Endurance-Team---LMP2.jpg) Alpine participated in LMP2 up until the category's WEC departure in 2023 – Credit: © James Moy Whilst they inherited the 2018 Le Mans LMP2 win following the disqualification of G-Drive Racing, the 2019 edition saw them earn victory. Lapierre became a four-time LMP2 Le Mans winner in his last four finishes at the historic event. In 2018, additionally, Lapierre took his second Sebring 12 Hours win with Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Onroak DPi. ## Alpine’s first ‘Hypercar’ seasons Technically speaking, Alpine competed in the inaugural 2021 and 2022 seasons when the Hypercar category officially replaced LMP1. They fielded a ‘grandfathered’ Rebellion R13 LMP1 which noted a lesser fuel capacity to the new Toyota GR010 Hybrid, in an attempt to prevent them from dominating in used machinery. Alpine took third and second in the two consecutive championship standings with two wins in the latter season, at Sebring’s 1000-mile event which was cut short by the threat of thunder and lightning and the first 6 Hours of Monza. After missing 2023, 2024 was the real year when more manufacturers flourished the Hypercar category and Alpine fielded their Oreca-developed A424 LMDh car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Great-promise-and-tears-for-Alpine-at-Le-Mans.jpg) #36 Alpine A424 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race start – Credit: © DPPI / Alpine Racing ## Le Mans misfortune and retiring on a high at Fuji The heavily modified Mecachrome-originated engine drew doubts with its unsuccessful record at Le Mans and poor reliability in the FIA Formula 2 cars. This reality struck Alpine where it hurt most at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxivierre and Mick Schumacher were part of the #36 crew which was the latter of the two Alpines to retire, both before the race entered its sixth hour. Misfortune, it seemed, denied Lapierre another chance at the top of Le Mans competition. Three races later though, Alpine took their first podium finish in the vicinity of Fuji-san. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/A-mountain-of-emotions-and-a-maiden-podium-in-the-FIA-WEC-for-the-Alpine-A424-at-Fuji.jpg) (L to R) Nicolas Lapierre, Matthieu Vaxiviere, Mick Schumacher – Credit: © DPPI / Alpine Racing Third place at the end of the six-hour race marked Lapierre’s 47th and final WEC podium finish. Despite the misfortune, the challenges, and never winning overall at Le Mans, Lapierre distinguished himself as a humble yet fierce driver behind the wheel – who ran under the radar within sportscar racing. His new sporting director role will benefit Alpine into their second Hypercar season with valuable experiences of the utmost kind. After Alpine’s maiden year, who knows what results could come as Alpine unlocks further potential of the A424 in a competitive Hypercar category. ### JOTA's Sam Hignett and David Clark on the team's past, present, and future URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/jota-sam-hignett-david-clark-past-present-future-cadillac/ Last updated: 2025-11-24T11:15:53.000Z "I think we've achieved all we could have achieved, as a customer team to Porsche." These were JOTA director Sam Hignett's words when I asked him to assess JOTA's era as Porsche customer team. Looking at 2024 specifically, when the British team really started to come into its own in the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class, Hignett said, "I think there were some outside hopes of more success in the overall championship, going into Le Mans. "If we could have you know pulled a result out the bag in Le Mans, we would have been in great shape," he continued. "I think we were second in the championship going into Le Mans. It's quite unfortunate, but Le Mans bit us, as it tends to do, so that didn't happen. But yeah, if we look at our expectations on January the 1st this year, I think we've fulfilled what we were hoping to." Meanwhile, David Clark, JOTA director alongside Hignett, told me, "I think it's quite a special thing, as a Porsche customer, even though you have to pay. But, it's a special experience and I think it's something... it's one of those things, when you're younger, you always want to run a Porsche at Le Mans." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/LMDH-24h-Le-Mans.webp) "When you're younger, you always want to run a Porsche at Le Mans." David Clark, 2024\. Image: Drew Gibson ### Winning races and 'world cups' The team took its first WEC overall win at Spa this year, after a red flag benefitted the #12 car as it had pitted shortly before the red flag, whereas many of its rivals still needed to pit. "There was a huge portion of luck that put us in a position to win it," said Hignett, "but at the end of the race, but we were able to control the pace and Callum was able to drive away from the Penske cars and the rest of the field." More wins haven't been forthcoming for JOTA this season, however. Like other teams, they've struggled to run in traffic, with Hignett hinting it's impeded further progress. "Once you're out front, it's generally easier to lead. That's a feature of this current Hypercar racing," said Hignett. "The car wasn't working brilliantly in traffic," he continued. "These cars are very susceptible to traffic, and we were struggling in all honesty in the traffic. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/LMDH-WEC324-May-11.webp) JOTA won its first overall WEC race at Spa this year. Image: Drew Gibson "I think we had a top six car, as we generally do most weekends, but we didn't have the outright pace to win. "To run these cars legally and be good in traffic is very difficult. It's very easy to run the car slightly illegally, and be stunningly fast, as we've seen others do. "But that's not going to do you any good if you win the thing at the end of the race. So yeah, running the car legally and in traffic is difficult. Once you're out front, that's the real mark of how good the car is," the Briton concluded. JOTA also took the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams with the #12 car, beating the satellite #83 AF Corse Ferrari entry, driven by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Robert Shwartzman. [Kubica’s journey towards historic WEC Lone Star Le Mans winRobert Kubica has endured heartbreak and success en route to becoming the first overall Polish race winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Lone Star Le Mans. The sixth round of the 2024 WEC delivered yet another thrilling spectacle which marked a sixth different Hypercar race winner, which![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LineMohammed Rehman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0531.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/kubicas-journey-towards-historic-wec-lone-star-le-mans-win/) When asked how it felt to beat AF Corse to the title, Hignett did not hold back. "I mean, it's the third factory Ferrari," he said, grinning. "So yeah, definitely feels good. But no, it's nice. That's a good driver lineup, in what's clearly a fantastic car, run by a brilliant team, so to be able to beat them, that's great. "They had a reliability issue at Le Mans, but even if they'd have been in the mix at Le Mans, I think we would still beat them in the championship, which is great." ### A new challenge next year In 2025, JOTA will face a new challenge: running a factory programme on behalf of a manufacturer. In this case, the manufacturer is American giant Cadillac. This has been a long time coming for the British team, but a necessary step, Hignett told *Only Endurance*. "We were in this conundrum of being a very successful LMP2 team, but up against a glass ceiling," he said. "There was nowhere for us to go. And so when we saw the new regulations, these Hypercar regulations, it was obvious that there was an opportunity for us. "But we just needed to pick up a manufacturer to be able to do what we wanted to do with that opportunity." However, initially, JOTA didn't find the manufacturer contract it desired. This, though, didn't turn out to be such a bad thing. "It was the reason we went down the private route, where we didn't end up with a factory. Our only option really, especially with the demise of LMP2 in WEC, was to to try and do it privately. "This has been a great exercise, because it built the commercial engine in the team, and enabled us to stand on our own two feet and achieve what we've discussed previously." The lack of a manufacturer contract in the 'first wave' of Hypercar wasn't for lack of trying, though. "We'd always had dialogue with literally all of the manufacturers," said Hignett. "And then a year or so ago, the conversations with Cadillac seemed to accelerate a bit, since their existing supplier was getting to the end of their contract. "So we kept the conversation going and they'd seen what we'd achieved obviously. Our commercial success is very appealing to them, so bringing the whole thing together has landed us with the two-car factory program." ### From LMP2 to factory partnership But how exactly does a team like JOTA, who a few years ago was one of a number of 'LMP2 superteams', go about getting a valuable factory contract? "We prepared a document to take to all the manufacturers," Hignett explained. "What our expectations will be, and what we're currently doing in LMP2, in terms of R&D, etc, etc. "And I think there wasn't a single manufacturer that we sat in front of that wasn't blown away by the level that LMP2 was at. "It wasn't just us doing it. United were doing it, WRT, Prema to some extent. "So the reality is, we were a small LMDh team at the end of the LMP2 era and we're still a small LMDh team today. So, there hasn't been a significant change in that respect." The Cadillac programme, though, will probably change the team in terms of how it operates. 'There's a lot more involvement from the manufacturer," said the JOTA team principal, when I asked whether the partnership with Cadillac will cause the team to grow. "Currently we have arm's length, literally, involvement from the manufacturer. And now it will be very much hands-on with the manufacturer in terms of all the development and everything we do." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Porsche-WEC-Spa.webp) JOTA's David Clark (middle) and Dieter Gass, team principal (right) with Roger Penske (left). Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap Clark, meanwhile, didn't mince his words. "I think it's a great thing for Cadillac that they've got JOTA," he said. "Let me just say that, not just because I'm part of JOTA, but I think... look at Mercedes. They they could have come into Grand Prix racing like Toyota. But they get a team created by Toto Wolff. And the rest is history. "I think the combination of that is the feeling that we have with Cadillac. It's a very strong feeling. It's not the onslaught of an enormous corporation." In the past, Cadillac's factory partners have typically been American-run teams. JOTA is, obviously, British. "I don't think so at all," Clark answered when asked if this 'across the pond' relationship may be tricky to navigate. "I think it would only not be a problem, but be a bit more difficult if we were going the other way. If we were going to the U.S to do IMSA, it would be more difficult as we found out a few years ago. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/Jota-DPPIPRODUCTION.webp) JOTA will enter a new era of the team in 2025\. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI "And I think that's because you just don't know all the little things about the people and all the politics and things to do in America. But coming this way, no. I think it's a really, really positive thing for us and for Cadillac." JOTA made one attempt on the IMSA Sportscar Championship, the 2018 24 Hours of Daytona. They finished fifth overall, four laps off the winning Cadillac — not so bad, it seems. However, Hignett and Clark clearly do not have fond memories. "All I can say," said Hignett, "is that when we went and turned up \[at Daytona, in 2018\] thinking we were all that, with a stunning driver lineup, to do the Daytona 24 Hours. It was a disaster. We might as well have gone rallying. It was so different. "Hats off to the likes of United. It was completely alien racing, even the same chassis. The rules, the way everything works, no hardware works because of the different voltage." Finally, then: the aim is obvious for JOTA and Cadillac next year. "Winning Le Mans would do it!" said Clark. "Our aim is to win everything we can," he continued. "If you don't have that ambition, you probably shouldn't be doing it. We're a very ambitious team. We're also bringing a lot to Cadillac, as well as the other way around," concluded the JOTA director. ### How AO by TF became ELMS champions in a thrilling season finale URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/how-ao-by-tf-became-elms-champions-in-a-thrilling-finale/ Last updated: 2024-10-20T17:23:07.000Z The final four hours of the 2024 European Le Mans Series season mixed both excitement and tension from lights out to the chequered flag. Having only won the IMSA GTD Pro title last week, AO Racing – in partnership with Le Mans-winning British outfit TF Sport – secured the LMP2 title by two points. The drivers in the #14 car performed under pressure throughout the 4 Hours of Portimao, focusing on the championship battle instead of the race win, to great effect. The 2024 season finale was one of the most memorable conclusions to their season in recent years, even though the benchmark for action and close-title fights is always set at high. During the opening racing hour, Panis Racing's Manuel Maldonado was tasked with retaining his pole-position spot earned by Charles Milesi in the #65 Oreca machine. Unfortunately for the Venezuelan, his time in first place only lasted seven corners before Gabriel Aubry, of the #27 Nielsen Racing Oreca, took the lead from him as a virtual safety car (VSC) period was declared for debris and a pair of stranded competitors. With only three minutes gone, such little time had elapsed before the first disruption. [ANALYSIS: What to expect in the ELMS Portimao season finaleHow did the key championship challengers fare in practice for the ELMS championship finale at Portimao?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LineMohammed Rehman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/-14-AO-BY-TF-USA-Oreca-07....jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-elms-portimao-season-finale-practice-analysis/) However, as suggested in the pre-race analysis, the #43 Inter Europol Competition, driven by Sebastien Alvarez, already progressed from 10th to eighth position. The LMP2 title was between the #14 AO by TF car and Inter Europol's #43\. The latter needed to climb positions if they stood any chance at denying championship glory to the #14. Green flag racing resumed the action shortly after the clear-up, and Aubry quickly established a 1-second gap, implying that the #65 Panis Racing Oreca – third in the championship standings – would have a tough time holding their ground. The fastest average pace during the opening hour did not go to any of the championship contenders. Instead, it went to IDEC Sport's Nico Pino, who after 25 minutes, charged his way not only past Maldonado, but also Aubry and into the lead with a cunning dive on the inside at Turn 11. Perhaps more relevantly, however, Alvarez was in seventh place and behind AO by TF's Jonny Edgar, after just 20 minutes as the pair maintained track position. Pino, meanwhile, asserted rapid pace amid multiple short full course yellows, building a 4.5-second gap to Aubry, increasing almost every lap. Meanwhile, Maldonado in the #65 Panis Racing Oreca was struggling to keep at the sharp end of the order, having fallen to seventh behind the #14 and #43. In a controversial manner, the #43 was served with an additional 10-second-wait after having made their first pit stop for overtaking the #9 Iron Lynx-Proton Oreca under virtual safety car – a decision which was later rescinded. At the turn of the second hour, Pino's supposedly commanding form came to an unfortunate end after making contact with Mike Wainwright (#86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3). Pino spun his #28 Oreca into the gravel trap at T11, meanwhile Vladimir Lomko, now onboard the #43, had climbed up to fourth place, albeit still behind the #14, which now had FIA World Endurance Championship race winner Robert Kubica at the wheel. For AO by TF, their aims were not on winning the race outright, but rather more to simply finish ahead of their rivals at Inter Europol. With the two cars together in the order, the championship fight was both marginal in terms of points and track position. At the front of the field, Arthur Leclerc, now in the #65 Panis car, redeemed the team's chances, passing Kubica for third, although the Monegasque soon pitted, promoting Kubica temporarily up to second before he too pitted. After serving a drive-through for previous contact with an opponent, Ritomo Miyata's #37 COOL Racing Oreca inherited the lead, with a 10-second margin to Clement Novalak in the other Inter Europol car, #34. One of the other notable gainers in LMP2 was the #23 United Autosports Oreca, which had Fabio Scherer running nine places up on where the car started, with Bjoy Garg at the wheel. Back at the front, Kubica and Leclerc, fresh from theior pitstops, were battling for second position. Lomko, meanwhile, was busy fighting with Scherer and Novalak, before Scherer pitted, putting the Inter Europol cars third and fourth. With Lombo's #43 car third, however, this wouldn't be good enough to win them the championship, as Kubica was ahead. Into the third hour, Leclerc and Panis Racing suffered from a slow pitstop, dropping Leclerc five places down the order. This promoted Kubica, who so far hadn't been able to find a way past the Panis car. Now the target was breaking down Miyata's 10-second lead, which was slowly but surely eaten away by Kubica in second place. Meanwhile, both Inter Europol LMP2s jostled with one another until Novolak muscled his way ahead into third. Average lap times were tight as the race surpassed the halfway point, although this meant that the gaps between the LMP2s stabilised apart from Kubica's slow gain to the lead. The #14 was soon taken over by Louis Deletraz, who last won the 2021 ELMS LMP2 title with Kubica, with the #65 piloted by Milesi and the #43 with Tom Dillmann at the wheel. The pole-man was on a mission in the #65 after he put a move on Ferdinand Habsburg's #47 COOL Racing Oreca for P5. A fourth VSC was declared before the final hour – and all LMP2 teams took the chance to refuel and stretch out their final stints. Forty-eight minutes remained as the lap count ticked over 100, but the VSC compressed the LMP2 field once again. The #37 in the lead was driven by Malthe Jakobsen, who undertook a quick restart and begun to set the outright fastest lap times. Dillmann duelled with his #34 teammate, with the #43 eventually getting priority with championship implications at stake. A second yet brief full-course-yellow was deployed for debris on track with 39-minutes remaining. As the race resumed, Milesi was seemingly unable to get off the 80 kph limiter thus dropped from P4 to P9. Panis Racing's title hopes well and truly ended when Milesi made contact with Vector Sport's Felipe Drugovich at T14 and the #65 was later hit with a drive-through penalty. Jakobsen continued to set outright pace but crucially, the #14 held second ahead of the #43 – a position which would have earned the title for Inter Europol Competition. Final scheduled pit stops were made with minutes to go. Dillmann had pitted earlier, but crucially, Deletraz made his final stop with just eight minutes to go. The Swiss driver rejoined 10th, two places ahead of Dillmann, with COOL Racing's Ferdinand Habsburg splitting them. The other leaders in front — Jakobsen in the #37 COOL Racing Oreca and #23 United Autosports' Paul di Resta — pitted the next lap. Jakobsen rejoined in the net lead; the four cars ahead would all have to stop in order to make it to the end, with less than five minutes remaining. This order — Jakobsen, Deletraz, Habsburg, Dillmann — was retained until the flag. Try as he might, Dillmann could not find his way past Habsburg, which would have sealed the championship for Inter Europol. At the line, Jakobsen had a 2.5 second gap to Deletraz, who led Habsburg by 0.660, with Dillmann a further 0.916 back. And so, Jakobsen — who'll race a factory Peugeot 9X8 next year in WEC — sealed the win for COOL Racing, with the team taking a 1-3 for good measure. Meanwhile AO Racing by TF Sport's Jonny Edgar, Louis Deletraz and Robert Kubica were crowned champions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/ELMS-2024-Portimao-FPM-MW-5848-1.jpg) LMP2 competitors fought regardless of the disruption throughout the four hours. Photo: Copyright 2024 - FocusPackMedia - Marcel Wulf [They beat Inter Europol Competition by 12 points](http://elms.alkamelsystems.com/Results/19%5F2024/06%5FAUTODROMO%20DO%20ALGARVE/569%5FEuropean%20Le%20Mans%20Series/zz%5FChampionships/2024%5FELMS%5FLMP2%5FTEAMS%5FTROPHY%5FAFTER%5FPORTIMAO%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=ontheapex.com), whose #43 finished fourth. At the end of a thrilling title fight, Inter Europol Competition came out second but kept the #14 on the edge throughout the race, ready to pounce at any mistakes. Edgar, who concluded his maiden year in sportscar racing, reflected after the race: "When I got the opportunity to drive with Louis and Robert, I knew we would have a good chance to win. "And it would also be a really good opportunity for me to learn as my first year in sportscars, because they've won in the LMP2 car \[at\] pretty much everything. "So they've helped me a lot and the team also did a great job." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/ELMS-2024-PaulRicard-FPM-MW-3585-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/LMP2-Trophy-Shoot-European-L....jpg) There were three probable LMP2 title contenders into the finale. Photo: Copyright 2024 - FocusPackMedia - Jan Patrick Wagner Now-double ELMS champion Kubica added: "We managed to bring home good points. "It wasn't an easy approach of today's race. "We were lacking in performance, but we managed to turn it around on a good race with consistent driving \[and\] no risk." In LMP2 Pro/Am, Alex Quinn carried out an impressive fuel-saving effort but was unable to hold off the #77 Proton Competition Oreca on the final lap. As Inter Europol lost out to title glory, Algarve Pro Racing equally lost out to a back-to-back LMP2 Pro/Am title by under 1-second on the #77. By the time of the chequered flag, the tension of the title fight concluded and reminded spectators once again that the ELMS continues to deliver up until the final minutes of the season. ### ANALYSIS: What to expect in the ELMS Portimao season finale URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-elms-portimao-season-finale-practice-analysis/ Last updated: 2024-10-18T19:27:43.000Z A fiery championship title battle will be settled in the European Le Mans Series season finale in Portimao. The Circuit International do Algarve is regarded as an enjoyable track for the drivers owing to its 'rollercoaster' and will host the sixth round of 2024. Just 15 points cover the top-three competitors in the LMP2 standings, and Panis Racing's Charles Milesi has commenced proceedings with a sensational second pole position. The four-hour race on Saturday 19 October will house a multi-class field of 43 cars, specifically 14 Oreca 07s in LMP2 – and eight more in Pro/Am. Only one point is awarded to the class pole-sitters, but track position is the ultimate advantage which Panis Racing has over the competition. AO Racing by TF Sport's #14 crew lead on 75 points, ahead of the #43 Inter Europol Competition on 69 and the #65 Panis Racing team now on 61 points. Alpine Hypercar driver Milesi claimed pole position [with a lap time of 1:30.727](http://elms.alkamelsystems.com/Results/19%5F2024/06%5FAUTODROMO%20DO%20ALGARVE/569%5FEuropean%20Le%20Mans%20Series/202410181600%5FQualifying%20Practice%20-%20LMP2/07%5FFastestLapByDriver%5FQualifying%20Practice%20-%20LMP2.PDF?ref=ontheapex.com) with a substantial 0.382 seconds on Malthe Jakobsen's #37 COOL Racing entry. For tomorrow's race, the #65 will not only start upfront but also six positions ahead of their nearest title-rival, the #14. Former champion Louis Deletraz qualified the #14 in seventh as Tom Dillmann put the #43 in 10th place. Alluding to the top-10 points-finishing allocation – 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 – then the #65 would secure the title by five points on the #14. Data from the free practice running suggested that the #65 Panis Racing Oreca is the fastest and most comfortable out of the title-contending trio of LMP2s. If Panis Racing secured race victory, the #14 AO Racing by TF Sport team would need to finish a minimum of fourth position to claim the title by one point. Inter Europol find themselves starting in 10th position however, they are the third-fastest on average pace from free practice. As a result, [exactly like at Mugello](https://www.ontheapex.com/mugello-analysis-iron-lynx-proton-elms-victory/), we could expect to see them charge up the order throughout the course of the race. With Algarve implementing stresses on tyre management and tyre degradation, the #43's opening stint will be crucial for taking opportunity of the field's close proximity before the gaps begin to form. LMP2s undoubtedly carry the most downforce through the 15 corners with LMP3s and LMGT3s closely matched in all but the high speed bends. Pressure is on Panis Racing to convert their pole position into victory, as Milesi was not quite able to fend off his podium in the previous Mugello race. Panis Racing will need to execute the perfect race with not just Milesi but also by his co-drivers Manuel Maldonado and Arthur Leclerc. If Milesi starts, he will need to fight off Jakobsen to retain the lead though data suggests the Panis Racing Oreca will likely be able to do so. Along with the rollercoaster nature of Algarve, it offers a wide track width to ease traffic management, certainly compared to Mugello. Given the high speed nature of the circuit, any crashes will be dramatic and unfortunate if the title protagonists – of each class – get involved. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/ELMS-2024-Portimao-FPM-GT-9818.jpg) Charles Milesi took his second pole of the year. Photo: Copyright 2024 - FocusPackMedia - Gabi Tomescu The key will be for drivers to remain vigilant and utilise run-off areas for their intended purpose, rather than as a purposeful way to exceed track limits. Speaking of which, track limits will be difficult not to trigger from behind the wheel so fast, consistent laps need to be laid without too much risk at the heart of the race duration. Mugello gave a challenge for Iron Lynx-Proton with safety cars and full-course-yellow periods and so going by previous ELMS finales at Portimao, we should expect an action-packed spectacle which will test these title contenders. ### How Cadillac conquered a 2-lap deficit to win Petit Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/how-cadillac-conquered-2-lap-deficit-win-petit-le-mans/ Last updated: 2025-01-19T11:20:23.000Z Roughly 2 and a half hours into this year's Petit Le Mans, the #1 Cadillac was two laps down and looked, for all intents and purposes, to be out of the running for the overall win. With the two Penske-run factory Porsches leading, Renger van der Zande was in amongst the LMP2 field, 16th overall. The Dutchman, in his final race with Cadillac after seven years with the American manufacturer, had only just climbed into the car, replacing Sebastien Bourdais, who had been in the pink Cadillac — pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month — up until that point. Bourdais had started the car fourth, but the race quickly went sour as the Cadillac team were pinged with a mechanical black flag from the stewards for overpowering. The team duly told Bourdais to come into the pits, where they plugged a laptop in and fixed what they thought was a faulty torque sensor. This unscheduled 1:10 pit stop, 20 minutes into the race, cost them a lap. However, luck was on the American manufacturer's side: a full course caution had been called after the team came into the pits, meant they lost less time than they should have done, and they could immediately gain back the lap they lost. At the restart, then, Bourdais sat 11th and last in class, but in a substantially better position than he'd have been in had the race not been temporarily neutralised. In the next hour or so, he wasn't able to make much progress, getting up to ninth ahead of Andrea Caldarelli in the #63 Lamborghini SC63, plus Jordan Taylor in the #40 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06, who'd just pitted from the lead. The second full course caution was called for the large Andersen-Keating-Milner crash at turn 6\. Every GTP, apart from J. Taylor, pitted, including Bourdais. However, the sensor issue reared its head again. The team duly plugged the laptop back in, and as Chip Ganassi Racing team manager Mike O'Gara told IMSA Radio, they were just turning off sensors until they identified the faulty one. This stop was longer, getting on for three minutes. Luckily the field was at a much-reduced pace, giving the engineers time to try and figure out the problem. Luckily, this time they fixed it — for good. This left Bourdais, who had remained in the car, a lap down, not regaining it under safety car as he had done an hour previous. He remained in 20th, behind the LMP2s, for much of the next 40 minutes, only getting back to 11th when the LMP2 field pitted en-masse in green flag conditions. He was, though, still a lap down. As *The Racing Line's* data analysis shows, his pace in the first two hours was not electrifyingly quick, having to pass for position multiple LMP2s and running in GTP traffic for almost all his two and half hours in the car. Because the next pitstop was done under green, though, van der Zande exited the pits two laps down. It didn't take the Dutchman too long to gain one of these laps back, as the overall leaders progressively made pitstops. However, with so few full course cautions — the race ran cleanly for three hours after a short yellow caused by an incident between two GTD cars — gaining that lap back was hard work. With pace up amongst the fastest cars, usually in the top 5 fastest cars in the class in the second half of the race, the trio began to move up the order. Dixon, who replaced van der Zande in the car just after the four mark, sat seventh at the start of his stint, and by the end of his 2 hours in the car, had climbed up to fourth position. Bourdais made his way into the podium positions when he climbed out of the car, to be replaced by van der Zande, with just over 2 hours left to run. The Dutchman actually led a lap on lap 393, before pitting for the penultimate time and dropping to fifth. However, he was still over a minute back from the leaders. Time was rapidly running out to catch up and attempt to go for the win, in what was Chip Ganassi's final race with Cadillac, plus Sebastien Bourdais's last full-time IMSA race (at least for a while) before an expected switch to WEC with JOTA Cadillac, and van der Zande's final race with both Chip Ganassi and Cadillac before joining Meyer-Shank and Acura for 2025. What they really needed was a full course yellow. Unusually for Petit Le Mans, the race had run under green flag conditions for the last 4 and a half hours, and while the team had got back onto the lead lap through sheer grit and determination — not to mention excellent pace and quick work in the pits — making up an entire minute in the remaining hour was a herculean task. But then, a large crash at the top of the hill after the esses, involving the #55 Ford Mustang GT3 of Corey Lewis and the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R of Jan Heylen made it all possible again. That wasn't all though. Lewis's car had hit the barriers hard and lost its front headlights, with the Mustang bouncing back on track facing oncoming traffic, while being totally unlit and after a blind crest. Terrifying isn't the word. While most cars passing him avoided the Mustang, some by mere inches, Ricky Taylor in the second-placed #10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 wasn't so lucky. He hit the Ford on drivers' left, wiping the left-hand side of the Acura out. While R. Taylor did manage the return the chrome-blue Konica Minolta-sponsored car to the pits, it was clear immediately that it would be an instant retirement, with less than an hour left. This, combined with fast work from the Chip Ganassi crew at the car's final stop, enabled van der Zande to advance up to second, behind leader Nick Tandy in the #6 Porsche. The race restarted for the last time with 35 minutes to go. Tandy was defending well, but van der Zande used traffic to his advantage to pass the Brit into turn 1 with just 12 laps to go. Tandy was then temporarily set back by #24 BMW's Philipp Eng's overly aggressive pass, putting the Briton briefly onto the grass,, he dropped valuable seconds giving van der Zande a small but workable buffer with less than 10 minutes remaining. You'd think it was plain sailing from then, but no. The Cadillac's headlights had been faulty for a while, but one not working at various times. Up until that point, however, one had always stayed working. