Goikhberg, Milner, Costa Lead Other Classes as Weather Makes Race Lively
By Tony DiZinno
BRASELTON, Ga. – Colin Braun and the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 led at the four-hour mark of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans, as a mix of weather conditions, strategy and fascinating moments have defined the start to the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale.
The four-hour mark of the race passed under red flag conditions for a lightning strike in the area and resumed shortly after 4:15 p.m. ET and local time under full-course yellow conditions. The race airs live on NBCSN, Peacock and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.
It marked the second significant weather-related moment of the race. The race started with everyone on wet weather Michelin tires at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as pre-race showers soaked the track. As the track dried quickly, the bulk of the 54-car field came into the pits to change back onto dry-weather slicks.
Roughly two-plus hours ran dry, but with six hours, 43 minutes remaining, the skies opened and a brief downpour hit the track, which prompted a flurry of pit stops as more than half the field pitted to go back onto wets. That marked the fifth of six full-course cautions thus far.
“Here in Georgia, rain is tough to predict; it could rain one minute, then be off the next,” Ryan Hardwick, a Georgia native and co-driver of the No. 912 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) told IMSA Radio after his stint in his last full-time race. “For all the teams, drivers and fans, racing is all we want.”
Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) saw a battle primarily between the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 and the Nos. 60 and 93 Acura entries on the dry-weather slicks, but the complexion changed a bit when the skies opened.
Three cars – the sister No. 25 BMW, No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R – were on dry-weather slicks. Braun’s No. 60 Acura, on wets, got an incredible launch on the restart from fourth into the lead in the brief green flag interlude before the sixth and most recent full-course caution for two LMP2 cars spun at pit entrance. That progressed to a red flag with a lightning strike within the area before the yellow flag resumption.
In Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Misha Goikhberg played spoiler in the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen ORECA LMP2 07 to the two championship contending entries. With minimum drive time periods completed, Jeremy Clarke handed off the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA to Tom Dillmann while George Kurtz handed off his No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA to Alex Quinn. Clarke, Kurtz and Daniel Goldburg in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA had a fantastic scrap for the podium places behind Goikhberg.
Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) saw each of the three realistic title contending cars, the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO and No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 all at or near the front of the class. It’s a fascinating scenario through the opening hours as each also took a turn atop the charts in the unofficial “points as they run” standings. The No. 4 Corvette, in the hands of Tommy Milner, led at the four-hour mark.
In Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), Albert Costa in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO led the race while the championship contenders, bar the championship-leading No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, had issues.
Championship Updates Through Four Hours
By starting the race, Jack Aitken secured enough points to ensure he’ll wrap the GTP driver championship in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R. Concurrently, Cadillac Whelen has won the team championship and Cadillac the GTP manufacturer championship.
As noted above, both LMP2 and GTD PRO look set to go down to the wire with multiple cars in contention rotating atop the standings.
The GTD battle looks highly likely to fall to Philip Ellis and Russell Ward in their No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 for a third straight year, as both their title contending rivals hit trouble.
Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher’s second-placed No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO retired with a water pressure issue. Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello’s No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo went behind the wall before the race even started with electrical gremlins and returned to the track more than an hour after race start.
In the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, with the first four hours complete and first points awarded, GTP has fallen Porsche’s way while the three other classes are tight.
The No. 04 CrowdStrike and No. 99 AO Racing ORECAs are unofficially tied for the LMP2 season championship lead there on 42 points. The No. 4 Corvette’s first place points this segment moves it to within the No. 1 PMR BMW by three points. Just one point separates the No. 21 Af Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO and No. 27 Aston Martin in GTD.