Endurance Weekly: 22nd-28th May
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- 10 hours ago
- 8 min read
Written by the DIVEBOMB Endurance Team
This week on Endurance Weekly, the DIVEBOMB endurance team look ahead to the latest round of the GT World Challenge EU (GT World Challenge Europe) and the IMSA round at Detroit, take a look back at the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) N24 qualifiers and report on all of the breaking news stories you may have missed.
GTWC EU - Monza - Preview
The GTWC EU field will travel to northern Italy this weekend for three hours of racing around the famous Autodromo Nazionale Monza. The 5.7 km (3.6 mi) circuit is known for its long straights and fast nature, earning it the title ‘The Temple of Speed’. 2025 will be the 10th time the track has featured on the Endurance Cup calendar.
It will also be the second round of the endurance season, after Charles Weerts won the season opener in Paul Ricard, with Kelvin Van Der Linde and Ugo de Wilde in the No.32 Team WRT BMW. They were followed home by the No.96 Rutronik and No.22 Schumacher CLRT Porsches.
The 59-car grid will see the green flags for the race at 3 pm local time on Sunday, 1st June. Qualifying to set the grid for the race will be held on the same day, just over five hours earlier, at 9:50 am.
Despite the number of cars staying the same from Paul Ricard, driver line-ups will change for this weekend, stemming from clashes with the IMSA round in Detroit and the 24 Hours of Fuji in Japan.
The car sitting third in the championship - the No.22 Porsche - will see Larry ten Voorde take the place of Laurin Heinrich, who will be on duty for AO Racing in IMSA. Elsewhere in the top class, the No.611 Nordique Mercedes will re-classify from the Pro class to the Gold class, with Tim Sandtler taking the place of Yuichi Nakayama, who will be racing in Fuji.
The No.163 Lamborghini Pro car will have Mattia Michelotto jump in the place of Marco Mapelli, who is also in Detroit. The No.24 Corvette will have Daniel Ali replace Kiern Jewiss, the No.54 Porsche has Mikkel Pederson in for Matteo Llarena, and the No.991 BMW sees BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) champion Ash Sutton jump in for Dan Harper.
The weather reports show high temperatures expected all weekend, with a slight chance of rain during the race on Sunday. However, rain or shine, it is sure to be a thrilling race.
IMSA Detroit: Preview
The IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship is set to race on the streets of Detroit this weekend for the fifth round of the 2025 season. Qualifying on Friday is set to start at 4:45 pm local time. The coverage for the 100-minute race will begin at 3:30 pm local time on Saturday.
The entry list for Detroit includes 22 entries total from the GTP and GTD Pro classes. 11 cars enter in the GTP class, and 11 in GTD Pro.
Going into the weekend, Porsche maintains their lead in the points standings, the Porsche Penske cars taking the top two places. The No.6 car secured their first race victory of the season in the last round at Laguna Seca, but still trail the No.7 car. The No.24 BMW sits in third in front of the No.25 BMW in fourth, the No.31 Cadillac holds fifth position.
In GTD Pro, the No.77 AO Racing Porsche leads the championship, followed by the No.3 Pratt Miller Racing Corvette, and the No.81 Dragonspeed Ferrari in third.
Further balance of performance changes to the GTP field have been posted for Detroit in hopes of bringing the field closer. Acura gains a big bump in Stage 1 power, going from 498kW in Laguna Seca to 519kW (+30.4 hp). BMW received a minor increase going into Laguna Seca, now reduced once again by 27kW to bring them to 493. Porsche received only a 5 kW reduction, down from 485 kW to 480 kW.
With these changes, hopefully we will see a closer battle in the GTP field to disrupt the victory streak Porsche have found themselves on. The BMW team made progress last time out to take pole and challenge the Penske's for victory. They are surely aiming for the top step of the podium on Saturday.
NLS - N24 Qualifiers - Review
The saying “calm before the storm” wasn’t very true last weekend, as torrential rain played a crucial role in the two Nürburgring 24h Qualifier races, which teams could use as preparation for the big race on June 21st. Across the weekend, two four-hour races took place, as the fourth and fifth rounds of the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie).
Race 1
The first event took place on Saturday. Despite being the first time Kevin Estre raced on the ring this year, he put the famous “Grello” No.911 Porsche on pole. The No.911 led the first lap, but was overtaken in a four-way battle on the Döttinger Höhe, and it continued to lose time as the Manthey crew chose to experiment with their mechanical settings.
Julien Andlauer, in the No.33 Porsche, was the one to take first place off the No.911 on the Döttinger Höhe, but after making the overtake, he misjudged the braking at the end of the straight and found himself in the barrier.
The mistake from Andlauer put the No.16 Porsche into the lead, and Laurens Vanthoor proceeded to demonstrate his incredible pace, stretching the lead to almost two minutes before handing the car over to Patric Niederhauser.
Niederhauser was no slower than Vanthoor was, at one point leading by more than three minutes. The No.16 car took a comfortable win, a promising sign for the Scherer Sport squad, who won the Nürburgring 24h last year, albeit in an Audi instead of a Porsche.
