Action Express's No. 31 Cadillac Wins the IMSA GTP Championship

Porsche won the overall IMSA Motul Petit Le Mans for the first time since 2015 with the No. 6 of Laurens Vanthoor, Kévin Estre, and Matt Campbell, in a ten-hour race at Road Atlanta featuring rain, 15 yellow flags, and a lightning stoppage.

Photo By IMSA

Rain and lightning in the first half of the race

The No. 60 and No. 93 Acuras of Meyer Shank Racing started from the front row on a track made wet by earlier rain, and nearly all 54 cars began on rain tires. When the asphalt began to dry, the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of BMW M Team WRT moved to the front because it stayed on track longer than the Acuras before switching to slicks, and for about two hours the race ran in the dry, until with 6 hours and 43 minutes remaining a downpour sent more than half the field back to the pits for rain tires.

The No. 60 Acura, already on wets, took advantage of the restart to move from fourth to first in a brief green-flag lap, just before two LMP2 cars went off at the pit entry and caused the sixth caution. A lightning strike near the circuit then forced a red flag, and the race spent the fourth hour stopped before resuming under yellow flag shortly after 4:15 p.m. local time.

Photo By IMSA

With four hours completed, when the first Michelin Endurance Cup points are awarded, the No. 60 Acura led GTP, the No. 52 ORECA of Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen, with Misha Goikhberg, had inserted itself between the two LMP2 title contenders, the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, with Tommy Milner, was leading GTD PRO, and the No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Conquest Racing, with Albert Costa, led GTD. In that cup, the No. 04 ORECA of CrowdStrike Racing by APR and the No. 99 of AO Racing were tied on 42 points, and the No. 4 Corvette had closed to within three points of the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Paul Miller Racing.

Photo By IMSA

In GTD, the championship tipped toward the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG of Winward Racing from the early hours, because the No. 96 BMW of Turner Motorsport, its closest pursuer, retired with a water pressure problem, and the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO of Heart of Racing Team, another car with mathematical chances, spent more than an hour in the pits with an electrical failure before rejoining.

Photo By IMSA

In GTP, the title was already mathematically decided the moment the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen started the race. Jack Aitken won the drivers' championship, which he entered with 147 points more than Laurin Heinrich and in which his co-drivers, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti, were lower in the standings due to having scored fewer points, and Cadillac Whelen claimed the teams' title and Cadillac the manufacturers' title. That did not take them out of the fight for the win, because at the eight-hour mark the No. 31 was leading both the overall and GTP standings, aiming to repeat its 2025 victory.

Incidents that shook up LMP2 and GTD PRO in the final two hours

In GTD PRO, the No. 4 Corvette, the No. 1 BMW, and the No. 9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 of Pfaff Motorsports traded the top spot in the unofficial points table, which is calculated based on each car's position at every moment of the race, and with two hours to go the BMW was ahead of the other two on track, putting it on course to take the championship away from the Corvette.

Photo By IMSA

With roughly an hour and a half remaining, Felipe Nasr tried to pass through traffic in a three-wide move alongside the No. 6 Porsche and the No. 77 Porsche of AO Racing, made contact with Vanthoor, hit the No. 77, and ended up against the outside wall at turn 1 in the No. 7 Porsche of Porsche Penske Motorsport, bringing out the 14th yellow flag. Shortly afterward, the No. 4 Corvette collided with the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 of Ford Racing, with Dennis Olsen, and Nicky Catsburg went into the gravel at turn 10. The car had to be towed and lost a lap, and the 15th yellow tied the Petit Le Mans caution record, which dated back to 2017.

Photo By IMSA

With the Corvette out of the fight for the top positions, the No. 1 BMW of Connor De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, and Dan Harper finished third in GTD PRO, which was enough for the championship, which had stood at 47 points before the weekend and which qualifying had cut to 42.

In LMP2, the No. 04 ORECA and the No. 43 of Inter Europol Competition swapped positions several times, and contact between Tom Dillmann and Alex Quinn cost the No. 43 a drive-through penalty, which means passing through the pits without stopping, plus another stop to change the car's damaged nose. With just over an hour remaining, Dane Cameron hit the No. 52 ORECA of Harry Tincknell, and both ended up stuck off track at turn 1. The No. 99 of Cameron, PJ Hyett, and Jonny Edgar had already lost time early on due to an electronic issue that forced a steering wheel change, and it was tied with the No. 04 in the Endurance Cup, so the crash also weighed on that fight.

The No. 6 Porsche's victory and the champions in each class

In GTP, the fight for the win came down to the No. 6 Porsche of Porsche Penske Motorsport and the No. 24 BMW of BMW M Team WRT, because the No. 31 Cadillac went off track, damaged the rear of the car, and had to pit, where it fell back and out of the top three. The Porsche finished with 368 laps and just over a second ahead of the BMW, while the No. 40 Cadillac of Wayne Taylor Racing was third.

Photo By IMSA

The No. 04 ORECA won LMP2 with George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, and Toby Sowery, and Kurtz and Quinn claimed the class title. The No. 68 Aston Martin of Car Blanche, with Mattia Drudi, Valentin Hasse Clot, and Marco Sorensen, won GTD PRO, the team's first victory in that class, and Chevrolet retained the manufacturers' championship even though the drivers' title went to BMW. In GTD, the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG of Winward Racing, with Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, and Indy Dontje, won from pole and gave Ward and Ellis their third consecutive championship.

Photo By IMSA

What's coming in 2027

In GTP, Heinrich will be a full-time Porsche Penske Motorsport driver for the entire season after alternating this year between the No. 7 and the No. 5 of JDC Miller MotorSports, and Vanthoor will remain linked to the program as an endurance driver. The two Acura ARX-06s of Meyer Shank Racing will not run full-time due to the pause that had already been announced.

