Cadillac Wins Petit Le Mans; Season Champions Crowned

By Dennis Krause

Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti made it two wins a row to close out the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a win in Saturday’s 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

The No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R had been winless this season until claiming victory in the recent TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since then, the team has looked unbeatable.

“We had a couple of races that we definitely should have won or we should have probably won a couple more this year,” Bamber said, “but we learned from those and we're built from this, and now to go back-to-back, it's something very special for the whole team, and what we've managed to build up this 2025 season.”

Aitken, who finished second in the season’s Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) standings said he couldn’t have imaged how the team finished off the season based on how things went at the beginning of the year.

“Yeah, I mean, it would be hard to sit here and say that I expected or would have predicted a back-to-back win to close out the season.

“On the other hand, we've been knocking on the door quite a lot this season. We've put ourselves in the position to be up at the front quite a lot, especially in the second half of the season.

“All that happened these last two events. Stuff has gone our way a little bit. We didn't make mistakes, and we had a quick car. We made the right calls on strategy, but we've done a lot of that in the first half of the season and kind of got nowhere as well.

“It's kind of vindicating to see those wins come through.

“Yeah, pretty special to see the team have that weight lifted off their shoulders because I think they're really deserving of those results, and it's been a true pleasure the last couple of weekends.”

The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie in the hands of Ross Gunn, Roman De Angelis and Alex Riberas scored a season-best runner-up finish at Road Atlanta. Not bad for a program that made its debut at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

“There are so many people here today supporting,” said a very happy Gunn. “It was just a very, very special day for us. We came in a year ago testing for the first time in the U.S., and I think really we were expecting to be back markers at the start of the year and really learning as much as possible.

“We always had the aim that come Petit Le Mans, we would hopefully be at least fighting and be in the shot of the podium, and I think we achieved that.

“Incredibly proud of everybody. For Aston Martin to have a car in the top class in the podium is a huge achievement. For me, I'm just so proud to be a part of it.”

According to Gunn, Saturday’s result was hugely gratifying considering where the team was at the beginning of the year.

“It's huge for everybody. We worked super hard at the start of the year on the reliability. We didn't really focus on anything performance-wise until after Le Mans.

“Then to be finishing two cars at Le Mans was a huge, huge achievement for everybody. I think that was, again, our aim at the start of the year was to try and achieve that.

“To be honest, it's been a privilege to be a part of something that's been continuously improving. I think for us the main thing was that on the end of the season, as I already mentioned, we wanted to be fighting for something a bit more than just a fifth or a sixth.

“I think this weekend is definitely something that we can be proud of and hopefully use that going into next year and be hopefully fighting for more.”

While the Cadillac Whelen team may have won the last two rounds, the season title went to the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell and substitute driver Laurens Vanthoor, who took third in the race.

“Phenomenal to get another championship with Mathieu,” Campbell said. “That's two years in IMSA partnering together and two championships, so very proud of that.

“Doing it next to a good friend with Mathieu, we've formed a really good partnership over the last years. Even though we might not have driven together in the last couple, coming back together this year it's worked phenomenally, and we've really hit the ground running.

“For sure wasn't the whole year we wanted. From the start of the year lacking a little bit behind the team No. 7, but I think it really showed our consistency and our drive together that put us in this position for the championship title. So very, very special day. A day I won't forget.

“Extremely grateful to the whole team and Mathieu and also Larry stepping in. Unfortunately, Julien (Andlauer) had the issue, but yeah, great day, and clinching every championship, so it makes it that much more special for the team as well.”

Bronze-rated driver Steven Thomas ended his IMSA driving career the best way possible, winning the Le Mans Prototype 2 class (LMP2) with teammates Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea. It was a second-straight Petit Le Mans win for the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2-07 as well as two wins in a row to close out the season.

“I will say, before we got to Indianapolis, we thought we had no chance,” said Thomas, a trial attorney in his day job.

“Yeah, this is my final IMSA race, and it was actually really emotional. I was able to put it on pole in my final race, which was super exciting. Then like an hour later, they said, no, you failed scrutineering, you're out, you're starting in the back.

“And then I started in the back, and it was just so much fun. When I got out of the car, I had done my drive time, and that was the end for me. Racing has been so wonderful to me, but then I handed it to the two best prototype drivers I think around, and I was pretty confident.

“I would say as we got through the night realizing it was the end for me, but we were ending on this victory, and maybe the best stint I've ever driven, it was like a dream. It was the perfect ending.

“Unless one of you out here can find me a sponsor for next year, this will be the last IMSA race for me,” Thomas added. “I'm going to keep racing. I love racing more than anything in the world. I'll be doing much more cheaper racing, amateur racing. I might be able to do some stuff in Europe next year. We'll see. It's cheaper, but IMSA has been unbelievable. It's been the best experience in my life, honestly.”

After a GTP championship with Porsche Penske Motorsport last season, driver Dane Cameron hooked up with AO Racing in LMP2 for 2025. The result? A fifth IMSA title with five different teams. Although there were some twists and turns along the way, getting the championship with teammates PJ Hyett and Jonny Edgar was amazing, according to Cameron.

