BMW M Team Redline, Coanda Esports Claim IMSA Esports Global Championship Class Wins at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

The first race in the 2025 IMSA Esports Global Championship had familiar names on the top of the boards after two hours and 40 minutes of racing around Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Sunday. There was some slight controversy, however, in how one team was taken out from the lead, which ultimately led to the No. 33 BMW M Team Redline duo of Diogo Pinto and Chris Lulham taking the checkers in the GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) class.

Coanda Esports came prepared in both classes, winning the pole and scoring a 1-2 sweep in the GTD (Grand Touring Daytona) class with the No. 181 taking the checkers, with Alejandro Sánchez and Xander Reed behind the wheel, and the No. 118 finishing second with Tristan Iglesias and Michael Janney back together for another season. In the GTP class, the No. 91 Porsche Coanda entry was also dominant from the start, featuring two Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup champions in Jordan Caruso and Joshua Rogers. However, both drivers would find trouble in their stints. Caruso was able to recover from his mishap, but Rogers was not so fortunate as they would end up on the virtual wrecker just after halfway.

The fact that Coanda wound up wrecked from the lead is not meant to take away from the 1-2 Team Redline sweep in the GTP class, as the No. 34 BMW entry of Edoardo Leo and Luke McKeown were right there throughout the afternoon as well. That's also not to take away from the efforts of DRAGO RACING in both classes either, as their No. 69 BMW, driven by Alxander Spetz and Atte Kauppinen rounded out the GTP podium, while their No. 168 Aston Martin, driven by Hugh Barter and Nicolás Rubilar, rounded out the GTD podium.

In the two hour and 40 minute race, 137 laps were completed by the GTP class and 124 by the GTD class. With the grid split by class, the GTD field was halfway behind the GTP initially, but that meant that the two fields would overlap sooner, the first interclass battle occurring on Lap 4.

Leading the way was Caruso in the No. 91, but the No. 60 SOELPEC Precision Racing Porsche, driven by Jordan Johnson at that time, was right behind in second. Just before the lap was over, on Turn 10a and 10b, the No. 91 made contact with the No. 133 Simufy Esports Porsche, the two different-classed Porsche's sliding in opposite directions as a result. Caruso was able to quickly recover, losing the top spot to Johnson in the process, but the No. 133, driven by Gabi Montoro, was sent into the tires and needed to pit for early damage repair. No penalties were assessed.

Penalties were a big talking point through the event, with 80 protests listed by the end of the event. In the GTD class, an opening lap excursion for the No. 111 Fiercely Forward Lamborghini, driven by Benedek Vida, resulted in a freefall from third to 13th in class before a full circuit was completed. It went from bad to worse, however, as Vida dove it into Turn 10a trying to make up time and instead caught the bumper of the No. 120 Dörr Esports Ford, resulting in the race's first penalty for contact.

On Lap 13, Caruso charged back to the lead in the same corner he lost it, Turn 10b, making a gutsy three-wide move around Johnson and the No. 123 WSR Esports Mercedes-AMG driven at the time by Gregory Hovesen. The No. 60 would continue to falter, while their teammates in the No. 62 SOELPEC Virtual Mirror team with Robin Schwanke behind the wheel would bow out of contention on Lap 17. A slow acceleration in front of the No. 150 Scuderia Ferrari HP Esports Team GTD driven by Ole Steinbraten resulted in contact, sending the No. 62 into the path of the No. 99 Apex Racing Team Cadillac driven by Maxime Brient. Brient escaped harm, but Schwanke was forced to pit and fix the damage.

The IMSA Esports stewards handed out a penalty to Steinbraten a few laps later, and on the same lap as the penalty was handed out, the Ferrari wound up getting taken out in a separate issue involving the No. 110 MAHLE RACING TEAM BMW driven by Rainer Talvar. The No. 150 served their drive thru, and laps later, the No. 110 served theirs.

It was at this point in the going that the first wave of pit stops began. The No. 91 brought it down first, handing the lead over to the No. 33 BMW M Team Redline entry, driven by Pinto at the time. Pinto, another Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup champion, pitted and rejoined the track just ahead of Caruso, and heading down the esses, things almost got messy between the two former champions.

