By the Numbers – GTD Pro

Wins –

              #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW (Daytona)

              #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports (Detroit)

              #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini (Road America & VIR)

              #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus (Watkins Glen & CTMP)

              #64 Ford Racing Mustang (Indy)

              #65 Ford Racing Mustang (Laguna Seca)

              #68 Car Blanche Aston Martin (Petit Le Mans)

              #911 Manthey Porsche (Sebring)

The first thing that stands out here is diversity. Only one team won with both of its cars, and only two cars won multiple races. The only GTD Pro manufacturers not to win a race were Ferrari and McLaren, and neither of those managed to get a podium.

Champions – Connor De Philippi and Neil Verhagen, Paul Miller Racing, Chevrolet.

MEC Champions - Connor De Philippi and Neil Verhagen, Paul Miller Racing, BMW.

 

Qualifying – Poles – Sims (Daytona & Detroit), Hawksworth (Sebring, Laguna Seca, & Watkins Glen), Verhagen (CTMP & Petit Le Mans), King (Road America), Caldarelli (VIR).

 

Note – for the GT drivers, I did a running average of how they stacked up in their Fastest Lap compared to their teammates, to give a number I’m referring to as “rank”. Obviously drivers who were part of 2 driver squads for the majority of the year had lower averages, so keep that in mind.

Team by Team:

Paul Miller Racing – BMW – 1 (Connor De Philippi & Neil Verhagen)

              The champions. What a year 2026 was for the PMR crew. After starting Daytona on completely the wrong foot (losing their starting position for excess camber), they fought back and won the Rolexes. Verhagen did every qualifying session of the year, the only GTD Pro driver with that honor, and averaged qualifying 3.9, along with two poles. He was the fastest driver in the BMW for half of the races. When he was outdone by a teammate, it wasn’t by much, on average 0.072 seconds, which was the 2^nd best average of any full season driver.  Verhagen’s Average Overall Position, which takes into account all GT3 cars, was 16.5, 2^nd best of the full season drivers, and his Position for just GTD Pro was 4^th best at 10.8. His Average Pace was 0.447 off, the best of the GTD Pro class full season runners. Clearly, Verhagen had a very, very strong year.

              Let’s look at Connor De Philippi, because usually when one half of the driving squad is strong, it’s at the expense of a teammate. Connor was fastest in the BMW 3 times, and his average Time off Co-drivers was 0.303. Pace-wise, he averaged 0.729 off the Fastest Lap, and his position Overall and in Class both was middle of the pack. It’s interesting, because Verhagen was clearly the stronger driver this year but he also started every race. Traditionally, the starting driver doesn’t get new tires, nor do they finish the race, and most of the time the finishing driver, courtesy of new tires, is able to go faster. De Phillippi would’ve had new tires in each race, or at least gently used tires from a single qualifying run, but Verhagen was faster. I seem to remember PMR giving De Phillippi the middle stint and having Verhagen start and finish in a few different races.

One thing is clear, though. This combination worked very well in 2026. One win, 3 other podiums, and only 3 finishes outside of the top 5 gave Paul Miller Racing another two championships.

 

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports – Corvette - 3 (Antonio Garcia & Alexander Sims) 4 (Tommy Milner & Nicky Catsburg)

              There were seven cars mathematically still in contention to win the GTD Pro Championship entering Petit Le Mans, and possibly the biggest surprise of the year was the fact that the number 3 Corvette, last year’s champions, weren’t among that group. Yes, they were the only Corvette to find Victory Lane in 2026, but the 3 was the best finishing Bow Tie shod car in only 2 races. Both of the Pratt Miller cars beaten in the only race featuring a Chevy from another team in their class. It was actually DragonSpeed finishing ahead of the Ford that gave Chevrolet the manufacturer’s championship, because if the DragonSpeed car hadn’t been in GTD Pro, the Blue Oval would’ve been better placed than the Bow Tie at the checkered flag. But I digress.  

Before I delve into what a strong season the 4 had, I want to give due diligence to the 3. Alexander Sims was the DotY for 2025, and his speed was still on full display in 2026. He scored two poles, set the Fastest Lap of the race at Detroit, and had the best full season driver average in qualifying of 3.3. As far as his speed, his numbers were still super impressive. He was beaten in Average Position both Overall (18) and Class (11) by both drivers of the 4, but still was ahead of Garcia (20.9 and 12.9 respectively). For Average Pace, Sims was right behind Catsburg, the two separated by less than 2 hundredths. It’s funny to look at where Sims stacks up for Time off Co-drivers because this is a slight change to year. While still posting a very respectable time, 0.256, he’s solidly middle of the chart. Garcia was 0.329 off Co-drivers and 0.652 off Pace, but again nothing stands out as a red flag or explains why in 2026 the only trip the 3 took to the podium was to claim the big win in Detroit.

              However, there’s no denying the shadow cast on the 3 by the strength of the 4 this year. Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner got the 4 on the podium 4 times, but no victories. Their last wins were Sebring 2022 for Catsburg and VIR 2021 for Milner. *I actually had to walk away from the article for a couple of days after writing this fact.* They saw every checkered flag on the race track, and had 6 top-5 finishes. The sister car, also of note, had 5 top-5 finishes, but critically had a DNF at VIR. In individual driver performance, Catsburg was super strong, setting the Fastest Corvette Lap in half of the races, and Fastest Race Lap at Petit Le Mans. In qualifying, Nicky averaged 5.2, 3^rd best of the full season drivers. It’s in the races where Nicky hit another level. Best of the full season drivers in terms of Overall and Class Position, 2^nd best of the full season for Pace, and 0.128 off Co-Drivers. Nicky had a super season, which makes it even stranger to think that he didn’t outdo the man with whom he shares a car by that much! Normally, when one driver has an exceptional season, it’s at the expense of his co-driver, but Tommy Milner was very strong in 2026 as well. Milner was fastest Corvette driver in 3 races. Tommy’s qualifying average was 5.8, which was about mid-way on the chart for full season drivers.  He was 2^nd to Catsburg on full season Class Position, 3^rd on the Overall Position, 4^th and very close to Catsburg and Sims on Pace, and 2^nd of the Corvette drivers to Time off Co-drivers at 0.241. If championships were awarded based on combined driver strength, the 4 would’ve won solidly! Instead, they finished 3^rd, 69 points from what one could argue they deserved. Last year’s champs, the 3, came home 8^th, ahead of only the McLaren in terms of full season runners. A tale of two seasons, yet no visible numerical reason as to why they faltered.

