Cadillac Whelen Leads As WeatherTech Championship Title Battles Intensify
By Tony DiZinno
Hour 8 Michelin Endurance Cup Results
BRASELTON, Ga. – Third or part-time drivers entered as part of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans made critical contributions to their full-season co-drivers between Hours 5 and 8 in the run to the finish of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. You can see the finish on Peacock in the U.S. and IMSA.TV and the IMSA Official YouTube channel internationally.
Frederik Vesti, third driver of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) alongside Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber, launched away after a seventh hour restart by setting four new fastest laps of the race in five laps in short order after the green flag. He built a lead to north of 10 seconds before turning over to Aitken, who led at the eight-hour mark over Matt Campbell in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. Both cars hit the pits either just before or right at the eight-hour mark.
Laurens Vanthoor, splitting drive time between the Nos. 6 and 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963s, ran further down the order in his No. 7 car stint but higher in the order in his No. 6 car stint. The two Porsches are vying for the GTP driver championship while also fighting Acura for the manufacturer championship.
Meanwhile Jonny Edgar – who’d won a race co-driving with Vanthoor this year in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) on the streets of Long Beach for AO Racing – helped AO’s full-season Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) entry of PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron move into the LMP2 title lead in the No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07. For most of the period, he ran third behind the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA and No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, which enjoyed a titanic battle between Paul Di Resta and Hunter McElrea – TDS’ third driver.
Alas, that battle ceded to the LMP2 championship fight ending right before the end of the eighth hour. The No. 22 United car went behind the wall with an unspecified issue when running in a podium position. This issue may position the No. 99 AO car to secure this title, especially as it moved into the lead at the eight-hour mark amidst pit stops.
The title script also flipped multiple times in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) over the period. It appeared as though DragonSpeed would move into the championship lead as Giacomo Altoe moved into third in the No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3 in the seventh hour as part of a three-car pass and crucially, ahead of the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R wheeled by its third driver Daniel Juncadella.
But in the eighth hour, DragonSpeed suffered a setback as it briefly stopped on course in Turn 10 and resumed after contact with another car, and also received a drive-through penalty for having tires without crew.
<p”>The updated order in GTD PRO saw the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO ahead of the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 and No. 3 Corvette.
In GTD, Ferrari stayed out front with the No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 ahead of the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 and No. 023 Triarsi Ferrari.
IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Updates
Af Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari unofficially wraps up the GTD Michelin Endurance Cup title with the maximum five points, so by three ahead of the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. However, with a three-point gap and the No. 70 unable to score more than two points in the final stint, this will secure the crown.
Porsche is also clear in the GTP manufacturer’s championship in Michelin Endurance Cup, with a five-point lead over Acura and seven over Cadillac (54-49-47).
The driver titles in the Michelin Endurance Cup are as follows:
- GTP: No. 7 Porsche leads No. 60 Acura by two (44-42) and No. 6 Porsche by three (41)
- LMP2: No. 43 Inter Europol ORECA leads No. 11 TDS by one (42-41)
- GTD PRO: No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW leads No. 1 PMR BMW by two (47-45)