BRASELTON, Ga. – Cadillac Whelen ended the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with its second consecutive race win, Aston Martin and Lamborghini starred, and Porsche Penske Motorsport delivered another championship-winning performance.
All of that played out over 10 hours in glorious Georgia sunshine and then into night before a record crowd Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti drove the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R to a 5.182-second victory over Roman De Angelis, Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie in the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans.
The season-ending round of the WeatherTech Championship was packed with close competition and drama from start to finish, culminating in Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell clinching the driver’s and manufacturer’s championships for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the premier Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class with a third-place finish in the No. 6 Porsche 963 they shared with Laurens Vanthoor.
With the No. 31 Cadillac’s Petit Le Mans victory and its win September 21 at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aitken vaulted from sixth place to second in the driver’s standings. It was Cadillac’s fifth triumph at one of the world’s crown jewel endurance sports car races.
“I wouldn’t have predicted back-to-back wins to finish the season, but we were knocking at the door quite a lot and putting ourselves in position to win,” Aitken said. “Everything finally came together, and it’s been a true pleasure the last couple of weekends.”
Aitken was fastest in two of the three practice sessions in the lead-up to the race, and he qualified the No. 31 Cadillac on the outside of the front row. He stalked Tom Blomqvist in the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 through the first two stints before taking the lead early in the third hour.
But Bamber soon suffered the misfortune of a punctured tire while running under caution shortly after he took over the No. 31. That started a furious comeback drive that saw the Whelen Cadillac scythe through the 12-car GTP field to regain the lead at the six-hour mark. They were able to control the race from there, their main drama coming when the last four hours ran caution-free, forcing a late stop for fuel that cut their comfortable lead to less than a second. But their competitors also required a late splash-and-go.
“That was a true IMSA race,” said Bamber. “The guys did a great job keeping me updated and we timed the strategy perfectly at the end. Just a phenomenal job by Cadillac to get the victory here. We’ve built a good core team, and winning these last few races has really been sweet.”
The Aston Martin Valkyrie garnered many fans around the world in 2025, in large part due to the sound of its shrieking V-12 engine. The car’s best result in IMSA competition prior to Saturday was sixth place at the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix at Road America in August.
“I was told before I got in the car that we were fighting for third place,” said De Angelis, who despite being the youngest driver in the team was tabbed to drive the anchor stint. “I don’t think I realized until 15 minutes to go we were in with a shot for the win. It would have been fun to have a chance to fight, but from where we started the year, or if you had told me this morning we would be second, I probably would have laughed.
“It’s pretty special to cross the line for the first podium for Aston Martin and The Heart of Racing.”
Another popular entry among fans – the No. 63 Automobili Squadra Corse Lamborghini SC63 shared by Romain Grosjean, Edoardo Mortara and Daniil Kyvat also achieved its best result in worldwide sports car competition with a fourth-place finish that saw Grosjean vying for the win in the latter stages before having to peel off for fuel.
Jaminet and Campbell wound up with a 187-point provisional edge over Aitken in the driver’s standings, while Porsche expanded its slim two-point edge over Acura at the start of the race to a 42-point cushion. Jaminet and Campbell also teamed to win the IMSA Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) championship for Porsche in 2022.
Julien Andlauer, the scheduled third driver for the No. 6 Porsche, was a late scratch due to health reasons. Vanthoor stepped up to serve as the third driver for both Porsche Penske Motorsport entries.
“There was so much traffic getting into the track that we almost missed the recon laps, and half an hour before the race, we didn’t have a third driver,” Jaminet said with a smile. “After all that, it went pretty smooth, I have to say. We had a really good car going into the race and the team did really good preparation. Here we are, up on the podium and with a championship. I couldn’t be more happy than today, for sure.”
“That’s two years in IMSA together and two championships,” added Campbell. “Coming back together this year after a couple years apart has worked phenomenally and we hit the ground running. We really showed our consistency and experience together, and that put us in position for this championship title.”
Corvette Wraps Up GTD PRO Championship
Provisional Results
BMW won the battle, but Corvette won the war.
The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, anchored by an outstanding final stint by Dan Harper, claimed the race win Saturday night in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class in Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Meanwhile, the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, co-driven by Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims and Daniel Juncadella, celebrated the GTD PRO season championship with a third-place finish.
The No. 48 BMW, shared by Harper, Max Hesse and Connor De Phillippi, was listed a lap ahead of second-place No. 4 Corvette Racing entry co-driven by Nicky Catsburg, Tommy Milner and Nico Varrone.
The No. 3 Corvette, with Sims behind the wheel at the end, claimed the manufacturer championship for Chevrolet, the team championship for Corvette Racing, and the driver championship for Garcia and Sims.
“Obviously, we didn’t have probably the pace to pass people on the track, but we did just a fantastic job again – saving fuel, doing everything right and gaining positions, taking every opportunity,” said Garcia, who celebrated Corvette Racing’s 16th IMSA championship and sixth in the modern era since 2014. It’s Garcia’s sixth as well, and second for Sims.
“I think that’s a group thing. That will never happen without Corvette Racing, and all the teammates that I’ve had over the past 16 years.”
While Corvette was enjoying the championship, Harper had to work for the race win. With little more than an hour left in the 10-hour race, he passed Catsburg for the lead through Turn 11 and never looked back.
“I was very fortunate that he got held up a little through the last corner and I was able to get a good run onto the start-finish straight and get it inside for Turn 1. We had some great wheel-to-wheel action through the esses. He was very fair to me, and I was equally fair to him.”
Sims added, “It’s incredibly intense here at Petit Le Mans every single time I do it. But it’s so thrilling. The track is just amazing, such a nice sequence of corners and so many cars. All the traffic and the shenanigans in the race keep you on your toes.
"Our Corvette has been working well at many of the circuits, if not all of them. Although we haven't necessarily always had the fastest car, it's been a really nice car to drive -- consistent and easy to extract the pace out of it. When third or fourth is the best possible result you can get, then that's what we got. ... It's just been a really nice, smooth year."
DragonSpeed, Corvette Racing’s closest rivals in the GTD PRO championship, was in contention for most of the race before its luck ran out in the waning hours. Between a penalty and contact with another car, the No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3 fell to seventh at the finish for the trio of title contender Albert Costa and co-drivers Giacomo Altoe and Davide Rigon. Costa finished second in the championship.
The victory for BMW also clinched the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup championship for the No. 48 BMW over its Paul Miller Racing sister car, the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO co-driven by Madison Snow, Neil Verhagen and De Phillippi.
The Detroit Grand Prix returns next summer, May 29–31. Don’t miss the speed, sound, and spectacle on the streets of the Motor City. Register HERE for more information about the 2026 Detroit Grand Prix tickets and to be contacted once tickets go on sale. Ticket renewals for the 2026 event will be available to 2025 ticketholders in November; sign up is not necessary.