While the No. 33 team was not impressed by the late send, they were on colder tires, and the move to preserve both cars would ultimately work out in their favor by the end of the day anyway. Caruso continued on as the leader, extending the gap to over seven seconds before the No. 33 opted to pit first this time, on Lap 73, leaving the No. 91 on track for a few extra laps. Lulham took control of the Team Redline entry, and when the No. 91 Porsche Coanda made the trip down pit road, it would be Josh Rogers taking control until the end of the race.

Unfortunately for Caruso, Rogers, and the entire No. 91 team, their glory would be short lived. In a move that resembled what happened on the first pit cycle, the No. 4 CrowdStrike Racing Acura driven by Samuel Michaels was still on the track with hot virtual rubber under his car. The No. 91 exited the pits on cold tires, right in front of the No. 4. Rogers didn't have to leave any space, the No. 4 could have waited. However, the No. 4 was too fast in that moment, and the two cars made contact.

The No. 91 turned dead left, and right into the tire barrier. While the No. 4 team would get penalized for the contact with a drive thru penalty, the No. 91 team had the biggest penalty, having multiple minutes worth of damage to fix, ultimately finishing 19th out of 20 cars in class, 16 laps down.

Now in control, the No. 33 of Lulham had his teammates right behind him in the No. 34, with Leo relinquishing control to McKeown just moments prior. By the end of the second-to-last stint, the No. 33 had gapped the No. 34 by over six seconds. Unless something else wild were to happen, things were looking great for the Indianapolis winning duo from the season prior.

Meanwhile, in the GTD class, things kept pretty tame through the end of the night. DRAGO Racing had both of their Aston Martin machines on the podium at the end of the first stint after the No. 168, driven by Barter, moved up from the eighth starting spot, but the No. 169 of Manuel Troncoso and Nicolas Mateo, who started second, would eventually fall down the order. Also moving up the order, from the fifth starting spot, was the other Coanda Esports entry of Iglesias and Janney. The No. 118 managed to finish just over four second behind the No. 181 for the 1-2 sweep.

Back in the GTP class, it wasn't the same magical night for the Williams Sim Racing teams as it was a year ago. The defending winners of the race, also the defending champions of the GTP class, the No. 5 Williams Sim Racing Chillblast Porsche driven by Matt Farrow and Jaden Munoz, barely finished inside the top-10 after a pit road penalty on the final stop cost them a potential podium finish. Mixing it up with a pack of other GTPs, including the No. 60, the No. 5 team sputtered across the line backwards to pick up the 10th place finish.

ROUND 1 AT MICHELIN RACEWAY ROAD ATLANTA | GTP RESULTS

GTP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1 AT MICHELIN RACEWAY ROAD ATLANTA

1. No. 33 BMW M Team Redline, 378 points
2. No. 34 Team Redline, -34
3. No. 69 DRAGO RACING, -48
4. No. 89 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION, -82
5. No. 95 Channel 199 Sim Racing, -97

ROUND 1 AT MICHELIN RACEWAY ROAD ATLANTA | GTD RESULTS

GTD STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1 AT MICHELIN RACEWAY ROAD ATLANTA

1. No. 181 Coanda Esports, 385 points
2. No. 118 Coanda Esports, -39
3. No. 168 DRAGO RACING, -62
4. No. 199 Apex Racing Team, -75
5. No. 101 Team Redline, -101

Leaving Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the GTD class has a perfect score atop the standings, with the No. 181 Coanda Esports crew collecting the pole and win for a maximum benefit of 385 points. The GTP class leaders, the No. 33 BMW M Team Redline group, only has 378 points, having to settle for 28 points from qualifying for starting in fourth. The 35 points that Porsche Coanda got for winning the pole means a 120-point day becomes a 155-point day, but with only four rounds, this could spell an early championship exit.

NEXT RACE

After Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the series will take a week off before returning on November 16th for the second race of the season at Sebring International Raceway. Last season, Sebring was the third race of the four-race season, and Williams Esports Chillblast (GTP) and AO Racing by Coanda (GTD), a.k.a. the 'Rexy' car, were victorious.

Each race of the IMSA Esports Global Championship will be broadcasted live on IMSA's and iRacing's YouTube, Facebook and Twitch social media channels with the Countdown to Green pre-race show beginning at 1:45 p.m. ET (18:45 GMT). Race coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET.

For more information on the IMSA Esports Global Championship, visit iracing.com/imsa-esports , opens in a new tab.

For more information about the Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO), visit vco-esports.com , opens in a new tab.

For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iracing.com , opens in a new tab.