               

Pfaff Motorsports – Lamborghini – 9 (Andrea Caldarelli & Sandy Mitchell)

              2026 was supposed to be a difficult year for Pfaff, given the responsibility of debuting the new Temerario globally. The car was pushed from a debut at Daytona to save it from a 24 hour race for starters and instead rolled out at the 12 Hours of Sebring, a race arguably more difficult on man and machine than the Rolex. Their debut was their worst finish of the season, 10^th. That said, for debuting a new car, to finish every race and finish every race within the top 10 of a hyper competitive class is impressive. Watkins Glen and CTMP, their home race, were the only other non-top-5 finishes for the Temerario. That is impressive. An average finish of 4.9 was the second best of the class. Winning at Road America and VIR with further podiums at Detroit and Indy led Pfaff to second in the championship, only 38 points adrift of PMR.

              Qualifying was not their strong suit. Yes, Andrea Caldarelli got pole at VIR, but his average was 7.3, whereas Sandy Mitchell, who did the majority of the sessions at the start of the year, had the worst average of the full season drivers at 9.2. Andrea set the Fastest Lap of the race at VIR, and he was the fastest Lamborghini driver in 8 of the 10 races, with Sandy taking the honor at only Daytona and Watkins Glen. Andrea also had better numbers than Sandy in all categories. Andrea was next up behind Sims in terms of Overall position, but led the Corvette driver and Verhagen for Class, averaging 10.6. The Pace showed the initial weakness of the car, Caldarelli averaging 0.65 off. However, in terms of time off Co-Drivers, Caldarelli was very impressive, at 0.057 off. As mentioned earlier but bears repeating, he was only outperformed in his car twice. Sandy Mitchell’s debut season in IMSA was solid. He was on average outdone by Caldarelli by a quarter of a second. The Average Time off Pace, like with Caldarelli, was skewed by running a new car, and so Sandy clocked in at 3^rd worst of the full season runners. As for his Position both Overall and in Class, Mitchell was just ahead of Esterson, on the lower end of the grid.

              Let’s be honest, here. Pfaff Motorsports is a team that wins races and championships. With a brand-new car, no one expected them to be competitive enough to do either in 2026.  Pfaff outperformed expectations again, something they did more often than not in their IMSA story. In their 7 years, they won 2 championships, were runner up, and finished 3^rd. Only two full season attempts saw no victories, although both of those still brought podiums. This little Canadian team became a global favorite, and it’s fair to say without them on the grid, IMSA will have a maple leaf shaped hole in its soul.

 

Vasser Sullivan Racing – Lexus – 14 (Jack Hawksworth & Ben Barnicoat)

              Let’s start with the good for the 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus in 2026: Fastest Lap at Laguna Seca, 3 poles for Hawksworth (Sebring, Laguna Seca, and Watkins Glen), and 2 wins (Watkins Glen and CTMP). The only trips to the podium all year were those wins, and the next best finish was 5^th. Only once was the Lexus the fastest car on track. Their average pace was 9.6, which was 4^th worst. But that’s no excuse, because Pfaff’s average pace was 9.7 and they finished 2^nd in the championship whereas the Lexus was 7^th. Their average finish was 6.6, with 7 finishes outside of the top-5. Even with the poles for Jack, his average in qualifying was 6.0, right in the middle. Barnicoat qualified only once, putting the car 3^rd at Detroit. Race pace wise, Jack was fastest in the car 7 times, and Ben the other 3. Jack was just ahead of Garcia for Overall and behind Sims for Class Positions, both very respectable, but still in the middle. Barnicoat’s average Overall Position was just behind Esterson and ahead of only Ford for full season drivers. In Class Position, he fared better, averaging 15.0 which was just behind King and ahead of Mitchell. The Average Pace was again towards the bottom, but it’s worth noting he was just over a tenth off Hawksworth’s average. The Time off Co-Driver is also super respectable, considering Ben was beaten by Jack in most of the races, at 0.219. That was better than Milner!

              And yet, they entered Petit Le Mans mathematically with a chance at winning the championship, albeit a scant one. They finished in 7^th, 238 points adrift of P1.  For a couple of guys used to bringing home trophies, on paper 2026 was very difficult for Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth. A new car awaits them in 2027, and they will be trophy hunters once again.

 

RLL Team McLaren – McLaren – 59 (Nikita Johnson & Max Esterson)

              Rahal Letterman Lannigan is no stranger to Pro GT racing in IMSA, but their storied history was all with a German marque. 12 years in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship and 5 years in the American Le Mans Series before meant that Team RLL almost needed a laser to remove the “BMW” part of its name that came before. The undeniable and interwoven histories of the two had become more of a cultural identity than a simple cooperation. So, when it was announced that for 2026 the team would be racing a McLaren, a lot of people were skeptical over the transition. If Pfaff couldn’t find success with the brand, would RLL be able? For 2026, the simple answer was no. The 59 scored the fewest points of any full season entry, 384 fewer than the 3 Corvette in eighth. To put that into perspective, a race weekend with a pole and a win is 385 points. That means even if the 59 had an extra race weekend compared to the rest of the grid where they scored maximum points, they’d only have moved up one position in the championship. Ouch. Their average finish was 9.5…in a class that in half of the races had 10 cars or fewer. They failed to crack the top 5, and finished outside of the top 10 in 40% of the starts, including 3 DNFs in endurance races.

              Qualifying was actually a bit of a bright spot for the McLaren. MacDonald put it 2^nd and 4^th in his two starts, and Esterson’s average of 5.3 was 4^th best of full season drivers. The race pace wasn’t really there. MacDonald set the Fastest Lap of the race at Daytona, but Esterson only had 2 laps fast enough for the top 5 in any race. Their average for Fast Lap pace as a manufacturer was the worst of the class and the only manufacturer in the double digits at 10.2.

              As far as individual performance was concerned, Esterson was fastest in the car at 8 of 10 races, Johnson getting the better of him at VIR, and both drivers were well off MacDonald at Daytona. Esterson had the 6^th worst Overall Position and was between Mitchell and champion De Philippi for class of the full season drivers. He was toward the bottom in Pace, averaging 0.772 off, but due to his dominance over Johnson in all but one race, had a very good ranking in Time off Co-Drivers. Nikita Johnson was last of full season drivers in every category measured.

              Was it the car? Yes, but no. Was it the team? Again, yes, but no. Was it the drivers? Yes, but no. MacDonald set the Fastest Lap at Daytona, proving the car had speed. MacDonald qualified 2^nd and 4^th in his two attempts, and Esterson also qualified 2^nd at CTMP and 4^th at Road America and VIR. It wasn’t a consistent lack of speed. Their 3 DNFs occurred on lap 140 Watkins Glen when Esterson was driving, Lap 113 Road America with Esterson driving, and lap 144 Petit Le Mans on Benji Goethe’s out lap. At Wakins, their problems started when Johnson was the meat in the sandwich of 3 GT3 cars going into Turn 1. At Road America, Johnson had been battling for the lead during his last stint but the car retired shortly after Esterson climbed aboard for the final stint. Finally, at Road Atlanta, Nikita was hit from behind by the PMR BMW, but the car didn’t retire until Goethe got in. If MacDonald had been a full season driver with Esterson, who knows how the season would’ve panned out, but my guess is they would’ve had some top-5 finishes.

