Five-Year Reign as Class Champions Ended in 2024
By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For most race teams, seeing your cars take second, third and fourth places in a season championship would be cause for celebration. At Bryan Herta Autosport, it led to a winter of reflection, reassessment and rededication that’s reaped immediate dividends in the 2025 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
BHA entries finished 2-3-4 in the Touring Car (TCR) class standings last season. Impressive for most, but it was also the first time since the team joined the series in 2019 that a Herta car and driver duo didn’t capture the championship. That honor in 2024 went to Chris Miller, Mikey Taylor and the No. 17 JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
The Herta armada helped Hyundai collect a fifth straight TCR manufacturer crown, but the void from the missing car/driver title left its mark and inspired an offseason focus to get back on top. Two races into the 2025 campaign, BHA has reasserted itself with wins both times out and cars sitting 1-2 in the points.
“We really enjoyed the battle we had last year with JDC and with the guys in the Audi car,” team owner Bryan Herta said. “They did a great job and they took it to us last year. Anytime that happens, that makes you want to show up the next year more prepared. That’s the racer mentality; you just want to do better so I think we did take it as an extra challenge.
“You’ve got a little bit more of a chip on your shoulder when you got beat,” Herta continued. “Coming out guns blazing at Daytona was kind of really a statement of intent from our team and our drivers that we weren’t going to sit back and take it lightly. We’re going to do our best to rise to the challenge for this season.”
Denis Dupont and Preston Brown wheeled the No. 76 BHA with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR to victory lane in the season-opening BMW M Endurance Challenge – the team’s first-ever win at Daytona International Speedway – with teammates Bryson Morris and Mark Wilkins finishing second in the No. 33 Elantra.
Then last month, Harry Gottsacker and Mason Filippi drove the No. 98 Elantra to victory in the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring International Raceway – the team’s first triumph there since Gottsacker and Wilkins had a pair of wins in the 2020 pandemic-altered season.
“It was really a big deal for us to win at Daytona,” Herta admitted. “That was one of those places that everybody dreams of winning at and it was something we hadn’t been able to do before. I think that gave us a lot of momentum going into this season. Everybody’s feeling really good about the season and the start we’ve had, so yeah, I can’t complain. It’s a dream start to a season.”
Herta said the offseason focus – on top of moving into a larger headquarters in suburban Indianapolis – was on improving setups for tracks like Daytona where the team has struggled in the past. The damper program was another focal point, with the team employing a seven-post shaker rig test for the first time.
Changes also occurred within the driver lineups. Dupont and Brown are the only BHA drivers sharing the same car from last year and lead the current standings after finishing fourth last year with one win.
“We felt like they had all the right tools already and with just a second season with us, a little more familiarity with the Elantra N TCR and they’re showing themselves to be regular frontrunners this year and, I think, serious championship contenders,” Herta said.
Gottsacker (pictured left, the 2023 TCR champion with Robert Wickens) and Filippi are co-drivers for the first time and “are sort of our feel-good group of guys,” according to Herta. Following their Sebring win, they sit just 10 points behind Dupont and Brown.
“They bring such great energy to the team, such a positive feeling and motivation, and they’ve both been with us for a really long time. They know each other really well and know each other’s strengths really well. We’re excited because they represent week-in and week-out, whether it’s qualifying or a race, a real potential to be at the very front.”
Wilkins (the 2019 TCR champ with Michael Lewis) and Morris, also in the same car for the first time, are sixth in points in the No. 33 Elantra. Morris has won the first two TCR poles of the season and Herta is excited about the duo’s blend of youth and experience.
“Mark is a real cornerstone of our program and he sets the tone for us in so many ways,” Herta observed. “Pairing him with Bryson, who has just so much potential and so much raw speed, that seemed to make a lot of sense to put those two together. We thought Bryson would just greatly benefit from Mark’s experience and we knew that Bryson’s speed paired with Mark’s experience was going to be formidable.”
The fourth BHA entry, the No. 9 Elantra, is what Herta calls the “incubator” car. Used in the past to develop things like the driver hand controls that Michael Johnson first employed and were later refined for Robert Wickens, that path of innovation continues in 2025 with rookie co-drivers Maddie Aust and Suellio Almeida.
Aust is a talented female who doubles as a college engineering student. Almeida’s entire prior resume came as a sim racing competitor and coach whose YouTube videos have generated millions of views.
“Maddie is a really bright young driver who we see a lot of potential in,” Herta said. “She showed that right out of the gate qualifying sixth in her first TCR race at Daytona. Suellio has made the brave transition from the sim world to the real racing world, and that’s been fun for us to be a part of that journey. Neither one of them has a lot of experience and there will be some growing pains through it, but I think they’re going to surprise some people with some really great races this year.”
Herta is also excited about the team’s new shop in Brownsburg, Indiana. In addition to providing space for team growth, it sends a signal for BHA’s future.
“I think it shows commitment to TCR and Hyundai and what we’re doing there is important, that we’re here for the long term to help support the class and continue to see it grow within the Michelin Pilot Challenge. We think it is such a great fit within the IMSA paddock and we’re lucky and proud to be part of that.”
The next Michelin Pilot Challenge race is the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 on Saturday, May 10. It streams live at 3:40 p.m. ET on Peacock in the U.S., is available globally and ad-free, courtesy of Michelin, on the IMSA YouTube channel and internationally on IMSA.tv.
Shop Photo Courtesy of Bryan Herta Autosport