Patrick Pilet finished the race in second with the No.911 Porsche, another two minutes ahead of the No.14 Mercedes, followed by three more Porsches. Outstandingly, the No.921 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car from the Cup 2 class finished in seventh place, and the No.830 Target Competition Hyundai Elantra from the TCR class finished in ninth.
Race 2
The “top qualifying” format was used for race two, whereby all cars took place in one session, and then the fastest GT3 cars participated in a second session to decide who would start from pole. Saturday's rain refused to back down, putting the drivers skills in the wet to a proper test.
Once again, Kevin Estre put the No.911 “Grello” Porsche at the top of the timing tables in the first session, by a staggering eight and a half seconds, however, the car would start only 17th due to a car issue in the second session. Instead, the No.14 took pole at the hands of Fabian Schiller.
The rain stopped when the race started, but the track was still damp. All major protagonists in the SP9 (GT3 class) had fitted intermediate tyres onto their car, with the likely exception of the No.27 Lamborghini. At the end of the formation lap, the No.911 car pit to change to slick tyres, a crucial move as a strong outlap leapt the Porsche up to second place once all the other cars had pitted, the only competitor in front being the No.27 Lamborghini.
An uncharacteristic crash by Frank Stippler at Quiddelbacher Höhe put the No.8 Audi out of the race. Although no footage has been released of the accident, Stippler's post-race interview suggested the No.34 Aston Martin and slower class traffic was involved.
The No.14 Team GetSpeed Mercedes was in a tough fight with the two Falken Motorsport and Scherer Sport Porsches, which saw all three cars from Stuttgart make an astonishing move on the outside of the Karussell while the Mercedes was caught in traffic.
The most important battles came from the pit walls, however, as all the cars were offset from one another's strategy. The No.27 looked favourite for the majority of the race, but Vanthoor and Niederhauser proved to be too quick for the competition once again. The No.16 Porsche overcut its Italian rival, and proceeded to win the race by half a minute.
The No.33 Falken Motorsport Porsche finished second, a much better result than the day prior. The No.911 finished in third place, securing an all-Porsche podium. This is the fifth race out of five Porsche have won in the NLS this season, so the other teams are unsurprisingly calling for changes to the BoP (balance of performance) before the Nürburgring 24h.
The Nürburgring 24h will start at 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on the 21st June. All 24 hours can be streamed on YouTube for free.
Breaking News
Le Mans
AWA Racing reveal special one-off livery for Le Mans
AWA Racing have revealed their livery for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans for their No.13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. The livery is a striking red colour, with a large white maple leaf on the front of the car, representing the team's Canadian heritage.
In the press release from the team, they said: “AWA’s special livery is a symbol of their hometown roots, national pride, in addition to serving a celebration of Canadian motorsport excellence on a global stage.”
Jack Hawksworth to fill in for injured Ben Barnicoat at Le Mans
Jack Hawksworth will take the place of Ben Barnicoat in the No.78 Lexus at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as Barnicoat continues his recovery from injuries sustained in a mountain biking incident in March.
Barnicoat is expected to have made a full recovery for Le Mans, but opted not to take the risk on his first race back, being a 24-hour event. He is expected to return to racing at the IMSA round in Watkins Glen the week after Le Mans.
In the meantime, Hawksworth will join Finn Gehrsitz and Arnold Robin at Le Mans, who currently sit third in the LMGT3 WEC standings.
Ziggo Sport Tempesta reveal Le Mans livery
The Tempesta team, which previously raced under the guise of Sky Tempesta before their recent deal with Ziggo Sport, have taken the wraps off its Ferrari LMGT3 for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours.
The No.193 entry will feature a livery similar to the one seen above in the GTWC, the series from which they gained their entry after success last year. Chris Froggatt, Jonathan Hui and Eddie Cheever III will pilot the car, as they have done together since 2019.
Nürburgring 24 Hours
Mercedes-AMG reveal lineups to contest the 2025 N24
Two cars from the GetSpeed Performance squad will headline the three-car SP9 (GT3) Mercedes-AMG entries for the upcoming Nürburgring 24 Hour race, as the German marque bids for its first win in the event since 2016.
The No.14 car - sporting a Bilstein livery - will be driven by Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz. The No.17 car will be piloted by Ralf Aron, Lucas Auer, Adam Christodoulou and Mikael Grenier.
The two GetSpeed cars will be joined by Jannes Fittje, Jay Mo Hartling and Kenneth Heyer in the No.11 Pro-Am entry from SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm. They have yet to announce a fourth driver.
The N24 race will get underway at 4pm local time on the 21st of June.
ALMS (Asian Le Mans Series)
United Autosports announce plans to compete 2025/26 ALMS season
The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is set to welcome a familiar team to its ranks for the 2025–26 season. United Autosports confirmed they are contesting the upcoming season with a two-car entry, but the team has yet to reveal which class(es) they will slot their entry in.
United Autosports currently competes in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). The outfit last appeared in ALMS in 2023 and has been crowned champions several times in the past. They took the LMP2 title in 2018–19 and in 2021 with the LMP3.
The CEO of United Autosports is excited to announce the team’s return to ELMS: “It is fantastic to see the Asian Le Mans Series back on our racing calendar. We have great memories in this series, winning races and taking championship titles, and we’re working hard to replicate that success when we line up on the grid in 2025/26.”
