Two 22-year-old Touring Car Talents Who Have Already Shared a Team in Brazil Will Now Share a Car, as Brickley Makes his American IMSA Debut at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta
ORLANDO, Fla. — Stallion Motorsports is proud to announce that reigning TCR Europe Champion Jenson Brickley will travel from the United Kingdom to join Celso Neto in the No. 77 CUPRA Leon VZ TCR for the final two rounds of the 2026 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season.
The pairing follows a personal invitation from Neto, who wanted to bring one of Europe’s most exciting young touring car talents into the IMSA paddock. Brickley substitutes for regular No. 77 co-driver Raphael Reis, who is unable to contest the final two events because of a previously scheduled racing commitment. Reis remains an important part of the Stallion Motorsports program.
The two will make their first start together at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway, September 18–20, before closing the season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta during the spectacular Motul Petit Le Mans weekend, September 30–October 3. The Michelin Pilot Challenge finale, the FOX Factory 120, runs Friday, ahead of Saturday’s 10-hour Petit Le Mans.
SAME TEAM, SEPARATE CARS — UNTIL NOW
Neto and Brickley are not strangers. Both drove for the same team at the Interlagos Super Challenge round of TCR South America, in two separate CUPRAs with different co-drivers, and both came through a 25-car field to finish inside the top five — Brickley third, Neto fifth. Indianapolis will be the first time they share a car.
TWO CONTINENTS, ONE CUPRA
At 22, Brickley arrives with one of the strongest young-driver résumés in European touring car racing. He took the 2025 TCR Europe title in his first full season in the championship, aboard a CUPRA Leon VZ TCR with Monlau Motorsport. Before that came third in TCR UK in his rookie TCR season, runner-up in TCR Spain, titles in both the Ford Fiesta Junior and Fiesta ST240 championships, and selection to represent Great Britain at the FIA Motorsport Games. The European crown earned him a step onto the world stage in 2026 with the Kumho FIA TCR World Tour.
He also brings something Stallion Motorsports values highly: years on the CUPRA platform, having raced both the Leon Competición and the current Leon VZ TCR in the United Kingdom, Spain and across Europe.
Neto, also 22, has built an equally quick career by a very different route. The 2025–26 IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship recipient — and the first Brazilian to receive the award — won the Midwest Touring Car Cup before progressing through TC America with Skip Barber Racing School, finishing third in the 2023 TC championship and vice-champion in TCX in 2024. His rookie Michelin Pilot Challenge season in 2025 produced three podiums, eight top-five qualifying performances in ten events, zero DNFs and fourth in the TCR Drivers’ Championship aboard the Audi RS 3 LMS TCR. This year he has led the development of Stallion Motorsports’ new CUPRA Leon VZ TCR program and shown that the No. 77 has the pace to fight at the front.
The result is an unusually complete combination for two drivers at this stage of their careers: Brickley knows the car; Neto knows the championship — the Michelin tire, the American circuits, multiclass traffic and the operational demands of an IMSA endurance weekend. Between them they already hold national championships, a European TCR title, international TCR victories, IMSA podiums, pole positions and fastest laps.
A PERSONAL INVITATION
Celso Neto quote:
“I have followed Jenson’s career and what he has accomplished in Europe, especially with the CUPRA, and I have a lot of respect for it. He is a European champion at only 22 years old, and putting us together in the same car is something very exciting.”
“We grew up racing in completely different environments, but our careers have brought us to almost exactly the same place — same age, both racing touring cars for years, both extremely hungry to keep progressing. I know IMSA very well now, and Jenson knows the CUPRA incredibly well. I think we can learn a lot from each other and, most importantly, I believe this can be a very fast combination.”
“To do it at Indianapolis and then during Petit Le Mans weekend at Road Atlanta makes it even more special. These are two of the biggest stages in American sports car racing, and we’re coming to compete.”
For Brickley, the invitation is a first chance to measure himself in one of North America’s most competitive touring car championships.
Jenson Brickley quote:
“I’m extremely excited to be making the trip over to the United States to make my IMSA debut with Celso and Stallion Motorsports. Racing in the US has always been a big goal in my career.”
“Teaming up with Celso for my first taste of IMSA and long format endurance racing is something I’m really looking forward to, in a car I feel at home in. I’m ready for the challenge of learning a new tyre and some of America’s best circuits.”
“Off the back of an extremely promising half-season in the TCR World Tour, I’m ready to push for podiums with Celso at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta! Massive thank you to Celso and Stallion for the invite and the opportunity to share the car for the final 2 events!”
A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE
The addition of Brickley also reflects Stallion Motorsports’ broader ambition of building an international touring car program capable of attracting leading drivers from Europe, North America and South America. For two weekends, the No. 77 CUPRA will carry a reigning European champion and an established IMSA front-runner in the same car — at the beginning, not the end, of their professional careers. At Indianapolis and Road Atlanta, Europe and America will find out just how strong that combination can be.
2026 FINAL TWO IMSA MICHELIN PILOT CHALLENGE EVENTS
Indianapolis Motor Speedway — TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks
September 18–20, 2026
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta — FOX Factory 120, Motul Petit Le Mans Weekend
September 30–October 3, 2026
No. 77 CUPRA Leon VZ TCR
Celso Neto — Brazil / United States
Jenson Brickley — Great Britain