Just Seven Points Cover GTP While Four Brands Vie for GTD PRO Crown
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Rolling out of the TireRack.com Monterey SportsCar Championship weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in mid-May, Porsche Penske Motorsport had taken Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class and overall wins in the first four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races of the 2025 season. Porsche held a comfortable 164-point lead over BMW in the GTP Manufacturer’s Championship fight, with Acura trailing in third with a 202-point deficit.
Yet just four races later, heading to the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Porsche’s lead among manufacturers has been cut to just seven points. Additionally, Acura has leapfrogged past BMW to be the hybrid-powered object looming larger in the Stuttgart marque’s rear-view mirrors.
With only the 10-hour finale at Michelin Raceway to conclude the WeatherTech Championship campaign, Porsche is still the overwhelming favorite to claim the Driver and Team championships in GTP; Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell in the No. 6 Porsche 963 lead their No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport teammates Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr by 131 points. It would take a collapse on the part of the No. 6 team and a perfect 385-point weekend for the No. 7, or for Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor (147 points back) in the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8, to steal the crown. Fourth-placed Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande (No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06) are all but mathematically eliminated at -195 points.
For the carmakers bankrolling these multi-million-dollar Prototype programs, the Manufacturer’s Championship is arguably just as important as the championship for drivers – maybe even more. These are the true bragging rights for the brands behind the badges. And even though the circumstances that could lead the pursuing teams to a Driver’s championship are unlikely, the Manufacturer’s title will be the goal at Michelin Raceway for the No. 93 drivers and their Acura Meyer Shank teammates Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura.
Blomqvist was the fastest qualifier for the most recent WeatherTech Championship race (the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway) but the No. 60 started at the back of the field due to a technical infraction. He and Braun recovered to a third-place finish.
“Obviously a solid result for the guys, especially after starting last,” Blomqvist said. “I’m very happy; it’s still a great result and good for the Manufacturer’s championship.”
“We closed the gap in the Manufacturer’s championship, which was super important for everyone on the team,” Braun noted. “Really happy with the P3 result and we’ll take this to Petit Le Mans and close out the season on a high note.”
Team Penske President (and Porsche Penske Motorsport Managing Director) Jonathan Diuguid is pleased overall with his team’s season to date and position in the various IMSA championships. He’s also not surprised that the PPM Porsches have a target on their back.
“When you’re at the top, everybody’s focused on beating you,” Diuguid remarked. “Our performance has been there. We obviously need to improve on some areas, like top speed and some other things. But there’s an aggressiveness on track, and, to be honest, sometimes I feel like it’s our team racing against eight or nine other cars fully focused on beating us only. That’s what happens when you’re in the championship position that our team is in.
“Mathieu and Matt have done amazing jobs and had good strong finishes to put them in the position where they are now,” he added. “Some of the other competitors, inclusive of the No. 7 car, have had some struggles, whether it’s crashes or those kind of things. But I guess that’s why it’s a championship and it’s supposed to reward your performances over the duration of the season.”
As intense as the manufacturer competition is in GTP, there’s a whole other level of pride for the manufacturers that compete in IMSA’s production-based Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes, because these are the ultimate manifestation of premium sports cars that you can buy off a dealer’s lot.
With 18 participating manufacturers across its various racing platforms – 17 of whom have won in at least one IMSA-sanctioned series in 2025 – no racing organization in America exemplifies the longtime automotive mantra of “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” more than IMSA.
Heading to Michelin Raceway, the scenario in GTD PRO is particularly intriguing, with four manufacturers clustered within 80 points. The margins are thin, especially with the larger fields that come as part of IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds of the WeatherTech Championship.
No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports drivers Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims lead the GTD PRO Driver’s standings, heavily contributing to Chevrolet’s 46-point lead over Ferrari in the Manufacturer’s chase. Ford (-62 points) and BMW (-80) are the other GTD PRO contestants still holding title-winning hopes.
In GTD, the outstanding season-long performance of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing entry has propelled Mercedes-AMG to a 114-point cushion, with Ferrari again holding second. Aston Martin is a distant third, 219 points in arrears.
Drivers will almost always remain the focal point in auto racing. But for the women and men who create the machines that make stars out of the folks behind the wheel, recognition as the year’s champion manufacturer is justifiably a more meaningful prize.
The 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship concludes with the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans, set for October 8-11 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.