By the Numbers – LMP2
Wins –
#22 United
Autosports (Daytona, Watkins Glen)
#43
InterEuropol (Sebring)
#99 AO
Racing (CTMP, Road America)
#11 TDS
Racing (Indy, Petit Le Mans)
Champions – Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett, AO Racing
MEC Champions – Mikkel Jensen, Hunter McElrea, and Steven
Thomas, TDS Racing
Qualifying – Poles – Goldburg (Daytona), Thomas (Sebring),
Hyett (Watkins Glen, CTMP, Road America), Boulle (Indy), Clarke (Petit Le Mans)
In 2025, 5 different LMP2 teams crossed
the finish line first out of 7 races. That’s parity. Ultimately, we had United
Autosports and TDS Racing as the winners for four of the endurance races, with
InterEuropol winning at Sebring. AO Racing, the season champs, claimed victory at
their home race of Road America and overall at CTMP, not to mention Le Mans
Pro-Am and the European Le Mans Series title. That’s not the story of the
drivers though.
Bronze:
LMP2 competition requires a bronze
rated driver, and it’s often been said that a good bronze makes the difference
for winning a race. That’s not true of all races, but it is true of the championship.
Does that mean that the best bronze always wins the championship? No. Because it’s
called racing, not trophy awarding.
On that
note, let’s start with the champion, PJ Hyett. Pole winner at 3 races, it’s no
wonder that PJ had the best average of all the qualifiers. The surprise was
that he was JUST ahead of Dan Goldburg for season long average, 2.3 compared to
2.6. PJ’s worst qualifying was Daytona, but even so he only started off the front
row twice. Over the course of the year, Hyett had the third best average
position for Bronzes, and he would’ve been second if Clarke had started Daytona
because that did positively skew the average for Clarke. What’s most impressive
was to watch Hyett’s time off pace decrease as the season progressed. He
definitely blossomed this year, spending so much time behind the wheel of an
LMP2 machine. He was the second strongest bronze in both average time off pace
and average time off co-driver, not an inconsequential feat when considering
his co-drivers were superstar Dane Cameron and launching super star Jonny
Edgar. But PJ was not the Driver of the Year.
Before we
get to him, I want to acknowledge the efforts of two drivers who did not do full
seasons. The 2024 LMP2 champion Nick Boulle found himself without a ride for
the non-endurance rounds of the season. He was with United for the long races,
and found himself as a super sub for CTMP for PR1. He missed Road America, but
still was the third best for qualifying average, time off pace, and time off
co-drivers for the year. The other driver who ran an incomplete season but
still impressed was newcomer Jeremy Clarke. Clarke is a Ferrari Challenge
Champion in the Trofeo Pirelli class, the top level, where he impressed this
writer a few years ago. His first race was Sebring, where he was part of the
winning crew. As previously noted, Clarke’s average position was impressive
albeit slightly skewed, but the way he never shied from the challenge is what
really stuck out. He continued improving all season, including capturing pole
at the last race of the season. Should Clarke continue in LMP2, he could be a
bronze of Keating’s popularity.
Bronze Driver of the Year: It seems strange that this
award goes not to the champion, the man who won Pro-Am in category at the 24 Hours
of Le Mans, and had the most poles. But the numbers dictate that the strongest
Bronze of the year in IMSA Weathertech competition at least was Dan Goldburg.
Dan was first in average position, average time off pace, and average time off his
co-drivers. The interesting thing here is Rasmus Lindh, who was the silver
driver in the #2 United Autosports USA entry alongside Goldburg and Paul Di
Resta, was also the strongest in his category for average time off co-drivers. In
Goldburg’s case, both his pace was closer to that of the fast drivers AND the
drivers in his car were further off the overall pace. But more on that later,
now is time to praise Dan. Goldburg’s worst qualifying effort was Sebring,
where he started 4th. He got two victories in two of the biggest
endurance races, and was announced fairly early as a returning puzzle piece for
the 2026 season. He’s come a long way from BMW club racing!
Silver:
Although
the silver driver rarely finishes the race, they are a critical piece of any
race team. If the bronze driver hands over the car to their teammate in a
situation where ground needs to be re-gained, a fast silver can be the solution
to the problem. If a silver is quicker than their peers on track at the same
time, they can claw back the lost ground and potentially even position the car
to an advantage before then giving the car to the pro potentially to win. On
the other side, if the car has a silver driver weaker than his or her peers,
the work established by the bronze (whether good or bad) can be erased and all
hope could be lost by the time the pro takes over. So who stood out for the
right reasons in 2025? Once again, I’ll save best for last, but let’s feature a
few others who deserve merit. Jonny Edgar burst onto the scene loudly in 2024
and continued to impress in 2025. He won the Long Beach Grand Prix with AO
Racing, albeit in a Porsche, was a part of the championship winning team for
their endurance races, and has done a season in the World Endurance
Championship with Ben Keating. The last is always a feat, as we have looked for
more than a decade, at who Keating chooses to drive with as they tend to become
superstars. Jonny was good in the LMP2 in IMSA this year, but he wasn’t the best.
