Teams, Manufacturers Announce Plans Prior to Roar Test and Rolex 24
By Tony DiZinno
IMSA Wire Service
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Sports car fans and stakeholders can be forgiven for thinking the holidays have come early. Teams and manufacturers have unleashed a flurry of announcements over the last week or so, prior to the full release of the 2025 Roar Before the Rolex 24 entry list.
That in mind, here’s a recap of what has all been announced in the last week:
Grand Touring Prototype (GTP):
Ohta added for three Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with Acura
Honda factory driver Kakunoshin Ohta will share Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 93 ARX-06 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. He made his IMSA testing debut at Daytona in November.
BMW prototype drivers revealed
Kevin Magnussen got the BMW prototype announcements started as the Dane confirmed his new program kickoff at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, after he concluded his Formula 1 season in Abu Dhabi.
Once that was out, BMW M Team RLL revealed its full-season lineup, with a significant shift to both BMW M Hybrid V8 cars. Philipp Eng will share the No. 24 car with Dries Vanthoor, and Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittman will share the No. 25 car. Magnussen (No. 24) and Robin Frijns (No. 25) join for multiple Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with Raffaele Marciello (No. 24) and Rene Rast (No. 25) added as fourth drivers at the Rolex 24.
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2):
“Spike” adds Cameron’s champion pedigree at AO Racing
Four-time IMSA champion Dane Cameron highlights the revised lineup in “Spike,” the LMP2 dragon, entered by AO Racing. Team co-founder PJ Hyett is the lone driver who continues from 2024 to 2025 in the No. 99 ORECA 07 LMP2 car.
Era, Inter Europol shuffle lineups
Last year’s Rolex 24-winning outfit and last year’s LMP2 season champions both have juggled their lineups for 2024. While Ryan Dalziel (Era) and Tom Dillmann (Inter Europol) continue into 2025 from last year, these two teams’ other six drivers are all different from 2024.
Era Motorsport Unveils Driver LMP2 Lineup | Inter Europol Competition Confirms 2025 Driver Lineup
Two more United Autosports USA drivers announced
Ben Hanley (No. 2) and Paul di Resta (No. 22) join the previously announced Daniel Goldburg (No. 22) in the United Autosports USA lineup of two ORECA 07 LMP2 cars. The team has yet to reveal the rest.
Grand Touring Daytona Pro / Grand Touring Daytona (GTD PRO/GTD):
Corvette teams add key names across the board
All Corvette Racing customer supported teams have revealed degrees of lineup changes. Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Racing has an unchanged No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, while Nico Varrone steps into the endurance seat vacated by Earl Bamber in the team’s No. 4 car. The Pratt Miller organization has also finalized its No. 73 ORECA 07 LMP2 lineup.
Trackhouse by TF Sport has revealed an all-star guest entry of Shane van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin, Connor Zilisch and Ben Keating to run the No. 91 Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GTD PRO.
DXDT Racing adds Pipo Derani, the two-time WeatherTech Championship GTP champion (2021, 2023) and 2016 Rolex 24 overall winner, to its No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GTD.
Heart of Racing Team unveils two-car, two-class GT lineup
With its Valkyrie prototype set for a Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring debut, the Heart of Racing Team has doubled up on its Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo cars with one apiece in GTD PRO and GTD.
Conquest, DragonSpeed announce Ferrari drivers
Two Ferrari 296 GT3 teams have revealed parts or all of their lineups. Conquest Racing, which capped off the 2024 season with a Motul Petit Le Mans win in GTD, adds Daniel Serra to its full-time lineup of the No. 34 car alongside Manny Franco, Cedric Sbirrazzuoli and Giacomo Altoe.
Meanwhile DragonSpeed has announced a step up from GTD to GTD PRO, with former Conquest driver Albert Costa the first named driver of that team’s No. 81 car.
Conquest Racing with Ferrari Unveils Rolex 24 Driver Lineup | Full IMSA GTD PRO Class Season for DragonSpeed Ferrari
Iron Dames, Porsche link confirmed
The official tie-up between Porsche and Iron Dames was confirmed during Porsche’s annual “Night of Champions” event, with the new team branding of “Porsche X Iron Dames,” Michelle Gatting added to Porsche’s contracted driver roster, and the trio of Gatting, Sarah Bovy and Rahel Frey in for the five Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with Karen Gaillard joining as fourth driver at the Rolex 24 in the team’s No. 83 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).
Wayne Taylor Racing announced that Trent Hindman will be joining the full season driver lineup of the No. 45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 alongside returning driver Danny Formal. Graham Doyle will be the Michelin Endurance Cup driver and Kyle Marcelli will share seat time during the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Additional Series:
RAFA Racing confirmed a merger with Smooge Racing to race in multiple IMSA-sanctioned championships in 2025.