Endurance Weekly: May 1st-7th
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- May 7
- 9 min read
Written by DIVEBOMB Endurance Team
This week on Endurance Weekly, the DIVEBOMB endurance team take a look ahead to the third round of the WEC (World Endurance Championship) at Spa, the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar championship at Laguna Seca, and the third round of the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie). We also look back on the second race of the ELMS (European Le Mans Series) and the GTWC EU (GT World Challenge Europe) Sprint Cup opener at Brands Hatch. We also discuss all of the breaking news stories from the past week.
WEC - 6 Hours of Spa - Preview
The 2025 WEC (World Endurance Championship) paddock will roll into the Ardennes forest this weekend for the third round of the season at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. The race will get underway at 2pm local time on Saturday, with qualifying beginning at 2:40pm the day beforehand.
There is no rain expected for the duration of the weekend, with moderate temperatures on Thursday and Friday, slightly increasing on Saturday for the main race.
Many of the Hypercars on the grid could be in with a chance of silverware on Saturday, with Ferrari coming off the back of two wins in the first two races of the season, and Toyota seemingly just behind them. BMW look to have taken strides since last season and will be looking for their first WEC overall victory, while Porsche are looking to bounce back after a less than ideal start to the season.
Porsche will attempt to do so with an updated lineup due to Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet in America with IMSA duties. Pascal Wehrlein will fill in for Campbell in the No.6, while Nico Mueller takes over duties in the No.5 for Jaminet.
Cadillac will also be hoping for a return to form after their tricky start to the season, where on the other hand, Alpine look to build upon their promising podium in Imola. Peugeot will look to find more pace as they also struggled to get off the mark in 2025. Finally Aston Martin will hope to continue their improvement in their cars inaugural season.
The LMGT3 class is also just as - if not even more - unpredictable than the premier class. Both wins so far this season have been decided by less than a second, with four different manufacturers involved. In Qatar it was Corvette winning over McLaren by half a second, and in Imola it was Porsche winning over BMW by three tenths of a second.
No matter where you look, there is guaranteed to be plenty of action during the six hours of racing at Spa on Saturday.
IMSA - Laguna Seca - Preview
The IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship arrives in sunny California this weekend at Laguna Seca for the fourth round of the championship. Qualifying on Saturday starts at 3:15pm local time. The 160-minute race will take place from 12:10 pm - 2:50 pm local time. Other events this weekend include the Michelin Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, and Mustang Challenge.
The IMSA event entry list for Laguna Seca features a total of 36 entries from the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. No LMP2 class again this year. 11 entries for GTP, 10 for GTD Pro, and 15 in GTD. One more GTD Pro and one more GTP enter than last year’s event.
Coming into Laguna Seca, Porsche Penske hold the top two positions in the GTP championship, the No.7 leading the No. 6 car. Behind them in third is the No. 24 BMW followed by the No. 31 Cadillac and the No. 25 BMW in fourth and fifth respectively.
In GTD, the No. 177 AO Racing Porsche holds the lead, followed by the No.12 and No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus rounding out the top three.
Balance of Performance changes to the GTP Porsche may contribute to a closer battle. Long Beach’s BoP had the Porsche 963’s kW at 496, which this weekend has been reduced by 11kW decrease in Stage 1 power, resulting in a 14.7hp decrease. The BMW M Hybrid V8 has been given a 5kW or 6.7hp increase since Long Beach, now with 520kW.
The Porsche Penske No.7 is undefeated at this point in the season. This BoP shift may open up an opportunity for BMW to finally convert pace into victory after failing to win from pole at every round this season so far.
NLS 3 - Preview
Round three of the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) will take place this Saturday at 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT) after the grid is decided by a 90 minute Qualifying session at 08:30 (06:30 GMT). While 90 minutes sounds like a lot, lap times can be up to 10 minutes, and hotlaps may be prevented by a code 60, meaning drivers must make every attempt at a fastest lap count.