“Yeah, that's obviously the goal when you start the year, and believed in the project and the pieces that were there that it had this potential to bring a championship. Just needed a little bit of glue to hold everything all together and elevate things a little bit more.

“Just grateful, thankful that PJ and Gunnar (Jeannette, team co-founders) thought that I could be the guy. I thought there was some potential there to do it.

“The mission was to get some wins for (the No. 99) “Spike” after a tough year for them last year. Of course, the moon shot is to get the championship. Yeah, that all came together.

“So a difficult year in certain parts and a very strong, consistent year in other parts. I think of all the years that I've won the championship. This is probably the longest ten hours that I've spent here. It was a pretty long day, pretty stressful day. Looked like it was kind of going to slip away there at a couple of points.

“But, yeah, tried to run with the rest of the staff that we have here, just deliver the message that you just need to -- that it probably would get bumpy at some point, but just to stay calm, to stay with it, to keep fighting all the way to the end.

“At the end of the day, I'm really grateful and thankful for Jonny doing a really great job for us. It's nearly all the races that we have Jonny, so it's a bit of a shame in a way that two races makes the difference for him also not being champion. He was really spectacular for us this year and a huge part of this result. Thankful to have him.

“Honestly, pretty incredible. Five is quite a special number.”

Paul Miller Racing drivers Max Hesse, Dan Harper and Connor De Phillipi took the top spot in Grand Touring Prototype PRO (GTD PRO) in the No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. For Hesse, it was a second race win in IMSA’s Endurance Cup championship.

“Yeah, it's awesome. A really big thank you to the team, to BMW, to my teammates. Second victory. We won The Six Hours of Watkins (Glen) and also now here. [Also] being on the podium in Sebring and Indy. So Endurance Cup-wise we have done really, really well.

“Had some potential I think in the sprint rounds,” Hesse continued, “which we left on the table, so a bit disappointed we couldn't fight more for the championship in the end. But, yeah, we've got the Endurance Cup, so super excited for the first year here.”

All Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports needed to do was for the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to finish ahead of the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 to claim a sixth class title in the hands of Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella.

Finishing the race third in GTD PRO was enough for Sims to score his second IMSA title and first with Corvette.

“It's wonderful,” said Sims. Honestly, the year we've had has been really quite phenomenal. We've executed very, very well at pretty much every single weekend.

“Our Corvette has been working well at many of the circuits, if not all of them. Although we hadn't necessarily always had the fastest car, it's been a really nice car to drive, consistent, and easy to extract the pace out of it.

“Yeah, when a fourth or a third was the best possible result we could get, then that's what we got. Then, yeah, with a second or a first, like at Virginia, was possible, then we were able to get that. Consistency was executed super well throughout the year.

“Antonio, Danny, both have -- well, yeah, and myself, I think we've had pretty flawless races most of the season. Very little damage on the car, things like that that would put us back. It's just been be a really nice, smooth year.

For Garcia, it was his fifth WeatherTech title, all coming with Corvette.

“I think it's consistency,” explained the Spaniard. “Not only the year consistency, but also keeping the key elements of the team as long as you can, basically.

“So if you go around the whole Corvette crew and members, there is quite a few that have been there for a long time. When that happens, everything runs very, very smooth. Obviously you are taking new members once in a while for sure. You need to keep the ball rolling, but I think that consistency and be loyal to every single member of the team, that's what it takes, because I think it's a real family.”

In Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 team took claimed back-to-back Endurance Cup championships with a class win at Road Atlanta. For Alessandro Pier Guidi and co-drivers Simon Mann and Lilou Wadoux, it was mission accomplished.

“Yeah. Actually yes. We came here, main goal, the first target was to try to achieve the championship. We planned all the strategies to be in the best position. I did two at the four hour and eight hour. Then we tried to go to the end.

“My two teammates and the team did an amazing job, let's say, 70%, 80% of the race. We were very quick. I think we did a very good job with the car, with the strategy, pit stop, everything.

“At the end to win Petit, you must be perfect. This year we have been lucky a few times, but at the end we put all together in the right moment.”

As far as the GTD class championship went, basically all Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje had to do was start the race to wrap up their second consecutive title in their No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Although there wasn’t a lot of championship pressure to deal with, Ellis noted the title wasn’t clinched at the start of the race.

“There's always stuff that can go wrong. Until it's done, it's not done. Then, obviously, we still had the manufacturer's title to fight for, so that's what we raced for today. Glad we got that as well. Super happy with that.

“Not so happy that we couldn't finish it off with a podium. That would have been nice. Honestly in the end it's still our best finish to date with a P5 in Atlanta. It is something to work on for next year, for sure.

“It wasn't a lot of pressure on us. I think it was a lot of pressure on the other teams, the competitors. As you have seen throughout the season, it's been a lot of up and downs for a lot of people. We had our mix of bad luck, and so did our competitors, fortunately.

“But, yeah, it's not the most satisfying way to win the championship, to be honest, after seeing the race start, to be honest, and knowing that you've won it. It's nice, but I would have liked to win it on the track.”

After a short break, next up for IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship contenders is 2026 homologation testing at Daytona International Speedway in November.

The 2026 season will start with the Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 24-25.

Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.

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