 

Ford Racing – Ford – 64 (Ben Barker & Dennis Olsen) 65 (Christopher Mies & Frederic Vervisch)

Both of the Fords still had a chance of winning the GTD Pro championship entering Petit Le Mans. That deserves a small round of applause. Also worthy of a round of applause is the fact that they were the second worst manufacturer in terms of Fast Lap pace and yet they had the second-best average in terms of finish. That means they did the most with the least! 6 podiums total between the two cars (3 apiece), a win at Laguna Seca for the 65 and at Indy for the 64, 2 Fastest Laps (both achieved by Barker, at CTMP and Indy), and average finishes of 5.9 and 5.8 for the 64 and 65 respectively meant the two cars were very well matched. In fact, each car finished ahead of the sister car 5 times during the year. Very well matched, indeed. But were the drivers?

Let’s start with qualifying. Olsen had the fewest attempts, only 3 sessions, and his average was 8.3. Barker, with whom he shared the 64, did all the rest and averaged 9.0. For the sister car, it was 4 sessions for Vervisch, who averaged 7.3, and 5 for Mies, who was narrowly behind at 7.6. That put all 4 of the Ford drivers in the bottom half of the full season drivers qualifying averages. Clearly one lap speed was not their strength.

Looking at the drivers individually, one stood above the rest…and no that’s not meant to be a tall joke. Ben Barker had a very stout year. Not only did he set the Fastest Lap of the Race twice, his Average Position both Overall and Class were significantly better than the others. Mies was slightly ahead of the other two in both categories as well, but Vervisch and Olsen were together on both charts. For Average Pace, again Barker was above, 0.629 compared to 0.762 for Mies, 0.793 for Vervisch, and 0.904 for Olsen. Barker was the fastest Ford driver in half of the races this year, and still boasted the best number in Time off Co-drivers at 0.082, which was actually 3^rd best of the full season drivers. Mies was next at 0.241, having been fastest Ford driver in 2 races. Vervisch, never the fastest Ford driver, was 0.34 off. It’s Olsen, who twice was fastest of the Ford group, who was the biggest surprise. He averaged 0.446 off, which was only better than Nikita Johnson. 

The two Fords finished 5^th and 6^th in the championship, separated by a mere 4 points. Each car suffered one DNF and only one finish outside of the top 10. With an unchanged driver line up, as previously announced by IMSA, there’s little reason to think the Ford crews won’t be fighting for more wins and podiums in 2027. If they get a bit more speed to the cars or not, the Blue Oval reps have proven little can hold them back from being serious contenders.

 

AO Racing – Porsche – 77 (Harry King & Nick Tandy)

Rexy won a championship 2 years ago; he’s proven that he belongs in the ranks of the GTD Pro greats. For 2026, he found 2 new dinosaur wranglers in Nick Tandy and Harry King. Side note: this pairing makes my new favorite as they can be known as King Tandy, a title I think Nick would proudly sport. Nick qualified only once all year, at his stock car mecca Daytona. Harry, the new kid to IMSA, did all the rest and averaged 5.4, including a pole at the team owner’s home track, Road America. The duo combined for 4^th in the championship, an average finish of 5.5, 5 podiums including four runner-ups, and one Fast Lap at Sebring, courtesy of King. The year started out a bit tenuous, because for the endurance races they were joined in the Porsche stable by Manthey, who beat AO at Daytona and Sebring. Manthey suffered a DNF at Watkins, and a late race penalty at Road America that ultimately took them out of contention. Porsche as a whole had a middle of the pack year finishes wise, but as far as pace was concerned, they were the third strongest manufacturer in GTD Pro, if you include the Aston Martin who only did 4 races. Porsche had pace, and so did Rexy.

As previously noted, King did 90% of the qualifying, so he didn’t always get fresh tires in a race, whereas Tandy should’ve had fresh tires in every race. Nick’s numbers for 2026 are very, very good. He was 6^th best in Overall and 8^th in Class Position, whereas King ranked in the middle for both. As far as Pace, they almost matched. King narrowly beat Tandy, 0.707 to 0.723. In Time off Co-drivers Tandy had half a tenth on King, the 4^th best average compared to the 7^th best. Tandy was fastest in the car 7 times, and King the other 3. They were an excellent pairing, and they were both well ahead of Picariello, who’s no slouch!

The biggest mystery to me is why these two didn’t win several races. Clearly the car and the drivers were capable. The team we know is capable. Should AO return in 2027 with King Tandy, I see no reason why they won’t be adding gold teeth to that dino’s smile.

 

Limited Season Cars:

Car Blanche Aston Martin 68, Manthey Porsche 911, Triarsi Competitizione Ferrari 033, Risi Competitizione Ferrari 62.

Two of these four cars won races. Car Blanche took a surprise victory at Petit Le Mans, and Manthey won Sebring. Neither of those are easy races to win. The two Ferraris failed to make the podium in any of their 5 starts. In fact, the Triarsi car averaged 8.2 as a finish and Risi languished back at 9.2, and they combined for an average Fast Lap pace of 9.4, which is middle of the field. Lack of pace wasn’t the issue. The Porsche, even with the win, had an average finish of 6.8, and the Aston, across its four starts, averaged 6. That would’ve put the best of those in the bottom half of the full season championship.

I’m going to focus on the positive. Hasse Clot was the fastest in the Aston 3 of the 4 races it did. His Overall Position was between Catsburg and Verhagen, and he was ahead of Catsburg (who was best) for Class Position. Hasse Clot’s Average Pace was 3^rd behind Calado (who we will get to in a moment) and Verhagen, and the Aston Martin driver was less than a tenth of a second on average to his co-drivers. Solid numbers. I mentioned Calado, and he deserves a lot of praise too. Through 5 races, his Overall Position was between Milner and Sims. His Class Position was right behind Tandy. Calado had the best number for Average Pace of drivers who competed in more than 2 races, and was very respectable on Time off Co-Drivers. He was by far best of the Ferrari GTD Pro drivers this year, impressive when you consider that includes Rovera, Agostini, Serra, Rigon, Pier Guidi, and Molina. Manthey had a revolving door of drivers in their car, the only ever-present being Bachler, and his numbers were not good for 2026, toward the bottom of every measured category.

There was another group of cars who deserve mentions, even if their driver numbers don’t really stack up.

One-Off Appearances:

Winward Racing Mercedes 48 (Daytona and Sebring), 75 Express Mercedes 75, DragonSpeed Corvette 74, Vasser Sullivan Lexus 15, GetSpeed Mercedes 69

              The biggest thing I’d like to point out here was the results achieved by these cars. Both the Winward Racing and the 75 Express Mercedes made it on the podium at Daytona. The DragonSpeed Corvette, as noted earlier, helped Chevrolet secure the manufacturer’s championship. Vasser Sullivan entered another Lexus for Detroit, and although the car didn’t do anything flashy, it was another opportunity to see the then defending SuperCars champion Chaz Mostert flaunting his skills. The final car to do just one race was the GetSpeed Mercedes, and that set them up for what appears to be a full season effort for 2027. 

GTD Pro Driver of the Year:

              There were 3 candidates this year who stood out significantly, but first some honorable mentions. Andrea Caldarelli put down some serious numbers in a car that needed a lot of developing. Nick Tandy recaptured some of his magic, showing once again why he is a living legend. Ben Barker shone the brightest blue of the Ford stable. After a meh 2026, Tommy Milner showed UP. If his teammate hadn’t been Nicky Catsburg, Tommy would probably have been DotY.  No poles for Tommy, but also no poles for our Driver of the Year, which means it isn’t Neil Verhagen, who also put up a really strong argument for why he deserved the title. Neil had the second-best qualifying average, the best Average Pace, and of course won the championship. He wiped the floor with his teammate numerically speaking. But only our Driver of the Year, Nicky Catsburg, shared the car with someone equally as strong and at the top of each chart. Nicky had the best Overall and Class Average Positions, the second-best Average Pace, and was the leader of the Corvette group. Although he didn’t get a race win, Nicky looked strong pace-wise in every start. He also spent the better part of 2026 behind the wheel of a Corvette. Whether it was Bathurst, the World Endurance Championship, IMSA or whatever random race he could find, Nicky stayed busy and definitely used the seat time to his advantage. The numbers say Driver of the Year is Nick Catsburg, and I can’t argue with the numbers.

2016 – 2026 IMSA GT3

Greetings, everyone, and happy Monday!

It's been a busy week, with the World Endurance Championship season finale in Monza, which is every bit as magical as you think it would be. That track has captured my heart on a level equal to Spa, Watkins Glen, and Road America. History lingers in every pebble. 

To celebrate such a fantastic race, I wanted to give everyone a little gift. One of the many spreadsheets that I keep is a results page of sorts for every car in the GTD category of IMSA. Since we’ve now had a full 11 years of these magnificent beauties on the racetracks around North America, how about a little progress report?

              I do not have any GTD Pro cars counted in these statistics because until fairly recently, that class did not have as sizable participation as GTD, and thus it would’ve skewed the numbers greatly. A top 5 finish in GTD in 2023 was an achievement with 12 cars running the full season whereas there were only 4 full-time GTD Pro entries. See what I mean? So please don’t get upset when you see numbers that don’t include your GTD Pro favorite’s achievements. Lexus in the GTD category has run 64 endurance races with only one victory. I know they’ve won endurance races in GTD Pro, but those victories are not counted for this assessment. This is GTD only. Good? Okay, let’s proceed.

 

Acura

8 cars (MSR x2, Gradient, Compass, Magnus, Hart, Rick Ware Racing, Racer’s Edge)

165 races	58 enduros
8 wins	4 wins
29 podiums	8 podiums
32 DNFs	12 DNFs

 

Aston Martin

9 cars (Heart of Racing x2, TF Sport, AMR, TRG, Magnus, Andretti, Flying Lizard, van der Steur/Car Blanche)

120 races	68 enduros
9 wins	4 wins
32 podiums	18 podiums
26 DNFs	20 DNFs

 

Audi

12 cars (NTE Sport, Carbahn, Hardpoint, WRT, Starworks, Moorespeed, Land, Magnus, Alex Job Racing, Stevenson x2, Flying Lizard Motorsport)

105 races	49 enduros
4 wins	2 wins
17 podiums	8 podiums
11 DNFs	8 DNFs

 

BMW

3 cars (Turner x2, Paul Miller Racing)

160 races	65 enduros
20 wins	4 wins
48 podiums	16 podiums
23 DNFs	9 DNFs

 

Corvette

4 cars (AWA x2 [now 13 Autosport], DXDT, DragonSpeed)

54 races	31 enduros
1 wins	1 wins
3 podiums	2 podiums
10 DNFs	8 DNFs

 

Ferrari

13 cars (Scuderia Corsa x2, AF Corse, Via Italy, Spirit of Race, Risi Competizione, Squadra Corsa, Cetilar, Triarsi Competizone x2, Conquest, Inception, DragonSpeed)

169 races	124 enduros
10 wins	9 wins
41 podiums	24 podiums
38 DNFs	36 DNFs

 

Ford

3 cars (Proton, Gradient, Myers Riley)

37 races	20 enduros
0 wins	0 wins
0 podiums	0 podiums
12 DNFs	13 DNFs

 

Lamborghini

23 cars (Paul Miller Racing, Grasser x2, Magnus, Gear, PPM, EBI, Change x2, DAC, Konrad x2, Dream, O’Gara, Carbahn, NTE, TR3, Iron Dames, Iron Lynx, Pfaff, WTR, USRT/Forte)

252 races	131 enduros
13 wins	6 wins
44 podiums	17 podiums
58 DNFs	43 DNFs

 

Lexus

2 cars (3GT/Vasser Sullivan)

171 races	64 enduros
13 wins	1 win
37 podiums	7 podiums
25 DNFs	16 DNFs

 

McLaren

3 cars (Compass, Inception, Crucial)

45 races	16 enduros
0 wins	0 wins
7 podiums	3 podiums
12 DNFs	4 DNFs

 

Mercedes AMG

9 cars (Allegra, SunEnergy, Riley, P1, LoneStar, WeatherTech, Korthoff, Winward, O’Gara)

225 races	105 enduros
22 wins	10 wins
44 podiums	17 podiums
40 DNFs	26 DNFs

 

Porsche

26 cars (Hardpoint x2, Pfaff, TGM, Wright x2, Black Swan, Park Place, NGT, Manthey, TRG, Allegra, CORE, Alex Job Racing x2, Heart of Racing, Frickadelli, GMG, Andretti, MDK, AO, Iron Dames, KellyMoss x2, Muehlner, RS1)

300 races	141 enduros
17 wins	6 wins
52 podiums	23 podiums
34 DNFs	21 DNFs

 

 Full Season

Endurance

Best Full Season Car for Wins – BMW

Best Full Season Car for Podiums – BMW

Best Full Season Car for Seeing the Finish – Audi

 

Best Car to Win an Endurance Race – Mercedes

Best Car to Get a Podium in an Endurance Race – Aston Martin

Best Car to Finish an Endurance Race - BMW

We'll be returning to the driver assessments soon, with GTD Pro coming next. I've written it and now get to edit all 9 pages of my ramblings before putting it out to the world. GTD is still to come, but I've already done the BoP article. That's the cherry on the ice cream sundae, though, so you'll have to be patient for that and join me along the ride to get there!