The race will last four hours on the Gesamtstrecke, which is a combination of the GP track and Nordschleife. The forecast suggests the race will take place under sunny conditions, with a low chance of rain, however the unpredictability of the weather over the Nüburgring should never be underestimated.
Well over 100 cars will hit the track, across dozens of classes. Spectators should keep an eye on the SP9 and Cup 2 classes, as the GT3 cars which race in them will be the fastest on track. The first two rounds of the NLS were won by Falken Motorsport, their Porsche 911 GT3 R’s are the cars to beat in the remainder of the season.
ELMS - 4 Hours of Le Castellet - Preview
Read the full race report here
The race got underway at 12pm local time on Sunday in damp conditions, with differing tyre choices across the entire field.
As the first hour progressed however, the rain came down harder and it was clear that those that ran wet tyres from the start had made the right decision. Early on it was the No.43 InterEurpol LMP2 that led the way from pole position, being one of the few cars to start on the wet tyres.
Due to the tyre choices and weather conditions, the order appeared extremely mixed up. LMP3 cars were ahead of LMP2 cars, and the sole No.55 Ferrari LMGT3 that started on wets zoomed past cars in both classes.
At the end of a hectic opening lap, the No.8 LMP3 collided with the spinning No.83 LMP2, leaving both cars with massive damage and debris strewn across the track. This brought out the first safety car of the race, with many pitting after the race returned to green flag running.
Soon after, the No.43 and No.25 APR car battled for the overall lead in the race, with the Algarve Pro car going around the outside to take the lead of the race, however that car would soon go back behind the No.48 during the first round of scheduled pit stops.
The No.37 CLX LMP2 had an incident on the exit of Siene corner, leaving the car stranded in the barrier, bringing out the second safety car. This bunched the field back up, meaning the No.43 car fell down the order since it needed to pit for fuel.
After this both the No.25 and No.9 cars led for periods, with the No.29 TDS Racing PRO/AM car charging up the order. Elsewhere the No.18 IDEC Sport car backed by Genesis Magma Racing had climbed back up to fourth after Jamie Chadwick had a lap one incident.
As the track soon began to dry, some drivers tested the slick tyres. The leading No.9 car pit with the rest, but had a loose wheel nut, meaning a tyre came off the car, leaving them out of contention. This left the No.18 IDEC Sport entry in the lead after the pit stops.
The sister No.28 IDEC car hit the barriers soon after, bringing out the final safety car of the race. After the caution, the No.18 car never looked back and took the win at the Circuit Paul Ricard, making it two wins from two for Jamie Chadwick, Daniel Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert.
GTWC EU - Brands Hatch Sprint - Review
Following the first round of the GTWC (GT World Challenge) EU Endurance Series in Circuit Paul Ricard, the first round of the Sprint Series took place at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit on Sunday. The circuit hosted two races, each an hour long with a required driver change.
Vincent Abril and Alessio Rovera started the day on the top step, winning race one with the No.51 Ferrari. The pair started the race second, behind the No.69 Gold Cup Verstappen.com backed Ferrari. The No.69 initially opened a gap to the cars behind, while the No.51 Ferrari was overtaken by the No.59 McLaren.
The order changed at the pit stops, when the No.51 Ferrari pit a lap later than the two cars ahead, jumping both of them and taking the lead. Chris Lulham, behind the wheel of the No.69 Verstappen.com car, tried to reclaim the lead, but compromised himself and dropped back another place behind the No.59 McLaren.
The order wouldn’t change again before the chequered flag. Four Ferrari’s finished in the top five, separated only by the McLaren in second place.
Three hours and 45 minutes later, the green flag fell for race two. The tight nature of Brands Hatch was beneficial to the No.48 Winward Racing Mercedes which started on pole. The Mercedes, driven by Maro Engel and Lucas Auer, did not have the outright pace, but the faster cars behind failed to compose an overtake.
In the first stint the Verstappen.com car, driven by Lulham, was once again in the podium battles, however a slow stop was costly, dropping him out of contention.