In GTD PRO, Ford Racing will keep its two Mustang GT3s with Olsen and Ben Barker in the No. 64, and Frédéric Vervisch and Christopher Mies in the No. 65, and Bartone Bros. Racing with GetSpeed will contest the full Michelin Endurance Cup in the class with a Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Anthony Bartone and Fabian Schiller as the first announced drivers. Petit Le Mans was also the last scheduled race for the Lexus RC F GT3 and the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, and Lexus is preparing the arrival of the new GR GT3, while Lamborghini will move to the Temerario GT.

29th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans 2026 

Pos	class	#	drivers	team	brand	car	laps	Gap
1	GTP	#6	Laurens Vanthoor Kevin Estre Matt Campbell	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche	Porsche 963	368	-
2	GTP	#24	Dries Vanthoor Sheldon van der Linde Robin Frijns	BMW M Team WRT	BMW	BMW M Hybrid V8	368	+1.205
3	GTP	#40	Jordan Taylor Louis Deletraz Colton Herta	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac	Cadillac V-Series.R	368	+8.630
4	GTP	#10	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque Will Stevens	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac	Cadillac V-Series.R	368	+9.266
5	GTP	#23	Ross Gunn Roman De Angelis Alex Riberas	ASTON MARTIN THOR Team	Aston Martin	Aston Martin Valkyrie	368	+31.466
6	GTP	#60	Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun Scott Dixon	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	Acura	Acura ARX-06	368	+42.082
7	LMP2	#04	George Kurtz Alex Quinn Toby Sowery	Crowdstrike Racing by APR	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	362	6 Laps
8	LMP2	#43	Jeremy Clarke Tom Dillmann Bijoy Garg	Inter Europol Competition	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	362	6 Laps
9	LMP2	#18	Naveen Rao Ferdinand Habsburg Jacob Abel	Era Motorsport	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	362	6 Laps
10	LMP2	#8	John Farano Sebastian Alvarez Tristan Vautier	Tower Motorsports	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	362	6 Laps
11	LMP2	#73	Pietro Fittipaldi Manuel Espirito Santo Chris Cumming	Pratt Miller Motorsports	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	362	6 Laps
13	LMP2	#37	Oliver Jarvis Max van der Snel Jon Field	Intersport Racing	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	360	8 Laps
14	LMP2	#52	Misha Goikhberg Parker Thompson Harry Tincknell	Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	360	8 Laps
15	LMP2	#2	Phil Fayer Hunter McElrea Mikkel Jensen	United Autosports USA	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	359	9 Laps
17	GTDPRO	#68	Valentin Hasse Clot Marco Sorensen Mattia Drudi	Car Blanche	Aston Martin	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	349	19 Laps
18	GTDPRO	#77	Nick Tandy Harry King Alessio Picariello	AO Racing	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	349	19 Laps
19	GTDPRO	#1	Neil Verhagen Connor De Phillippi Dan Harper	Paul Miller Racing	BMW	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	349	19 Laps
20	GTDPRO	#9	Andrea Caldarelli Sandy Mitchell Franck Perera	Pfaff Motorsports	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	349	19 Laps
21	GTDPRO	#62	Daniel Serra Davide Rigon Alessandro Pier Guidi	Risi Competizione	Ferrari	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	349	19 Laps
22	GTDPRO	#74	Giacomo Altoè Casper Stevenson Sebastien Bourdais	DragonSpeed	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	349	19 Laps
24	GTDPRO	#3	Antonio Garcia Alexander Sims Marvin Kirchhöfer	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	349	19 Laps
25	GTDPRO	#64	Ben Barker Dennis Olsen Mike Rockenfeller	Ford Racing	Ford	Ford Mustang GT3	349	19 Laps
26	GTDPRO	#14	Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat Kyle Kirkwood	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3	349	19 Laps
27	GTDPRO	#65	Christopher Mies Frederic Vervisch Sebastian Priaulx	Ford Racing	Ford	Ford Mustang GT3	349	19 Laps
28	GTDPRO	#4	Tommy Milner Nicky Catsburg Nico Varrone	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	348	20 Laps
29	GTD	#57	Russell Ward Philip Ellis Indy Dontje	Winward Racing	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3	346	22 Laps
30	GTD	#912	Ryan Hardwick Riccardo Pera Morris Schuring	Manthey 1St Phorm	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	346	22 Laps
31	GTD	#36	Mason Filippi Salih Yoluc Charlie Eastwood	DXDT Racing	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	346	22 Laps
32	GTD	#80	Luca Stolz Lin Hodenius James Roe	Lone Star Racing	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3	346	22 Laps
33	GTD	#44	John Potter Spencer Pumpelly Mario Farnbacher	Magnus Racing	Aston Martin	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	346	22 Laps
34	GTD	#21	Simon Mann Lilou Wadoux Ducellier Antonio Fuoco	Af Corse Usa	Ferrari	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	346	22 Laps
35	GTD	#120	Adam Adelson Callum Ilott Tom Sargent	Wright Motorsports	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	346	22 Laps
36	GTD	#70	Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff Fran Rueda	Inception Racing	Ferrari	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	346	22 Laps
37	GTD	#023	Onofrio Triarsi Kenton Koch Robert Megennis	Triarsi Competizione	Ferrari	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	346	22 Laps
38	GTD	#13	Orey Fidani Matthew Bell Lars Kern	13 Autosport	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	346	22 Laps
39	LMP2	#99	PJ Hyett Dane Cameron Jonny Edgar	AO Racing	Gibson	ORECA LMP2 07	341	27 Laps
40	GTD	#12	Aaron Telitz Benjamin Pedersen Frankie Montecalvo	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3	339	29 Laps