Enjoy your Monday and you'll be hearing from me again soon :)

By the Numbers – LMP2

Wins –

              # 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR (Daytona & Petit Le Mans)

              #2 United Autosports USA (Sebring)

              #99 AO Racing (Watkins Glen)

              #43 InterEuropol Competition (CTMP & Road America)

              #18 Era Motorsport (Indianapolis)

Champions – George Kurtz & Alex Quinn, Crowdstrike Racing by APR

MEC Champions – George Kurtz, Alex Quinn & Toby Sowery, Crowdstrike Racing by APR

 

Qualifying –

Poles – Clark (Daytona, Watkins Glen, CTMP, Indy), Goikhberg (Sebring & Road America), Hyett (Petit Le Mans).

 

For 2025, we had 5 different LMP2 teams cross the finish line first in 7 races. For 2026, we had the same result. Parity reigns, but funnily enough so do some patterns. For the second consecutive year, the Le Mans Pro-Am LMP2 winners won the IMSA and the ELMS Pro-Am championships. And, once again, our champions were not our Drivers of the Year…

 

Bronze:

This year, 14 different LMP2 cars started at least one race. For our purposes, the three who ran less than the 5 enduros will not be discussed. Era chose not to run in Canada, while Intersport missed that and Indy as well. Era had 2 different bronzes over the year, Nick Boulle, who found victory at Indy thanks to a genius strategy call.

A lot of the big hitters from the Bronze class from 2025 returned, with Boulle, Thomas, Perez Companc, and Robinson as the big names to leave. Kurtz, Clarke, Goldburg, Hyett, Farano, Cumming, Lutke, and Field added Goikhberg for PR1, Rao for Era, and Fayer for United to the fray.  We’ll get to the Silver and Pro musical chairs in a minute. Given how competitive 2025 was, the importance of a strong Bronze was expected to play an even more critical role to win races. It did…just once. The strongest Bronze pace-wise at CTMP took home the biggest trophy. The last three races of the year, Misha Goikhberg was the fastest of the Bronzes. At Daytona and Sebring, it was the defending champion PJ Hyett. Kurtz, the 2026 champion, was fastest only at Watkins Glen…a race in which he finished 2^nd. So this year, the Bronze driver did not contribute as greatly by having a strong pace in his stints as perhaps demonstrated in years past.

Let’s start with last year’s champ. PJ Hyett was above the rest, with the best Average Position and Pace, and the best of the full season runners for Average Time off Co-Drivers (which becomes even more impressive later). Fourth in the championship tells more about bad results rather than a weak Bronze driver, and PJ was far from that. He earned just the one pole, and had the fourth best qualifying average of the year, but that number is skewed due to a technical infraction at CTMP that resulted in the 99 starting last.  Hyett’s worst earned starting position from a qualifying session was on the second row of the grid. The same can be said, however, of last year’s DotY for the Bronzes, Dan Goldburg. Dan had the second-best qualifying average, 2.6. The race pace was right there as well. He was 2^nd best for Position, and third best for both Pace and Time off Co-Drivers, teamed up again with Paul Di Resta. But the results weren’t there. No poles, no wins, and only 2 podiums in a hyper-competitive class weren’t enough, and resulted in a third-place finish in the championship.  Goldburg was beaten in the championship by Clarke, who massively stepped up in 2026. Jeremy had the 4^th best Position but the second-best Pace, and still struggled a bit in Time off Co-Drivers, but he was going up against a superstar we will get to later. He was, by far, the man to beat in qualifying…and many tried but not many did! Clarke’s average starting position was 1.7, with his 4 poles and a worst starting position of third! He figured out Saturday, and twice was winner on Sunday as well. He lost the championship by 20 points, and lost the Rolex by 5.59 seconds. If Clarke’s car had won the Rolex, they would’ve won the championship by 10 points.

But it wasn’t Jeremy Clark who won the championship, the Jim Truman award, and the invite to Le Mans, that was George Kurtz. George was the 5^th best Bronze for average position, averaging more than 5 spots behind Hyett. Pace, George was again the 5^th strongest Bronze, but 8 tenths of a second behind Hyett. Time off Co-Drivers is where things get a little skewed. Kurtz had a VERY strong team around him, more so I’d say than any other LMP2 team. Kurtz was on average just over 2 seconds off what his co-drivers could do, whereas Hyett was 1.1 seconds off. This is a championship where teams win and lose, and he did take home almost all of the big prizes this year. But he’s not the Driver of the Year.  I do want to take a moment to acknowledge the performance of another man who could’ve taken the title. Misha Goikhberg stepped into the LMP2 class after running in almost every other class IMSA has to offer. Misha first ran in 2014, so he’s been around for a minute. With 109 starts after Petit Le Mans in PC, Prototype, GTD, and now LMP2, Misha is one of the most well-rounded experienced drivers in the series. It took a minute for him to figure out the cars, but especially toward the end of the year Misha had it. He tied for 2^nd best Bronze for Position, 4^th best for Pace, and 2^nd for Time off Co-Drivers. If he comes back, and if he gets a co-driver with as much hunger to win as he possesses, Misha will be a serious challenger for Champion in 2027.

Bronze Driver of the Year: PJ Hyett

 

Silver:

              It’s hard to judge the Silver drivers since we see them only 5 times a year, but in the time they were present, they certainly made their presence noticed. I want to start with a  driver who again delivered massively, the only Silver driver all year to set the Fastest Lap of a race…Sebastian Alvarez. Alvarez had the second best Position and Pace averages, and was beaten only twice all year in his own car, by Vautier at Petit Le Mans and Bourdais at Daytona. Every other race, Alvarez was the fastest driver in the Tower car. He had better averages than Sowery, who was a race winner at Petit and Daytona. Toby Sowery was the 4^th best for Position, third for Pace, and was the fastest guy in the car only at Sebring. He was a weapon, however, and I give a lot of credit to Sowery as to why Kurtz and Quinn won the LMP2 championship. His worth was not unnoticed, and in his 5 starts they recorded the two wins and two second place finishes, as well as a fifth. Last year’s Silver of the Year had a much less shiny season. Hunter was the third best on Position, yes but was almost a second off for Pace and half a second for Time off Co-Drivers. A change of team was the biggest difference for Hunter, but he was still up against Mikkel Jensen, so the change of gap to co-drivers isn’t easily explained. McElrea was fastest in the car at Watkins Glen and Petit, but it wasn’t by much. Another Silver who deserves praise from 2026 is Parker Thompson. Parker had a strong start to his LMP2 career, posting up the 5^th best Position for Silvers, the fourth best Pace, and the second- best average to Co-Drivers. He was fastest in the car at Daytona, but all 4 of the drivers were well off pace at Daytona so that’s not a fair representation. At Road America, he was the best in the car again, and much closer to the overall pace. But all of these Silvers pale in comparison to our Driver of the Year.

