Coanda Esports Dominates IMSA Esports Global Championship Classes in AMD 240 at Sebring

If not for an incident at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the talk following the AMD 240 at Sebring International Raceway—the second race of four in the 2025 IMSA Esports Global Championship—might be that Coanda Esports is heading towards a double title in both Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) championships this year.

That might still be true for the GTD side, with the No. 181 Coanda Esports Chevrolet of Alejandro Sánchez and Xander Reed just barely holding off their No. 118 counterparts, driven by Michael Janney and Tristan Iglesias, for their second win to start the season.

As for the No. 91 Porsche Coanda in the GTP ranks, they still have a long way to go to get back into contention following a complete day at Sebring. With a max points day, winning from the pole, the duo of Charlie Collins and Elvis Rankin did everything they could to scratch back into the conversation, following a 19th place finish at Road Atlanta after contact leaving the pits sent Joshua Rogers careening into the tire pack down the esses. We never got to see what Rogers could do that day after Jordan Caruso was a force to be reckoned with, but that day went to the No. 33 BMW M Team Redline duo of Chris Lulham and Diogo Pinto. That pair followed up that win with a runner-up at Sebring, and continue to lead the way at the halfway mark.

The GTP victory for the No. 91 team wasn't guaranteed, however, as a second strategy emerged during the event. A couple of GTP entries opted to save the entire way, splitting each run into 53-minute, or 29 lap stints. From second on the grid, the No. 69 DRAGO Racing BMW of Alxander Spetz and Atte Kauppinen opted for that strategy, losing ground early, but taking control of the race by ten seconds over the No. 91 with one pit stop to go. However, the amount of fuel needed to make it to the end would be part of the equation, plus the eventual tire consumption over the run. While the No. 91 was able to exit the pits ahead of the No. 69 to ultimately confirm the win, the No. 69's tires were unable to hold off either of the Team Redline drivers, as the No. 33 and No. 34 wound up taking the second and third steps on the podium, while the No. 69 settled for fourth.

All 20 GTP entries would finish without anything too crazy happening, with 16 of the 20 entries finishing on the lead lap, and the other four finishing just one lap off the lead. The No. 89 BMW M BS+COMPETITION entry, also on the same strategy as DRAGO, wound up fifth.

There was some drama in the GTD field, as two teammates would end up racing for the win. From the pole, and for the first 59 of the 80 laps run in the GTD class, the No. 118 Corvette led the way. In the final run, however, the No. 181, the winners at Road Atlanta, got a run. The No. 118, driven by Janney, could not hold off the run from the No. 181, driven by Reed.

The two teammates stayed close, even down to the final lap. On the last corner, the No. 118 was able to get back alongside, and in one of the most respectful battles ever seen, the two made it back to the line, unscathed, and with the No. 181 barely hanging on for the win, Reed breathing a sigh of relief while Sánchez excitedly celebrated.

Rounding out the top-five were the No. 110 MAHLE Racing Team BMW in third, the No. 197 ADITIS Racing by WSR Mercedes-AMG in fourth, and the No. 177 EMM Esports Lamborghini in fifth.

While Janney and Iglesias were victorious at Sebring last year, it was the Team Redline GTD crew of Enzo Bonito and Florian Lebigre who were the overall champions last year. At Sebring this year, the pair were nowhere to be found. The No. 101 Team Redline Aston Martin wound up finishing in 15th after starting 11th, a fairly lackluster day for the defending champions.

On the GTP side, the defending champions and race winners were one in the same, with the No. 5 Williams Sim Racing Chillblast Porsche of Jaden Munoz and Matt Farrow also nowhere to be found in the 2025 edition. It could be part in switching manufacturers this season, where the Team Redline GTD was a Ferrari last season, and the Williams Esports crew was in the BMW brigade. It could be a number of things, but in any case, both of their championship defenses are not going as planned.

This week featured a Michelin Wild Card Entry with the No. 170 Moradness Mercedes-AMG, with Daniel Morad and Nathan Olson joining the fray at Sebring. Their day was eventful, at one point finding trouble with Morad's real-world team, the Winward eSport by SensitHaptics entry. The No. 170 wound up 26th in the GTD field. The event also featured the first of two IMSA Esports P3 Challenge races to kick off the day, that 20-minute event featuring community members and special guests such as Suellio Almeida taking on Sebring in the LMP3. Christophe Herbigneaux was victorious.

ROUND 2 AT SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY | GTP RESULTS

GTP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2 AT SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. No. 33 BMW M Team Redline, 728 points
2. No. 34 Team Redline, -56
3. No. 69 DRAGO RACING, -86
4. No. 89 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION, -146
5. No. 91 Porsche Coanda, -188

ROUND 2 AT SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY | GTD RESULTS

GTD STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2 AT SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

1. No. 181 Coanda Esports, 767 points
2. No. 118 Coanda Esports, -66
3. No. 110 MAHLE RACING TEAM, -178
4. No. 168 DRAGO RACING, -216
5. No. 199 Apex Racing Team, -218

Halfway through the 2025 IMSA Esports Global Championship season, and at least one class looks to have a lock on the top spot, between either of their cars in the class. Coanda Esports has been dominant through Road Atlanta and Sebring, with the No. 181 claiming both wins and the No. 118 finishing second in both races. If the 118 could have gotten by at the line, it'd almost be tied at the top. Their next closest competitor in the championship is the No. 110 MAHLE Racing Team, and they are about a half of a race worth of points behind after two races.

The GTP title is pretty interesting. BMW M Team Redline could let Porsche Coanda continue to dominate, and as long as they finish second the rest of the way, they'd take the title. It all stems from the race-changing moment at Road Atlanta two weeks ago that sent the No. 91 from a dominant day to a multiple-laps-down finish. The No. 33 leads the No. 34 by 56 points, a similar situation to the GTD class. Porsche Coanda has rallied up to fifth in the standings, but are 188 points back with only two more races to go.

NEXT RACE

There's only a week in between the second and third rounds of the 2025 IMSA Esports Global Championship. On November 23rd, the classes will be split between two venues. The GTP class, along with the P3 Challenge, will compete on the Streets of Long Beach. As for GTD, they'll take on VIRginia International Raceway. Both GTP and GTD feature events will be 75 minutes apiece, setting up for more of a Sprint than Endurance style race.

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. The IMSA Esports P3 Challenge will kick things off around 1:15 p.m. ET (18:15 GMT) before sliding into the Countdown to Green pre-race show which starts around 1:45 p.m. ET (18:45 GMT). Race coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET (19:00 GMT).

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.

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