As the No.48 Mercedes took the chequered flag first, it was followed by the No.32 BMW who had opposite fortune to Lulham in the pits. The No.96 Porsche finished third, ahead of the No.50 and No.14 Ferrari’s.
After the second round of the GTWC EU 2025 season, the No.32 BMW has the championship lead ahead of the reigning World Champions, the No.48 Mercedes.
Breaking News
IDEC Sport complete Le Mans LMP2 lineup with Sebastian Alvarez
IDEC Sport has announced Mexican driver Sebastian Alvarez as the final driver for its 24 Hours of Le Mans lineup, replacing Paul-Loup Chatin.
An FIA Silver-rated driver, Alvarez will pilot the No.28 Oreca 07 Gibson alongside regulars Job van Uitert and Paul Lafargue.
This will mark Alvarez’ debut appearance in the French enduro, coming in to deputise Chatin.
Due to clashing schedules with the Alpine Hypercar squad, the Frenchman is unable to commit for IDEC at Le Mans.
The 22-year-old competed in LMP2 in 2023. Driving for Inter Europol Competition, he sealed his maiden win in the category in previous year’s 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
This season, he became Tower Motorsports’ third driver in IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
He initially emerged victorious in LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, before the team was stripped of its win due to a technical infraction.
“I’ve been in contact with IDEC SPORT for a while now, and we’ve even done some testing together,” said Alvarez.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity. Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a team like this is incredible.
“I’m super excited to take part in such an event—it’s the kind of race you’d ask Santa Claus to do,” he added.
“I’ll give it everything to help us get a great result. I know Job well, since we were teammates at Daytona, where we crossed the finish line in first place.
“I already know the atmosphere within the trio and the team will be great.”
Jochen Mass dies aged 78
Formula One Grand Prix and Le Mans winner Jochen Mass has passed away at the age of 78, due to complications following a stroke in February, his family announced.
A familiar name in the French endurance classic, Mass took part in 12 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, between 1972 and 1995.
Initially debuted there with Ford, he rose to prominence following his switch to Porsche.
He drove both Porsches 956 and 962 during the Group C era, joining forces with the likes of Vern Schuppan, Jacky Ickx, Bob Wollek and Hurley Haywood. There, he scored his highest finish of runner-up with Schuppan in 1982.
His sole Le Mans victory finally happened in 1989, with Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens for Sauber-Mercedes C9.
His partnership with Mercedes went beyond his active years in racing, serving as a mentor and driver coach on the marque’s young rising talents, such as Karl Wendlinger and Michael Schumacher.
This included driving iconic Mercedes cars from the 1930s and 1950s in demonstrations during historic racing events.
The German driver was also notable for winning the 1972 24 Hours of Spa, 1987 Twelve Hours of Sebring and the Spanish Grand Prix in 1975.
“Today we mourn the loss of a husband, father, grandfather and a racing legend,” Mass’ family said in a statement.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Jochen Mass has died today due to complications following a stroke he suffered in February, earlier this year.
“Thank you to everyone for the incredible support we have received. Every single message of positivity was relayed to him, giving him peace and comfort in his last days.
“Beyond mourning his death, we also celebrate his incredible life. A life that he loved sharing with all of you. A life that he lived to the absolute fullest.
“He is racing with all his friends again.”
IMSA
Marvin Kirchhofer to sub for Ben Barnicoat in No.14 Lexus at Laguna Seca
Marvin Kirchhofer is set to take Ben Barnicoat’s place in the No. 14 Vasseur Sullivan Lexus at Laguna Seca this weekend, racing alongside Aaron Telitz. Kirchhofer previously raced in the No. 13 AWA GTD Corvette at Daytona, which took home victory in the GTD class.
British Vasseur Sullivan driver Ben Barnicoat continues to recover from a biking accident that caused him to miss the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this season.
Kirchhofer has experience racing in the GTD Pro class for Pfaff Motorsports in 2024, and GTD for Inception Racing in 2023.
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