              Silver Driver of the Year: Jonny Edgar

There’s no denying Jonny Edgar is having a 2026 to remember. Le Mans Winner. WEC LMGT3 Champion elect (if he finishes 5^th or better). Winner of the 6 Hours of the Glen. Only once all year was Edgar not the fastest driver in the AO LMP2 machine. Read that sentence again, then remember that he shared the car with 5 times IMSA champion Dane Cameron. Edgar was only beaten by Cameron at Watkins, where Cameron was the 8^th fastest driver and Edgar was 9^th. 0.027 seconds separated the two of them. So if Edgar had gotten better traction out of one corner, he would’ve been undefeated within his own car for 2026. No other Silver driver was fastest in their own car more than 3 times. Jonny is in a different league. And he’s literally about to be, as well. Edgar will be upgraded in the driver ratings for 2027.  There’s zero argument about that validity. But from my perspective, Jonny Edgar outperformed many of the pro drivers this year. It’s true that he’s young and definitely has things still to learn, but he will. If I’m looking for a pro driver for my LMP2 team for 2027, you’d bet Edgar would be towards the top of my want list!

 

Pros:

              This category is always littered with interlopers, drivers who don’t do a full season, so for our purposes we will only take into consideration those who participated in a minimum of 6 of the 7 races. Let’s start with the champion. Alex Quinn started the year as strongly as anyone could, winning the Rolex and setting the Fastest Lap of the race. His Fastest Lap was over a second better than Malthe Jakobsen, with whom he shared the car, and Malthe is no slouch! Quinn was only beaten by Sowery at Sebring, but he had the second-best Average Position and Pace for full season drivers. Next up in both categories is Paul Di Resta. Paul was never beaten in his car for 2026, one of 10 drivers who can say that but only one of two full season drivers to boast that honor. Di Resta did not claim a Fastest Lap, however, or a race win. Only two podiums after a season with two race wins will leave him wanting more, especially since the sister car got the win at Sebring. Changing teams for Mikkel Jensen was always going to be notable, but going from strength to strength meant there should be no adaptation time. Mikkel put down the Fastest Lap for Sebring, but that race ultimately was their only top 5 finish all year. Five of the seven races Mikkel’s car either finished 9^th or 10^th. Jensen had the 4^th best Position and Pace for the full season Pros, but was not the fastest driver in the car at Daytona, Watkins Glen, or Petit Le Mans, and he didn’t even get to drive the car at Indy. It was a year to forget for last year’s Driver of the Year.

While I’m not going to go in depth with every driver, I do want to pay attention to last year’s champion as well, because it highlights the strength of both the Silver and Pro Drivers of the Year. Dane Cameron averaged 9.6 in position, whereas Edgar averaged 8.6 and our Pro DotY hit 3.3. Average time off Pace for Dane was 0.687 whereas Edgar was 0.654 and DotY was 0.289. Time off Co-Driver is a bigger telltale. Edgar, as we’ve already established, was a bit of an anomaly for the Silvers, fastest in the car in all but one race, whereas most Silvers were best in their car once or twice a year. Cameron was close to Edgar, but was on average 0.171 slower. We compare this to Mikkel Jensen (0.111) and Tristan Vautier (0.248), and Vautier also had a super Silver to go up against. In that sense, Cameron actually performed very well compared to his fast companion. This helps to remind us that sometimes the numbers are a bit deceiving, and that’s why we need to look beyond and remember context, because it’s not like Dane Cameron has lost any speed or forgotten how to drive in 2026.

Pro Driver of the Year: Tom Dillmann

              Considering what Tom did in 2026 extends well beyond what he accomplished in IMSA. Le Mans win for the 2^nd consecutive year. 3^rd in Asian Le Mans Series. 5^th in European Le Mans Series. It’s his impressive accomplishments in IMSA that we look at here. Best Average Position. Best Average Pace. Only bested in his car once all year, at Daytona by 0.061 seconds. He set the Fastest Lap of the race at Petit Le Mans and Road America, and was only out of the top 4 for Fastest Lap at Daytona. He was fast everywhere. Second in the championship does not tell the full story of Dillmann’s year, because he was the fastest Pro on track consistently all year. There are rumors about him getting a bigger stage soon, and I’d be curious to see how he would adapt to another category, but one thing is for sure: in 2026, Tom Dillmann was the best pro to have in your car for IMSA LMP2.

By the Numbers - GTP

 By the Numbers – GTP

Wins –

              Porsche – Daytona, Sebring, Laguna Seca, Petit Le Mans

              Acura – Long Beach

              Cadillac – Detroit, Watkins Glen, Road Ameirca

              BMW – Indianapolis

Champion – Jack Aitken, Whelen Engineering Cadillac, Cadillac

MEC Champions – Felipe Nasr, Julian Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich, Porsche Penske Motorsport, Porsche

 

Qualifying –

              Poles – Renger van der Zande (Daytona), Jack Aitken (Sebring & Watkins Glen), Nick Yelloly (Long Beach & Road America), Louis Deletraz (Laguna Seca), Earl Bamber (Detroit), Tom Blomqvist (Indy & Petit Le Mans)

 

Team by Team

Porsche Penske Motorsport – Porsche – 6 (Estre & Vanthoor, L.) 7 (Nasr & Andlauer)

              The same line that started last year’s analysis of this team applies eerily once again: the year started off pretty close to perfectly for PPM. The win for the 7 crew to start the year at Daytona was bolstered by the team’s 1-2 at Sebring, which had a bit of controversy, let’s not forget. Nasr and Estre wheel banging for the win must’ve given more than a few people in the Penske box terrified flashbacks of 2023 when both cars wrecked in the dying moments of the race. We never would’ve imagined the dominant 7 would not see the podium again all year, that Heinrich would out-perform the Penske Porsche in an older spec model with an underdog team, or that Kevin Estre would finish further ahead in the championship than the Daytona/Sebring winners. Still, offer any driver a Rolex and Sebring win and a “meh” season to follow, 9 out of 10 drivers would take it and the one hold out would be lying. 

              When it was announced that Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor were teaming up for a full year effort in GTP, a LOT of people were excited to see the World Endurance Champions come try to tackle IMSA, yours truly included. They did make a big bang…literally. The first 7 races featured cars from the 6 crew with damage in one form or another. There is one thing we need to acknowledge: IMSA is war. Never let your guard down, always have elbows out, contact is everywhere with everyone. It doesn’t have to be that way, but in recent years, it has been. Their car, for some reason, always had more battle scars than the others. Only the one DNF at Road America, the win at Petit (finally in Kevin’s 32^nd start), the 2^nd at Sebring, and further podiums at Long Beach and Indy, they had a fairly average season.