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/1PPP7953-1.webp) The #01 Cadillac's right-hand side front headlight wasn't working in the darkness hours. Image: Cadillac With the time and laps remaining now both in single digits, all the beleaguered car had to do was make it to the flag. But then, disaster: both headlights flickered out, leaving the 38-year-old at the wheel in total darkness. Fiddling around in the cockpit, van der Zande managed to get one headlight back on. From there, he just had to nurse the car to the finish, although in all the drama, Tandy had caught up. The gap at the line was just 2.9 seconds. In the post-race press conference, the Dutchman explained what was happening in the car in those final few minutes. "This manual we get from Cadillac is a lot of buttons and a lot of options," he said, "so I started to press all kinds of buttons this way, and it was still not good enough. "Then it stuck more and more and more, then they told me press the white button. So I pressed the white button, and it worked. So we got the lights back." As you can see from the graphs interspersed through this article, the #01 Cadillac was fastest in the last half of the race, as Bourdais, Dixon, and van der Zande pushed to catch the leaders. They were slowest in the race's first quarter, when Bourdais had his issues with the torque sensor and had to pit twice to have it fixed. This meant he had to pass LMP2 cars for position, meaning he was around seven and a half tenths a lap slower than the leading car on pace in the first quarter, the #7 Porsche of Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell, and Felipe Nasr. No doubt, though, they were helped by full course cautions, in particular the first full course caution, and the last. In the former's case, if they'd had to pit early to fix the faulty torque sensor in full green flag conditions, they'd have lost more time to their rivals in the GTP class, plus they wouldn't have gained back the lap they lost. And, in the latter's case, this not only promoted them a position due to the #10 WTRAndretti Acura's retirement, but helped them close up the minute gap they had to Nick Tandy in the #6 Porsche. But, that's the name of the game in IMSA: to use the inevitable cautions to your advantage. This, combined with the #01 Cadillac's pace in the second half of the race, made them the winners at Road Atlanta this year. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Cadillac on top in practice long-run pace averages at Petit Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/cadillac-on-top-practice-analysis-petit-le-mans/ Last updated: 2025-01-19T11:16:54.000Z Petit Le Mans is, in all honesty, probably one of the year's best races. The race from daylight into full darkness, taking place at the undulating, rollercoaster-like Road Atlanta, never fails to produce a fantastic season closer for the IMSA Sportscar Championship, which continues to go from strength to strength. Plus, the prospect of a championship battle in the Drivers', Teams', and Manufacturers' championships, means both will be going all out to claim the titles. Cadillac took first blood in qualifying, with Jack Aitken claiming his first IMSA pole position in magnificent fashion, just when the American manufacturer needed it most, with the #7 Porsche of guest driver Matt Campbell, in second. But, what qualifying for a 10 hour race isn't all that relevant. Practice long-run pace, though, can tell us a lot. We've taken the top 20% average laps from each practice session in an attempt to piece together what the race may end up looking like. In the graph above, we've averaged out the top 20% lap times for each car from each of the three practice sessions. We've then found each car's fastest session, on average, and displayed it in graph form. The #01 Cadillac looked very quick in practice, setting a 1:11.808 on average in the first session, which Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, and Scott Dixon didn't beat through the next two sessions. In contrast, the fastest Porsche on average was only fifth fastest across the three sessions — slower than Cadillac, Acura and BMW. The midfield is very tight, with nothing to chose from between the car which set second-fastest individual average in a single practice — the #40 WTRAndretti Acura — to the car in ninth, the #25 BMW. The two slowest cars, the #63 Lamborghini and the customer #5 Proton Porsche, look to be quite a way off the pace, judging by their practice pace. It looks slightly better for Porsche when you average out the three session averages for each car. That said, the Cadillac is still leading by a decent margin, and the #24 BMW is second fastest, around two and a half tenths behind Cadillac. The #6 Porsche – the car in the Drivers' championship hunt with Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy — was third quickest on average, just a a couple of hundredths behind the BMW. The two and half tenths a lap on average to the #01 Cadillac will be hard to beat though, especially around a lap as fast and short as Road Atlanta. It's also incredibly close in the midfield between the two Acuras, the #31 pole-sitting Cadillac, and the #7 Porsche, which will start on the front row alongside the Cadillac. Once again, the Lamborghini and #5 Proton Porsche languish at the back, quite a way off the pace, although maybe less so compared to their fastest indiviual session average. And, it gets even better for Porsche when averaging out both cars (for teams that run two cars — i.e. the four full-season manufacturer teams). In this sense, BMW have slipped back to fourth fastest, while Porsche and the WTRAndretti Acuras have jumped up to second and third. It's very very close between each of the four main manufacturers, though — less than three tenths a lap on average. The customer JDC-Miller Porsche squad is around four tenths on average back compared to BMW, while Lamborghini are over a second off Cadillac. The other customer Porsche team, Proton Competition, running in the iconic Mustang Sampling colours, brought up the rear on team average pace, a further three tenths off Lamborghini. Cadillac, though, remain the quickest. In that sense, this indicates it's Cadillac's race to lose. They took pole in qualifying by a large margin, and they were fastest in practice by pretty much any measure you can choose, when looking at averages. Finally – above is a graph with the averages for each car, from each session. Peruse at your leisure! > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### ELMS returning to Silverstone doesn't mean WEC will return too URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/elms-return-silverstone-will-wec-return-too/ Last updated: 2024-10-02T16:40:24.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* The European Le Mans Series's return to Silverstone for the 2025 season is great news for sportscar fans, and in particular, British sportscar fans. It's been absent on any ACO calendar since 2019, when the FIA World Endurance Championship held a 4 hour race at the circuit. That race generally wasn't well-received by fans or teams, with many criticising it for being too short, when WEC races are typically a minimum of 6 hours. So, it's excellent news. However: don't get your hopes up too much about WEC returning to Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Stowe, Club and Abbey as well. ## No WEC calendar expansion in 2026 The 2025 WEC calendar was announced earlier this year at Le Mans, with no changes compared to 2024\. This was expected by the majority of the media and journalists in the room at the press conference. There were some unexpected revelations — namely, Imola will replace Monza long term on the calendar. But there was no addition of a ninth round to the calendar, as many fans had been hoping for. After the press conference finished, I and other journalists asked Frederic Lequien about potential calendar expansion. I reported on this story for MotorsportWeek.com. "“No, I do not believe that in 2026 we have more races. Maybe in 2027," he told me when I asked about whether a ninth round would be added in 2026. [OPINION: WEC are right to take time over expanding the calendarIt is quite incredible how much the FIA World Endurance Championship has changed in the past few years. Let’s look back on the first year of the then-new Hypercar regulations, in 2021\. There were three teams: Toyota, with the GR010 Hybrid; new entrant, the American-flagged Glickenhaus with the 007![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped-1.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0517.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/opinion-wec-right-no-calendar-expansion/) “It depends on many different parameters,” he continued. “Once again, as I told you before, we have to pay attention to the budget side and when we will stabilise everything. “Then we’ll have, let’s say, a smooth description with the paddock. If the paddock agrees to add the nine runs, we’ll do it.” ## Silverstone returning would be great Speaking personally, WEC returning to Silverstone would be fantastic news. I live under an hour away from the track, and realistically it's the only UK circuit that could host the world championship. I want it to make a return! That said, I do think WEC are right to be cautious about calendar expansion. As I wrote a few months ago, the WEC calendar currently stands at 8 races and 72 hours of racing. Along with 2016 and 2017, that's the highest it's ever been. If the teams don't want the calendar to expand, out of budget concerns, it stands to reason we could lose teams or manufacturers. So the series needs to be careful about adding any extra races. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/10/JPG-to-WEBP-conversion-result-1.webp) The last ACO-rules sportscar race at Silverstone was in 2019\. Image: Jakob Ebrey / ELMS While public opinion of WEC is generally pretty high at the moment — lots of manufacturers, world class drivers, great racing, cool cars, a fight for the championship and Le Mans — that could turn in an instant if WEC added another round and manufacturers or teams pulled out or switched to other series because they couldn't afford it. I'm hopeful Silverstone will return in 2027, in line with what Lequien hinted at. But one thing's for sure: if we want that to happen, the ticket sales for ELMS at Silverstone need to be high. Fans must show the ACO and Silverstone that they want to watch sportscar racing at Silverstone. > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### MUGELLO ANALYSIS: How Iron Lynx-Proton earned their lights-to-flag victory URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/mugello-analysis-iron-lynx-proton-elms-victory/ Last updated: 2024-09-30T13:40:40.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* The penultimate round of the 2024 European Le Mans Series hosted the 4 Hours of Mugello on its first-ever visit to the circuit. Four hours encompassed a narrative of close racing, incidents, disruption and excitement right to the chequered flag with the centre of attention undoubtedly at the front of the LMP2 category. ELMS season debutants Iron Lynx-Proton (shortened in our graphs to IL Proton) earned their first pole position, owing to Lamborghini LMDh driver Matteo Cairoli as the Italian took the #9 Oreca 07 LMP2 to victory during Sunday’s race. Converting pole into a win required hard work as the #9 was not in a position to simply dominate without challenge from their rivals. Part of the #9’s success is attributed to their performance after the safety car and red flag disruptions situated around the halfway point, and then their charge to victory in the final stint. Weather conditions were stable and dry thus minimising the factor of strategy down to pit stop performances and tyre management during the stints, especially presiding over the rate of wear. The #9 optimised these two ingredients towards their first LMP2 victory in the IL-Proton partnership, which also exists for the pink Iron Dames Porsche LMGT3 class effort. Initially speaking, the #9 was not in total confidence to win after Jonas Ried was unable to retain the top spot at lights out. In fact, perhaps the most difficult opponent for the #9 was the #34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 which started in fourth position – with a flying Clement Novolak. During the opening portion of the race, the 23-year-old Frenchman was undoubtedly the fastest compared to any of his LMP2 rivals. This pace possibly aided by adequate tyre warm-up before lights out, and this element would prove crucial regularly at post-safety car restarts. Novolak fought his way past the #65 Panis Racing Oreca of Manuel Maldonado and into the lead in quick fashion before he formed a comfortable three-second gap. The first safety car period seemingly nullified Novolak’s hard work, but impressively, he resumed his turn of pace as if the race had simply been paused. Furthermore, Novolak completed a double-stint which meant by turn of the second racing hour, he built a near-10 second lead. Algarve Pro Racing's #25 held second after their pit stop but Ried quickly took back second in the #9. Whilst the #34 resided ahead, Ried was tasked with fending off Maldonado's #65 machine – with both fighting wheel-to-wheel at one point. Ried withstood this turn of pressure nevertheless. Oliver Gray took over the #34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca with 2-hours and 30-minutes remaining. He was unable to replicate Novolak's peerless pace on a fresh set of tyres, although the occurrence of a safety car (SC) and a virtual safety car (VSC) period – the latter of which automatically becomes an SC once teams had a reasonable opportunity to pit – hindered his chance in doing so. Maceo Capietto led a queue of LMP2s in his pole-sitting #9 Oreca. A major incident involving two LMGT3 cars on the start-finish straight, after the pit exit, caused a red flag with debris scattered across the circuit. A prolonged stoppage meant that 20-minutes was added to the ongoing race clock. Once the action resumed, the lead fight was on between Capietto and Gray who went side-by-side into Turn 1. Capietto not only retained the lead, but set to work on setting the fastest lap times. Once again, however, a VSC-turned-SC eliminated his lead gap as Lamborghini LMDh driver Matteo Cairoli took over the #9 ahead of the #65, which was now being piloted by Alpine Hypercar driver Charles Milesi. In fact, all of the top-five cars were being piloted by Hypercar or LMDh drivers therefore setting a high benchmark for no mistakes. Cairoli set about producing quick lap times to reach a solid lead gap, which was balanced with stretching his pace over the course of his double-stint to the end. The fight for second was more intense, with Milesi being reeled in by Alex Lynn in the #25 Oreca. LMGT3 traffic closed the pair as Lynn turned faster pace, before an LMP3 returned their 1-second gap. Approaching the final pit stop for the top runners, the #9 was in first by over 12 seconds. Lynn pitted first from P3 followed by Milesi on the next lap. Fundamentally, the #25 undercut the #65 and so the two swapped places. Cairoli's pit stop was six seconds longer than Lynn, so his lead gap came down to under five seconds after the pit cycle. With some clear air ahead, Lynn begun establishing his gap on Milesi at 10 seconds. The attention was now on the fight for P4, as Lucca Ghiotto's #34 made a move on the outside line at T1 on the championship-leading #14 of Deletraz – replicating the exact move of Novolak's entry into the lead near the race start. Ghiotto clearly had better performance in his tyres, certainly utilised when he conducted another outside move on Milesi to grasp the coveted final podium place. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/IRON-LYNX-PROTON-Maceo-CAP....jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/IRON-LYNX-PROTON-Jonas-RIE...-1.jpg) (L) Maceo Capietto, Matteo Cairoli, Jonas Ried – Images: FocusPackMedia - Marcel Wulf After 116 laps at the exciting Mugello circuit, the #9 Oreca crew of Ried, Capietto and Cairoli earned their first ELMS race victory having remained largely on top of their fierce competition. Speaking on his opening run in the post-race press conference, Ried said: "Luckily we all get our own set of tyres so I just needed to manage it for my stint. "But definitely the track is so demanding on traffic and also on tyres, so it's quite tough to manage both of it – but I think in the end, we did it perfectly today so that's why we are here and we are the winners." Capietto echoed these words after he added "the car was mega" and that "it was on rails", in addition to the important "minimal tyre degradation". At his home circuit, Cairoli admitted the #9 "was quick, but not that quick" after finishing 6.5 seconds ahead of Algarve Pro Racing. > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### ANALYSIS: Qualifying stars look sharp on average pace at Mugello URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/elms-mugello-qualifying-practice-analysis/ Last updated: 2024-09-28T19:58:41.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* For the first time, the European Le Mans Series has headed to the picturesque valley of Mugello. Within the Northern Tuscan landscape lies the 15-turn, 5.245 km (3.259 mi) circuit which is set for a four-hour multi-class endurance race on Sunday 29 September. At what is a new venue for all teams, free practice mileage and data served as crucial preparation. Lamborghini LMDh driver Matteo Cairoli earned the Iron Lynx outfit their first pole position in his #9 Iron Lynx-Proton Oreca 07 LMP2. Despite having claimed the honour, the top-10 of 14 Oreca 07 LMP2s were covered narrowly over 1 second. The top class competition is close and tight ahead of the race, but it's from free practice where we can gain understanding about the odds. During the opening free practice session, the #65 Panis Racing Oreca topped the fastest lap time sheets owing to Charles Milesi's 1:34.687 lap time set early on. IDEC Sport followed in second, ahead of United Autosports' #23 Oreca. Looking at the average top-20% of lap times, these three cars were both amongst the fastest in the field and separated by three-tenths of a second. As for the pole-sitting #9 Iron Lynx Proton (IL Proton in the charts) team, they bettered all three of these cars, although AO by TF were definitively ahead of their competition. They finished fifth in FP1 but showcased promising consistency with their top lap times. Heading into FP2, the lap time were quicker and IL Proton and Panis Racing continued to shine as they led the way over their longer runs. The pole-sitter reached four-tenths clear in their average run over Panis Racing, as the pair qualified on the front row. Expect to see both teams fight at the front once the green flag drops in the race, as Panis Racing will need to capitalise on a strong getaway before the #9 IL Proton begins to lay down their potential. Their four-tenths average pace advantage on Panis Racing could be deployed to build a gap before the first wave of LMGT3 and LMP3 traffic. Speaking of which, Mugello proses various corner sequences which flow into one another and could make it difficult to overtake the slower cars unless they are on the 1.141 km (0.709 mi) start-finish straight. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/-23-UNITED-AUTOSPORTS-Oreca....jpg) Image: FocusPackMedia - Marcel Wulf Meanwhile the #23 United Autosports LMP2 struggled to replicate their FP1 form, even situated over three-tenths away from their #22 Pro/Am sibling. Unfortunately for Paul Di Resta, he exceeded track limits at Turn 14 during qualifying which resulted in an unrepresentative lap time over 13-seconds away from the #9 IL Proton's pole, putting them in 32nd place overall – behind all 10 LMP3s. Despite the significant speed advantage of the LMP2 machine over LMP3s, the #23 will contend with a rabid category ahead who will fight their own battles with no blue flag obligation to give way for the charging LMP2. Having qualified third, Algarve Pro Racing stand a promising chance at taking the lead if the front-row pair jostle and cost their own outright lap time with the fourth-fastest average lap time in FP2. > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### Le Mans Ultimate: The new DLC and the game's future URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-ultimate-dlcpack2-september-future-expansion/ Last updated: 2024-09-24T13:01:22.000Z It’s been a while since Le Mans had an official, proper, standalone video game. I still have my copy of the Le Mans game on PlayStation 2, but this was the last time the world’s greatest race had a full standalone game to call its own. Le Mans Ultimate, then, is the latest attempt to bring the 24 hour race in the French countryside to the virtual world. And, despite some bugs and issues, it’s looking increasingly likely it could fulfil that promise. Motorsport Games and Studio397 were kind enough to supply The Racing Line with an early preview of the new DLC pack. We’ve gathered some thoughts on the new content, plus an overall ‘state of the game’ and where it might be headed in the future. ## **The new content** First up: the new content. Included in this pack are the Alpine A424, the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH Competizione, and the Circuit of the Americas. The Alpine feels good to drive. It’s quite twitchy, interestingly similar to the Acura ARX-06 in iRacing, which in real life is based on the same Oreca chassis as the Alpine. It feels less compliant than the other cars, and maybe trickier to drive because of it. But, if you can get a handle on it, it could be quick — much like the Acura in iRacing. I did prefer driving the Ferrari, Porsche, or Cadillac though — they felt a bit more compliant and easy to extract pace from. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Alpine-and-Isotta.png) The Alpine A424 is a worthy addition to LMU's Hypercar roster. Image: Motorsport Games But I’m no alien — I’m a mediocre sim racer who enjoys it as a hobby because it’s fun, not because I’m good. So take my comments on driving with a pinch of salt. I’m almost certainly not pushing these cars to the limits. The Isotta Fraschini feels exactly how you’d expect it to feel. It has a tendency to lock up, and corners can’t be taken as quickly as in other LMH-rules cars. It doesn’t exactly feel hard to drive, but… if it’s like this in real life, you can see why the drivers struggled to extract pace from it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Isotta-Fraschini-Sao-Paulo.png) The Isotta Fraschini has all the liveries from the races it competed in, such as this one from Interlagos. Image: Motorsport Games Both cars are, as you’d expect from Studio397, modeled well and accurately, as far as I can tell, both interior cockpits and the exterior views. A particularly nice touch is the flag panels working in the cockpit, meaning you don’t need any UI to tell when there’s a yellow flag, or a faster car coming up behind you. Circuit of the Americas, likewise, feels good. The esses have the same sausage kerbs they’d feature in real life, and the sponsorship hoardings are the same or similar to what they had there at the race this year, making it feel all the more realistic. Like other recreations of COTA, it will probably be out of date quite quickly due to the real-life track’s geological position, built on soft soil which causes the surface to crack and create bumps on a fairly regular basis. There’s also an early version of a new gameplay mode: Co-op. I haven’t tried this out as I didn’t have anyone to test it with, but the premise is that you’ll be able to set up a race with friends, and can then hand the car off to them when your time in the race seat is over. They can then complete their stint, at a time suitable to them, before handing back to you, or another friend, and so on. You can also save mid-race or mid-session now, Grand Prix 4-style, and when you pit in an AI race, a menu will appear to allow you to perfect your strategy. Other changes include the ability to choose between the 2023 and 2024 seasons — 2024 still features GTE cars, but these will be replaced by GT3 cars once they’re added to the game — and changes to the car select screen to make it less overwhelming as more content gets added. Seating positions also save per car now, and the AI has improved so cars will no longer drive back full-speed to the pits after a session, for example. There are lots of other minor changes to physics, setups, sounds, you name it. ## **The game’s future** While new content is all well and good, the real question is: where is the game heading? Motorsport Games and Studio397 are being fairly tight lipped on that, as you’d expect. That said, though, there have been some intriguing additions since I last touched the game earlier this year. Online mode feels much more fleshed-out now, with daily races split into three categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Drivers also get two ratings, based on safety and skill, not unlike another certain sim racing game. You can only enter the intermediate and advanced races once you’ve got the required ratings through racing in the beginner category. I asked Motorsport Games whether there’s a plan to have a series which follows the real-life FIA World Endurance Championship, or if there’ll ever be a publicly-accessible 24 Hours of Le Mans. There were shorter races held during the Fuji week and weekend, and was told specifically that there’s an aim to run this type of event again, with multiple splits so everyone who wants to take part can do, and you can progress through the splits to show improvement. Unfortunately I did not receive a direct answer on the Le Mans front. I did, however, ask about custom liveries — with the answer that they’re on the future roadmap but with no specific date attached. That should lend some personality and individuality to the online side of the game especially, which feels quite clinical at the moment. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/COTA--1-.png) COTA is as tricky to drive as you'd expect. Image: Motorsport Games In terms of support for VR headsets, this support is coming and the team will have more to share on this front later this year. There are unofficial ways to get this working in an unsupported sense, with people seeming to have varying levels of success. I usually race in VR and tried the unofficial solutions, which half-worked, but I suspect my PC is a little underpowered for Le Mans Ultimate in VR, at least in its current unofficial, unoptimised state. Finally, I asked about more content than just WEC cars and tracks. Motorsport Games have spoken in the past about the intention to have content the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series in the game — content which is sorely needed, especially tracks. When you look at other titles and the range of circuits, the selection in Le Mans Ultimate — just tracks WEC has raced on this year or last year, minus Qatar — is lacking in a substantial way. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/LMP2.png) There are LMP2s in the game, too — although only the Oreca 07, which is a shame. Image: Motorsport Games I also asked about historical content. Could we see content from, for example, the Group C days, or the GT1 cars in the 90s, or the LMP1s in the 2000s and 2010s, in Le Mans Ultimate in the future? The answer: maybe. The Motorsport Games spokesman said that there’s over 100 years of history to choose from, so anything is possible. ## **The game at the moment** While the game has quite clearly progressed from its initial early access state a few months ago, it’s clear it’s still in early access, with numerous bugs. The menus seem to flicker every now and then, and at one point it crashed to desktop altogether when I attempted to load into an online race. I also had no sound some of the time, which required restarting the Bluetooth on my PC. And FFB also didn’t work on one launch, which required a game restart. Driving a Hypercar up Eau Rouge and Raidillon with no force feedback is a very weird feeling… The lack of GT3 cars at the moment is also a shame. These should arrive soon, according to Motorsport Games — but until then, we’re stuck driving and racing the GTE cars. Not that that’s a bad thing, by any means. All in all, though, it seems to be coming along nicely. I’m intrigued as to where Studio397 and Motorsport Games will take Le Mans Ultimate over the next year to 18 months. It feels like a worthy addition to the sim racing landscape, and a title befitting of the legacy of Le Mans, the world’s greatest race. ### FOR/AGAINST: Is BoP a necessary evil or just unnecessary? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-bop-for-against-necessary-evil-gimmick-unnecessary/ Last updated: 2024-09-19T13:28:26.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* Balance of Performance is one of those topics that divide people, in this case in the sportscar racing community. Some say it artificially makes racing closer, that it’s a gimmick that should never have been introduced. Others say, if we want close racing — and who doesn’t? — BoP is the answer in this day and age. ## A necessary evil? Sportscar racing has often been dominated by a single manufacturer, with competition often coming in the form of smaller manufacturers. ### “Racing has to be exciting to draw an audience” Think back to the halcyon days of the Group C era in the 1980s. Initially, Porsche were the only real competitors in the class. In the first year of the regulations, in 1982, the winning Porsche 956 of Derek Bell and Jacky Ickx completed 359 laps. The second-placed Porsche was three laps down on 356, and the third-placed Porsche, dominating the podium, finished with 340\. In fourth, fifth and sixth were IMSA GTX cars — the GT class of its day, with the fourth-placed car 30 laps down. The next Group C car, seventh overall but fourth in class, was a Nimrod NRA/C2, on 317 laps. That’s 42 laps down on the winning Porsche and 23 down on the Porsche in third place overall. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Porsche-956-Le-Mans-1982.jpg) Porsche dominated Le Mans in 1982\. Image: Martin Lee, London UK, Wikimedia Commons. Image shared under [Creative Commons license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=ontheapex.com) Another example is in the early 2000s, when LMP900 was the top class, preceding LMP1\. The mighty Audi R8 was the car to have in those days. In 2000, the first year the R8 competed (Audi debuted at Le Mans the previous year with two cars, the R8R and R8C), the winning R8, driven by Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen crossed the line on its 368th lap. Much like Porsche 18 years previously, Audi achieved a 1-2-3, with the other two R8s on 367 and 365 laps respectively. The fourth-placed Courage C52, run by Pescarolo Sport, completed 344 laps — 24 laps down. However, in 2005, the R8 was heavily pegged back, essentially in order to make a race of it and let other cars and teams have a chance (although this wasn’t the official reasoning). While Audi still won, the small Pescarolo team fought for victory for much of the race, including taking pole. They eventually finished two laps down. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Le-Mans-2000-Audi-Rear.jpg) Like Porsche 18 years before, Audi dominated the new LMP900 class in 2000\. Image: Audi Finally, a more recent example: Toyota, when Porsche and Audi had both abandoned LMP1 amid the dieselgate scandal, finished 12 laps ahead of the Rebellion R13 in third in 2018\. The next year, the equivalence of technology — essentially pre-BoP in ACO parlance — was altered and the third-placed BR Engineering BR1 of SMP Racing finished six laps down. And in 2020, more equivalence of technology changes in favour of non-Toyotas saw Rebellion finish third in their final Le Mans, five laps down. To get to the point: I don’t think many want to return to the days where the gap is measured in laps at Le Mans. The races in 2023 and 2024 have been all-time classic races, purely because of the depth of competition in both years, with this set to continue into at least 2025 and 2026. ### “Manufacturer interest is because of BoP” The reason the last two editions of the world’s greatest race (it just tips Indy 500, don’t @ me) is because of one thing: BoP. Look at it from a manufacturer’s point of view. Balance of Performance, in theory, gives everyone an equal chance of winning. Now, in practice we know this isn’t the case — there are a great many things BoP doesn’t touch which can affect a car’s chances of winning. But it at least gives you a better chance than if it was just a straight development race. The other side of the coin is spending and budgets. Without BoP, things can quickly degrade into an arms and spending race of who has the largest budget. Yes you can set a budget cap like Formula 1 has done, and development limits and all of those sorts of things. But BoP is a much simpler and often more effective way of getting to largely the same result: close, exciting racing between a variety of cars, teams, and manufacturers. With eight major manufacturers in WEC this year, plus a small boutique manufacturer – who’s albeit pulled out, but nonetheless — the championship’s strategy has quite clearly worked. Compare this to the LMP1-H days, with Porsche, Audi and Toyota in the top class, alongside ByKolles and Rebellion with non-hybrid cars. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/919-Hybrid--No-19--No-17--Le-Mans--2015--Porsche-AG_1.jpg) The LMP1-H years were a great time to be a sportscar/endurance fan. Image: Porsche Now don’t get me wrong: the LMP1-H cars were incredible machines. Maybe my favourite ever racing cars. But they were also incredibly expensive and complex to develop and run, requiring, in the case of Porsche and Audi at least, budgets at or approaching F1 levels of spending. Simply put, WEC isn’t worth that. And while LMP1-H did have more manufacturers interested — remember when Peugeot were on the edge of entering? — it was simply too expensive. Full-on Balance of Performance in the top class has meant there’s no real point spending money to make your car faster, because it’ll get pegged back if it’s too fast, in order to equalise it with the rest of the field. Instead, manufacturers spend money developing the cars, using Evo jokers, to improve handling, tyre wear, and reliability, for example. ### "2024 has been the best WEC season ever" 2024 has seen some great racing. It's hard to say whether it has, objectively, been the best season ever — there are lots of factors involved there. I for one miss the mad LMP1s and the 8MJ they'd deploy on track, and the diesel Audi R18 being ridiculously quick but being barely audible compared to other cars. But it's true there has been some great racing this year. The mega Ferrari-Toyota battle at the end of Le Mans, the intra-Porsche battle at Qatar, Alpine-BMW battling in their debut seasons with their LMDh Hypercars... it's been great. And, because six different cars have won seven races — the #6 Porsche winning two, at Qatar and Fuji, the #7 Toyota winning at Imola in the rain, the #12 JOTA winning at Spa, the #50 Ferrari taking Le Mans, the #8 Toyota dominating at Interlagos, the #83 Ferrari taking an inaugural win at COTA — no one can really say the organisers have decided the results. Plus, as the year has continued, Alpine and BMW have made huge strides, both their taking first Hypercar podiums at Fuji, and Peugeot has made lots of progress with the new 9X8 as well. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/24H-Le-Mans-2024-Race--2-.jpg) The Hypercar regulations have succeeded in bringing manufacturers into WEC. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI ## An unnecessary gimmick The other side of the coin is that Balance of Performance is an unnecessary gimmick, creating artificially close racing with the organisers deciding who wins each race, thus destroying the ‘spirit of endurance racing’. ### “It’s so artificial!” If you derestricted GT3 cars, for example, or WEC’s Hypercars, some would be miles ahead of the others. This, then, shows that some cars are being held back from their true potential, while others are being brought forward, in order to create the close racing TV viewers, fans at the track, sponsors, drivers, and teams want. A Ford Mustang, for example, or a BMW M4, shouldn’t be competing with a Ferrari 296, Porsche 911, or McLaren 720S. And yet BoP allows them to do this. It’s artificial and takes the excitement out of racing. Plus, it removes almost any form of in-season development, with cars homologated at the start of the year and, in WEC’s case for Hypercar, Evo jokers allowed to make small modifications and improvements through the year or from one season into next. And, it’s meant the end of race-specific aero kits, when Audi would bring bodywork solely designed for Le Mans and another kit for races which required a different downforce profile. ### “The organisers decide who wins” Because the organisers set the weight, power, and energy levels of the cars for each race, this means that they can decide who wins, or at least who they’d like to see win, at each given race. For example, to make a championship battle go right down to the wire, they could restrict the car leading the championship and/or give the challengers a leg up. Or help a team competing in its home race, or a special anniversary race. This has happened before, of course, and at Le Mans, no less. In 2016, Ford returned to Le Mans, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of their famous win in 1966, defeating Ferrari. However, given the huge budgets needed at the time to compete in ~~the spaceship class~~ LMP1, The Blue Oval chose to race in the GTE-Pro class. In preparation for their return they’d raced in that year’s WEC races as well, at Silverstone and Spa. However, at Le Mans in the practice sessions, they were much, much quicker than the previous races, leading to accusations of sandbagging in order to gain favourable BoP for Le Mans. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Ford-Le-Mans-Winner.jpg) Ford won GTE Pro at Le Mans in 2016, in somewhat controversial style. Image: Ford After test day, Ford were given a series of weight breaks. They then qualified first and second in qualifying, whereas in qualifying for Silverstone, the opening race, they were two seconds off the pace over one lap, and at Spa, well over half a second. They were pegged back after qualifying, but this did little to change the result in the race, beating Ferrari. Whether this was a result of Ford’s gamemanship, the ACO giving the manufacturer an advantage, or a conspiracy between the two, is a matter of debate. But from some angles it does look like the ACO “decided” Ford should win on the 50th anniversary of the famous win. ### “It destroys the spirit of endurance racing” Endurance racing is just that — endurance. If the gaps between the leading car and the second-placed car at Le Mans is 10 laps, so be it. Cars break down in endurance racing, or have to be driven slower to nurse an issue. If you build a slow car which is reliable even when driven at ten-tenths, and therefore beat the faster cars that have spent time in the garage fixing issues, or who have retired altogether — that’s the spirit of endurance racing. BoP means that gets eroded because all the cars are so close together performance wise. If you have an issue with your leading car, because the gap may be less than a minute, meaning you’ll lose a lot of positions very quickly, especially if there’s large manufacturer interest because of BoP. ## So what's the answer? In this day and age, where motorsport budgets come mainly from marketing and not R&D as they may have done in the 20th century, unless you're F1 where manufacturers will happily spend hundreds of millions a year to compete, I think the days of BoP-less sportscar racing world has died. We simply can't have it both ways: we can't have close, exciting racing, but with no BoP. WEC budgets for the year are now in the rough $20 million range for a two-car factory team. That simply isn't enough to develop a car without a strong BoP framework. Look at F1: the budgets are in the $135 million region a year, and they're developing bespoke racing machines with no BoP framework. On the flipside, the technical regulations in F1 are restrictive, but in a different way to WEC's. WEC's technical regulations stipulate a car must achieve certain drag and downforce levels. How those levels are generated are, generally, up to you, at least in the LMH ruleset followed by Peugeot, Toyota, and Ferrari, among others. That means we get cars that look completely different, with the old Peugeot 9X8 taking a very different approach to anyone else on how it meets those downforce/drag targets. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024--14-.jpg) Peugeot's 9X8 is very different to the other Hypercars in WEC. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI That said, I do think WEC needs to stop sharing the BoP tables publicly before every race. It creates discussion of BoP and tends to become the dominant topic at race weekends. (And yes, we at TRL are guilty of this too.) The teams are banned from talking about BoP to the media — indeed, Toyota were fined for it recently — but this doesn't stop team officials and drivers skirting around the issue. [Peugeot: we’ll stay in WEC ‘as long as we are fairly treated’Stellantis’s vice president of motorsport told reporters during the race at Le Mans last month that Peugeot will stay in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as long as the French manufacturer is treated fairly. “We have decided to go until 2026,” he said. “As long as we are fairly![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/07/24H-Le-Mans-2024.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/peugeot-stay-wec-2026-fairly-treated/) Peugeot said to media at Le Mans that they'll stick around if they're "treated fairly", clearly a thinly-veiled reference to BoP, while Porsche's Fred Makowiecki told this author that the teams were playing politics, clearly another sideswipe at BoP. But that's for another article (watch this space). Let us know what you think of BoP on social media! > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### FUJI ANALYSIS: A race of two halves URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/fuji-analysis-wec-toyota-porsche-cadillac-ferrari/ Last updated: 2024-09-15T15:39:26.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* I feel like we say this after every FIA World Endurance Championship race this year, but every single race deserves it: what a race we had at Fuji. It had everything: drama, close battles, and cars from almost every manufacturer leading overall at some point (poor Peugeot). The race felt like a race of two halves. The first was dominated at the front by the Cadillac-Porsche-BMW battle, with Toyota seemingly not possessing the pace of the leaders, although they weren't *that* far off. Then, in the second half, Toyota unleashed some pace and it looked for all intents and purposes like they'd storm to a victory which looked unlikely in the first 3 hours. Then they blew it, for the second race in a row (although COTA was much, much better than Fuji for them...). ### Cadillac, BMW, and Porsche rule the roost It's immediately clear that in the first two hours, the Cadillac and #15 BMW were the fastest cars. This was reflected on track, with Earl Bamber and Marco Wittmann running first and second and pulling away from the #6 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor in that first safety car-interrupted hour. Indeed, if we look at the first half of the race, Bamber and Lynn in the Cadillac were far and away the quickest on track, by two tenths a lap over the #5 Porsche, which was playing catchup after Makowiecki got caught in the first lap incident, pitted for repairs, then had to pit again as he'd pitted when the pitlane was closed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024--8--1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/6-Hours-of-Fuji-2024--2--1.jpg) It was going so well for Cadillac... until it wasn't. Images: Julien Delfosse / DPPI and Javier Jimenez / DPPI The fastest Toyota, meanwhile, in the first half of the race, was the #7 Toyota, but was only fifth quickest, behind both the factory Penske-run Porsches and the #15 BMW. Looking at the first half of the race, with the leading Toyota half a second a lap on average off the fastest car, you wouldn't have them pegged as contenders for the win on pace in the second half. Further down the field, the Alpines were not as fast as they had appeared in practice, and as usual, the Peugeots were struggling for pace. Somewhat surprisingly, the JOTA Porsches were also struggling, while the factory Porsches were among the fastest cars. In the second half of the race, however, the tables turned. ### Toyota and Cadillac blow it The second half of the race was remarkably different to the first. The first thing to note is the speed of the #35 Alpine, quickest overall in the last 3 hours, eight tenths a lap faster than in the first half. Wow! If Alpine can harness that pace, they'll be challenging for wins and podiums very quickly. Part of the issue was the #35 Alpine's position in the midfield, having to make its way through. It was, though, looking at a podium in the hands of Charles Milesi, until he had to take a drive through for his role in the incident which ended the Cadillac's race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024--7--1.jpg) There is serious pace in the Alpine A424\. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Speaking of: Cadillac blew this race. While they weren't the fastest car overall in the second half, they were fourth quickest and, as we can see in the chart below, they were quickest overall on average through this race. Once again, the team's bad luck, and seeming need to push even when not strictly necessary, cost them dear. If Bamber had taken more caution when trying to overtake Marciello, who knows what could have been? The other team that blew it were Toyota. The #7 car was in prime position to win, or at least finish strongly on the podium, when the safety car came out for to recover the Lamborghini. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/6-Hours-of-Fuji-2024-00002545-1.jpg) Kobayashi's clash with Porsche's Campbell caused severe damage. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI Yes the safety car gave the #6 Porsche the upper hand, but the Toyota had enough pace, under two tenths off the Porsche on average a lap in the second half of the race, to challenge. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024--7-.jpg) Once again, Kamui Kobayashi's aggressive driving style cost them dear and may have also cost them the championship, as well as a strong finish, if not a win, at their home race. The other thing to note is the strong pace of the #15 BMW. It was faster in the second half of the race than the winning #6 Porsche, and a smidge faster in the race overall, on average, by under a couple of hundredths a lap. So what cost them the win? Estre's pace at the end was electrifying — four tenths faster a lap according to the line graph at the top of this page. But it was time spent in the pits that really cost BMW the race win. The #6 Porsche spent well over a minute less in the pits compared to the #15 BMW, pitting five times compared to the BMW's six. Look at the numbers: #6 Porsche spent 6m20s in the pits, while the #15 BMW spent 7m49 in the pits. I had originally thought Porsche – and Cadillac — had made an error not pitting under the first virtual safety car period. But Porsche Penske proved me wrong. Bravo. In the end, both teams ran faultlessly to finish first and second — but Porsche ran faultlessly 'better', if that's possible. That said, BMW are likely delighted with their podium, as should Alpine be with theirs. And it puts the #6 Porsche crew in touching distance of the championship. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/6-Hours-of-Fuji-2024--1-.jpg) Porsche ran a perfect ran in Fuji. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI A great race. Onwards to Bahrain! ### PRACTICE ANALYSIS: LMDh cars leading on long-run pace at Fuji URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/fuji-wec-practice-analysis-log-run-pace-toyota-lmdh/ Last updated: 2024-09-13T16:02:04.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* The FIA World Endurance Championship has arrived at Fuji, with many expecting Toyota, at its home track, to romp away with a win, as it has done for the previous six editions of the 6 hour race held here in Japan. Indeed, the Japanese manufacturer has won every WEC race held at Fuji apart from one, in 2015, when Porsche won with the mighty 919 Hybrid. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Fuji-2024--1-.jpg) Can Toyota take a seventh consecutive victory at their home race? Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI So, the odds are against anyone else winning at Fuji. But, when looking at the Fuji long-run pace, we could see a battle between Toyota and some of the LMDh manufacturers. In the first free practice session, the factory Penske-run Porsches were on top — just one tenth separating their top 20% average laps. The Toyotas, in that session, were sixth and seventh, with a customer JOTA Porsche, a Ferrari, and an Alpine between them. Indeed, the fastest Toyota in that session was almost four tenths off the #5 Porsche. There was less than a tenth between the #12 Porsche, in third, and the #7 Toyota, in sixth, but the factory Porsches were almost three tenths ahead. Looking at FP2, the picture changed. As you'd expect, the lap times were quicker, with teams putting into practice what they'd learnt from the first session. The fastest car on average in the long runs, the #35 Alpine, was almost half a second quicker than the #5 Porsche in the first session. And, much like in FP1, the top 3 was dominated by LMDh cars, with the #2 Cadillac and #20 BMW second and third in the session. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/DPPI-35.jpg) So far, LMDh cars have been quickest at Fuji this year. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPI While the best laps were very close in the session — just a few hundredths between the #15 BMW of Dries Vanthoor, the #5 Porsche of Matt Campbell, and the #2 Cadillac of Alex Lynn — the average pace was close too. There was just 19 hundredths between the leading Alpine and second-placed Cadillac on average, with the #20 BMW just under a tenth and half back. The fastest Toyota didn't manage to dip under the 90-second mark, around two and a half tenths off on average. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/WhatsApp-Image-2024-09-13-at-13.40.36.jpeg) Fuji makes for some great race car photography! Image: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography Ferrari, meanwhile, are slightly behind Toyota — but not by much, just a few hundredths in FP2\. Given that in the race at COTA, Toyota were faster than the Ferraris – although due to Kobayashi's penalty for not obeying local yellow flags, they didn't win — this is probably to be expected. That said, Toyota are by far the heaviest and least powerful car in Balance of Performance terms, even heavier and less powerful under 250kph than at COTA. So, this may be somewhat surprising. They did, though, get a small power boost in the BOP for Fuji for power gain after 250kph. Maybe that's nudging them ahead. That is, though, exactly what BoP is designed to do. However, this is all a bit meaningless. As we saw at COTA, Toyota can be 'slow' in practice and then challenge for the win in the race. I'd expect Ferrari too to be substantially faster in the race than they've shown in practice. Finally, a quick word on qualifying. Toyota have been somewhat lacklustre in qualifying this year, seeming to struggle turning the tyres on. The fastest free practice times — see results sheets here for FP1, here for FP2 — may indicate Toyota are continuing to struggle for one lap pace in Fuji. Ferrari and Porsche, on the other hand, have both been quick in qualifying this year. And, with BMW heading the best lap pace in FP2, maybe we could see one or both of the German-Belgian machines fighting for pole. FP3, though, tends to be when teams do qualifying simulations, so we'll see how things pan out in that session. > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### Early thoughts on Hyundai's forthcoming LMDh programme URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/early-thoughts-hyundais-lmdh-programme-2026-wec-imsa/ Last updated: 2024-09-12T17:57:30.000Z As has been expected and rumoured for quite a while now, Hyundai finally announced its entrance into endurance racing today, with its FIA World Championship programme coming 'in the near future' — widely expected to be 2026. The announcement was lacking in detail, with just three sentences. Here it is in full: > **Genesis to enter endurance racing** > The LMDh program will add a new pillar to Hyundai Motorsport's portfolio. > Since its establishment in 2012, Hyundai Motorsport has been competing in WRC and TCR with Hyundai N brand. > Genesis, the premium brand of the Hyundai Motor Group will add endurance racing to the disciplines of its motorsport activities. A concurrent announcement was made by WEC, announcing the specific WEC programme: > **Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis** has today made official its intention **to join endurance racing in the near future.** > Potential FIA World Endurance Championship entry remains subject to **WEC Selection Committee approval.** First things first: the programme will be branded 'Genesis'. This name probably isn't familiar to many, but that's most likely why Hyundai has chosen to brand it this way: to increase brand awareness and grow it globally. Secondly, the expected IMSA Sportscar Championship programme wasn't included in Hyundai's announcement. The two programmes, in IMSA and WEC, are expected to run simultaneously, although probably with different partner teams in Europe and the United States. Hyundai is known to be tapping up European sportscar teams, including TDS Racing, IDEC Sport, and COOL Racing, plus Chip Ganassi Racing in the US for the IMSA programme. ## LMDh It's been rumoured for a while that Hyundai would take the cheaper, easier option for entering modern sportscar racing, aligning with the LMDh ruleset. This, of course, means basing the car on an existing next-gen LMP2 chassis. While it wasn't included in the announcement, the Korean company has almost certainly chosen Oreca to be its chassis partner, with the French company designing and building the car. This would make Oreca the first LMDh chassis partner to have three manufacturers running the next-gen Oreca LMP2 platform, after Acura and Alpine. Dallara currently also has two, BMW and Cadillac; while Multimatic has one, in Porsche, with Lamborghini using the Ligier base for its SC63. Both the Acura ARX-06 and the Alpine A424 look very similar to each other, with pointy front noses, aero fins are connected to the front splitter, and air intakes mounted behind the cockpit on either sidepod. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024--14-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Galstad-IMSA-Road-America-Aug-24.JPG) The Alpine A424 and Acura ARX-06 look similar, thanks to their shared Oreca base. Images: Javier Jimenez DPPI (Alpine) and Jake Galstad, LAT / IMSA LMDh cars that use the same chassis base don't have to look similar. Look at the BMW M Hybrid V8 and the Cadillac V-Series.R, both based on the Dallara platform. They are remarkably different to each other, yet share the same chassis underpinning. However, despite their significant differences — rear aero, air intake, general bodywork — they do have their similarities too, especially towards the front, with the nose and splitter having the same general shape, although the BMW has its distinctive 'nostrils' which the Cadillac lacks. As a reminder, while LMDh manufacturers are mandated to use a chassis from one of the approved partners, they have a lot of freedom in the design of the car itself. They can still design the bodywork themselves, plus suspension underpinnings, engine fitment and choice of powertrain, and all that comes with building a bespoke prototype racecar. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Multimatic-Porsche-LMDh-Silverstone.jpg) A Porsche 963 / Multimatic LMDh chassis. Image: /u/jorge\_pzg It will be interesting to see how Hyundai styles its LMDh racecar. This is a much bigger undertaking compared to other racing programmes the manufacturer has had in the past, in the touring car and rally arenas. We do have some potential styling clues, though. Hyundai's Vision Gran Turismo concept, officially titled Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo, was the company's vision of what a racecar could look like in 2025. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Hyundai-Vision-GT-Concept--1-.jpg) The Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo. Source: Hyundai The company itself said: > This exciting machine offers a glimpse of what's in store for the next-generation of high-performance vehicles, and showcases the unique characteristics that represent what N performance is all about. Equally, Genesis had its own Vision GT concept, the X Gran Racer VGT. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/image.png) The design of these is, obviously, very different to what is possible within the WEC Hypercar / IMSA GTP regulations with the LMDh and LMH rulesets. With most of the LMDh cars being fairly conventional by modern endurance/sportscar prototype standards, as they're based on pre-existing next-gen LMP2 chassis, it's not clear how 'wild' Hyundai could go with the design of its car. Could it take a similar direction to Peugeot, for example, with the original iteration of the 9X8 being 'wingless', generating the majority of its downforce, especially at the rear, from the floor and underbody of the car, using ground effect and venturi tunnels? Well, maybe. The LMDh technical regulations and LMH technical regulations are designed to be as similar as possible, there are differences between the two. Most notably, an LMDh must conform to a more conventional design, due to how the car is based on an existing chassis that can and is, in the case of Oreca and Dallara, used by other manufacturers. Looking at the LMDh technical regulations, article 3.4.2, on the free boxes that manufacturers are free to design bodywork in, indicates that the LMDh regs in this area are more restrictive than the LMH technical regs, which of course the Peugeot 9X8 was designed to. See the image below, from the LMDh technical regulations, for the areas the LMDh manufacturers can design, with the regulations stating: > Upper bodywork geometry is free inside designated free box volumes provided that all criteria in Article 3 and sub-articles are respected, the geometry complies with the relevant driver cockpit access and visibility templates detailed in Article 13. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-12-at-18.30.59.png) The LMDh free boxes, in green, for manufacturers to design bodywork in. Source: LMDh technical regulations, article 3.4.2 In contrast, the LMH technical regulations state, in article 3.4.2: > Other than respecting all the constraints in these technical regulations, the upper bodywork is free subject to approval by FIA/ACO technical department. So, this would indicate Hyundai's design can maybe not be quite as extreme as seen in the Vision GT car or the Genesis VGT concept. That said, the styling cues, especially from the Genesis VGT, could definitely make its way from concept to reality. For example, that 'V' shaped front grille and light strip at the front, stretching past the front wheels on the concept. Or the aerodynamic fins behind the front wheels. Unfortunately, the rear wing isn't included in the LMDh free boxes area, so it seems unlikely the Genesis VGT's aggressive rear wing will make its way to the LMDh car. ## Powertrain The car's powertrain is another big question. It seems likely the car will be turbocharged. Of the six competing LMDh-rules cars at the moment, all but one — the Cadillac — are turbocharged. Three — the Lamborghini, BMW, and Acura — are twin turbocharged. As for V8 vs V6 — it's very hard to tell. Hyundai has numerous engines it could use but it may prefer to build a new bespoke engine. The Acura and Alpine are both V6-powered, while the Porsche, Lamborghini, BMW and Cadillac are V8-powered. Speaking of, since Hyundai Motorsport, based in Alzenau, Germany, near Frankfurt, has built its own in-house engines for the TCR and rally programmes, it seems likely that whatever the Korean manufacturer decides in terms of powertrain, it will be built in-house there, with assistance presumably from Korea. ## GT3? Finally: a GT3 programme to run concurrently alongside the Hypercar/GTP entry has been rumoured as well. No evidence of this was seen in the announcement from Hyundai today. That, of course, doesn't mean it's not happening — just that they're not ready to talk about it yet. That said, for a brand and company which is still relatively young in motorsport, launching a new LMDh programme, possibly with cars running in both the US and globally in the world championship, plus a new GT3 programme... that seems ambitious. Keep in mind that Hyundai Motorsport was only founded in 2012 and since then has run TCR and rally programmes in various championships. If it entered GT3 as well... this would likely mean one of the existing programmes would have to be culled. Plus, Hyundai has no car ready to compete in GT3 as it stands. The GT3 regulations state that a car competing in the class must be 2 door only, not 4 door. Hyundai, or Genesis, has no 2-door road cars currently on the market. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Hyundai-from-Racing-Line.jpg) Hyundai's stillborn GT3 project. Image: Racecar Engineering / Hyundai While a Hyundai/Genesis GT3 programme [was being worked](https://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/hyundai-genesis-gt3-images-released/?ref=ontheapex.com) on in Australia in 2012, nothing seems to have come of this since. Dailysportscar [has since reported ](https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/10/04/sportscars-that-never-raced-16-hyundai-genesis-coupes-for-gt3-gte-gt300.html?ref=ontheapex.com)the project failed as it had no direct input or involvement from Hyundai itself. So, I wouldn't bet on a GT3 programme joining the LMDh car in endurance or sportscar racing in 2026\. Further down the line? That's anyone's guess. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### BOP ANALYSIS: Toyota hit by BoP for home race URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bop-analysis-fuji-wec-2024-toyota-ferrari-porsche/ Last updated: 2024-09-10T18:07:32.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* The FIA World Endurance Championship arrives at Fuji this weekend, for the now-traditional 6 hour race in the shadow of the great mountain. Toyota, as ever, remains keen to win its home race. It's an event the company often brings key executives and important corporate partners to, and so sees it as important commercially to win in its homeland in front of its home crowd. However, this will be difficult to do. Like at the previous race at COTA, the team has lost power and gained weight, although there is some to celebrate in max stint energy and post-250kph power gains. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024--12-.jpg) BoP has made the WEC field very close this year. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI ### Weight The key story here is Toyota running at a gargantuan 1070kg, 15kg heavier than Ferrari, its nearest rival. Speaking of the Italian manufacturer, although they won the race at COTA, the BoP weight hasn't changed. Regular readers will know Ferrari were not the fastest car at COTA, with Toyota outstripping them for pace, although as is now a regular occurance this year, they are still struggling for one lap pace (or sandbagging — of course, the team won't admit to this and are staying mum). [COTA ANALYSIS: Alpine, BMW catching WEC leadersExamining the 2024 Lone Star Le Mans, which Ferrari won under immense pressure from Toyota.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/FIA-WEC-Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024--8-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-cota-analysis-lone-star-le-mans-toyota-ferrari/) Further down the field, Porsche have lost 4kg, which makes sense after their somewhat lacklustre showing in the United States. Alpine, meanwhile, have gained 1kg after a show of pace in Austin, where they finished the race with a higher average pace than the Ferraris for one of the cars. It's the opposite for Cadillac, losing a kilogram after a strong showing last time out. Peugeot are now running at what is essentially the minimum Hypercar weight of 1030kg, as are Lamborghini, with no change for BMW. ### Power Power wise, Toyota have lost 4kW of power — roughly equivalent to 5.3hp. This will slow them down in acceleration out of corners and in the early parts on the straights, but they've also gained 1.8% power after 250kph, which will help them with top speed in the speed trap and down Fuji's long, long main straight. Ferrari haven't gained any power in the pre-250kph range, much like in weight, signalling the fact the ACO and FIA are happy with their pace. They will also gain after 250kph than at COTA, with the figure standing at 1.3% for the race in Japan. ### Power after 250kph The cars with the most power is a tie between the Lamborghini and the Cadillac, both at 520kW — the maximum allowed by the regulations. The Alpine isn't far off this, at 518kW, an increase of 3kW for the French squad. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024.jpg) Lamborghini will run at Fuji with max power and lowest allowable weight. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Peugeot have gained 513kW — which hopefully will quell the French manufacturer's 'unfair treatment' claims — while BMW have gained 2kW. Porsche meanwhile have gained 3kW compared to COTA. [Peugeot: we’ll stay in WEC ‘as long as we are fairly treated’Stellantis’s vice president of motorsport told reporters during the race at Le Mans last month that Peugeot will stay in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as long as the French manufacturer is treated fairly. “We have decided to go until 2026,” he said. “As long as we are fairly![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/icon/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/thumbnail/24H-Le-Mans-2024.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/peugeot-stay-wec-2026-fairly-treated/) ### Maximum stint energy And finally, in terms of maximum stint energy, Toyota have reason to cheer — they've been given a 2mJ increase! That's actually the joint biggest increase on the grid in this particular category, along with Lamborghini and Cadillac. Lamborghini, incidentally, have the most — 910mJ, 1 less than Cadillac. Once again, Ferrari haven't gained or lost any maximum stint energy, remaining at 901 — the lowest on the grid, 7mJ lower than Toyota. There are no decreases in max stint energy this time around. Whether the cars/teams who have been served increases can go an extra lap before needing to pit is hard to say — after all, they are small increases. TRL will be back with analysis from the Friday practice sessions, looking at stint lengths, average pace, and more. > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### Kubica’s journey towards historic WEC Lone Star Le Mans win URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/kubicas-journey-towards-historic-wec-lone-star-le-mans-win/ Last updated: 2024-09-09T18:02:43.000Z **Robert Kubica has endured heartbreak and success en route to becoming the first overall Polish race winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship at the Lone Star Le Mans.** The sixth round of the 2024 WEC delivered yet another thrilling spectacle which marked a sixth different Hypercar race winner, which has never been achieved previously in the 12 years of the championship’s existence. Right down to the end, the #83 privateer-entered AF Corse Ferrari 499P claimed victory at the Circuit of the Americas with drivers Robert Shwartzman, Robert Kubica and Yiefi Ye taking the honours on the same weekend as the Maranello make’s Monza win in Formula 1. A maiden WEC win to the Hypercar category was the culmination of the trio working well together, with Kubica carrying strongly into the lead during the opening stints of the race as Ye continued the momentum in the middle, and Scuderia Ferrari reserve driver Shwartzman withstanding pressure from Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi at the end. Thirteen years after his life-changing rally accident, Kubica made WEC history after he became the first Polish driver to win overall and, after Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, became the third person to have won both in F1 and the WEC. Furthermore, he did so behind the wheel of a Ferrari against the fiercest and most competitive top tier WEC category – with the help of his #83 teammates. ## Debuting into LMP2, facing success and heartbreak Whilst closing his chapter in F1, Kubica looked towards the tempting world of sportscar racing and specifically in prototype machinery. In 2021, his final F1 season for Alfa Romeo Sauber, he underwent a memorable sportscar debut season. He first asserted his form in the European Le Mans Series where there were 16 Oreca 07 LMP2 entries in total, which raced with the LMP3 and LMGTE categories. Kubica charged to the LMP2 championship title, alongside the #41 Team WRT teammates Louis Deletraz and current Hypercar co-driver Yifei Ye. As a trio, they took three wins out of six races which earned them 118 points at the end of the season, a 32-point margin over the #22 United Autosports Oreca. In the midst of this forthcoming success in the ELMS however, stood a heartbreaking loss at one of motorsport’s most challenging, coveted and historic events – the 24 Hours of Le Mans. ![(L to R) Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz celebrate an ELMS podium finish.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/-41-Oreca-07-Gibson-TEAM-WRT---JEPjpg.jpg) (L to R) Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz, 2021 ELMS – Credit: JEP Deletraz qualified the #41 Oreca on the LMP2 class front row with a 3:28.470 lap time, 0.520 away from Antonio Felix Da Costa’s Hyperpole position in the #38 JOTA Oreca. The #41 crept down the order during the opening hours with the 24-strong class exerting intense competition for the win. In spite of this, a strong run of pace by the #41 Oreca rewarded them in second place behind the sibling #31 WRT Oreca which held the lead at the halfway point. From thereon, WRT controlled the LMP2 lead with both Orecas with a mindful eye on the #28 JOTA. Both WRTs swapped places intermittently as they raced on through the night. In the closing stages, Ye led in the #41 Oreca before disaster struck on the final lap at the Forest Curves, soon after Dunlop Bridge. He came to a complete halt and in a matter of late drama, the #31 Oreca won in LMP2 on this particular instance by just 0.727 seconds over the #28 JOTA Oreca. Later it emerged that the #41 stopped due to a broken throttle sensor which caused an electrical short circuit thus switching off the engine control unit. This situation was an unanticipated nightmare which struck at the most vital moment. Many months later, after winning the ELMS title, Kubica concluded his maiden year of sportscars in an Oreca 07 LMP2. He replaced High Class Racing’s Jan Magnussen for the WEC Bahrain event which consisted of a six-hour race and an eight-hour race on two consecutive weekends, scoring eighth place in both. ## Joining Prema’s first WEC season, returning to WRT for 2023 ![The #41 Team WRT Oreca 07 at the 2023 6 Hours of Monza](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/WEC-6hMonza--2023-FIA-WEC---FocusPackMedia---Jan-Patrick-Wagner.jpg) #41 Team WRT Oreca 07 – Credit: ©2023 FIA WEC / FocusPackMedia - Jan Patrick Wagner A fresh new year marked Kubica’s first full-season WEC campaign with a debuting team in the LMP2 category. Prema Racing have a established reputation in the junior single-seater discipline and decided to embark on a new endeavour. Deletraz joined him as a teammate along with Lorenzo Colombo, as they ran a fair campaign highlighted by a second-placed finish at Le Mans. For 2023, Kubica returned to WRT with Deletraz and new teammate Rui Andrade. Wins were accomplished once again for Kubica with the trio victorious at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, 6 Hours of Fuji and 8 Hours of Bahrain, which eventually led to them claiming the final WEC LMP2 championship title. At the special Centenary edition of Le Mans, in 2023, Kubica and the crew scored second position behind the famed Polish bakery chain Inter Europol Competition team who finished on the top step. ## Making history in a Ferrari, triumphing at COTA The departure of the LMP2 category at the end of the 2023 WEC made way for more entries in the thoroughly competitive and diverse Hypercar category. Amidst many drivers who were keen to continue racing in the WEC, Kubica struck a deal with AF Corse to co-pilot a privateer Ferrari 499P featuring a primarily yellow livery which set it apart from the two factory-run cars. Kubica was notable during his outings in F1 for his underrated performances, even during the difficult 2019 campaign at Williams, but more so during his earlier efforts. The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix accident and his 2011 rallying accident diminished a dream for Polish motorsport enthusiasts to dream of him in prestigious machinery like a Ferrari. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0535.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002491_0500.jpg) Credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Fast forward to the present day and Kubica made history as the WEC’s first Polish driver to win overall at COTA, having immediately fended P2 at the first corner and inherited the lead before the contending #51 Ferrari ran into issues. Without criticising his momentous win, two rounds prior at the Le Mans 24 Hours, him and his #83 teammates could have potentially won an even more significant win if it not were for a mistake by Kubica and a late reliability issue. The 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours was where the #83 next shone after joining its two siblings at a 1-2-3 qualifying performance at the 6 Hours of Imola. A error by Kubica when lapping Dries Vanthoor’s #15 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 saw the pair make contact, as the BMW was hit hard into the barrier before the car became stranded on the right-side prior to the Mulsanne Corner. The Polish driver lost his lead due after having been awarded a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for incident responsibility. Later towards the 20th racing hour, Shwartzman fought for third in the #83 Ferrari against Antonio Fuoco (#50 Ferrari) and Kamui Kobayashi (#7 Toyota GR010) but their efforts were later ended after a hybrid system failure caused the front brakes to dramatically overheat, as illustrated by the smoke which poured out of the car at its pit box. A Le Mans win may remain elusive for the Pole, but it was a turn of redemption for the privateer-entered Ferrari which finally sought a well-deserved victory at COTA. It was a near-faultless performance by the team having ran strong pace, excellent tyre management, and a test of pressure for WEC newbie Shwartzman at the end, which he withstood brilliantly to take the win. ### COTA ANALYSIS: Alpine, BMW catching WEC leaders URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-cota-analysis-lone-star-le-mans-toyota-ferrari/ Last updated: 2024-09-04T19:15:02.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* What a race at Circuit of the Americas, the first FIA World Endurance Championship since 2020. The race had a bit of everything: unexpected pace from Toyota, expected pace from Ferrari, some surprises from other teams, strategy, and good old fashioned pressure in the closing stages between veteran endurance racer Kamui Kobayashi and young Robert Shwartzman. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024--7--1.jpg) The hill up to turn 1 at COTA is a steep climb. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI However, before we look at Toyota vs Ferrari — plus the lack of pace from the Porsches — let's look at the ongoing progress of BMW and Alpine. This chart takes the fastest 20% laps for each car and averages them out to find a car's average lap time. Taking only the top 20% means you find a car's true pace, with laps uninterrupted by variables such as traffic or local yellow flags. As you can see, the #35 Alpine, of Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Charles Milesi, was the second quickest car on average during the race. While less than a tenth slower than the #50 Ferrari, which finished third, and the race winner the #83 Ferrari, being faster in any situation than the car which won Le Mans is a huge win for the French team and manufacturer. The question's going to come up, so it might as well be addressed: was this down to Balance of Performance? Well, maybe. In truth, it's hard to say. Alpine lost weight and gained power for COTA, but we also have to acknowledge the fact they've been getting better and better as the year has progressed (Le Mans excluded). Just for comparison's sake: Alpine's weight at COTA was 1041kg while Ferrari's was 1055kg. That's 14kg gap in Alpine's favour. Plus, Alpine had 15kW more power - 515kW compared to 500kW. 15kW is around 20hp. So, a car 14kg lighter with 20hp more power... Alpine did have an advantage there. But then, that is the point of BoP - to equalise the cars out. Contrastingly, in Ferrari's favour, they have a 4-wheel drive car (when the electric motor kicks in), and lost less power after 250kph in the still-new two stage BoP process - 3.2% in Alpine's case, 1.9% for Ferrari. It's a similar story to Alpine with BMW. They were demonstrably quicker at COTA than they have been so far this year, with the German manufacturer leading for a considerable number of laps during the pitstop cycles. While the #20, which had been the faster car for the majority of the race, was pinged for a technical infringement and landed a 100 second stop/go penalty, dropping them down the order, the pace the M Hybrid V8 had was clear. BMW will no doubt be annoyed they were beaten soundly by Alpine (and Cadillac), but will also be cheered by the increase in pace. Speaking of Cadillac: finally a good result for them! After being quick in qualifying all year, the races haven't really gone to plan for the American squad. But COTA was a good race, with the only major issue occuring at the start whenm the #35 Alpine of Ferdinand Habsburg made contact with Alex Lynn's Cadillac. The incident caused them both to lose a few places, but both recovered to finish well — their best finishes of the season, in fact. Maybe they should make contact with each other on the first lap more often? (On second thoughts... maybe not.) ### What happened to Porsche? If you're a regular viewer of WEC, it won't have escaped your notice that Porsche were some way off the ultimate pace at COTA, around half a second at best for the #5 Porsche, the fastest 963 of the five on the grid. This is very unlike the German manufacturer in recent races. Since the start of the year we've been used to seeing them at the front of the field — indeed, they've won two races this year and the #6 was, and still is, leading the drivers' world championship. Plus, they're in second in the manufacturers' championship. We know the 963 doesn't fare well on bumpier tracks, with the team having to increase the ride height which decreases the ground effect generated by the floor. It's not as impactful as on Peugeot's wingless old 9X8, but it still has a noticeable effect. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/FIA-WEC-Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024--10-.jpg) Porsche struggled for ultimate pace at COTA. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI COTA has recently been resurfaced, which has removed the worst of the bumps that F1 drivers in particular complain about every year at the Texas track. However, due to the track's geography, with soft soil leading to water erosion, causing a sinking sub-surface, the bumps cannot be completely eliminated. So this may have contributed to Porsche's lack of pace at COTA. Whereas usually they're the fastest LMDh-rules Hypercar, at COTA they dropped to fourth quickest, behind Alpine, BMW, and Cadillac. BoP may have played a part too. They gained 2kg in weight — 1051kg to 1053kg — and lost 3kW in power. That's around 4hp. But would BoP alone drop them behind Alpine, BMW, and Cadillac? It seems unlikely. ## Toyota vs Ferrari ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024-Press-Reportage--2-.jpg) Ferrari led 1-2-3 early on. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI Once again, the Toyota vs Ferrari battle at COTA was the main attraction through the race. As you can see from the average lap graph, the #7 Toyota, which finished second as Kobayashi was unable to close up on Shwartzman before the flag, was actually the quicker car. That makes sense, given Kobayashi lost 25 seconds or so taking a drive through for not lifting for a local yellow flag, caused by the stricken #94 Peugeot on the back straight. He was still able to mostly close up the 10-second gap he left the pits with, though, a show of pace in the GR010, even if it's heaviest, least powerful car. Shwartzman, for his part, responded to the pressure fantastically, putting in consistent lap after lap in the final hour. As you can see in the chart above, for the most part, Kobayashi was the quicker of the two over the final laps after Kobayashi took his drive through. The average lap time over this period confirms this — 01:53.727 for Kobayashi, and 01:54.054 for Shwartzman. Keep in mind the laps completed under full course yellow or local yellow have been removed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Toyota-DPPI-Production.jpg) Toyota were quickest on average — but Ferrari weren't far behind. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI That said, though, both were incredibly consistent: Shwartzman while under immense pressure from a car he knew he was faster and a driver who's raced the GR010 for four seasons and has won the world championship, and Kobayashi while seeing red mist from what he believed was an unjust penalty. Great, great racing. ### A word on Peugeot Oh Peugeot. Just when it seemed like they were making progress, finishing eighth at Interlagos... at COTA they finished well out of the points and were even slower than the Lamborghini SC63. While the new 9X8 isn't as susceptible to bumps as the old car was, it still uses a great deal of ground effect to generate downforce. So, it seems somewhat likely that, like Porsche, Peugeot struggled with the bumpy, uneven surface at COTA, not generating pace. They did run in the top 10 at the start of the race, but soon dropped down the order and out of the points as the race progressed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/09/Lone-Star-Le-Mans-2024-Press.jpg) Peugeot's WEC woes continued in Texas. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Even worse, though, the #94 car broke down out on the circuit, and was unable to return to the pits. The car had what Peugeot has only described as a 'hybrid issue' — not a particularly good sign considering Peugeot believed they'd fixed the reliability issues which plagued the previous-gen 9X8. However, to be more than a second a lap on average off the pace, in the case of the #93 Peugeot, which did finish the race... that's not good. ### In conclusion: what have we learnt? - Alpine and BMW are getting better and better every race — helped by BoP, but also in understanding the car and developing the setups - Porsche struggled at COTA, perhaps due to bumpy nature of the track - Toyota are still the car and team to beat, but Ferrari are not far behind - The pack is, generally speaking, closing up - Peugeot struggled at COTA, no doubt about it. Maybe bumps? Lack of car understanding given the car is still new? > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### BOP ANALYSIS: Toyota gain weight, lose power for COTA URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/wec-bop-cota-2024-toyota-ferrari-porsche/ Last updated: 2024-09-04T09:56:12.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* Given Toyota's clear pace advantage last time out in the FIA World Endurance Championship, at Interlagos in mid-July, the fact they've been hit with both power and weight loses for this weekend's race at the Circuit of the Americas makes sense. They've been given an extra 5kg of weight, plus lost 9kW of power — roughly 12 horsepower. In comparison, their main rivals, Ferrari and Porsche, haven't been hit as much. Ferrari's lost 5kg of weight, but has also 3kW of power. Porsche, on the other hand, have lost both, gaining 2kg and losing 3kW of power. So, what does this mean for the competitiveness? It's hard to truly say given the WEC circus hasn't visited COTA since 2020, meaning both the current crop of top class prototypes have never raced here, and neither have the GT3 cars in their LMGT3 configuration. Last time out at Interlagos, the gap between the fastest Toyota and the fastest non-Toyota, the #12 JOTA Porsche, in the race was around six tenths a lap. In qualifying, over a single lap, this shrunk to just under two tenths of a second. ### Predicting COTA lap times In 2020's case, due to success ballast, Toyota were on the back foot and Rebellion won the race, with the #1 Rebellion of Gustavo Menezes, Bruno Senna, and Norman Nato enjoying a handy 51 second advantage over the #8 Toyota, which featured Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and the now-retired Kazuki Nakajima. The pole lap time for the #1 Rebellion was 1:47.530\. Of course, comparing this is hard since we don't know what the Hypercars are capable of around COTA. At 2020's previous race, the 8 Hours of Bahrain, the pole lap was a 1:42.979, again from the #1 Rebellion. Last year at Bahrain, the pole lap was 1:46.564, so around three and a half seconds slower than the LMP1 cars. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/08/WEC-Rd-033-2019-2020.jpg) WEC hasn't raced at COTA since 2020\. Image: Toyota So, this weekend, we can expect lap times in qualifying at around the low 1:50 mark, maybe 1:51s. With this weight/power adjustments for the top three cars — Ferrari, Toyota, and Porsche — this gap should shrink. It's hard to say how much by, but the purpose of BoP is to close the gap covered by the field, in order to increase competitiveness. ### Further down the field Elsewhere, Peugeot have had a huge weight break, losing 14kg compared to Interlagos. While they finished eighth at Interlagos, the new 9X8's best result so far since its introduction at Imola in April, this was mostly down to strategy. The team's understanding of the car and subsequently their pace is improving — but maybe not at the level that their Interlagos result said it was. It will be interesting to see how the weight break helps — however, they've also lost 1kW of power. That said, the 14kg reduction in weight should help them more than losing a little bit of power. Alpine, BMW, Cadillac and Lamborghini have also seen their weight and power adjusted. Cadillac have been relatively quick this season, qualifying in amongst the Toyotas, Ferraris, and Porsches, but in race's either bad luck or operational errors have let them down. They've lost 2kg in weight but also lost 1kW of power, so they may well be in the mix again pace-wise — but will need to cut out the errors to get a good result. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/08/FIA-WEC-Sao-Paulo-2024--11-.jpg) Cadillac have had pace this year but struggled in races. Image:Julien Delfosse / DPPI Alpine and BMW have been similar pace this year. Alpine have lost 3kg for COTA, but BMW have lost 7kg, giving them an advantage on weight – but BMW have also gained a kW of power while Alpine have lost 1kW. A wash? We'll see. Finally, Lamborghini. Generally amongst the slowest cars this year, they've lost 9kg of weight and gained a kW of power. This should help them move closer to the pack, as BoP is designed to do. Let's see if it works. Unfortunately Isotta Fraschini have pulled out for the rest of the season — a shame given their pace was slowly improving. Although that may have been at least partially down to BoP, they get credit where it's due for their increasing understanding of the car, and for finishing Le Mans with no issues, first time out. ### Two-stage power BoP The key to note for the still-new two-stage BoP process for power gain (or loss) after 250kph is Toyota will gain 1.8% more power after 250kph, compared to Interlagos. Ferrari, on the other hand, will only gain 0.1% more than at Interlagos, and Porsche remain at 0.7%. This means Toyota gains 4.6% power after the car reaches 250kph, while Ferrari gain 1.9% and Porsche 0.7%. Alpine will lose 3.2%, BMW -0.9%, Cadillac -0.6%, and Peugeot 1.2%. Lamborghini won't lose or gain power after 250kph at all. > Follow The Racing Line on social media to get notified about new posts! We're on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), [X/Twitter](https://x.com/theracingline?ref=ontheapex.com), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/theracinglinemedia), plus video content on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/theracinglineapp/?ref=ontheapex.com), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@theracinglineapp?ref=ontheapex.com). ### FOR/AGAINST: Is this a golden age of sportscars? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/hypercar-wec-sportscar-golden-age/ Last updated: 2024-08-07T14:39:19.000Z The FIA World Endurance Championship is currently enjoying a rise in popularity from manufacturers and fans alike. All five races so far this year have been objectively good races, with competition in abundance in both the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes. Le Mans, WEC’s crown jewel, was another classic race, a titanic battle between Porsche, Toyota and Ferrari for the top honours, with Ferrari prevailing for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, a different car has won each of the five races this year, shared between four teams — Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, and Porsche’s customer team, JOTA. It’s made the championship battle exceedingly tight with three races to go, with just 17 points between the top three manufacturers in the manufacturers’ world championship, and a 22-point gap between the top three in the drivers’ championship. And in terms of entry numbers, the series is blooming. 23 cars in the Hypercar class at Le Mans, with 19 of those entered for the full season, with that number due to increase to an expected 22 cars next year. Plus, LMGT3 is also exceeding healthy, with the switch from the LMGTE regulations to the global GT3 class having succeeded in rasing the numbers in WEC’s GT class. And that’s not to mention the IMSA Sportscar Championship, which has five manufacturers currently competing in the top GTP class, with 11 cars total using the LMDh ruleset. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ## A ‘golden age’? The term ‘golden age’ is bandied around a lot in motorsport circles. Sometimes it’s hard to truly appreciate what you’re living through until it’s been and gone, and that is true of motorsport as well. Did those who lived through the 50s and 60s, watching classic sportscars in the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Goodwood, Le Mans, Daytona and many other tracks realise it was probably ‘the’ classic golden age of motorsport? Maybe, maybe not. Similarly, was Group C, in the 80s, seen as such when Porsche were dominating with the 956 and 962? It’s heralded now as one of sportscar racing’s great eras, but in the moment when Porsche was almost certain to win a race before a lap had even been set? And in the LMP1 hybrid era, with the 1000 horsepower spaceships from Toyota, Porsche and Audi? This is more recent and many reading this will fondly remember the great racing between the three manufacturers, but it’s possible we didn’t truly appreciate it until Toyota were winning every WEC race with hardly a look in from their competition, in the form of Rebellion, Alpine and Glickenhaus at various times. ## So, this is a golden age because… To try and bring balance, both sides of the argument over whether sportscar racing is currently in a golden age, or whether various factors mean it’s not. ### Vast amount of manufacturer entries As of June 2024, the current entry list for the WEC’s Hypercar class is stacked with names. Toyota, ever-present in the world championship, alongside 2023 and 2024 Le Mans winners Ferrari and championship leaders Porsche head the field, with the likes of BMW, Alpine, Cadillac, Peugeot, Lamborghini as well as Isotta Fraschini all chasing. This will grow next year with the addition of Aston Martin, who are bring the Valkyrie AMR-LMH to play, with its glorious Cosworth V12 engine and looks that are reminiscent of a Group C car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/08/24-Hours-of-Le-Mans-2024-Race--1-.jpg) Le Mans saw the highest top class entrants this year for well over a decade. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI It’s definitely a positive to see so many manufacturers present in the series. It shows a healthy and attractive set of regulations, but it is also a bit like dancing with the devil for the ACO. Despite any efforts, competition will only drive costs upwards and these expensive motorsport programs will be expected to deliver results, both on track and in the showrooms. Once these results don't deliver, there will likely be little hesitation to pull the plug on the program. Indeed, we’ve already seen hints of this from Peugeot. ### Close racing For many years now, Le Mans has been classed as a 24-hour sprint race and we're also seeing this in the 6 hour WEC races. There's no time for preservation and reservation. It's full power and strategy, all out, for the entire race length. Imola and Spa particularly demonstrated this in the 2024 WEC season so far, with even teammates battling side by side, tyre strategy bringing different cars in and out of play, and then the field also being completely mixed up by the weather. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/08/FIA-WEC-Spa-6-Hours-2024--2-.jpg) The racing this year has been exceedingly close. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI Seeing the different cars demonstrate different strengths and weaknesses in such different conditions is a thrilling watch, and the engagement for whole endurance races has been off the imaginary charts. In this respect, there’s little doubt of how good this current set of regulations are. They’re doing what they were designed to do: create close, exciting racing and get the attention of manufacturers, drivers, teams, and fans alike. ### Transition of talent There's a real transition of names in the sport. There are more and more solid, experienced names making mistakes and not being the reliable driver they're expected to be anymore. Instead, we're seeing names like Nyck de Vries, Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott, Yifei Ye, and Julien Andlauer impressing so far this season in different ways. Endurance racing has a tendency to be a closed club in terms of drivers, and a lot often get regarded as undroppable due to past results. But that speed and reliability can begin to slip as time moves in. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/08/FIA-WEC-Spa-6-Hours-2024--3-.jpg) It's great to see new names winning races in WEC. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI We've seen this with Andre Lotterer this year and last. The three-time Le Mans winner has been somewhat struggling to match the pace from his teammates, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, and only raced for four hours at Le Mans as the #6 Porsche chased victory, with the team eventually finishing fourth. It’s excellent to see new faces challenging the status quo of the established driver lineup. Even drivers like Estre and Vanthoor, or the Ferrari crew in the #50 and #51, were established GT drivers before switching to the prototype class for Hypercar, abd have now made it their own. ## However… But, equally, there are various reasons why this may not be considered a golden age. ### The cars are a bit of an enigma There are a lot of positives about these cars. But just how inspiring are they, really? Are there going to be posters of these on walls? Huge demand for 1:18 models? It seems unlikely. Pace wise, using Le Mans pole time as a comparison point: the 2018 Le Mans pole time was a 3:15.377 from the Toyota TS050\. Five years later, the pole time was a 3:22.982 from the Ferrari 499P. Seven and a half seconds slower, five years later, is nothing inspiring at all. Looking at the two cars side by side also, the TS050 had a minimum weight of 875kg whilst the 499p hits the scales at 1,030kg. There is of course the need to slow the cars down within safety parameters, simplify the cars for cost reasons and weight impact from advanced hybrid systems. But with these cars pegged back by Balance of Performance, meaning they’re unlikely to ever get to the pace the former LMP1 cars did… it’s a shame. The difference between these cars and the LMP1s is also apparent, with the GT3 cars now being passed by the Hypercars in a straight line rather than in the corners, due to the lower apex speeds of the prototypes. In fact, in certain corners, the GT3s have similar apex speeds, or even higher, than the Hypercars. ### GT3 cars are weaker than GTE WEC’s former GT class, GTE, was fundamentally flawed in the cost and compatibility of the regulations. However, conveniently ignoring this, the cars were absolute weapons. Especially with the envelope being pushed by cars like the Ford GT, essentially a prototype in GT clothing, and Porsche even bringing the 911’s engine more towards the middle of the car, despite there not being a roadcar equivalent. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/08/FIA-WEC-Sao-Paulo-2024--8-.jpg) Sometimes the GT3s are faster in slow speed corners than the Hypercars. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI It is a bit of a catch 22\. Yes, the top tier of sportscars should have a top tier class to go with it. But the value of these cars just isn’t there to not be able to race them elsewhere. GT3 is a very sensible choice for the GT class and something that was mentioned for years. But objectively, the GTE cars that were at the forefront of development were such beasts. ### The performance gap Currently in the WEC races, you either have a strong result, or you don’t. And you need to be in a Ferrari, Toyota, or a Porsche to realistically be in with a chance of a podium. BMW, Peugeot, Alpine, Cadillac, Peugeot, Lamborghini and Isotta don't really have any chance of a green flag win currently. And there'll only be a limited amount of times these manufacturers will put up with that before looking to pull the plug. With more entries in the future too, this is going to be a very congested grid and some people are only going to be disappointed. With customer Porsches performing well and the self-proclaimed “satellite” Ferrari on the grid and more customer cars rumoured, the series and regs could continue with a strong customer field but this would be a big downturn from such strong interest from the manufacturers currently. There were signs of pace at Le Mans, particularly from BMW and Cadillac. Both got through to Hyperpole, as did Alpine, and Cadillac nearly claimed pole, before being beaten to it by Porsche at the last moment. That said, both benefited from Toyota not taking part in Hyperpole at all — the German team looked the fastest in regular qualifying. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/08/FIA-WEC-Prologue-2024-Qatar--1-.jpg) The likes of Lamborghini have struggled a little for pace this year. Image: Thomas Fenetre / DPPII In the race, BMW proved to be nowhere on the pace before both cars left the race spectacularly. Cadillac had a strong pace with the #2 car but fell away towards the end of the race. Alpine too were strong early on, before the Mecachrome-built engine exploded with only six hours gone. But these manufacturers are going to have to step up next year if they want to cement their place on the grid and take the fight to the leaders. ### In conclusion So really, the current set of regulations, or the current era if you’d rather, fall somewhere between Group C and LMP for me. Group C does seem to be the pinnacle of a golden age given the blend of cars, circuits, drivers and manufacturers. LMP lacks the manufacturer element but did have some great cars in amongst it. Currently, we have the manufacturers and drivers for a great series. But the cars seem flawed and Balance of Performance makes it the performance seem artificial. In truth, it’s hard to say you’re in a golden age when you’re living through it. Only with a retrospective look can you truly say if it was a golden age or not. Only time will tell if the Hypercar era is. ### INSIGHT: How does Valentino Rossi compare to his BMW teammates? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/valentino-rossi-pace-analysis-vr46/ Last updated: 2024-07-25T09:57:09.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* Valentino Rossi is of course most famous for his exploits on motorbikes, in MotoGP. But now he's embarked on a "second career", fulfilling a dream he's always wanted to achieve: to be a racing driver, and specifically to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With Rossi now a bonafide BMW factory driver, on the same level as drivers such as Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde, TRL thought it'd be interesting to have a look how he compares to his stablemates at the German manufacturer. To compare, we've got hold of the data from the recent Spa 24 Hours (thanks to [Timing71](https://www.timing71.org/?ref=ontheapex.com)), averaging out each driver's best 20% laptimes and find their average pace over the race. ## Pace As you can see from the graph, when compared to his teammates at BMW M Team WRT, Rossi is well within the performance window required. In fact, he was actually slightly quicker, on average, compared to Charles Weerts, who alongside Dries Vanthoor, won three GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cups, in 2020, 2021, and 2022\. The duo also lead this year, now driving for BMW — Rossi and teammate Maxime Martin are fifth, for comparison. However, while Rossi is within that window, he's still around eight tenths a lap on average off Vanthoor, the fastest WRT BMW driver on average at Spa. So he's got some way to go. But, he wasn't too much slower than his own teammates in the #46 BMW, Maxime Martin and Raffaele Marciello, just under two tenths a lap off the latter. For a driver who started car racing properly in 2022, that's outstanding, against a GT3 specialist, often named as one of the best in the world. If you widen the net to include the six drivers from the Rowe Racing BMWs, Rossi is still well within the performance window required, and was faster than Nick Yelloly at Spa, when average pace is considered. The #998 BMW drivers, though — Augusto Farfus, Dan Harper, and Max Hesse — were much quicker, but Marco Wittmann, in the sister #98 car, was even quicker. So Rossi has even further to go before if he wants to be on par with BMW's best. Unfortunately, as the track was under caution, either full course yellow or safety car, when Philipp Eng drove the #98 BMW, we can't include him in this analysis. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/Fanatec-GT-Europe-46-2RE-2583-1.jpg) Rossi is now a factory driver for BMW, racing with WRT. Image: SRO ## Racecraft However, while Rossi's pace in the BMW M4 GT3 is now in a good place, he needs to do more work on his racecraft. An FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar driver told TRL earlier this year that the lines Rossi takes are more bike-like than typical racing drivers, which makes overtaking him in WEC races, as a Hypercar driver, a little unpredictable at times. While this is understandable considering he did 20 plus years in motorcycle racing, with huge amounts of success, before switching to cars, it is something he is likely working to get on top of. [Rossi ‘not sure’ if he’s fast enough for HypercarMotorcycle legend and current BMW WRT factory driver Valentino Rossi is ‘not sure’ whether he’s fast enough to race in the WEC’s Hypercar class.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w256h256/2024/05/Logo-Icon---Black-cropped.png)The Racing LinePhil Oakley![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/size/w1200/2024/05/DSX_5565--1-.jpg)](https://www.ontheapex.com/rossi-on-hypercar-test/) As TRL reported on a few months ago, and is well known by now, Rossi's aim is to race a Hypercar in WEC and at Le Mans. However, as we reported on, Rossi isn't sure if he's fast enough for Hypercar. While the pace question may be answered by the above section — although pace in a GT3 is very different from pace in a Hypercar — another question may be whether he's *good* enough. His test in a Hypercar at Bahrain later this year will be very interesting indeed. Rossi's other racecraft problem is making mistakes. While he was an incredible overtaker on a motorcycle, passing rivals like they were standing still, it's a different ball game in a car. His most notable mistake this year so far came at Spa 24 Hours, where he hit Nicolo Rosi in the #8 Kessel Ferrari at the Les Combes complex of corners. This caused the Ferrari to collect the #35 Walkenhorst Aston Martin of Romain Leroux as Rosi headed towards the barriers. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/Fanatec-GT-Europe-Gallery.jpg) Rossi damaged his BMW at the Spa 24 Hours. Image: SRO This meant Rossi, in the BMW, had to pit for repairs, with the car being pushed back into the garage to have its nose bodywork replaced. Subsequently, from running consistently in the top 10 and looking good for a decent result, the #46 BMW finished 24th overall. This isn't to say Rossi's racecraft is inherently 'bad' - just that it may need work. While Rossi has won shorter sprint events in SRO competition, hew hasn't yet won a race longer than an hour. If he wants to win major endurance races, or even 'shorter' endurance races like in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, or in WEC with the 6 hour races, he'll need to eliminate any mistakes and improve his consistency. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/Group-15-1.png) #### [Download now](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### INTERLAGOS ANALYSIS: The Toyota-Porsche-Ferrari hierarchy continues URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/interlagos-wec-2024-analysis-toyota-ferrari-porsche/ Last updated: 2024-07-16T14:43:44.000Z > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* Interlagos was an interesting race. While Toyota had a clear and inarguable pace advantage, it was quite close behind them, with Ferrari and Porsche being evenly matched in a 'best of the rest' battle. Much like for other races this year, TRL has crunched the numbers to find each car's top 20% lap times. We've then averaged them out to find each's team average pace. ## Toyota on top Toyota were, quite clearly, on top at Interlagos. The #7 Toyota had the best average pace, with an advantage of over two tenths compared to the team car. This is perhaps understandable when you consider that the #7 Toyota was delayed by three minutes in the pits to fix a malfunctioning control unit, part of the car's fuel system. Before that, Mike Conway had created a large gap in the first two hours, almost 20 seconds over whoever was chasing (it fluctuated due to off-strategy pitstops), by the time he stopped for the third time to hand over to Nyck de Vries. That stop, though, dropped the former leader back to 18th, now with de Vries on board. A recovery drive was needed to salvage anything from a race the #7 car looked odds-on to win. And they did just that, with de Vries up to fifth by the time he stopped, with an hour and 40 minutes remaining, to be replaced by Kamui Kobayashi. That position is likely inflated a little by pitstop strategy — when Kobayashi exited the pits he had dropped out of the top 10 and down to around 13th — but even so, the progress and pace advantage Toyota had was evident, on both cars. They'd eventually finish fourth, just off the podium. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) The other car led the remainder of the race, apart from a few brief periods where pitstops played a part, and ended up with a gap of over a minute to the second-placed #6 Porsche by the end of the race. Porsche were, in the main, Toyota's key challengers in the race. The analysis shows they were, at worst, six or seven tenths off the pace, and at best, three to four tenths. In a lap that's only around 87 or 88 seconds long, that's quite a gap to be losing, on average, every single lap. This could have been down to a few reasons. Toyota have raced at Interlagos in WEC before, in 2012-2013-2014 with the TS030 and TS040\. The data they had from that was likely very useful and gave them a headstart in car setup when it came to simulation and real-world preparation. Porsche raced at Interlagos in 2014 too, but it wasn't the current Porsche team that raced at Interlagos; whereas back then the Porsche 919 was an in-house factory programme, the current 963 programme is run, on the factory's behalf, by Penske. Penske are an extremely good team, and Porsche's existing data likely would have helped, but not to the extent Toyota's did. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/FIA-WEC-Sao-Paulo-2024--7-.jpg) Porsche and Ferrari fought over the best of the rest title. Image: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI The same goes with Ferrari — they raced here in 2012-2014, but with a GT car, not a prototype. So while a little bit of data may have been transferable, it's likely they were starting mostly from scratch. Another reason for Toyota's supremacy at Interlagos may be one we don't want to talk about: Balance of Performance. Toyota are currently one of the heaviest and least powerful cars on the grid, but as with last year, they've still raced the GR010 for much longer than every other car on the grid. While the BoP is designed to balance out the performance of the cars, it still acts at least partially on a 'potential' basis, although not to the extent it did in 2023\. The other question surrounding BoP is: did Toyota sandbag in the first three races of the year, in order to gain a favourable BoP for Le Mans? Winning Le Mans was a big internal aim for Toyota this year and it's possible they sacrificed Qatar, Imola and Spa to win the French endurance classic. It's a hard question to answer — and the team will never, ever say or admit to it — but one TRL is actively investigating. Ferrari, meanwhile, were a little further off Toyota compared to Porsche. They just didn't have the pace to truly fight, and while they did sit in third for quite a while with the #51, eventually the Porsches, and the recovering #7 Toyota, were able to overcome them. The wait for a non-Le Mans WEC win for the Italian manufacturer continues (although I'm sure they'd take the Le Mans wins every single time...). ## The midfield battle continues Behind the top 3, there's a great battle in the midfield between Alpine, Cadillac, BMW, Lamborghini, and Peugeot. ### The upper midfield Let's start with Cadillac. They ran in the top 5 for the first part of the race, and looked like a decent result was coming their way at last. Hoorah! But then Cadillac's typical 2024 misfortune struck, with Alex Lynn reporting a 'grinding noise' from the brakes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/FIA-WEC-6-Hours-Sao-Paulo-2024--2-.jpg) Cadillac were beset by brake issues at Interlagos. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI "We unfortunately had a problem on the pit stop where we had to come back in and reseat the right-front wheel and that took us out of contention for a good result today," said the Briton. "That’s the margins in WEC. Any small error will cost you dearly, and unfortunately that was us today. I think we had a solid race, a solid car and good performance." After that Cadillac languished way out of the top 10 and eventually finished 13th. Alpine, on the other hand, are most likely happy with the #36 car taking 10th. It wasn't perfect — both BMW and Peugeot finished ahead of them — but points are points. Plus, the #36 car's average pace was significantly better than what BMW or Peugeot could manage, almost 3 tenths up on both of them. The other Alpine, the #35 machine, didn't fare as well. While only 12th, Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi were nearing half a second a lap on average off the pace of the #36 car, which is crewed by Mick Schumacher, Nicolas Lapierre, and Matthieu Vaxiviere. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/FIA-WEC-Sao-Paulo-2024--6-.jpg) The midfield is tight this year in WEC. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI The latter three were faster on average than their rivals, with only the Toyotas, Porsches, and Ferraris faster. That's good progress for the French manufacturer and bodes well for future performance into 2025\. While a ninth-placed finish for BMW seems good on the surface, their average pace was somewhat lacking, at least compared to Alpine and Cadillac. Getting a car into Hyperpole was an achievement, but with both cars around three tenths off their main rivals, there is clearly more work needed from the German manufacturer and WRT, the famed Belgian team running the cars on the factory's behalf. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ### The lower midfield Peugeot finished eighth at Interlagos, the team's joint-best result of the year. This seems like good progress from the team, who as we know introduced a brand new car earlier in the year. That means they're effectively starting from scratch, and should be considered as such. That said, while the finishing position for Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller, and Jean-Eric Vergne seems like they're moving forwards, the average pace tells a different story. They were the second and fourth-slowest cars on average at Interlagos, according to the numbers crunched by TRL, slower than the BMWs, #63 Lamborghini, the #35 Alpine, and ultimately were only quicker than Isotta when both averages are combined. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/DPPI-9x8.jpg) Peugeot's eighth-place finish possibly flatters the progress the team has made. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Lamborghini, meanwhile, were in the mix with BMW and ahead of both Peugeots and the #35 Alpine - but struggled to convert this into a competitive position, only finishing ahead of the delayed #12 JOTA and the #11 Isotta, which retired with irrepairable engine issues. ## Isotta Fraschini Isotta Fraschini, this year's plucky underdog in WEC terms, didn't finish at Interlagos due to engine issues which sidelined them just before the four hour mark. Prior to this they seemed to be racing relatively well; at one point early in the race, they were in the mid teens, ahead of the competition, with Jean-Karl Vernay in the car. However, they dropped back after this and when Carl Bennett climbed in, fell back even further. It's clear more work is needed not just on the car, but upskilling the drivers, even though progress is being made. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/24-Hours-of-Le-Mans-2024-Wednesday-Practice-1.jpg) Isotta are making progress, but the drivers need to unlock the car's potential. Image: Charly Lopez / DPPIImage: ### ANALYSIS: Toyota on top in Interlagos long run pace, but it's close behind URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/analysis-toyota-on-top-in-interlagos-long-run-pace-but-close-behind/ Last updated: 2024-07-12T23:45:01.000Z The FIA World Endurance Championship hasn't visited Interlagos for 10 years. The track, located in Sao Paulo, is known for throwing up good races — the last race held here, in 2014, culminated in a battle between Porsche and Audi, with a large crash for Mark Webber crowning things off. From the data generated by free practice 2 for this year's 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, it looks like we're in for another corker. We've taken each car's top 20% lap times and created averages, in an attempt to peak bebehind the curtain and see what we're in for on Sunday. ## The frontrunners As you can see, the #8 Toyota was the fastest car on average in free practice 2, over a tenth quicker than AF Corse's satellite #83 Ferrari entry. In fact, both factory Toyotas were faster than the factory Ferraris. The #7 Toyota was third quickest, with the #51 Ferrari fourth and the #50 Ferrari well over half a second off the leading Toyota. While that may seem concerning, it isn't necessarily a worry. If we look at the averages for each team or manufacturrer, Toyota are almost 3 tenths faster per lap on average than Ferrari. But, the #50 Ferrari's data is skewing the Ferrari average. Take that car out of the mix and Ferrari are just a smidge over a tenth off Toyota - a gap that could easily be bridged by strategy, drivers, weather, tyre deg, or multiple other variables. Cadillac are next up, just 0.002 slower than Ferrari when all three of the Italian manufacturers cars are considered. That said, though, Cadillac only has a single car so this is hard to judge. Indeed, in the individual car graph, Cadillac are a good tenth and a half away from the second-fastest Ferrari. The same goes for Proton, a couple of hundredths off these two. The other customer Porsche team, JOTA with two cars, is ahead of the factory Porsche team, putting all three Porsche-running teams in consecutive order. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) While you'd expect the factory team to be quicker than its customers, remember Spa, where both Proton and JOTA were as quick or quicker than the factory Penske-run operation. Seems like, at least from FP2, that it may be exceedingly close between the three. When you combine all three Porsche teams together, the average is 1:27.543\. Alternatively, taking each team's fastest car's average, this comes down slightly to a 1:27.528. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0075-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0079.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0080.jpg) Cadillac will be hoping for a good race — but will have stiff competition. Images: Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI Cadillac, then, if it is a tenth up per lap on average over the Porsches, will be hoping for a much better race than it has had at Qatar, Imola and Spa this year, with bad luck or poor pace impacting all three of those races for the American manufacturer. Plus, at Le Mans, although they led for a considerable amount of time near the end, they eventually finished seventh. That's decent points, but pales when you consider they were behind the factory cars from Toyota, Ferrari, and Porsche — not where the Chip Ganassi-run squad aims to be. ### The midfield The midfield also looks exceedingly close, with just over two tenths covering four teams — BMW, Alpine, Lamborghini, and Peugeot. At best, when considering the teams, they're two tenths away from Porsche and seven tenths off Toyota. This situation improves when you look at the individual cars. In that perspective, the #20 BMW is the fastest on average, with a 01:27.508 — actually ahead of some of the Porsches. The two Alpines are next up, splitting a Peugeot, with the sole Lamborghini, and the sister BMWs and Peugeots, next. It is possible, then, that BMW could be mixing it with Porsche and maybe Cadillac, if the #20's average is realistic and representative. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/DSZ_3949.jpg) Judging on free practice, BMW might be able to race with Porsche and Cadillac on Sunday. Image: BMW Alpine and Peugeot seem, on average, to be very equal, setting us up for what could be a titanic battle over the six hours between the French rivals. As usual this year, Lamborghini would appear to have the slowest LMDh car as the Italian team gets to grips with prototype racing in the top flight of sportscar racing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0059.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002409_0086.jpg) The WEC's two French manufacturers were close on pace in FP2\. Images: Javier Jimenez / DPPI, Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI Finally, a word for Isotta Fraschini. On average they may be seven tenths or so away from Peugeot, and easily a second and a half slower than Toyota. But the little Italian-French team is steadily improving. Let's not forget they were just six laps down at Le Mans, and finished the race with no major reliability issues — with just a single car in the race. In years past that would have meant a very strong position. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Peugeot: we’ll stay in WEC ‘as long as we are fairly treated' URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/peugeot-stay-wec-2026-fairly-treated/ Last updated: 2024-07-11T12:47:10.000Z Stellantis’s vice president of motorsport told reporters during the race at Le Mans last month that Peugeot will stay in the FIA World Endurance Championship, as long as the French manufacturer is treated fairly. “We have decided to go until 2026,” he said. “As long as we are fairly treated by the organisation, there is no issue. If we are not fairly treated, we can make any decision.” This echoes comments from Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson, who had told Sportscar365 among others earlier in the year that Peugeot needs to get start getting results in WEC, otherwise the programme is at risk of being cancelled. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/07/Peugeot-Sport-Spa2422.jpg) Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson and Stellantis motorsport VP Jean-Marc Finot. Image: Peugeot / DPPI “It’s clear that we have done this to win, so now we need to show performance,” Jackson said to media at Spa-Franchorchamps. “I am a businesswoman. I decided to put Peugeot in this championship for its fame. If we win, it is great for the brand’s image. “The team is at the top in terms of efficiency. It’s a real team now, with the drivers in our third season. For the fans, for us, for the return on investment, to be honest, we need to win something. It’s time to deliver. “We can’t continue in a sport like this for ten years without winning. It’s a significant investment. After three years, we need to have results. “We redeveloped the car this year. At the beginning of the third season, fourth season, etc., we need to have results. “We feel a sort of midfield being created in the rankings, with perhaps three teams dominating. And behind, it’s getting quite complicated. “If we continue like this, six years, seven years without winning, what’s the reason for doing that? We are here to win, right?” However, hearing that Peugeot is prepared to stay ‘until’ 2026 will at least put minds at rest over fears the French team would pull out of the series if the results don’t start coming. Furthermore, Finot’s ‘fairly treated’ comment is, presumably, a thinly-veiled swipe at the ACO and FIA, who jointly control the regulations for the WEC. This includes the Balance of Performance distribution, which governs the weight and power of the cars for each race, plus the energy they can use per stint. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) When Finot was asked to expand on his comments, a Peugeot spokesperson said the team cannot comment on BoP. This is because teams are not allowed to comment on BoP, as per the regulations. That said, at Imola, the second race of the year and Peugeot’s first outing with the brand new 2024 version of the 9X8, Peugeot driver Stoffel Vandoorne was effusive in his views on the BoP the new car had been given, when speaking to The Racing Line. “They haven't really got much data of the new car,” said the Belgian. “So I think it's also hard for them to judge where to where to put us, but when you look at the numbers, we are the worst of everyone.” Either way: everyone in the sport will be watching to see if Peugeot are able to climb their way up the grid in 2025, before the crunch year of 2026. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### BOP ANALYSIS: Ferrari and Toyota heaviest and least powerful cars for Interlagos URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bop-analysis-ferrari-and-toyota-heaviest-and-least-powerful-cars-for-interlagos/ Last updated: 2024-07-08T20:35:58.000Z At Le Mans, according to The Racing Line's exclusive analysis, Toyota and Ferrari were the fastest cars all through the race. This came as no surprise to anyone. Also coming as no surprise is how they've been pegged back significantly for the upcoming race, the 6 Hours of Interlagos, taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this weekend. Let's have a look at some visual graphs to see how much Toyota and Ferrari have gained in weight or lost in power, since Le Mans. These charts are interactive, so you can hide races if you don't want to see them, or want to compare the weights or power from two races directly against each other. ## Weight While neither car is as heavy as they've been this year, both have had substantial weight increases for the Brazilian race. Ferrari have had by far the most, gaining 17 kilograms. Toyota have gained 7kg, which is actually less than Porsche has gained, at 9kg. As we haven't had a WEC race at Interlagos for 10 years — yes, it has been that long — it's tricky to say how much this will affect Ferrari and Toyota's pace. It's also curious to see Porsche, who were slightly off the leading pair of manufacturers at Le Mans, gain slightly more than Toyota, who were categorically the quickest car in France last month. However, as we'll see in a moment, Porsche have also gained power. Elsewhere, Alpine have gained 6kg and BMW 5kg, putting them equal on weight at 1044kg. Cadillac have gained three, meaning the V-Series.R will now weigh 5kg less than the Alpine A424 or the BMW V-Series.R. The Lamborghini remains at 1039kg, the same as Cadillac. Most curious, though, is the fact Peugeot have been handed a weight increase of 4kg, putting them up to 1051kg — the same as Porsche. The French manufacturer was very off the pace at Le Mans so this is an interesting one. Isotta Fraschini, meanwhile, have been given a huge weight break of 18kg, taking them down to 1030kg — the minimum Hypercar weight. as defined in the regulations. For a team that was vastly off the pace at Le Mans this makes sense, although for the small Italian-built car and French-run team, just getting to the end of the race was an achievement. ## Power Power, meanwhile, is a similar-ish story of Ferrari and Toyota losing power. Specifically, Ferrari has lost 5kW of power, while Toyota has lost 2kW, putting them on 503kW and 506kW respectively. Ferrari have, generally speaking, been fastest in a straight line this year, although this was significantly curtailed by the two-stage BoP, introduced at Le Mans. Porsche have gained a single kilowatt, putting them up to 512kW, while Peugeot have gained 2Kw to put them up to 510Kw. Along with Peugeot's weight increase, it will be interesting to see if the French manufacturer is any quicker at Interlagos, where speed along the two straights is vital, but agility is also needed for the twisty middle sector. The LMDh-rules cars are, as you'd expect, all more powerful than the LMH-rules cars, apart from Isotta Fraschini, which now has 520kW. This wasn't the case at Le Mans, with Ferrari and Toyota intermixed in amongst the cars, and Peugeot even more powerful. The LMH-rules cars have a significant advantage in power terms as they are four-wheel-drive, meaning they can deploy electric power to the front wheels as well as the internal combustion engine powering the rear axle. While this is a significant advantage, it has been somewhat curtailed this year by the hybrid only kicking in after 250kph, and two-stage BoP takes this a level further. ### Two-stage BoP The key here is Ferrari will now gain 1.8% power after 250kph, while Toyota will gain even more than at 2.8%. Peugeot now won't lose power but also won't gain any, while Porsche remains not gaining any power at 250kph, the same as at Le Mans. Cadillac and Alpine will also lose power after passing that threshold, will BMW, who gained 0.9% power at Le Mans now won't gain any. The same story goes for Isotta Fraschini. And finally, Lamborghini will now lose 1% power instead of 1.6%. ### Le Mans data analysis, part 2: Picking apart driver averages URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2024-data-analysis-part-2-fastest-drivers/ Last updated: 2024-06-24T13:00:34.000Z The next part of The Racing Line's analysis from the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans picks apart the driver averages in Hypercar to find some trends. The methodology here is the same as the previous part: identifying's driver's top 20% fastest laps and then averaging them out. In theory this should eliminate any laps done under yellow (either local yellows, slow zones, or full course yellows), and the safety car. However, as you can see in the graph below... this has created some outliers. This was caused by the four-hour safety car in the race, from 3:44 to 8:10 in the morning. Drivers kept circulating behind the safety car and these laps were obviously recorded every time a car crossed the timing loop at the start/finish line. If drivers did a lot of running behind the safety car then, or elsewhere in the race, these laps may have crept into the 20% average. Either way, the full chart is below. We're going to break this down into sections as it's a big graph. ### And the fastest driver was... At first glance, this is a surprising one. However, the data doesn't lie: Dries Vanthoor, in the #15 BMW, was the quickest driver when taking into account top 20% laps, averaged out. The Belgian driver set a 3:30.281 to record the quickest average. This is somewhat surprising because the #15 BMW was way down and out of the fight almost all through the race. However, given the car retired after roughly 7 hours, at 9:30 or so local time... the lack of data means this sort of makes sense. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) Indeed, Vanthoor only completed 30 laps in the car. 20% of that is a grand total of six laps. So this probably can't be taken as truly representative. It does signal BMW's good pace and the strength of their drivers though. From cars that completed the race, Brendon Hartley, onboard the #8 Toyota, was the quickest average driver, with a 3:30.372\. His teammate in the sister #7 car was next up, Jose Maria Lopez, just a few hundredths of a second off. They were followed by the fastest average Ferrari driver, Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari, 3:30.540. On it's own, this doesn't tell us that much. But it does confirm that the Toyotas were, in general, quicker than the Ferraris. Clearly, some of the times are outliers, possible due to running in wet weather, or maybe due to the safety car periods through the race. Indeed, Nielsen did almost three entire stints under the safety car through the race, one late on Saturday evening and the other two through the four hour safety car period from 3:44am until just after 8am on Sunday morning. Otherwise, consistency is good, especially at Ferrari, barring Kubica and Nielsen as outliers. If we look at best laps, we can see the times are consistent, as you'd expect for single lap pace. A few bullet point notes from this chart, which shows the fastest Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac and Ferrari drivers over a single lap: - The top 3 fastest drivers over a single lap in the race were from Toyota drivers. - Alex Palou was the quickest non-Toyota and, by that fact, the quickest Cadillac driver. He was also the second-quickest Cadillac driver in terms of top 20% average. - Ryo Hirakawa was the slowest over the single lap from these drivers. He was also the slowest Toyota driver when looking at the top 20% average, but this was marred by him doing lots of running under safety car and rain. - Alessandro Pier Guidi was the quickest Ferrari driver over a single lap and in top 20% average. Yifei Ye was similar in the #83 satellite AF Corse Ferrari entry. - Estre was also similarly the fastest Porsche driver in both metrics. Fred Makowiecki was the slowest, but Andre Lotterer was not much faster. ### Pulling apart the skewed data The skewed data, when looking at average lap times, is obviously a little bit problematic because it doesn't give a complete picture of the averages. It's not as easy as removing the laps done under safety car, either. Because there were so many laps completed either under yellow flag conditions, with slow zones in place, or under safety car, removing them gives a very small sample set to work with. And that's not even counting laps done on a fully green track but in wet or changeable conditions. Even so, for the worst-affected driver, #87 Toyota's Ryo Hirakawa, I've attempted to align it so we get a more complete picture. So, Hirakawa did 77 laps in the race, over two driver stints and a total of seven fuel stints. After his outlap on the first stint, he set four consecutive laps under green flag that were relatively quick, the slowest being a 3:33.267. After this he set a 3:36.611\. While the timing data says the next set of laps were under green, because it doesn't record slow zones, only FCYs or safety cars, they were all slower, in the four or five minutes range. After this, apart from one lap, a 3:36.223, his 17th lap on his first of the two stints he was in the car, the fastest lap he set was a 3:49.705. So, the sample of truly representative data is four consecutive laps at the start of his first stint, the average of which was 3:32.699\. Obviously his fastest lap, a 3:31.917, was also set in this sequence, the final lap before that 3:36.611. ### Examining Porsche driver performance So, as already mentioned, Estre was probably the quickest Porsche driver overall, with the Frenchman the quickest in both aspects. Phil Hanson, in the #38 JOTA Porsche, was the quickest non-factory Porsche driver, again in both aspects. In fact, he was second quickest behind Estre. Callum Ilott, in the sister #12 JOTA, was also quick, as was his teammate Will Stevens. Julien Andlauer, who was so impressive at Spa, was also quick, with a very good average lap time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) In terms of factory drivers, Felipe Nasr was among the slowest. Lotterer had a slower fastest lap, but his average was quicker, unusually. Makowiecki and Jaminet were also unusually slow according to these metrics, but again it's possible they did a lot of running in the on/off rain or under local yellow, slow zone, or FCY. It's interesting to note how many of the Porsche customer drivers were quicker than the Porsche factory drivers. We'll say no more on the subject... for now... ### Schumacher fastest again at Alpine Mick Schumacher was quickest amongst the Alpine drivers, in terms of average lap times at Qatar and Imola. While I haven't had time to look at the data from Spa-Franchorchamps – life getting in the way — he was quickest again, in terms of both averages we're measuring, at Le Mans. The German was over three tenths quicker on average compared to the next quickest Alpine driver, Charles Milesi, two and half tenths quicker in terms of best lap than Paul-Loup Chatin. Both drivers were in the other car; in his own car, he was easily faster than his teammates Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere. Something that looks like an anomaly here, but actually isn't, is Ferdinand Habsburg's laps. His average is exactly the same as his best lap. Huh? I've double checked this and it seems the data is correct. The Austrian only managed five laps in the #35 Alpine before the engine gave up and he stopped at Arnage. His last lap was his fastest, but it seems if you add up the lap times of those five laps, it's exactly the same, to the thousandth of a sector, to his last and best lap. I'm no statistician but that seems incredible. I *really* hope I didn't get my sums wrong... *Update: the Habsburg thing is interesting, looking at the data and my formulas in more detail.