Expanded Event’s Buzz; WTR’s Welcome GTP Win Return; Tight Championship Battles
By John Oreovicz
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – If there’s one clear takeaway from any race at Road America, it’s that ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ is a seriously popular venue in the eyes of just about everyone.
The word “expansion” was a big part of the weekend proceedings, from the race length, to the car count, to the pit lane, and to the crowd itself.
Expanded Event Draws Expanded Buzz
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix was more than doubled in length this year to six hours, and it gave the entire Road America weekend an expanded feel. Motorhomes and tent campers began filling the spacious, rolling grounds Wednesday and Thursday, and even when a significant portion of Saturday’s activity was dampened by rain, the constant buzz of people roaming the paddock and exploring the track’s many vantage points for trackside viewing along its undulating 4.048 miles never slowed down.
“It’s so cool to do six hours here,” enthused Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsport’s Tommy Milner, who finished third in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class in the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R on Sunday co-driving with Nicky Catsburg. “It’s the right track for a longer endurance race like this one. The fans here are amazing. I think the number is like 31 percent more fans this year than last year and it is, in my opinion, the best IMSA racing track we go to all year long.
“Some events may be a little better and some tracks are more exciting in some ways,” he elaborated. “But when you think about multi-class racing, Road America is the best. You’ve got big, long brake zones, nice high-speed sections. This is a staple of sports car racing and should be for a long time.”
Laurin Heinrich, who’s enjoyed a breakout season in the WeatherTech Championship’s top class to add to his already excellent GT accolades, finished second overall and in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class at Road America and echoed Milner’s thoughts.
“I said before, this place deserves an endurance race,” said the 24-year-old German. “It’s so historic and I think we all love driving around here. Now coming here in the prototype (the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963) is one of the best experiences you can have as a racing driver.”
A Welcome Wayne Taylor Racing Overall Win Return
The sense of “when is Wayne Taylor Racing going to win overall again?” has grown with each passing race in GTP. But finally, after more than two years, WTR was back in the win column overall and crucially, for the first time since its return to Cadillac to start 2025.
The emotion, joy and perhaps relief was palpable for the eponymous team owner, who not only won but also saw both his sons on the podium with Ricky Taylor in the winning No. 10 Cadillac V-Series.R with Filipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor in third in the No. 40 Cadillac with Louis Deletraz. The latter overcame multiple issues to hit the podium.
“As you know, we’ve been having such a hard time,” Wayne Taylor admitted. “It’s been very much in my stomach. As long as you keep working harder, digging deeper and pushing everybody, it does happen. Today was just tremendous.”
He also expressed sincere thanks to General Motors leadership for their support as he noted, “We could have never done this without them.”
Cadillac has now won its third straight GTP race of 2026 and equaled Porsche for most this season. Acura has a sole win in Long Beach with BMW and Aston Martin seeking their first GTP triumphs.
“These guys work so hard,” said Eric Warren, Vice President, Global Motorsports Competition for General Motors. “It takes a lot to put it together. You see the chaos of the race; that’s what makes IMSA and sports cars so exciting. It comes down to the very end, just incredible racing. What a great job Filipe did on some of those restarts. I couldn’t be happier for everybody.”
Championship Battles Intensify
We’re into the home stretch of the season for the WeatherTech Championship. The GT classes have three more races while prototypes have a pair. It’s an interesting split, too, with two standard-length rounds at VIRginia International Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the last IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Unofficially, the Road America results have drawn all four class championship battles closer.
The GTP gap is unofficially 108 points between Jack Aitken and Heinrich, down from 203 entering the weekend.
In Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Tom Dillmann and Jeremy Clarke of Inter Europol Competition have cut the deficit from 70 down to 36 points behind George Kurtz and Alex Quinn of CrowdStrike Racing by APR. AO Racing’s PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron fell from 81 to 119 back.
The points shifts were even more dramatic in the GT classes. Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen of Paul Miller Racing now find themselves with a substantially reduced points cushion over three different opponents after arriving at Road America 108 points to the good.
The No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports with Milner and Nicky Catsburg are the closest challengers, now only 15 points back, closely pursued by the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) duo and drivers Harry King and Nick Tandy 31 back. In total, the top seven pairs are within 151 points with the three races remaining.
In GTD, the victorious No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 massively cut its deficit from 203 to 24 points as Russell Ward and Philip Ellis chase their third consecutive class championship. Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello is holding on to that top spot in his Heart of Racing Team entry while the top four pairs are within just 45 points.
There’s also an increasingly tight battle for the Bob Akin Award in GTD, and the 13 Autosport car’s top result there has moved Orey Fidani back ahead of Inception Racing’s Brendan Iribe by just 10 points after Fidani entered the weekend down 20.
The GT battles will continue at VIR with the Michelin GT Challenge on Aug. 23, with all four classes back in action at IMS for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sept. 20.