              Looking at the numbers, Porsche Penske Motorsports was only fast in the races it won. Fastest Lap for Campbell at Daytona and Nasr at Sebring and only 8 laps inside the top 5 (half of those from Sebring as well) all year showed the pace wasn’t there for the cars for most of the season. Andlauer was the fastest of the group three times, Estre twice, and every other driver once. How did they stack up generally? Heinrich was the strongest across all 3 categories, 4^th best for Pace and Position, and 5^th for Time off Co-Driver (aided by sharing the car with drivers in the JDC Car, but more on that later). Estre was just behind Aitken on Position and Pace, and was the next best Porsche driver for time off co-drivers, but was 9^th best from the full season drivers on this point. He was significantly ahead of Larry though, who’s Position was middle and Pace was towards the bottom of the full season runners. For time off co-drivers, I was very surprised to see Vanthoor as the 4^th worst of the full season runners. Nasr wasn’t much better, however. He was the worst of the PPM drivers for Position, and he and Andlauer were almost together on Pace and time off co-drivers. I can’t actually remember the last time Nasr has been that close to or beaten by a teammate. In qualifying, Andlauer averaged 6.7 and Nasr and Estre both 7.2, while Vanthoor had 6.0. The pace simply wasn’t there for PPM or their drivers.

              Between the two cars, they earned 3 wins and the Michelin Endurance Championship. But 6 podiums out of 20 potential opportunities is unacceptable for The Captain, and everyone wearing a Penske shirt is aware that representing that prestigious team requires better results.

 

Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian – Acura – 60 (Braun & Blomqvist) 93 (van der Zande & Yelloly)

              Although one team, these two cars had dramatically different seasons. The 93 started things off well with the pole at Daytona, and a win and pole at Long Beach for the Acura Grand Prix. Whereas I was lamenting the trials of PPM’s season, MSR had only 2 podiums all year, both thanks to the 93. As a team, they had big DNFs at Watkins, Road America and Petit, and very average finishes in most races. Still, the 93 managed to finish 3^rd in the championship with an average finish of 4.9. The sister car averaged 6.8. Here, we should take a second to acknowledge the 60. It was the only full season GTP car to not get a single podium, and in every other GTP scored at least 2 podiums. That’s not to say the 60 was slow. Blomqvist averaged 2.9 in qualifying, which would’ve been the best had Yelloly not been a factor, and between the two cars they scored 5 pole positions. Nick showed up and set the class alight with a shocking 2.5 average, although Renger did do 3 sessions for his own average of 4.7 while Blomqvist did every qualifying for the year. Still, this shows the speed was with Acura, maybe just not the luck.

              On race days, they had pace too. Blomqvist was a superstar again, setting the best average Position (5.8) and Pace (0.4) for the field, and was only beaten by Deletraz as far as time off co-drivers for full season contenders. Yelloly was right with him on the charts but further behind by the numbers. Nick’s Position (8.1) and Pace (0.488) were close, but the time to co-driver was almost a tenth slower and was in fact 10^th of the full season drivers. Renger had a silently strong year, overshadowed by the strength of the two already mentioned. Renger’s Position and Pace were 9^th best, and his pace to co-drivers was less than half a second off, but for this year that gap was quite big. Braun was the outlier of the group. His Position was 16^th, Pace was 18^th, and he was the second slowest of all drivers for time off co-driver. He, Dixon and Allmendinger were the only drivers not to set the fastest lap within the team for a race.

              With Acura’s departure from sportscar racing, I do just want to give a brief round of applause for what they accomplished. In their 82 races in the top class of IMSA, they took 37 poles, or 45% of the time. 9 drivers took pole for the brand, and each of those 9 got multiple poles for the manufacturer.  They won at every venue on the calendar except Indy, taking 25 wins total. What they accomplished in their time is remarkable, and deserves a round of applause from race fans everywhere.

 

BMW M Team RLL – BMW – 24 (D. Vanthoor & van der Linde) 25 (Eng & Wittmann)

              2026 saw a change up in the driver line up for WRT, albeit simply a switch of drivers in cars. Pairing Vanthoor and SvdL was a masterstroke, albeit one that resulted in shockingly only one victory. The 24 had 3 podiums and the 25 got two trophies, with each car failing to finish just one race each over the year. The biggest surprise was 0 poles for either car. Dries started 2025 with 4 consecutive pole positions but averaged 5.4 in qualifying for 2026, worse than his teammate Sheldon who averaged 4.8. Wittman’s qualifying average was 7.5, and Eng languished at 10.  They started on the front row only once all year.

              Race day numbers show the 24’s superiority. Vanthoor and SvdL were together on Position and Pace, and were only split by the Heart of Racing drivers as far as co-drivers pace is concerned. They were much further up the chart than the sister car. Wittmann was ahead of Eng, but not by much for Position. They were also near Heart of Racing, but towards the bottom of the chart. For Pace, Wittmann was solidly in the middle, between Ricky Taylor and Fred Vesti, and in the bottom third of average co-driver, with Eng in the bottom 3 for full season for both of the remaining categories. Within the team, Eng was never fastest, Wittmann taking the honor once, SvdL 3 times including Fastest Lap of Road America, and Vanthoor 4 times.

The biggest thing I see in their performance for 2026 is that BMW finished in the bottom half of the field (6^th or worse) in 10 out of 18 performances. Yes, they won Indy. But much like Penske and Shank before, Vincent Vosse’s organization will look at 2026’s championship results, 6^th for the 24 and 13^th for the 25, as ones to not be particularly proud of and with an urgency for need of change.

 

Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing  - 10 (Albuquerque & Ricky) 40 (Deletraz and Jordan)

              Last year I talked about how it was a difficult year for Wayne Taylor Racing, earning only 4 podiums between the two cars, no wins and no poles, finishing 6^th (10) and 10^th (40) in the championship. In 2026, they earned 4 podiums between the two cars, and added a win (Road America, 10) and a pole (Laguna Seca, Deletraz). Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to provide a better championship finish as this year the two cars slipped to 8^th (40) and 11^th (10) in the final points tally. They finished outside of the top 5 in 66% of the races although they only had two DNFs. That particular stat is much more condemning than it seems, because it means that they weren’t failing to finish, they were just failing to finish well. The performance simply wasn’t there. You can’t blame the manufacturer either, because the successes of Whelen and Cadillac counterbalance that. Was it something different with the drivers? Nope. No change for either of the squads meant they had the same consistency that won them races with Acura. The magic wasn’t there for WTR the last two years. Qualifying showed a big discrepancy though, particularly with regard to the strength of Deletraz. He had the third best average for the season, 3.3, which went mostly unnoticed throughout the year. Albuquerque got beaten here, with an average of 7. Both drivers did every session for the year.

              As far as in race performance goes, Louis Deletraz once again blew the competition out of the water. He had the second-best average Position and Pace and the best time to co-drivers of the year (0.128). Compare Louis’ time to Jordan’s time (0.436) and remember that they were in the same car. Ricky was the next best for WTR drivers on Position but was 11^th overall, 15^th for Pace and 17^th for co-driver. Jordan struggled most, 16^th for Position 13^th for Pace and just behind Ricky for co-driver. Albuquerque was between the brothers on Position but ahead on Pace and co-driver average, still a quarter second off the average from Deletraz. Louis was on another planet, fastest of the WTR drivers in 5 races. He found performance where the others didn’t, but it wasn’t his car that won a race.