* *He did five laps before the car gave up and he retired. Those laps were 5:07.499, 3:34.287, 3:33.728, 3:32.772, and 3:32.320\. The car gave up on his sixth lap, meaning it wasn't recorded.* *My formula to create averages looks at the top 20% of lap times a car or driver set. Because Habsburg only set five lap times in the race, his top 20% was just one lap, the last one and his fastest, 3:32.320.* *So the sums and the formulas were correct... but the threshold wasn't enough. If you widen the threshold to the top 80% of laps, so all four laps apart from his outlap, you get an average of 3:33.277.* A final note: as the Alpines both retired early on its impossible to say if Schumacher would have continued to be the fastest Alpine driver. The data only shows us if he was when the cars were in the race (obviously). ### tl;dr - The rain, amount of safety cars, and yellows/slow zones skewed the data a little bit. I may try and fix this to have another look later... but that's for another time. - When looking at 20% averages, Dries Vanthoor in the #15 BMW was quickest of the Hypercar drivers. - Of cars that finished the race, Toyota drivers were the top three quickest. - #7 Toyota's Jose Maria Lopez set the fastest lap of the race, towards the end of the 24 hours. - Kevin Estre was the fastest Porsche driver when looking at both top 20% average laps and fastest laps. - Mick Schumacher was the fastest Alpine driver when measuring by the same metrics, but it's impossible to say if he would have been had the cars continued. ### Le Mans data analysis, part 1: Who was really fastest at Le Mans? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2024-data-analysis-fastest/ Last updated: 2024-06-20T13:07:02.000Z The amount of data generated by the 24 Hours of Le Mans is enormous. The race’s CSV file, featuring every lap by every car, is 15,594 rows deep. And each row has a lot of data in it; there are 29 columns for every row. There’s too much to really go through in detail, properly, at least initially. We’re going to do it in parts, here at The Racing Line. I’m not sure how many parts, but this is part 1, focusing on the Hypercars and breaking down pace for individual cars and teams. Part 2 will probably look at driver analysis, most likely in the Hypercar class, unless I find something more interesting to write about, or there’s a piece of data which catches my eye. Anyway: onto the analysis! ### **Ferrari *just* had the edge over Toyota — but not by much** It was clear to anyone who watched the race that Ferrari and Toyota had the fastest cars. However, what was hard to tell was which car exactly was faster. Well, wonder no more! Over the course of the race, when you take a car’s top 20% laps — thereby excluding laps done under local yellow/slow zone, full course yellow, or safety car, and laps impacted by traffic — and create an average of those laps, we see the #51 Ferrari, driven throughout the race by James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi, was the quickest car, by over two tenths compared to the #8 Toyota. Certainly, the #51 Ferrari crew think they could have won; in their statements to the press all three drivers called it a ‘difficult race’ for them. Additionally, Calado told reporters, including The Racing Line, after the race that mistakes were made strategy wise. “We made a few wrong decisions at the beginning of the race which cost us a lot, but it's difficult with the conditions with the rain and the sun, it was changing all the time,” said the Briton. The team changed onto wet tyres at the beginning of the race when it began to rain for the first of many times during the race. Conversely, the #50 car stayed out on slicks with Ferrari splitting the strategy in order to have the best possible chance of having at least one car at the front of the pack. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Calado-00002330-0774.jpg) The #51 Ferrari had the pace but not the strategy to win this year. Photo: Julien Delfosse / DPPI An aside: when The Racing Line asked Calado whether this had been a driver or pitwall decision, he declined to answer, only saying, “It was a team decision.” As it happened, the rain didn’t stay long and the decision to stay out on slicks was the correct one. This meant the #51 car, with Giovinazzi behind the wheel at the time, and others including the #6 Porsche of Andre Lotterer and #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi, lost a lot of time pitting twice, once for wets and then again for slicks as the track dried up. Not to mention the time lost on wets compared to the cars still on slicks. Behind the #51 in the lead average pace-wise, it was super, super close between the #8 Toyota, #50 Ferrari, and #7 Toyota, with just 26 hundredths of a second separating the three. However, when you combine the average lap times for Toyota and Ferrari (including Ferrari’s #83 satellite or ‘customer’ entry), a slightly different picture emerges: Toyota had an edge over Ferrari by just over half a tenth of a second. Obviously these are such tight margins that it barely matters. With those kinds of differences, the drivers make the difference in their individual stints, taking into account what tyres the car’s on, how old they are, the weather conditions, traffic, and many other variables. Porsche and Cadillac, who were seen as Ferrari and Toyota’s main challengers pre-race, and indeed emerged as such through the race, weren’t as quick. When looking at the individual cars, the fastest Porsche, the #6 of Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor, was six tenths off the leading #51 Ferrari. The #2 Cadillac, of Alex Lynn, two-time winner Earl Bamber, and Indycar star Alex Palou, was the best part of a second. While these cars did lead the race for significant periods of time — the #2 Cadillac had a lead of well over ten seconds at one point, which in this race felt like quite a lot — ultimately they didn’t have the pace to win. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ### **Alpine and BMW surprise everyone pace wise, but need more experience** The surprise of the race pace wise, at least the first part, was the good pace of the Alpine and BMW cars and teams. After the Ferraris and Toyotas, the #15 BMW was the quickest car when top 20% average is considered, about half a second a lap off the leading Ferrari and over half a tenth up on the #6 Porsche behind. While the two Alpines were some way down the individual car pace table, the fact they were relatively close together — separated by just over a tenth — meant they rocketed up the order when looking at teams in general, to third behind Toyota and Ferrari. They were, though, still seven and a bit tenths off Ferrari and seven tenths off Toyota. Note that this doesn’t mean they were the third fastest team. Lots of other cars, from Porsche and Cadillac plus BMW, were quicker. And both didn’t run through the majority of the race, at least at pace comparable to what they were doing pre-issues. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/24-Hours-of-Le-Mans-2024-Qualifying.jpg) The Alpines were strong early but not both retired with engine issues after 6 hours. Photo: Julien Delfosse / DPPI It just means the Alpines had decent, consistent pace in the early part of the race. And that last sentence is the key, for both BMW and Alpine. Early on both BMWs crashed, Marco Wittmann at the Forest Esses in the #15 and Robin Frijns at the Ford Chicanes in the art-car #20. And Dries Vanthoor was booted off track into retirement by Robert Kubica in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, an incident in which Vanthoor was largely blameless, although he had cut the track earlier in an attempt to stay ahead of Kubica and not get lapped. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Dries-Vanthoor-0856.jpg) The #15 BMW had great pace but accidents took them out of contention. Photo: Julien Delfosse / DPPI After Frijns’ crash the #20 was in the pits for a long time, taking it out of any kind of contention. It did eventually get back out on track but was not classified as it did not complete the required number of laps compared to the winner. In Alpine’s case, both cars failed within a short time of one another, around the 6 hour mark. Both had engine failures, a result of Alpine using the troublesome Mecachrome V6 that has caused so many issues in single-seater racing. So: both had good potential but were marred by issues and problems. These are experienced teams with the knowhow to win this race, so they will come back stronger next year — no doubt about that. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ### **The BoP worked** Finally, this analysis shows the Balance of Performance worked. Now, before we discuss this in more detail, a word on BoP. It’s not ideal — we all know that. But if we want nine manufacturers in the top class, BoP is a necessary evil, giving us a race of this quality. If you look at the table of individual cars, there are ten cars within a second of the #51 Ferrari, at the top of the pile. This puts Ferrari, Toyota, BMW, Porsche, Cadillac, and Alpine all within a second of each other. Lamborghini, Peugeot, and Isotta Fraschini are some way off at the bottom. This is what the BoP was designed to do: get as many cars as possible into a window where they can race. And it did exactly that. I have no doubt that if the Alpines and BMWs, or at least one of each, had survived, they would have been up there fighting for the key positions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/24-Hours-of-Le-Mans-2024-Tuesday.jpg) The BoP for Le Mans was almost perfect, putting 6 cars into a one second window. Photo: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Although they faded when it mattered, if the #2 Cadillac could lead a significant portion of the race in the last 6 hours or so, and pace wise they were almost a second on average off the #51 Ferrari… what could the #15 BMW, half that amount, have achieved? Or the #36 Alpine, just a few thousandths off the #2 Cadillac when looking at average pace? We’ll never know. But it’s important to consider that the BoP is working as intended. There’s probably a longer, more in-depth article on this topic here… watch this space! **So what does all this mean?** Key takeaways: - Ferrari and Toyota were on a very even playing field. Nothing really between them, at least at Le Mans, which is the track these cars were designed for. - Porsche and Cadillac weren’t far off being in genuine contention. - Alpine and BMW could have been in the discussion too had they not had issues, both of their own making and not, in the earlyish part of the race. - Peugeot and Lamborghini need to find something if they want to compete. - Isotta Fraschini finished the race, nine places ahead of where they started. For them that's as good as winning the race. Now they need to find how to extract more pace from that car. We’ll be back part 2 of the analysis, looking at some individual drivers, cars and teams, later this week! > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### GALLERY: Dirty race cars after 24 hours of action at Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/dirty-race-cars-gallery-post-le-mans/ Last updated: 2024-06-18T10:22:23.000Z Racing cars gather a lot of grime and filth over the course of 24 hours of racing. Enjoy these images of the cars post-Le Mans, with images taken by The Racing Line photographers Matt Bye and Simon Steele. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/0BEEA456-E963-4211-A7CF-E8F037966BE2.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/1A0E8DF6-29FC-4932-8778-1A8898DDC2C7.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/1A2056C9-B1D1-479C-A800-5A4402B11BFD.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/1AA545CC-2CCF-45C0-9216-5C42DDEEBB30.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/2C3E65E3-5FB6-4A7A-A42E-863BCE4DCEF6.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/2D16C2BA-C4A3-407E-BB3B-F344C2477214.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/5AF4D412-E9B8-4ACB-A71C-DB54B5FF7478.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/8CA8FC63-6341-4549-BFD5-207660C97DE7.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/8F2C47A1-297B-45D0-B976-A6662C47E5B2.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/8F73EDDD-4D1B-4B37-9460-E2B05534F564.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-June-16--6-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/36E60FBF-D5FA-40E5-89EF-DF5E2A02E7DB.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/68A6FEC3-25EE-4406-AF89-81D82CB74317.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/484B7D47-9036-4400-9969-1B77C845DDC6.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/96576CCC-5433-456C-9DBE-3D047C1F6890.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-June-16--2-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/B96F001D-DE00-43F0-BB0B-AD5788ADCD7D.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/BE1E7D23-FBE7-46B6-B4C8-9E7AE124CE3C.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DB7BCE2E-AB44-4916-8D13-74FC8060E8AB.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DC1A5704-0703-4121-9284-38913A8021C2.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-June-16--5-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-June-16--4-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-June-16--3-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-June-16--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-June-16.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Post-Race-Photo.jpg) > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### ANALYSIS: Toyota on top in long-run pace in Le Mans practice sessions URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-practice-analysis-toyota-fastest/ Last updated: 2024-06-14T16:41:47.000Z Analysis from The Racing Line has shown that Toyota have the fastest long run pace in the four free practice sessions leading up the 24 Hours of Le Mans. When taking the top 40% of lap times in each free practice session for each car and then averaging them out to create a single average lap time for each car in each practice session, the #7 Toyota emerges on top, with a 3:29.213, set in the first free practice session. Across the other sessions, the #7 Toyota was 17th quickest over averaged-out long run pace in the second session, with a 3:31.635, 1.8 seconds off the leading #51 Ferrari. In the third session, the #7 Toyota was second fastest when looking at averages, with a 3:29.984 average, just under three tenths off on average from the sister #8 Toyota. And in the fourth session, the short one hour session after Hyperpole on Thursday, the #50 Ferrari led with a 3:30.043\. The #7 Toyota was just under six tenths off on this occasion. When you take the averages for cars from all teams in each practice session, however, a startling fact emerges: Toyota were quickest in all but one of the practice sessions when looking at the long run averages. Alpine could end up being a surprise challenger in the race: the French squad had the second fastest long run pace to Toyota in FP1 and FP4\. They were four tenths behind in the first practice session, and just over a hundredth slower in the fourth. Pre-race week favourites, Porsche, may not be the favourites any more when looking at the long run pace. The factory team was fourth-fastest in FP1, seventh-fastest in FP2, fourth-fastest in FP3, and fifth-fastest in FP4. This is a sentiment Andre Lotterer agreed with when The Racing Line spoke to him on Friday. “I don't think we are the favourites anymore in terms of pace, if you look at the last practise sessions,” said Lotterer. “But we're there. Definitely in the top three, four cars, fastest cars. So the key is now to do the job. It's all nice to sound or look like favourites but there's a mountain in front of us. That throws us challenges at every minute or every second of the the race that you need to to master.” Cadillac, who qualified second and third (although the #2 Cadillac, which was second in Hyperpole, will be demoted 5 places on the grid due to the penalty from the crash at Spa), finished a highest of third-fastest in FP3, over half a second on average off Toyota and just smidge slower than Ferrari. Interestingly Peugeot may have retained their prowess in wet weather which impressed everyone at Le Mans last year. They were fourth-quickest in FP4, although they were over a second slower than Toyota, wth Alpine and Proton in between. Have a look at the data from each practice session below and see what you think! *FP1* | Team | Time | | ----------- | --------- | | Toyota | 03:29.529 | | Alpine | 03:29.928 | | Ferrari | 03:30.185 | | Porsche | 03:30.083 | | BMW | 03:30.719 | | JOTA | 03:30.461 | | Peugeot | 03:31.230 | | Cadillac | 03:31.312 | | Proton | 03:32.645 | | Lamborghini | 03:33.370 | | Isotta | 03:36.758 | *FP2* | Team | Time | | ----------- | --------- | | Ferrari | 03:30.415 | | JOTA | 03:30.537 | | Toyota | 03:30.761 | | BMW | 03:30.784 | | Alpine | 03:30.855 | | Peugeot | 03:31.448 | | Porsche | 03:31.414 | | Cadillac | 03:31.275 | | Proton | 03:32.039 | | Lamborghini | 03:33.222 | | Isotta | 03:36.159 | *FP3* | Team | Time | | ----------- | --------- | | Toyota | 03:29.848 | | Ferrari | 03:30.309 | | Cadillac | 03:30.371 | | Porsche | 03:30.453 | | Alpine | 03:30.690 | | Lamborghini | 03:31.363 | | JOTA | 03:31.406 | | BMW | 03:32.036 | | Peugeot | 03:32.325 | | Proton | 03:32.346 | | Isotta | 03:34.687 | *FP4* | Team | Time | | ----------- | --------- | | Toyota | 03:30.829 | | Alpine | 03:30.843 | | Proton | 03:31.140 | | Peugeot | 03:31.880 | | Porsche | 03:31.570 | | Ferrari | 03:32.025 | | Cadillac | 03:32.248 | | JOTA | 03:32.468 | | BMW | 03:32.560 | | Lamborghini | 03:32.950 | | Isotta | 03:37.682 | ### Le Mans preview, part 3: Hypercar, a battle for the ages URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2024-hypercar-preview/ Last updated: 2024-06-07T21:22:22.000Z If last year’s Le Mans was an instant classic, 2024 is hotting up to be even better. Assuming every entered Hypercar makes the start of the race, there’ll be 23 top class cars from nine manufacturers attempting to win one of the world’s biggest motor races. That’s 3 more cars than compete in any F1 race — and that’s only one of the classes in this year’s French endurance classic, out of three. It’s fair to say, out of the nine manufacturers in Hypercar, the top contenders are Ferrari, Porsche, and Toyota. Porsche look to be in a very good place coming into Le Mans. The factory Penske-run effort, the #6 car, won in Qatar, the first win for an LMDh-rules car in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The sister #6 car was second at Imola with Kevin Estre chasing down Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi at the end of the race but not managing to make the overtake. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/2_06507_MS_WEC2024_Qatar_Prologue.jpg) Porsche's win in Qatar was the first LMDh win in WEC. Image: Michele Scudiero / Drew Gibson Photography And then Porsche customer JOTA took their first ever overall race win at Spa, benefitting from the red flag to claim the win, with the #6 car again finishing second after Callum Ilott pulled away from Estre in the final hour and 40 minutes. Contrary to popular belief, that Ferrari were the fastest team at Spa, the German manufacturer also had the fastest car on average at the iconic Belgium track. Our analysis showed the #5, #12, #99, and #6 were the four quickest cars when looking at the top 20% lap average over the race. A quick note, too, on Porsche’s customer cars from JOTA and Proton. Both have proved to be quick this year, with JOTA scoring a podium in Qatar and the team’s first overall win at Spa. Proton, too, were quick at Spa, with Neel Jani telling The Racing Line after the race that he felt they could have been on the podium at least if it weren’t for the red flag. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) “Who knows, what would have happened in the lower temperature?” said the Swiss driver. “Maybe we could have come back again. But yeah, the podium was ours for sure.” And when asked about the win, the 40-yeat-old was similarly optimistic. “I think we had a shot at it for sure. I mean we were there. Would we have won? I don't know. But, for sure, finished third. That is clear. It would have been between us and the Ferraris.” Ferrari, on the other hand, are frustrated to say the least with their season so far. The storied Italian team hasn’t won a WEC race in 2024, and in fact hasn’t won since Le Mans last year. Giuliano Salvi, Ferrari’s race & testing manager, summed it up well after Imola. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/WEC-LM24-FPM-HPR56940.jpg) Le Mans last year is the only time the 499P has won a race so far. Image: Focus Pack Media “We are the same group that won Le Mans as beginners last year. Then we were hero, now we are zero,” he said after the team’s double strategy blunder, in not pitting when it began to rain at Imola, plus not splitting the cars to get the best outcome for at least one of the three Ferraris in the race. At Qatar all three Ferraris didn’t have the pace to win, although the ‘customer’ #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye did finish fourth. The factory Ferraris, however, were beset by issues and finished two and three laps down respectively. In Italy, Ferrari had by far the strongest pace, qualifying 1-2-3 and leading for the first half of the race. However, the aforementioned double strategy blunder undid all the hard work and they eventually finished fourth, seventh and eighth, in a disappointing day for the Scuderia on home soil. Finally, in Spa, the Ferraris were also quick. Antonio Fuoco put the #50 on pole for the second time in a row, but was disqualified for a technical infringement after qualifying. They raced back into contention but the red flag luck didn’t fall their way, as they had to pit for emergency service under the safety car and then again for full service once the race went green again, destroying any chances of a win, with the two factory cars third and fourth. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0498.jpg) Ferrar were in the hunt seat for the win at Spa, until the red flag. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Nevertheless, count Ferrari out at Le Mans at your peril. The 499P is an incredibly strong car, despite its weakness being chewing through tyres faster than its rivals, and Ferrari AF Corse know how to win this race, having won last year overall and many times in the GT categories. Plus, with three cars — the ‘customer’ car is run by AF Corse, the same team that runs the factory cars, albeit with different personnel — they have options on strategy, as long as they don’t make the same mistake they did in Imola. And they we come to Toyota. The Japanese-German team is a bit of an enigma. After dominating last year, winning all but one race — the most important one — they’ve somewhat struggled this year as their rivals have picked up the pace compared to 2023\. Like Ferrari, they were off the pace in Qatar, for reasons even the team doesn’t understand, at least publicly. They won in Imola, but this came as a surprise. They didn’t expect to win and believed Porsche and certainly Ferrari were ahead of them on pace. The race was won on strategy, no doubt — but that’s what experience gets you. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0286.jpg) Toyota won in Imola through strategy. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI And Spa was a mismatch, not having the pace to win but in a no-mans-land between Ferrari and Porsche at the front and the ‘best of the rest’ behind. The problem Toyota have got is they only have two cars, both for the full season and at Le Mans. We saw last year, with Kamui Kobayashi’s strange night time incident with the #35 Alpine and the #66 JMW Ferrari, if you have two cars and one is taken out, you’re left with a single bullet in the gun. The team haven’t ‘fixed’ this inherent problem with the programme, like Ferrari have with the ‘customer’ car. Toyota’s other weakness is struggling with tyre warmup, which may bite them in the night at Le Mans, when the air and track temperature drops. They insist Ferrari and Porsche have ‘found something’ — which the latter both deny — but there’s no doubting that it may be an issue in a 24 hour race with inevitable darkness, as well as in qualifying. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) It’s worth noting that Toyota did struggle somewhat with tyre warmup last year, although this was masked by everyone else struggling too. But at Le Mans tyre warmers were brought back for one round only — a luxury they don’t have this year. It may be one of the key stories of the race. Looking further down the grid, Cadillac have had a difficult, troublesome year. They finished fourth on the road at Qatar but then were disqualified weeks later, just before Imola, for the strakes on their diffuser being slightly out of tolerance compared to the CAD files they provide the FIA and ACO with. While both organisations admitted the tolerance levels were so small that it wouldn’t have had any performance advantage, rules are rules. Imola the team lacked outright pace, the reasons for which both Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber were unclear on when The Racing Line spoke to them at Spa. “\[At\] Imola we really, we really struggled,” said Bamber. “We had a test there last year, which we were quite good and we just couldn't manage to replicate the same car performance as what we had there. “It was a difficult weekend. In the wet was great, but in the dry was not so great, so hopefully we can get back on track here,” he finished. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0105.jpg) Cadillac were running well at Spa — until Bamber's crash. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI And, when asked why this was, Bamber wasn’t sure. “If why we knew why, it’d be a great answer,” he joked. At Spa, the team were running well, in fourth place with an hour and 50 minutes to go. Bamber’s incident with Sean Galael, while attempting to pass Neel Jani in the #99 Proton Porsche, then took both Galael’s BMW GT3 and the Cadillac out of the race. So, with a DSQ from Qatar, a 10th place at Imola scoring a single point, and a DNF at Spa, Cadillac and Chip Ganassi Racing will be hoping for substantially better in France. Luckily, the manufacturer is bringing over both IMSA Sportscar Championship cars, the yellow #01 machine run by Chip Ganassi Racing, and the red #31, re-numbered the #311 at Le Mans, run by Action Express Racing. The former will have IMSA regular Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande behind the wheel, joined by two-time and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou. The AXR car will have Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken, and Hypercar newbie Felipe Drugovich onboard. Last year the AXR car was taken out of running on the first lap by Aitken’s crash at the first chicane, so Cadillac will be hoping for better this year. The AXR car also tends to be stronger in IMSA generally than the Chip Ganassi machine, so it will be interesting to track that through the race. Cadillac’s WEC results this year don’t do the team justice to how quick the car is. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/LM24-FPM-JPW_9394--1-.jpg) Aitken crashed on the first lap at Le Mans last year. Image: Focus Pack Media We then come to the WEC new boys — Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini, and Isotta Fraschini. Both Alpine and BMW have performed well in their first three races with their new cars. That said, the BMW isn’t strictly new — it had raced in IMSA for a year with the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan team, BMW’s chosen team partner, before WRT began racing it this year. The German squad have so far scored a best result of sixth, at Imola with the #20 car of Sheldon van der Linde, Rene Rast and Robin Frijns. They were unfortunately out of the points at Spa, in 11th, somewhat lacking pace at WRT’s home race in Belgium. At Qatar, they took home tenth after Cadillac’s disqualification bumped them up into the top 10. So, they’ll be hoping to build on those results with a strong run at Le Mans. The team has a strong driver line up, with Dries Vanthoor, Marco Wittmann, and Raffaele Marciello in the other car, so a good result is certainly possible. Alpine’s best result so far was seventh at Qatar, with the #35 of Paul Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi being the first ‘new team’ to take home points, in the A424’s debut race. The French squad struggled significantly at Imola, finishing 13th and 16th, never really in contention for points. And at Spa, the #35 — with the exception of Ferdinand Habsburg, who suffered a back injury in testing before Imola, and was replaced by reserve driver Jules Gounon — finished ninth, taking home more points. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0381.jpg) Alpine's first year with the A424 has resulted in a best of seventh so far. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI However, while Alpine haven’t scored the best individual result when compared to BMW, they do have two more points than the German manufacturer — 23 to BMW’s 21\. Le Mans will be a titanic battle between the two, then, with both hoping to move further up the grid and challenge the Ferraris, Toyotas, and Porsches. Then we come to Lamborghini. With a 13th place at Qatar, 12th at Imola, and a DNF at Spa, it’s probably fair to say the year hasn’t gone to plan for the Italian manufacturer and their partner team Iron Lynx. They’ve struggled for pace and consistency, while having better Balance of Performance figures than Alpine and BMW, not to mention Porsche, for Imola and Spa. Part of this may be due to Lamborghini, while very experienced in GT racing, not having much experience at all racing prototypes. The chassis manufacturer for the LMDh-rules car is Ligier, which no other manufacturer has picked, so this may be another factor. Iron Lynx is also relatively inexperienced in running prototypes, although they do have support from Prema, with being teams being owned by DC Racing Solutions. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00001974_0341.jpg) Lamborghini have struggled somewhat so far in Hypercar. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI They’ll have two cars at Le Mans, with the IMSA-entered car, which only competes in the Endurance Cup rounds, coming over to race in France. This car will be crewed by Andrea Caldarelli, who raced at Spa, replacing Edo Mortara, who prioritised his Formula E commitments that weekend; Romain Grosjean, the former F1 driver and current IndyCar racer; and Matteo Cairoli, who until last year was in a long term relationship with Porsche. Lamborghini and Alpine’s big tests will be racing for 24 hours straight. While both have done 30-hour endurance tests, racing is a completely different ballgame and one which will test the SC63 and A424 to the limit. Peugeot’s new 9X8 is a brand new car, with the vast majority of parts being brand new and not featuring on the ‘old’ 9X8\. With that in mind it’s hard really to say how Peugeot will fare at Le Mans. While teams aren’t allowed to publicly talk about BoP, either positively or negatively, Peugeot have implied fairly heavily in both Imola and Spa that the BoP they have received has not, in their minds, been fair or favourable. Last year the old 9X8 was relatively competitive at Le Mans, even leading for significant periods of time. With the new 9X8 having better balance and more driveability according to every Peugeot driver The Racing Line has spoken to, it’ll be interesting to see how it goes at Le Mans. Finally, then, we come to Isotta Fraschini. The only ‘boutique’ manufacturer in the Hypercar class after Glickenhaus and Vanwall didn’t return in 2024, it’s fair to say the Italian team has struggled this year. But, it’s not without some positives. While the team’s two silver-rated drivers, Carl Wattana Bennett and Antonio Sarravalle, have saome improving to do, Jean-Karl Vernay has shown the car does have some decent pace and consistency. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002192_0370.jpg) Isotta Fraschini were only three laps down at Spa. Image: Javier Jimenez / DPPI And, apart from a DNF in the car’s debut at Qatar, it’s been reliable, finishing in both Imola and Spa. They were only 3 laps down at the conclusion of the race in Belgium, too — by far their best result. Of course, the big challenge is yet to come, in France, and with only one car, if they crash or breakdown early on, that’s it. They’ll be hoping just to finish, which as other similar teams ave said in the past, can feel like a win. It's often said you don't win Le Mans; instead, Le Mans chooses the winner. With that in mind it's basically impossible to pick a winner in most years, let alone when there are 23 in the top class and any number of them could win. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Le Mans preview, part 2: LMGT3 makes its debut URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-preview-part-2-lmgt3-makes-its-debut/ Last updated: 2024-06-07T14:25:29.000Z GT3 cars at Le Mans. It was inevitable at some point, with GTE cars expensive to manufacture only to be able to race them in a single championship, as IMSA abandoned the ‘GTLM’ class, which was based on the GTE regulations, for the 2022 season. Nevertheless, as you may expect, the GT3 class looks very healthy for its inaugural appearance at the French endurance classic. 23 cars — the same as in Hypercar — have been entered, from nine manufacturers. All but five of these cars are full season FIA World Endurance Championship regulars, with two cars, from Proton Competition and Inception Racing, being invitational entries. Looking down the list, it’s as tricky as ever to pick a winner. The Manthey Porsches have performed incredibly well in the opening three rounds of the WEC, each winning a race at Qatar and Spa respectively. The Imola race winner was the #31 WRT BMW, crewed by Darren Leung, Sean Galael, and Augusto Farfus. With race wins in the season already, these three have to be in contention for a win at Le Mans — to discount them would be foolish. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/FIA-WEC-Prologue-2024-Qatar.jpg) Manthey have been very successful this year, winning 2 races. Image: Photo Julien Delfosse / DPPI Looking further down the list, you have the AF Corse Ferraris; always a force to be reckoned with, whether at Le Mans or elsewhere.However, they’ve somewhat struggled this year, not finishing on thre podium in the previous rounds this year, with a highest finishing position of fourth in Imola, for the #55 crew of François Heriau, Simon Mann, and platinum-rated Alessio Rovera. Speaking of driver ratings. The rule is you must have one bronze driver and one silver driver. The other can be rated however you’d like. While there may not be necessarily too much difference in speed and pace between gold-rated and platinum-rated drivers, the teams with platinum drivers will obviously be a little more highly-regarded, just by nature. Thus, teams such as the #82 Corvette, which will feature Daniel Juncadella, or the Le Mans-only #155 Spirit of Race Ferrari, with Jordan Taylor at the wheel, may be prime picks. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) However, while platinum or gold drivers can be the teams’ ringers at the end of the race, the strength of the team is largely dependent on the bronze driver. So, a team like Iron Dames, with the now-very-familiar driver trio of Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, and Rahal Frey, may be in a strong position, given how strong Bovy is as a bronze. To put evidence to that, she was going to be upgraded to a silver-rated driver this year, but successfully managed to appeal this in order to stay as a bronze. Her opening stint at Spa in May, though, saw her make a gap of well over 30 seconds by the end of the first hour, over James Cottingham in the #59 United Autosports McLaren. The two Aston Martins in the race, from D’Station Racing and Heart of Racing, should also be competitive. The former have Marco Sorensen alongside Satoshi Hoshino and Erwan Bastard, while Heart of Racing has team owner Ian James racing with Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas. Both have taken podiums this year and the Vantage AMR GT3 Evo has competitive where it’s raced this year. We can’t fail to mention WRT in relation to GT3 this year. Often described as one of the best GT3 teams in the world, it took them a while to get to Le Mans as their former manufacturer partner, Audi, never developed a GTE car to race in the GTE class. However, now partnered with BMW, WRT is here in full force with two cars. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/FIA-WEC-Imola-2024--1-.jpg) WRT took home a 1-2 in Italy. Image: Clément Luck / DPPI As already mentioned, the #31 has been competitive this year, winning in Imola. The other car, the #46, has also been competitive, finishing second at Imola, giving WRT a 1-2 finish. This car has Ahmad al Harthy, a very quick amateur driver, plus Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi, the motorcycle legend-turned racing driver. Rossi has wanted to race at Le Mans for years; indeed, he raced in the Road to Le Mans support races last year, also for WRT, and won one of them. He’s quick and, as you’d expect from a nine-time motorcycle world champion, hugely ambitious. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/FIA-WEC-6-Hours-of-Imola-2024.jpg) Rossi will make his debut at Le Mans this year. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI Proton have three Fords this year after their partial split with Porsche for 2024\. Two are the regular full season cars, while one is one of the two invitational cars. It’ll be crewed by John Hartshorne, Ben Tuck, and Christopher Mies. Bronze-rated, 67-year-old Hartshorne has been present for many years in sportscar racing, and is currently driving for JMW Motorsport in the European Le Mans Series. Alongside him, both in ELMS and at Le Mans, will be Ben Tuck, 40 years Hartshorne’s junior. The silver-rated driver has been driving GT3s for a few years after some time in various GT4 series, but this will mark his debut in the 24 hour race in France. Christopher Mies, meanwhile, should need no introduction. A factory driver for Audi for what seems like forever, with the slow winding down of the German manufacturer’s sportscar programme, Mies has joined Ford to spearhead its factory programme in Europe. Rather incredibly, the 35-year-old has never raced at Le Mans, so this will mark his debut too — and means Hartshorne is the only driver of the three with a Le Mans start. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) TF Sport and United Autosports, both experienced WEC competitors, will also be there or thereabouts in their Corvette and McLaren machines respectively. Both have had decent pace this year, learning more about their new cars with every race, and although they languish towards the back of the points tables at the moment, it doesn’t feel like they’ll be there long. The Akkodis ASP Lexus team have somewhat struggled this year, with just one point between both cars. The Lexus RC F GT3 is by far the oldest car on the grid, and while it may look competitive in IMSA, in VasserSullivan’s hands, this is largely down the team’s extensive knowledge of the car, plus Balance of Performance. Whatever happens in LMGT3 this year, it will likely depend on three things: how fast a team’s bronze is in the early stages of the race, whether teams can survive the night, and how quick the team’s gold or platinum-rated ringer is at the end. As ever, it'll be a fascinating race, made all the better by the depth of variety in the class. ### Le Mans preview, part 1: LMP2, the class returns to WEC URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-2024-lmp2-preview/ Last updated: 2024-06-05T20:54:12.000Z The return of LMP2 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is something everyone should be happy with. Yes the class is essentially ‘spec’, with every team using the Oreca 07 chassis, although other options are available, and the mandated Gibson V8. But the class offers close racing and exciting on track action, plus it gives both pros who don’t have a spot to race in Hypercar the chance to race in a prototype at Le Mans, and amateurs the opportunity to drive in what is essentially as far as an amateur driver can go in motorsport. So, let’s look at a rundown of the class. There are eight pro/am machines and eight fully professional lineups, equally split amongst the class’s 16 cars. Last year’s winners, Inter Europol Competition, are back, although they have a two-thirds new driver lineup, with team regular Jakub Smiechowski joined by Vladisalv Lomko and Clement Novalak. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/FIA-WEC-2023-Focus-Pack-Media--3-.jpg) Inter Europol took their debut WEC win at Le Mans last year. What a place to do it! Image: Focus Pack Media Also in the pro subclass is the Nielsen Racing car, which was in pro/am last year, taken out early on by Rodrigo Sales' large crash at the Dunlop Chicane a few hours in. Fabio Scherer, a winner last year with Inter Europol, will join David Heinemeier Hansson and Kyffin Simpson, who raced in May’s Indianapolis 500\. They’ll be joined in the class by entrants from United Autosports, Algarve Pro Racing, IDEC Sport, COOL Racing, Vector Sport, and Proton Competition. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) Picking a winner from these is nigh-on impossible due to the spec nature of the class and the fact these Oreca 07-Gibson machines are now so well understood by the teams, having been introduced in 2017, making this their eighth Le Mans. The United Autosports entry looks quick, with Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, and Nolan Siegel due to be at the wheel. Jarvis is a known quantity and excellent team leader, while Garg has been impressive in the IMSA series and Siegel has been racing in both IndyCar and Indy NXT this season. Another car that looks strong is the COOL Racing entrant. This will have 19-year-old Spaniard Lorenzo Fluxa at the wheel, as well as two young Hypercar reserve drivers, Peugeot’s Malthe Jakobsen and Ritomo Miyata. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/6636182a799e6-4000x2667.jpg) Miyata and Jakobsen have been racing in the ELMS this year. Image: ELMS / Marcel Wulf This puts the average age of the car at 21 — surely the youngest lineup in LMP2 and maybe in the race as a whole. Don’t count them out though — Miyata has proven very quick in Super GT competition in Japan, while Jakobsen won the ELMS LMP3 title in 2022, was second in the LMP2 pro/am championship last year, and leads the standings overall this year. Looking at the pro/am subclass, it’s similarly difficult to pick a winner here too. Whichever car Ben Keating is in is always a decent pick — this year, he’s racing for United Autosports in the #23 Oreca. He’s joined by LMP2 veterans Filipe Albuquerque and Ben Hanley, so as long as the car is reliable and no mistakes are made, expect them to be near the sharp end come Sunday afternoon. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) The Crowdstrike Racing by APR team is also a good pick. George Kurtz seems to get faster every year, and in 2024 he’s been paired up with Colin Braun and Nicky Catsburg. Kurtz and Braun won the LMP2 pro/am subclass last year with Aussie James Allen, so again, as long as they’re still in the race in the final few hours they should be near the front. Rather incredibly, this is Nicky Catsburg’s first Le Mans in a prototype. He and Keating won last year racing for Corvette in the GTE-Am class, but the Dutchman has never raced a prototype of any sort in the French endurance classic. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/FIA-WEC-2023-Focus-Pack-Media--1-.jpg) Keating, Catsburg and Nio Varrone won GTE-Am last year. Image: Focus Pack Media Third and finally for LMP2 pro/am, the AO by TF car could also do well. The car is being run by TF Sport, the team which currently runs the Corvettes in LMGT3, but is sponsored by AO, PJ Hyett’s team. This means the car will be liveried in the Spike dinosaur colours, which races in IMSA and is the ‘bigger brother’ to Rexy, AO Racing’s fan-favourite livery on their Porsche 911 GT3 R. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/06/Sebring-0324-079001.JPG) AO Racing's 'Spike' has been popular in IMSA this year. Image: LAT Images / Jake Galstad Whatever happens in LMP2 this year, it’s sure to offer close racing, which will almost certainly go down to the wire. Just the way we like it! > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Le Mans Balance of Performance compared URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/le-mans-balance-of-performance-compared/ Last updated: 2024-06-03T13:43:14.000Z A very quick preview of the Le Mans Balance of Performance details, which have just been revealed by the ACO for this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans test day. They may also be the figures for next weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans — although the ACO could also tweak them based on performances from test day. See the weights for every race this year, with the difference compared to the previous race at Spa. As a reminder, TRL analysis showed Porsche had on average the fastest car at Spa-Francorchamps, followed by Ferrari. We'll have previews and analysis for all classes competing in the French endurance classic later this week. | Manufacturer | Car | Qatar weight (KG) | Imola weight (KG) | Spa weight (KG) | Le Mans weight (KG) | Difference compared to Spa | | ---------------- | ------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------- | --------------- | ------------------- | -------------------------- | | Alpine | A424 | 1,070 | 1,042 | 1,045 | 1,038 | \-7 | | BMW | M Hybrid V8 | 1,060 | 1,035 | 1,038 | 1,039 | 1 | | Cadillac | V-Series.R | 1,032 | 1,030 | 1,030 | 1,036 | 6 | | Ferrari | 499P | 1,075 | 1,041 | 1,053 | 1,043 | \-10 | | Isotta Fraschini | Tipo 6 Competizione | 1,085 | 1,058 | 1,060 | 1,048 | \-12 | | Lamborghini | SC63 | 1,041 | 1,034 | 1,035 | 1,039 | 4 | | Peugeot | 9X8 | 1,030 | 1,061 | 1,065 | 1,047 | \-18 | | Porsche | 963 | 1,048 | 1,033 | 1,037 | 1,042 | 5 | | Toyota | GR010 Hybrid | 1,089 | 1,060 | 1,064 | 1,053 | \-11 | > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* | Manufacturer | Car | Qatar power (kW) | Imola power (kW) | Spa power (kW) | Le Mans power (kW) | Difference compared to Spa | | ---------------- | ------------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- | -------------- | ------------------ | -------------------------- | | Alpine | A424 | 510.00 | 514.00 | 513 | 507 | \-6 | | BMW | M Hybrid V8 | 506.00 | 511.00 | 510 | 508 | \-2 | | Cadillac | V-Series.R | 499.00 | 517.00 | 516 | 509 | \-7 | | Ferrari | 499P | 503.00 | 510.00 | 506 | 508 | 2 | | Isotta Fraschini | Tipo 6 Competizione | 514.00 | 520.00 | 520 | 515 | \-5 | | Lamborghini | SC63 | 502.00 | 516.00 | 514 | 519 | 5 | | Peugeot | 9X8 | 520.00 | 510.00 | 508 | 508 | 0 | | Porsche | 963 | 505.00 | 508.00 | 507 | 511 | 4 | | Toyota | GR010 Hybrid | 510.00 | 516.00 | 515 | 508 | \-7 | New for Le Mans is the two stage BoP process, where a car can either gain or lose power after 250kph. Here's the table showing what will happen to each car when it hits 250kph. | Manufacturer | Car | Power gain after 250kph | | ---------------- | ------------------- | ----------------------- | | Alpine | A424 | 0.90% | | BMW | M Hybrid V8 | 0.90% | | Cadillac | V-Series.R | 0 | | Ferrari | 499P | \-1.70% | | Isotta Fraschini | Tipo 6 Competizione | 0.90% | | Lamborghini | SC63 | \-1.60% | | Peugeot | 9X8 | \-0.70% | | Porsche | 963 | 0 | | Toyota | GR010 Hybrid | 0.90% | ### OPINION: WEC are right to take time over expanding the calendar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/opinion-wec-right-no-calendar-expansion/ Last updated: 2024-05-30T06:25:53.000Z It is quite incredible how much the FIA World Endurance Championship has changed in the past few years. Let’s look back on the first year of the then-new Hypercar regulations, in 2021\. There were three teams: Toyota, with the GR010 Hybrid; new entrant, the American-flagged Glickenhaus with the 007 LMH; and Alpine, with an ex-Rebellion R13 LMP1 car, ‘grandfathered’ into the rules, mostly so WEC’s new rules format to replace LMP1 wasn’t seen as a failure with only two teams. The pandemic-affected calendar, meanwhile, started at Spa-Francorchamps in April, before heading to Portimao in June, then Monza in July. This was the first visits of the WEC to the latter two circuits, drafted in due to the ongoing health crisis. Le Mans was next, in August, followed by two races in Bahrain to close out the season. Today, in 2024, the calendar has gained a race in Qatar, at the Losail International Circuit to begin the season, with Imola taking Monza’s now-regular spot as the Temple of Speed undergoes renovations. Similarly, Brazil’s Interlagos has joined the calendar, for the first time since 2024, with the circus then heading to the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for Lone Star Le Mans, which has replaced Sebring as the US’s round of the championship. Fuji then hosts its traditional 6 hour race, with the season finale at Bahrain. Compared to 2023 this is one extra race, when the season had two 6 hour races after Le Mans, followed by the 8 hour finale at Bahrain. And, comparing it to 2021, just three years ago, this is an extra two races. The calendar now stands at eight races, giving us 72 hours of WEC race action over the year. And yet there are portions of the fanbase that want to see more races added to the calendar. On the other hand, the WEC series organisers have said now isn’t the right time to expand the calendar. As always, the 2025 season calendar will be announced at the ACO press conference on the eve of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, next month. That’s a lot of racing. Compare this to Formula 1, with its 24 races at maximum 2 hour lengths. That’s a sum of 48 hours of racing — and as we know there are frequent and common complaints from teams, drivers and sometimes fans that the F1 calendar is oversaturated with too many races. Back in 2016 and 2017, the heyday of the LMP1-H ruleset, the calendar had nine races, the most it has ever had. While this is one extra race compared to 2024, the race lengths were generally shorter; while nowadays the calendar has a 10-hour race at Qatar and the 6 Hours of Bahrain has had two hours added to it to make it the 8 Hours of Bahrain. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) This means the longest calendar length (when the WEC season has been held over one calendar year), in terms of hours of racing, has been 72 hours — in 2016, 2017, and 2024. This makes the question of expanding the calendar, to 9 races or even 10, as has been suggested, look a bit more tricky than it may initially seem. If two 6 hour races were added, this would expand the calendar to 84 hours, 12 more than has ever been held in a WEC season. Even if it were only one 6 hour round, this would still mean the total would be 78 hours. So why would this be a problem? More racing is a good thing, right? The F1 comparison isn’t a direct comparison really. While the problem with the F1 calendar is the relentless, unending travel for the team members and the time spent away from their families, it’s a bit different for WEC. For WEC it’s a bit more nuanced. More hours of racing means more strain on finances for the teams, because it means the cars themselves are doing more racing, meaning parts and components get more use, and need replacing more often. While this may not be a problem for the bigger manufacturer teams, the smaller privateer or customer teams may struggle with this. You also have a personnel problem — more races means that the teams, as corporate entities, need to pay for more travel and accommodation to the extra race, or races, for the team members. Put these two things together and you begin to see that this may start to pose a financial strain. While calendar expansion may be possible in the future, taking time over it instead of relentless expansion, and have teams pull out or even go bust, seems like the correct decision. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: British GT at Donington Park URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-british-gt-donington-park/ Last updated: 2024-05-29T16:56:35.000Z The Racing Line's Dave Ellis and Nick Ovey visited Donington Park over the weekend, for the British GT race at the circuit. Enjoy this gallery of pictures Nick and Dave captured over the weekend. All images copyright Nick Ovey and Dave Ellis, The Racing Line. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4114-7.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4122-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4156-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4196-5.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4201-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4209-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4211-2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4221-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4236-5.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4266-5.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4267-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4269-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4280-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4283-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4297-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4298-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4301-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_4310-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7449-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7481-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7485-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7503-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7510-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7532-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7535-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7537-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7541-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7544-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7554-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7561-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7565-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7572-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7574-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7593-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7606-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7607-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7608-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7612-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7617-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7619-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7621-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7625-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/IMG_7628-1.png) > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Does Julien Andlauer deserve a factory Porsche Hypercar drive? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/andlauer-porsche-factory-drive/ Last updated: 2024-05-22T11:31:50.000Z For many, Proton Competition’s Julien Andlauer was the star of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. He’s been in the Porsche family for a few years now, racing in the WEC’s GTE categories for Proton, winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in the GTE-Am class on his first attempt in 2018\. This, though, is his first year in a Hypercar, and in a prototype class, in WEC competition, although he did drive an Oreca 07 for Proton in the most recent season of the Asian Le Mans Series. On his Hypercar debut in Qatar, he and teammates Neel Jani and Harry Tincknell took home a podium, finishing third. They weren't classified at Imola, with Andlauer spinning into the gravel in the tricky wet conditions in Italy, forcing a retirement with less than an hour to go. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/LMDH-WEC124-TU-RR-TU--1-.jpg) Jani, Tincknell and Andlauer took home a podium in Qatar. Photo: HOCH ZWEI Photoagency However, at Spa, the Frenchman took the lead early on and ran away from factory Porsche driver Fred Makowiecki in the #5 Penske Porsche 693, creating a lead of seven seconds before the first pitstop cycle roughly an hour into the race. Indeed, Andlauer was quicker than Makowiecki over the stint when you take both drivers’ top 50% laps. However, the gap wasn’t huge, with less than a tenth in it: Andlauer’s 2:08.381 compared to Makowiecki’s 2:08.448\. But that doesn’t account for the seven second gap. The picture doesn’t get any clearer when you increase the average to the top 80% of laps, effectively excluding laps done under the two full course yellows in the opening hour. In fact, Makowiecki edges slightly closer to Andlauer on average pace: Andlauer’s average was 2:08.854, while Makowiecki’s was 2:08.908. Actually, the gap was largely built by the full course yellows. While Andlauer lost time behind Makowiecki under the first full course yellow, he had overtaken the factory Porsche driver by the time of the second. The Proton racer’s lap time under the second FCY was almost seven seconds quicker, as both cars crossed the line while the FCY was in place. Andlauer did lose time, 2 and a bit seconds, the lap the race went green again, but he’d extended a decent gap this point anyway, and extended it under green to lead by 6.877 with an hour gone. Impressive work for a driver only in his third Hypercar race! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) So where did Andlauer stack up in general amongst the other Porsche drivers, factory or not? We’ve taken each driver’s top 40% of laps in the race and averaged them out. When looking at these averages, Andlauer was third quickest, with Makowiecki just a smidge quicker. Substantially quicker, more than two and a half tenths on average, was Kevin Estre at the top of the pile. Andlauer was just 0.040 slower than Makowiecki in third. | Car number | Driver name | Average lap | | ---------- | ------------------- | ----------- | | 6 | Kévin Estre | 02:08.751 | | 5 | Frédéric Majowiecki | 02:09.040 | | 99 | Julien Andlauer | 02:09.080 | | 12 | Callum Ilott | 02:09.163 | | 5 | Michael Christensen | 02:09.587 | | 6 | Laurens Vanthoor | 02:09.783 | | 99 | Neel Jani | 02:10.217 | | 12 | Will Stevens | 02:10.237 | | 38 | Philip Hanson | 02:10.467 | | 6 | André Lotterer | 02:10.534 | There are a few caveats here, of course. The track cooled substantially during the race, especially because it ended two hours later than originally intended. By this point, the #5 Porsche was out, not giving Matt Campbell a chance to drive it, as was the #8, which retired early on due to a boisterous Rene Rast in the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8. After the race, Neel Jani, Andlauer’s teammate in the #99 Proton Competition Porsche, told The Racing Line that he believed they could have at least been on the podium if it wasn’t for the red flag. “It \[the red flag\] cost us the podium, for sure, no doubt,” said the Swiss driver. “I don't know if we would have caught the Ferraris again when the temperature would have come back down, obviously we started to struggle a bit on the second stint. “They were going quite well on the second stint. We were struggling a bit there at the end. But who knows, what would have happened in the lower temperature? Maybe we could have come back again. But yeah, the podium, for sure, was ours.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/Porsche-WEC-Spa-01843.jpg) Andlauer was incredibly quick at Spa. Image: Juergen Tap Photography And what about the win? “I think we had a shot at it for sure,” Jani said. “I mean we were there. Would we have won? I don't know. But for sure, finished third. That is clear. It would have been between us and the Ferraris.” Andlauer was arguably even more impressive in the final stint of the race, after the red flag. He overtook multiple cars on his way to fifth in the race, after restarting 10th. His post-red flag average was a 2:11.295, removing in-laps and out-laps in an otherwise green run. In particular, he overtook both Paul Loup Chatin, in the #35 Alpine, and Brendon Hartley, in the #8 Toyota, with fantastic moves at Eau Rouge, going on the outside of the entry to the corner, on drivers’ right, sweeping past the Alpine and Toyota on laps 107 and 111 respectively. It’s impossible to answer the question posed in the headline definitively — sorry, Betteridge’s law of headlines applies here — but there’s no doubt if the young Frenchman continues this trajectory, it’ll be hard for Porsche to deny him a factory seat next year. ### 10% off Isle of Man TT+ Live Pass, only with TRL URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/tt-live-pass-discount-2024/ Last updated: 2024-05-20T10:23:46.000Z The Isle of Man TT is one of those legendary events that if it was suggested nowadays, there’s no chance at all it’d get approved. It’s older than both the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, holding its first event on the island in 1907\. And, 117 years later, it’s still going, with the Isle of Man Mountain Course still holding the annual week of time trials to this day. At The Racing Line, we’ve teamed up with the TT organisers to offer you a 10% off code to the TT+ Live Pass, allowing you to watch all the action over the week, uninterrupted, if you subscribe to The Racing Line app. Plus, we’re currently offering 70% off the lifetime of your TRL app subscription if you subscribe today. Our app is your personalised motorsport calendar, offering you the chance to follow the schedules and calendars for well over 100 series around the world. So, whether you’re a bike fan, you’re into sportscars, if you like a bit of dirt and rallying, or if single seaters are your thing — we’ve got you covered. Plus, you can set customisable notifications to alert you before a session starts, with every single session start time, including practices, qualifying, and races, in your time zone. The 2024 Isle of Man TT will start on Monday 27th May, with a free practice and qualifying session, before ending on the 8th June with the headline event — the Senior TT. John McGuiness, the 23-time winner, will be the first to blast down Bray Hill on a 1,000cc bike. Don’t miss any of the action: get your 10% off code to the TT+ Live Pass by subscribing to The Racing Line today! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://trlapp.com/trlapp?ref=ontheapex.com) ### RACE ANALYSIS: How JOTA took their first overall WEC win URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/spa-2024-race-analysis-jota-win/ Last updated: 2024-05-15T07:28:23.000Z JOTA’s first FIA World Endurance Championship race win, on Saturday in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, was one for the ages. It was one of those feel-good moments for a team which has been competing in the championship and at Le Mans for well over a decade. The team has won multiple LMP2 races and championships in the lead up to this, but Saturday was something else. Detractors will say that JOTA only won because of the red flag and chance; they happened to pit just before Earl Bamber’s massive crash in the Cadillac along the Kemmel Straight. That without that JOTA wouldn’t have won, that it was Ferrari’s race and they were robbed. While some may be true — it was chance the #12 JOTA had already made its penultimate stop when the red came out, and maybe the win wouldn’t have been possible without the stoppage. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) “I think we were hovering around P5, P6, P7,” Ilott said when The Racing Line asked where they would have finished had the red flag not been flown. “I think if you get it right with the GT traffic, I could have moved forward a bit. “I had some really strong pace. I think what hurt me a bit was not getting past the #6 \[Porsche\] early on, because I lost so much time there. But, yeah, once I was ahead, I just kept chipping away and it was great,” he concluded. However, that last statement is true. The Racing Line has done some analysis of the data, looking at the lap times and averaging them out. Specifically, we’ve taken the top 20% of lap times for each car and then created an average from those. By doing this you avoid any in-laps, out-laps, laps done under caution — full course yellow or safety cars — and laps impacted by traffic. | Car number | Team/manufacturer (\* is factory) | Top 20% average | | ---------- | --------------------------------- | --------------- | | 5 | Porsche Penske\* | 02:08.278 | | 12 | JOTA Porsche | 02:08.344 | | 99 | Proton Porsche | 02:08.365 | | 6 | Porsche Penske\* | 02:08.414 | | 51 | Ferrari AF Corse\* | 02:08.614 | | 83 | AF Corse Ferrari | 02:08.741 | | 36 | Alpine Signatech\* | 02:08.830 | | 2 | Chip Ganassi Cadillac\* | 02:08.968 | | 7 | Toyota\* | 02:09.082 | | 50 | Ferrari AF Corse\* | 02:09.107 | | 8 | Toyota\* | 02:09.131 | | 15 | BMW WRT\* | 02:09.134 | | 20 | BMW WRT\* | 02:09.141 | | 35 | Alpine Signatech\* | 02:09.211 | | 38 | JOTA Porsche | 02:09.411 | | 63 | Lamborghini Iron Lynx\* | 02:09.622 | | 93 | Peugeot\* | 02:09.639 | | 94 | Peugeot\* | 02:09.677 | | 11 | Isotta Fraschini Duqueine\* | 02:10.979 | This shows that the #12 JOTA was the second fastest car, on average, over the race. Indeed, the only car that was faster was the factory #5 Porsche. The data shows more than that though. Contrary to popular belief, that Ferrari had the fastest car at Spa, The Racing Line’s analysis shows that the fastest four cars were all Porsches. With the #5 fastest and the winning #12 second, the #99 — which had Julien Andlauer at the wheel, a star of the race for many — and the sister #6 factory car fifth. Only then do we get to the fastest average Ferrari, the #51, which was 0.336 slower than the #5 Porsche when looking at the data. Indeed, the only slower Porsche was the sister #38 JOTA machine, which got taken out early on by an errant Rene Rast in the #20 BMW, meaning the #38 JOTA did not manage to set laps in the cooler conditions, especially after the red flag restart. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/Porsche-WEC-Spa-07318.jpg) The #5 Porsche was the quickest car on average at Spa. Image: Porsche / Juergen Tap Photography Okay, though. This race was essentially a two-parter — part one before the red flag, part two after. Was the #12 JOTA still the quickest car in ‘part one’? Well, we’ve done the same thing — taken all the laps from before the red flag, found the top 20% for each car, and then averaged them out. Simply put, the #12 was not the fastest car in this phase of the race. The data shows, in fact, it was on average 11th fastest, with the #5 Porsche fastest again — although this car did not compete in ‘part two’ as it retired with irreparable damage before the red flag., From the cars that finished the race, the #99 was fastest in part 1, then the #51 Ferrari, which had climbed through the field to lead for a good portion of the race before the red flag. So what conclusions can we draw from this? Well, the Ferrari works better in hot conditions — that much is obvious. The Porsche seems to be a good all-rounder. It’s hard to draw conclusions about Cadillac’s pace because, obviously, the car was not racing after the red flag, when the conditions were cooler and therefore faster. That said, though, JOTA quite evidently deserved this win. After the red flag, Ilott drove away from Kevin Estre — not exactly an easy task — and won by 12.363 seconds. Did the Brit feel any pressure from behind? “No,” he told The Racing Line, after the race. “It was, it was just cruise and… well, not cruise. I'm still pushing, but, like, get in the zone and just lap after lap after lap, I was super consistent. “I had my engineer reminding me to stay focused. And then I was thinking about staying focused and I wasn't really focused. Nut just in the zone if you know what I mean. So it was great.” A side note: Ilott’s fastest lap after the red flag was a 2:06.468\. His average over this stint, taking every lap and removing his in-lap and out-lap for the car’s final pit stop, was 2:09.196\. He got progressively slower over the stint, with the fastest lap coming on only the third lap after the restart, when he was pushing to get away from Estre. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that this was a super consistent double stint from Ilott. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/LMDH-WEC324.jpg) Ilott was very quick at the end of the race. Image: Stephen Fisher / Drew Gibson Photography Side note #2: Ilott was the quicker of the two drivers. His top 40% average (40% over 20% because there's less data to play with) was a 2:08.607, while teammate Will Stevens's top 40% average was 2:09.416. Not that this necessarily means anything at all. Firstly Ilott was in the car as the day cooled, especially after the red flag. Plus, for much of the race, Stevens had to contend with traffic, which as he said in the post-race press conference, was a struggle at times. "Honestly, the first few stints were a bit of a struggle,” said the 32-year-old. “Especially the second stint, when we came out and the Toyota didn't change tyres. “We found it quite hard to pass here this weekend. We generally struggled to be in the last corner and through Eau Rouge. And that means it was quite hard at the start to actually overtake. “Once we got in clean air, we had strong pace. It took me a few laps to get past the Toyota. But once we did, we could start cracking on and then our pace was pretty solid again, but you know these races. “Even though they're long, the battles are always pretty fierce. So, you need to be aggressive to stay ahead and make gains. But you also need to be sensible at points and pick your fights. “I think we've done that well this weekend. We fought hard when we needed to, but we also didn't want to make any silly errors, and bring home good points. So yeah, we were in a great position and a new once Callum got in the car towards the end, we should be strong,” he concluded. We’ll have more coming as we pull apart the data from Spa, so stick with us. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ### GALLERY: Dirty race cars post-race at Spa URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/gallery-dirty-race-cars-post-race-at-spa/ Last updated: 2024-05-13T20:49:10.000Z As The Racing Line was leaving Spa-Francorchamps after a magnificent 6 Hour race, we spied some absolutely filthy - literally and metaphorically - race cars. We couldn't resist taking some photos and sharing them with you! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210254787.NIGHT.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210322271.NIGHT.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210338713.NIGHT.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210439952.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210450162.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210456544.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210513290.MP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210524506.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210535238.MP.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210540442.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PXL_20240511_210622285.jpg) ### PACE ANALYSIS: Can Porsche and Toyota challenge Ferrari at Spa? URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/spa-pace-analysis-porsche-ferrari-toyota/ Last updated: 2024-05-10T17:55:26.000Z Porsche and Toyota would like nothing more than to steal a win from pacesetters Ferrari at the 2024 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, but drivers from both teams have admitted it’ll be a challenge. The Racing Line has looked at the lap times from free practice 2 to try and figure out a loose pecking order. On paper, it looks like it’ll be a close call — and Ferrari aren’t the fastest. However, with free practice 2 interrupted by three full course yellows across the hour and a half session, getting a full picture of the pace is almost impossible. When looking at the long run pace, the two Porsches were averaging 2:08.9s, with Toyota a tenth behind and Ferrari a further tenth behind them. | Team | Long run average pace in free practice 2 | | ----------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Cadillac | 2:08.5s | | Porsche | 2:08.9s | | Toyota | 2:09.0s | | Ferrari | 2:09.1s | | BMW | 2:09.4s | | Lamborghini | 2:09.5s | | Alpine | 2:10.2s | In terms of cars, the #5 Porsche was on top long run wise in FP2, averaging 2:08.5s, with the #50 Ferrari and #8 Toyota both in the 2:08.9s. The #7 Toyota followed in the 2:09s, followed by the #51 Ferrari and #6 Porsche in 2:09.3s. Teams rarely use all they've got to offer in free practice, in order to stop rival teams knowing exactly what their true pace is. With that in mind, it's likely Ferrari is sandbagging and not pushing the car — so expect them to be amongst the fastest in the race. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-09-at-14.14.54.jpeg) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) In a similar vein, Toyota’s Brendon Hartley told The Racing Line that the Japanese-German manufacturer still believed that Ferrari were still ahead in terms of pace. “The Ferrari is still very quick. It's always hard to see what other people are doing with tires. I think with the others, it's much closer. But I think we won’t really know until the race. “But Ferrari clearly had a big pace advantage in Imola. They didn't show it at the beginning, they showed some of it at the end. Which of course is sensible for them to control the race, but they messed up the strategy. “Here, it looks like they have a good pace advantage again, but let's see how that plays out in the race. They still have to execute to win it. So I think it's still all to play for.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/ferrari_WEC2024_Spa_mv_03962.jpg) Photo: Ferrari However, Cadillac were the surprise of the session, averaging 2:08.5s in the long run pace. There’s a big caveat there though — that they ran the least amount of laps in FP2, 23 laps, with their long runs interrupted by the FCYs. Looking further down the field, BMW and Lamborghini look to be close, with Alpine a bit further back. Intersecting this with the qualifying pace over one lap, with Ferrari quickest from Porsche and Cadillac, with Toyota only seventh fastest, Alpine eighth and BMW 10th, it seems the whole field is fairly close together. This is confirmed by the fact that in the Hyperpole session, second down to 10th were covered by nine tenths of a second. Looking at how the race will play out, many drivers The Racing Line has spoken to believe it will be a question of how well tyres are managed. “I think that's \[tyre degradation\] going to be a big topic in the race,” said Hartley. “Who can manage that in the smartest way? I think there'll be some strategy at play as well, which tyres do you change, if you try and double or not. Put those tires and how you manage that because the resistance here is going to be tough.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/PorscheWEC2024_Spa06399.jpg) Photo: Porsche / Juergen Tap Matt Campbell, meanwhile, reiterated that it’ll be similar to Qatar and Imola. “Hard to say,” he said when asked if the race at Spa will be focused on tyre deg. “I think obviously this is the same situation for everyone. But for sure as we've seen in both Qatar and also Imola, it'll be a lot about looking after your tyres and being smart in traffic.” And finally, Cadillac’s Alex Lynn, who qualified the car third on the grid for the race, equalling Cadillac’s best WEC qualifying result, is “cautiously optimistic”. “It's been nice to show that we can fight in this Championship. Our race pace seems to be okay. At the end of the day, the competition is very strong but we we seem all right. “So, cautiously optimistic. We're starting in the right position so yeah, why not? Let's have a good day tomorrow and put it together,” he concluded. ### Molina: Ferrari’s learning curve with 499P still ‘long’ URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/molina-ferrari-spa/ Last updated: 2024-05-09T12:50:53.000Z Miguel Molina believes Ferrari is still learning about the 499P in its second year of competition, with the Spanish driver telling The Racing Line about the Italian manufacturer’s learning curve with the car. “Well, as I always say, I think our learning curve is still a long way to go,” said the Spaniard. “Every time we are on track or we do testing or the simulator, we are learning a lot of stuff. “We’re still young in this Championship with these kinds of cars. We are working a lot even between races or, during the race week. We are always giving the maximum of our potential. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/WhatsApp-Image-2024-05-09-at-14.14.53--2-.jpeg) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) "This is something that we we really want to do, like pushing all the time to try to, to see where our level is to to, to perform. “In Imola, it was really good. That means that we did a good progression since since Qatar, and we will try to replicate here. “So the aim is always to be at the front of the field, and to be on the podium and to win races.” Ferrari were strong at Imola with good, field-leading pace. One factor there was the use of kerbs, Molina said. “Well for sure, in Imola, one of the positive things for us is that we can use the kerbs quite well. And this was positive in Imola. Maybe it was a slow speed track, but it compensated with that. And here with the high speed bonus, I think it's good for us.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0088.jpg) Ferrari could use Imola's infamous kerbs more than others, giving them an edge on pace. Image: Julien Delfosse / DPPI In addition to kerb usage, and as Molina mentioned, the Prancing Horse also knows that the 499P does well on high speed tracks – like Spa. “We know that our car suits high speed tracks quite well. That’s clear. And we performed well here last year. I think we have to carry on with the same progression that we are doing. We always give the 100% of what we have. And this shows that in Imola, the three Ferraris were were really competitive. Here, we try to do the same. But probably Spa, Le Mans for sure, suit us a bit better, because of the high speed corners and with the average lap time or speed.” ### Peugeot: Choice between low drag and high downforce at Spa URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/peugeot9x8spa/ Last updated: 2024-05-09T06:41:59.000Z Peugeot technical director Olivier Jansonnie told media at Spa-Francorchamps that the classic Belgian circuit is always a “question” between low drag and high downforce for car setup. “Every car we’re racing here, there’s always a question mark between low drag and high downforce. To be realistic, the range of adjustment we have within the regulations is not huge. It’s a small adjustment between the two, but typically it’s the kind of track where there’s a question on that. “So that’s something that I think we and probably all the teams will have to address during the testing in free practice.” > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* Spa’s first sector comprises the first corner at La Source, followed by the run through Eau Rouge and Raidillon, then down the Kemmel Straight. With the cars full throttle from the exit of La Source to the end of the straight, this requires high top speed and therefore low drag to cut through the air with less resistance. However, the second sector needs the car to be capable of generating more downforce, in order to cope with corners like Les Combes, Bruxelles, Pouhon, Fagnes and Stavelot. The third sector, meanwhile, starting at Stavelot II, through Blanchimont and the Bus Stop, requires a mix of the two. This makes car setup a headache for the teams, as Jansonnie implied: do you pick a high downforce setup and be slower on the straights, or a low downforce setup but be slower in the twisty sector 2? The other issue this causes is tyre wear, with low drag setups tending to have higher tyre degradation over a race distance. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/00002098-1.jpg) Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport technical director, with the new 9X8 at Imola. Image: Peugeot “There’s some interest from Peugeot trying to get the top speed with the low drag, but at the same time, there’s a risk of degradation, which you have to extrapolate because you can’t cover a double stint in free practice anyway,” said Jansonnie. “So you try to make as much, but the remaining half a stint or even one stint, you have to extrapolate from what you see on the first stint.” However, Jansonnie also said that Peugeot are seeing progress compared to the old, wingless 9X8. “We see some interesting progresses compared to the old car. It will actually be very interesting — this is the first track we go racing with the new car, that we’ve been racing with the old car on that track. “So we’ll have some reference. We struggled quite a lot last year on this track, it was the third race of the year, we had Portimao between Sebring and Spa, but that one was quite a tough one. “So we’re interested to see what happens for the new car. The track had been used as some sort of benchmark to try to understand the biggest weaknesses,” he concluded. ### Rossi 'not sure' if he's fast enough for Hypercar URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/rossi-on-hypercar-test/ Last updated: 2024-05-07T14:15:05.000Z Motorcycle racing legend and current BMW WRT factory driver Valentino Rossi is ‘not sure’ whether he’s fast enough to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar class, he told The Racing Line. “For sure, \[Hypercar\] is the top class and I’d love to race there in the future,” he told assembled reporters at the most recent WEC round at Imola, not far from where the Italian was born and raised. “And I think I will try the BMW Hypercar at the end of this season, I hope, in the one day of testing. I’m very curious to understand. But after racing with the Hypercars, I don’t know if I’m fast enough, because in Hypercar you have the top, top driver in the world. “But anyway, before we try to do a test, and after we try to understand. I think it is a great car to drive,” he concluded. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* Rossi made his debut in WEC earlier this year, driving the #46 BMW WRT M4 GT3 alongside Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy. After finishing fourth at the opening race in Qatar, Rossi took his debut WEC podium in Imola, finishing second in a BMW WRT 1-2, behind the sister #31 car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0103-1.jpg) Rossi drives a BMW M4 GT3 alongside Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy. Image: BMW M Team WRT The motorcycle racing legend has been racing cars since he retired from MotoGP competition in 2021\. He raced an Audi R8 LMS Evo for Team WRT in 2022, in GT World Challenge Europe, switching to BMW for 2023 when the team received factory support from the Munich-based manufacturer. He took his first win, alongside Martin, at Misano in 2023, with the pair finishing fifth in the championship with further podiums at Brands Hatch and Zandvoort. But the WEC is a different kettle of fish, which includes Le Mans, a race Rossi has always wanted to compete in. “I’m very very excited about Le Mans. Because when I started to race cars, this was my first target. I want to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans, because it’s the most famous race in the world. “And also, I had a very, very good feeling last year, because I did the short race. And I tried, for the first time, the long circuit. They feel very good because you are always very fast, you have a lot of adrenaline and I think that is a great track to do a 24-hour,” said the 46-year-old. Interestingly, the video game *Gran Turismo* is how Rossi’s interest in racing at Le Mans started. “It started with the simulator, the video game *Gran Turismo*,” he told The Racing Line. “I play Gran Turismo from 25, 26 years ago. You know I race with the motorcycle, but when I was at home I always used the simulator. So have the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you have Bathurst, you have the Nordschleife, and you have Spa, because we never race with the motorcycle in Spa. “So I always like to drive cars, and my passion for endurance racing started from that.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DPPIPRODUCTION_00002111_0316.jpg) Rossi celebrating with his teammates on the podium at Imola. Image: BMW M Team WRT ### Van der Zande: Multi-class racing 'not so easy' right now URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/bourdais-laguna-seca-a-couple-of-seconds-faster-after-repave/ Last updated: 2024-05-07T14:14:54.000Z Renger van der Zande has admitted that multi-class racing is tricky at the moment due to slow cornering speeds in slow-speed corners for the top class GTP cars. "In general, GTPs have been very slow in slow-speed corners; as fast as GT cars," he said. "Only the high-speed corners where we can make a difference compared to the GT cars, so it’s not been too easy to overtake. We go to tracks where there are maybe two or three corners and the straight where you can overtake, where with the DPi you could overtake in any corner. "If you talk about the dynamics of multi-class racing, it’s not so easy right now. Also, we’re heavy and we have to break quite early compared to the GT cars who have ABS. "Sometimes you outbrake them on the inside and they can still brake later than us, so it’s only a couple of spots on the track where you can overtake normally." > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* The GTPs were introduced last year as the replacement for the former top class in the IMSA Sportscar Championship, the DPi class. Every GTP car in IMSA right now uses the LMDh technical regulations, which state that the car's minimum weight must not be below 1030kg. And that's without Balance of Performance to balance the cars out, which can add at least another 10kg at times. Compare this to the DPi minimum weights, which were around 100kg lighter — roughly a tenth of a GTP's total weight — and you can start to see the problem. This weight has come from a variety of places, but the main culprit is the hybrid element, which is compulsory in the rules. This includes the hybrid motor, situated on the rear axle to drive power to the rear wheels, and the battery, which adds a substantial amount of weight to the car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/2024-Cadillac-Racing-Grand-Prix-of-Long-Beach-06115.jpg) Van der Zande and Bourdais took victory last time out in Long Beach. Image: Cadillac However, at Laguna Seca, van der Zande isn't expecting the same problems with lapping slower class traffic. "It looks like we’ll be quite a bit faster than the GT cars at Laguna Seca compared to the other tracks," said the South African. "From that perspective it’s easier to overtake them. Your cornering speed is higher where you can probably have more corners where you can overtake. "I think Laguna Seca with the higher grip, and we have a bit more downforce the car, will probably have more overtaking opportunities with the GT cars this time.” The higher grip van der Zande mentions isn't just Cadillac, and their rivals Porsche, Acura and BMW, understanding how to extract more downforce from the cars. It's also to do with the repaved track surface, as the South African's teammate Sebastien Bourdais explains. “We did come and test with both Cadillacs, both BMWs and both Penske Porsches, so we did have time to experiment and try quite a few things," said the veteran Frenchman. "Grip has gone up a lot. It’s probably going to be at least a couple of seconds faster and it’s always an awesome feeling when you drive on a repaved track. "I’ve always enjoyed Laguna, but tire degradation was high and grip was quite low at the end of the cycle of the old pavement. So, now it’s full force, maximum attack and commitment, so it’s a ton of fun to muscle those GTPs around. You should see some pretty incredible speeds around the weekend.” Van der Zande added: "The Monday after our race last year they started to work on the track ,and we saw IndyCars flying off because there was only one line that was grippy, and anything that was off line was not good. "When we were testing there that improved a lot. There was grip everywhere. It’s just the speeds are so much higher that if you have a little off you’re flying off a lot faster. I think you’re going to see if people go off it’s easier to end up in the barrier, which makes it tricky and you can feel that from the car." The IMSA Laguna Seca round takes place this coming weekend, beginning on Sunday 12th May at 12:10 local time. ### No Vettel in third Porsche at Le Mans URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/no-vettel-in-third-porsche-at-le-mans/ Last updated: 2024-05-07T14:15:16.000Z Porsche has confirmed its full driver lineup for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and with that confirms beyond doubt that 2010-2013 Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel will not make his debut at the race this year. Vettel had tested the Porsche 963 in the German manufacturer’s 30 hour endurance test at Motorland Aragon earlier this year, alongside Porsche’s regular race drivers and Thomas Preining, another Porsche factory driver who won the DTM championship last year. Many saw this as a two-way test: for Porsche to see how fast Vettel was in the 963, and for Vettel to get a first taste of the car and see how comfortable he was, before a possible debut at Le Mans in June if all went well. > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* While by all accounts it did go well, it seems either Vettel or Porsche has decided against the idea. This means Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr will join the previously-announced Mathieu Jaminet in the #4 Porsche 963 car at the French endurance classic. Porsche WEC regulars Matt Campbell, Fred Makowiecki, and Michael Christensen will be in the #5 Porsche, while Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, and Laurens Vanthoor in the sister #6 full season car. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/4_21415_ND_WEC2024_Qatar.jpg) Porsche took their first WEC victory with the 963 earlier this year, in Qatar. Image: Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography It seems that the most important factor for choosing the driver lineup in the #4 Le Mans-only car was experience, as Urs Kuratle, Porsche’s director of LMDh factory motorsport explained. “After announcing the entry of a third car in Le Mans, we still had two driver positions available. The decision was not easy for us given our very strong and equally skilled squad,” he said. “Ultimately, one of the deciding factors was having Le Mans experience. Nick Tandy has competed there eleven times and won with Porsche in 2015\. Felipe Nasr has four races at the Sarthe under his belt. Moreover, the trio impressed us with strong lap times and great teamwork during their joint campaign at Le Mans in 2023.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/M24_1827.jpg) Porsche were left to lick their wounds last year at Le Mans. Image: Porsche Porsche were disappointing at Le Mans last year. The #5 car finished in a best position of 16th overall, while the #6 was 22nd and the #75 — numbered for Porsche’s 75th anniversary — did not finish at all. They will be hoping for better — much better — this year. “By fielding the third car in Le Mans, we want to maximise our chances of achieving a possible 20th overall victory for Porsche. This also means that we rely on experienced and fast drivers,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Porsche Motorsport vice president. “Over the past few months Mathieu, Felipe and Nick have consistently impressed with powerful performances in the North American IMSA series. The three are a sure thing in the Porsche 963\. I’m positive that we’re perfectly prepared for the highlight in June. We want to win – there can be no other goal for Porsche!” ### Throwback Thursday: Le Mans 2008 photo gallery URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/lm-2008-gallery/ Last updated: 2024-05-16T11:54:29.000Z 2008 marked a sterner challenge than Audi had ever faced at La Sarthe, with the Peugeot 908s having a pace advantage of several seconds per lap. However during the race this gulf in performance was nullified by changeable weather conditions and spectacular performances from the #2 Audi’s trio of drivers — Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. The final margin of victory, after 24 hours, was less than one lap. Van Merksteijn Motorsport took LMP2 honours on their Le Mans debut, with team owner Peter Van Merksteijn, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Jos Verstappen piloting a Porsche RS Spyder Evo. The #009 Aston Martin won the GT1 class for the second year in a row after a titanic, race long battle with the #63 Corvette. Risi Competizione were victorious in GT2, 10 years after their maiden class triumph in the twice-round-the-clock classic. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_3981.jpeg) Audi garages, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_4279.jpeg) Flying Lizard Porsche, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_4414.jpeg) Lola Aston Martin, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_4500.jpeg) BMS Scuderia Italia, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_4535.jpeg) Audi R10 TDI, Rollcentre Pescarolo 01, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad2.png) #### The Racing Line Your personalised motorsport calendar [Download The Racing Line now](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_4736.jpeg) Van Merksteijn Porsche RS Spyder, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_4802.jpeg) Rollcentre Pescarolo 01, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5017.jpeg) The start, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5081.jpeg) Audi R10 TDI, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5246.jpeg) Creation AIM, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5256.jpeg) Courage-Oreca LC75, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5282.jpeg) Peugeot 908, Epsilon Euskadi, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5317.jpeg) Aston Martin DBR9, Lola Aston Martin, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5328.jpeg) Peugeot 908, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5347.jpeg) Epsilon Euskadi, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5387.jpeg) Audi R10 TDI, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5438.jpeg) Farnbacher Ferrari 430 GT2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5570.jpeg) Epsilon Euskadi, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5664.jpeg) RML Lola MG, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5765.jpeg) Essex Porsche RS Spyder, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5790.jpeg) Krohn Racing Ferrari 430 GT2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5821.jpeg) BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 GT2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5985.jpeg) OAK Racing Pescarolo 01 LMP2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_5999.jpeg) Essex Porsche RS Spyder, Puncture, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/TRL-ad1.png) #### Your personalised motorsport calendar Session start times in your time zone, plus customisable notifications [Download The Racing Line](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6036.jpeg) Speedy Team Sebah Rebellion, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6039.jpeg) JMW Ferrari 430 GT2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6107.jpeg) Rollcentre Pescarolo 01, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6259.jpeg) 55 Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6346.jpeg) Tom Kristensen, Audi R10 TDI, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6398.jpeg) Barazi Epsilon Zytek LMP2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6420.jpeg) Pescarolo Sport LMP1, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6522.jpeg) Creation AIM, Marbles, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6542.jpeg) Ferrari F430 GT2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6546.jpeg) Barazi Epsilon LMP2, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6586.jpeg) BMS Scuderia Italia, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6638.jpeg) Lola Aston Martin, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6724.jpeg) Tom Kristensen, Audi R10 TDI, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6805.jpeg) Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_6920.jpeg) Allan McNish, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen, Le Mans 24 Hours 2008 > *Download* [*The Racing Line*](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/theracingline-race-calendar/id1544668453?ref=ontheapex.com)*, your personalised motorsport calendar, on iOS today to get up to date session times and customisable notifications for over 100 different series, including single seaters, sportscars, rally, bikes, and much more.* ### Throwback Thursday: Silverstone ILMC 2011 photo gallery URL: https://www.ontheapex.com/throwbackthursday-silverstone-ilmc-2011/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T12:30:21.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_8814-1024x683.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_8825-1024x683.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/Dsc_8847-1024x686.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_8884-1024x683.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_8901-1024x683.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/Dsc_8921-1024x685.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/Dsc_8966-686x1024.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_9023-1024x683.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/01/1c/011cf67e-79cc-4fa7-b92b-55803b7dec49/content/images/2024/05/DSC_9028-1024x683.jpeg) 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