3rd best average position, 5th best on average time off
pace, and 4th best on average position meant he showed a lot of
promise and stability. Before looking at the numbers, I would’ve said Edgar could’ve
been best, but that was actually a fairly close contest between two other drivers.
The one who did not take the award is newcomer Sebastian Alvarez. Alvarez
joined Tower Motorsport this season, and the young Mexican had a big challenge
on his hands. He had only ever driven at one track on the endurance calendar,
and he had to learn quickly. Thankfully he did. At two of the races, he was the
fastest driver in the car (by a combined margin of 0.35 of a second!!!) and he
set the fastest lap of the race at Indy. Seb had the second best average in all
3 categories of all the Silvers. Bettered only by…
Silver Driver of the Year: Hunter McElrea
For the
second consecutive year, Hunter McElrea stunned and shone. He was the only
silver driver to have an average position in the single digits (8.4), an
average pace better than anyone save 3 pros, and was alarmingly close to the
pace set by Mikkel Jensen…more on him soon. Hunter has proven to be the silver
driver everyone should want in their car, and the only shame is we only get to
see him for the 5 endurance races every year. He would make an excellent pro in
any LMP2 machine. Given how strong the
TDS platform has been globally let alone IMSA for the last 3 years, I can’t see
Hunter or Mikkel wanting a change anytime soon.
Pros (Gold/Platinum):
These are
the drivers who win the races. Yes, the bronzes and silvers put the car into
positions capable of winning, but it’s the pros who ultimately take them to the
podium or back to the trailer. That said, because they are in last, the pros
don’t always get in. I want to start by acknowledging that fact, because in
2025 only three Pros got to drive in every race. Hanley (Daytona), Jakobsen
(CTMP, PLM), Bourdais (CTMP, PLM), Jensen (Watkins Glen, CTMP), Di Resta (CTMP,
Road America), Dillmann (Road America), and Nielsen (Watkins Glen, CTMP, Road
America) all didn’t drive in races. Chatin, Dalziel, Jarvis, and Beche are all
included in the chart, although they only had 2 starts a piece. I want to point
out all the limited data because that does factor in to the averages.
Starting
with average time off co-drivers, Jarvis, Hanley, Chatin, Beche, and Nielsen
were never bettered by a teammate in their cars. It’s the next 6 drivers on the
chart that I find most impressive. Tom Dillmann, Mikkel Jensen, Malthe
Jakobsen, Paul Di Resta, Sebastien Bourdais, and Dane Cameron, through 7 races,
were all consistently and impressively fast. If a co-driver beat their time, it
was by almost nothing. Consider that Dane Cameron, Felipe Fraga, and Pietro
Fittipaldi drove in every race, yet Dane’s average was more than a tenth better
than either of the other two! In racing, that’s huge.
Average
time off pace wise, 7 drivers were less than ¾ of a second off pace on average.
Position wise, 8 drivers were in the single digits. Who stood out? Well, Dane
Cameron, now 5 times an IMSA champion, was mid-pack, and that was shocking. He
did set the fastest lap at Road America, enroute to the victory. I thought Dane
drove brilliantly this year, but he drove for a championship, which he got!
Nicklas Nielsen was very consistent, 5th best for average position
and 4th for pace. Malthe Jakobsen once again wowed, and it’s a bit
sad that he didn’t get a win in the 2025 season. Tom Dillmann got a win at the 12
Hours of Sebring, and very nearly took the cake for the driver of the year as
well. He was so impressive all year, and had one of the less strong silvers
numerically speaking to hand him the car to start his final stints. Another in
that camp is Ben Hanley, 4th best for average position and 5th
for average pace. Ben had to watch the sister car get two victories, and he’ll
be hungry to set that right as soon as Daytona rolls around. But once again, it
was a familiar name taking the honors for best pro.
Pro Driver of the Year – Mikkel Jensen
Mikkel + LMP2 + TDS Racing = yes. When Mikkel is in the car, magic tends to happen. He can put down blazingly fast laps, race elbows out, and smile the whole way through. Mikkel’s average position was 2 spots better than anyone else. His average pace was almost 2 tenths better than the next, and he set the fastest lap of the race at Daytona and Sebring, and won Indy and Petit Le Mans decisively. For the second consecutive year, Mikkel Jensen proved to be THE guy you’d want in your LMP2 machine.
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