Clearly something isn’t working for this organization right now, and with no declared big changes to the team, I fear it’ll be more of the same for WTR going forward.

 

Cadillac Whelen – 31 (Aitken, Bamber [not Long Beach] & Vesti)

              From a team where everything went wrong to a year where mostly everything clicked. Championships for Jack, the team, Cadillac. Only twice all year did they fail to finish, and it was only in both of those races that they weren’t the best finishing Cadillac. They lost the Rolex by 1.569 seconds to start the year, and this after their fourth driver cost them a drive thru penalty mid race, putting them a lap down, that they had to fight back from. All of the drivers had moments over the course of the year that led to big discussions, particularly Jack at Road America and Earl at Watkins Glen. All in all, they showed up every race and performed better than anyone else. 7 podiums in 9 races, wins in Detroit and Watkins Glen, 3 poles, and 3 Fastest Laps.

              First off, Fred participated in 6 races this year so I’m counting him. He was the fastest driver in the 31 at Daytona and Sebring, and had better average Position (12^th) and time to co-drivers (11^th ) than Bamber (14^th and 13^th respectively). Bamber beat him in average Pace, 12^th to 18^th. But both guys couldn’t hold a candle to our champion. Jack had the 5^th best Position and Pace, and third best time to co-driver by two-thousands of a second to Blomqvist. In qualifying, Jack had only one session all year where he was out of the top 5, and averaged 3.9. He was pretty darn solid in 2026.

Whelen was the team to beat this year, and although they weren’t perfect in the races, they did exactly what they needed, sealing all of the championships before the end of lap 1 of Petit Le Mans. It’s poetry that their average finish was 3.1. They still want the watch, and that will be their biggest challenge yet. The 31 Whelen entry has never won Daytona.

 

Heart of Racing Team – Aston Martin – 23 (Gunn & De Angelis)

              The biggest question in race fans minds everywhere is when will the Valkyrie win. It’s a testament to what a fan favorite this beast has become that millions of people around the world do not doubt that this car is capable of race victories in a super competitive series. But are the race fans right? The BoP has been beyond favorable for the Valkyrie for more than a year now, and in 2 years of IMSA competition it has achieved only one podium. In 2026, the Valkyrie had only 2 top 5 finishes, and one of those came when only 5 cars in class made it to the checkered flag on the track. They only didn’t finish at Watkins Glen, when Roman was involved in the crash in the esses toward the beginning of the race. So, the rest of the time, they were in the races but not competitive. The numbers speak to that. Starting in qualifying, Gunn did every session but averaged 8.6.  The only category in which the drivers were in the top ten was time off co-driver pace, where Gunn and De Angelis were 7^th and 8^th, showing they were very well matched this year. Gunn was faster in 6 races to Roman’s 2, but overall, they were both in the bottom 3 of Pace and Position.  De Angelis and Gunn finished 14^th in the championship, behind two drivers who missed races, and more than 750 points adrift of the champion. Aston Martin only once all year was not the worst scoring manufacturer in qualifying, beating only Porsche at Laguna Seca, and only twice were they not the worst scoring manufacturer in a race, again beating only one other manufacturer in each occurrence. Simply put, it was a very embarrassing year. The sole moment of glory was Ross Gunn setting the Fastest Lap of the race at Petit. They had only 2 other laps all year that registered in the top 10. Despite all of the BoP help possible (max power and lightest weight), the Valkyrie couldn’t find success. They’ll have to look for other answers besides BoP help to get to the podium.

 

JDC Miller MotorSports – Porsche – 85 (Tijmen van der Helm & Heinrich [Laguna, Detroit, Watkins, Road America])

              I’ve said in the past, JDC Miller MotorSports are the true underdog team for which everyone has a soft spot. When they won at Laguna, finally getting their first win since Sebring 2021, the racing world cheered. It was a big moment for Laurin Heinrich, establishing firmly that he is a championship contender in IMSA if he’s full season in anything (and even if he’s partial season, the guy is that good), but what a moment for the Church family. They ran a Porsche without all of the expensive upgrades, qualified terribly (best start position all year was 5^th at Watkins), and still managed to trouble the big dogs for podium spots all year. Along with the win at Laguna Seca, they finished on the podium at both Watkins Glen and Road America. But there’s no denying, Heinrich made the difference. Without him, they finished 7^th 8^th 9^th and DNF. Heinrich’s big moments of weakness came at Long Beach and Detroit, the latter of which earned him a stop plus 60 penalty. Heinrich set the Fastest Lap during Long Beach, and was only once not the fastest driver in the JDC Porsche. van der Helm was with De Angelis and Eng for Average Position, but had the worst Average Pace and the worst gap to co-drivers of the year, thanks to the Long Beach strategy of having him complete drive time under safety car. If that weekend is eliminated, he stays where he was for Average Position but moves to mid-pack for Pace and between Vanthoor and Estre for time off co-driver. That wouldn’t be bad, but he’s still closer to Frederick than Heinrich.  Frederick, credit where it’s due, had a better qualifying average than van der Helm, 9.7 compared to 10.8.

Yes, in 2026 JDC finally got another win, but if they don’t want it to be another 5 years before their next victory in the top class, they need to see who else they can bring into their program since Heinrich will be in the Penske machine full time for 2027. This year did prove that with the right drivers, this small but mighty team is right up there with the factory programs.

 

Driver of the Year –

              On paper, this could be 5 drivers easily. Aitken won the championship. Heinrich nearly did while piloting two different cars from two very different teams with vastly different budgets. Deletraz outperformed his machinery and team, putting up stellar numbers that his teammates couldn’t touch. Yelloly, once again, did stunning things in the Acura, extracurricularly winning Le Mans for the second time in his second attempt and signing a contract with Ford to pilot their new Hypercar as well. But for me, it’s a driver of a car that didn’t get a victory in 2026 that gets the title. Tom Blomqvist had the best average Position by 2, the best average Pace by four hundredths, and the second best average time to co-drivers with Nick Yelloly as a teammate! Ultimately, that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. Deletraz had the better average in that category, but he was up against drivers not even in the top-15 whereas Blomqvist was directly against another driver who could be categorized as DotY. Tom also had the best qualifying average, and he did that by running in every qualifying session of the year. He too will be sporting the Blue Oval next year, and if Ford puts Yelloly/Blomqvist/Campbell in the same car, they’ll have a machine limited only by what it can give the drivers, and not what those drivers would be capable of giving them. Although he got no IMSA trophies this year, I hope Tom appreciates his Driver of the Year award; it’s very richly deserved.