AUGUST 6, 2025
Sunday, August 3, 2025 at 08:31AM 
(Formula1.com)
Team RLL put a season of disappointment and frustration in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship behind it with a 1-2 finish in the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix Sunday at Road America. Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng drove the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 to their first win of the season, taking the checkered flag 2.524 seconds ahead of Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann in the similar No. 25 machine. Watch the Extended Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
Like BMW M Team RLL in the GTP class, AO Racing was having a difficult time converting Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class Motul Pole Awards into race wins this year. That all changed in the last round of the WeatherTech Championship in mid-July, as PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron claimed the victory in AO’s purple dragon-liveried No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07 called ‘Spike.’ They made it two in a row Sunday at Road America with their second consecutive triumph. Hyett again earned the pole – his seventh in 11 attempts for an IMSA-sanctioned LMP2 race – and he and Cameron dominated on what Chicago-area native Hyett considers his home (and favorite) racetrack. They won by 4.167 seconds over Connor De Phillippi and Jeremy Clarke in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07, with Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas notching third place in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
Neil Verhagen had speed, but he also had patience. Knowing the driver he was chasing, Laurin Heinrich, probably had to stop for fuel before the end of the race, Verhagen – with plenty of fuel to reach the finish – patiently waited until Heinrich was forced to the pits. Verhagen’s patience led to a come-from-behind victory for himself and co-driver Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class of the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix on Sunday at Road America. (Thank you to Jeff Olson/IMSA WIre Service)
Kenton Koch passed Alec Udell with six minutes left, completing a come-from-behind conquest in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class and the first IMSA victory for Triarsi Competizione. The win was the first for team principal Onofrio Triarsi and third for Koch, his first since last year’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. Koch was making his second start with Triarsi after running the first half of the season with another team. Triarsi moved the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 into second place early in the race, then stalked the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 started by Russell Ward and taken over by Philip Ellis and Udell’s No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R until Koch put himself into position to catch Udell and make the pass. Mario Farnbacher and Misha Goikhberg finished second in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, while Daniel Serra and Manny Franco finished third in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. The two GT classes resume with the GT-only Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway on August 25, 2025. (Thank you to Jeff Olson/IMSA WIre Service)
Editor's Note: This is our dearly departed billboard, which we had at Road America for several years. Peter gifted the phrase "America's National Park of Speed" to the track, which now uses it proudly in all of its communications. -WG
Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG