The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series finale, Motul Petit Le Mans, will feature 54 cars, the maximum number that Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta can accommodate. The 10-hour race, set for Oct. 12 on the 2.54 mile, 12-turn circuit, will determine not only the full-season champions in every category, but the Michelin Endurance Cup winners as well.
That number includes 13 cars in the GTD PRO category, as many entries as the class has seen and a number matched by GTD PRO entries in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis. Aside from the usual suspects, that number includes a Ferrari 296 GT3 entry from DragonSpeed, which entered GTD at Indy and has declared its intent to run GTD for 2025. Toni Vilander is the only driver listed on the entry so far.
In addition, Heart of Racing is once again promoting its GTD squad to GTD PRO in order to bolster its chances for drivers, team and manufacturers championships. Zacharie Robichon, Mario Farnbacher and Marco Sorensen will pilot the No. 027 Aston Martin Vantage Evo. Meanwhile, Roman De Angelis, who has been the lead driver for the GTD entry this season, moves to the No. 23, joining Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas.
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Throughout the rest of the field, which increases by two cars over last year’s Petit Le Mans, the regular full-season and Michelin Endurance Cup entries include the Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 in GTP that showed so well at Indy. That brings the GTP total to 11, along with Iron Lynx’s GTD PRO and GTD entries. The Rolex 24-winning Risi Competizione No. 62 Ferrari 296 returns, looking to bounce back from an unmemorable race at Indy.
The GTP championship is almost certainly going to fall to Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 after the post-Indy penalty for the sister car changed what had been a dead heat to a 124-point gap, although it’s certainly possible for Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy to overcome the deficit at Road Atlanta. The Michelin Endurance Cup is a three-way fight between the No. 7 PPM Porsche, the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing entry. The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 and the No. 6 PPM squad also have a shot.
LMP2 features 10 entries as that championship goes down to the wire. Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann have a healthy lead in the overall points for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, 98 points over Riley Motorsports’ Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga. The Michelin Endurance Cup, though, is wide open in that class between Inter Europol and TDS Racing tied for first, and Era Motorsports close behind.
AO Racing’s 99-point advantage in GTD PRO will be tough to overcome, but with a 13-car field, it is certainly possible for Heart of Racing’s Gunn to overtake Laurin Heinrich in the championship. Paul Miller Racing leads the IMEC in the class by five points over AO Racing and Risi Competizione, tied for second.
When Winward Racing takes the green flag, it will have wrapped up its first GTD championship for the team and for drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis. With the help of Korthoff Preston Motorsports adding to Winward’s four victories, Mercedes AMG has already wrapped up the manufacturers’ championship in GTD, the only title decided prior to the finale. The IMEC title in GTD is still open, with Inception Racing only a point behind Winward, and Korthoff Preston, Wright Motorsports and Triarsi Comeptizione all having a shot.
The 10-hour 27th Motul Petit Le Mans is scheduled for a green flag at 12:10pm on Saturday, Oct. 12. Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup are also on the weekend bill.