IMSA Preview: Monterey Sportscar Championship
- Aaron Carroll
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
Just as soon as the teams packed everything up in Long Beach, they were unpacking everything again in the paddock at Laguna Seca. IMSA finishes off it's 'California Swing' portion of the season this weekend in Monterery, with GTP, GTD Pro and GTD in action.
Entry List
Overall, not much has changed over the last few rounds, now that we are diving deeper into this 2026 season.
In GTP, Earl Bamber (No.31 Whelen Cadillac) returns to the North American championship after sitting out Long Beach due to his commitments in Imola for the World Endurance Championship (WEC) season opener.
The GTD Pro class returns too after their first weekend off. That class will see numbers lowered to just nine (from 13 in Sebring) since this is not an endurance round and only full-season entries will take part.
In GTD Tom Gamble (No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin) returns after also being busy in Imola last time out while Scott Andrews fills in for Valentin Hasse-Clot in the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin and Lorenzo Patrese joins the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari crew alongside Albert Costa.
Otherwise all three classes come to Laguna Seca with all line-ups confirmed on the full-season entry list.
News
The big headline from Thursday morning comes from DXDT Racing and their Corvette. En route to the Laguna Seca circuit, the teams transporter caught fire just north of Los Angeles, fortunately with nobody injured.
However, the damage caused by the fire has put the teams participation this weekend into uncertainty.
A statement issued on behalf of the team reads: “En route to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for this weekend’s StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship, a mechanical incident resulted in a fully involved fire affecting the DXDT Racing transporter on I-5 north of Bakersfield. No injuries were reported, and no other vehicles were involved.
“The status of the No.36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R is currently unknown.
“DXDT Racing is grateful to first responders for their swift response. There is no additional information available at this time. Updates will be provided as they become available.”
EDIT: DXDT have since officially withdrawn from the event. The statement from the team can be read below.
“The fire is believed to have originated from a mechanical issue with the trailer, potentially a left-rear axle failure. The full extent of the damage remains under investigation but is considered severe.
“Only one race car was in the transporter at the time of the incident. The team’s spare chassis is located at its headquarters in North Carolina.
“The condition of Robert Wickens’ Bosch-developed hand control system is unknown at this time.”
Championship Standings
GTP
Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr in the No.7 Porsche still head the drivers championship standings on 1061 points after their back-to-back wins in Daytona and Sebring.
Their teammate for those races - Laurin Heinrich - hangs on to second by himself (1026 points), bolstered by those two wins and his efforts in the JDC Miller No.5 car in Long Beach. He will again be piloting that machine, alongside Tijmen van der Helm.
The first non-Porsche drivers come in the form of Jack Aitken and Frederick Vesti just three points back in the No.31 Whelen Cadillac. They are the only drivers in any class this season to have finished on the podium in all three races so far, however they have yet to add their first win.
Then comes Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre in the No.6 Porsche, followed by winners last time out Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande in the No.93 Acura in fifth.
Acura are filling all the headlines coming into this weekend, after they announced that they will pause their IMSA GTP programme at the end of this season.
GTD Pro
Neil Verhagen, Connor De Phillippi and Max Hesse in the No.1 BMW hold the championship lead in the premier IMSA GT class on 658 points, however Hesse will not race this weekend since he will only drive the endurance cup rounds this year.
That crew is actually tied with the No.911 Manthey Porsche for the championship lead, but that crew are not full-season entrants and won't be at the track this weekend.
After them comes the No.4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg (and Nico Varrone who won't be racing this weekend) on 628 points.
Then comes the No.77 AO Racing machine in fourth, and fifth is held by the No.3 Corvette.
GTD
Dudu Barrichello stands alone atop the GTD standings with 930 in the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. He would normally be joined by Gamble, but instead was joined by Spencer Pumpelly last time out, leaving him as the only one to have competed all three rounds for the team.
He's got Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher breathing down his neck though in the No.96 Turner BMW on 876 points. In third in Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pederson in the No.12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
Rounding out the top five is Pumpelly (who drives the No.28 Porsche in the endurance rounds, but will not be present this weekend) and Phillip Ellis and Russell Ward in the ever present No.57 Winward Racing Mercedes.
The track
Originally opened in 1957 - in it's current iteration since 1996 - Laguna Seca has been a staple of racing in North America since it's opening. Through it's IndyCar and Sportscar races, the 2.238 mi (3.602 km) track is steeped in history.
As the drivers start a lap they'll be heading uphill over a crest into the flat out left handed kink of turn 1. It may seem unimportant, but it's crucial to get the car over to the right on exit to set up the first heavy braking zone, the Andretti Hairpin.
This double-apex left handed hairpin is a prime overtaking opportunity for drivers in all classes, and a key pinch point on lap one.
There's a short run then before the quick right hander of turn 3, and similarly turn 4. There's a small left handed kink before the right handed turn 5. Each of those three corners is more open than the last, leading to somewhat of a flowing section of track.
Turn 6 is one of the most important corners of the track. Picking up the brakes under the bridge, drivers will have to be so precise with their turn in to this quick left hander as it dictates the exit they get onto the Rahal straight, and if they get it wrong it may dictate them going off the road.
Once they've navigated that corner, it's flat-out up the Rahal straight, before the plunge down into the infamous Corkscrew. Turns 7 and 8 on the track, and one of the most famous corners in the world, the steep plunge leaves drivers blind coming over the top, before the ground quickly comes back towards them.
That's quickly followed by the fast, closing radius left at turn 9, and the 90 degree right of turn 10. From there it's a short blast past the pit entry, before getting back on the brakes for the turn 11 hairpin.
Once they've got all that right, drivers will be back on the throttle heading towards Andretti once again.
The liveries
For this weekend, IMSA has encouraged teams to lead into the idea of a 'throwback weekend', by celebrating their history with historic liveries. A welcome idea by fans and teams alike.
The first to come along with a creative idea was AO Racing. The team young age meant that they didn't have much history to delve into for a livery, so their solution was 'Sketchy'.
Sketchy is a version of their famous 'Rexy', with inspiration taken from the early brainstorming and design phases of their livery.
“When I heard Laguna Seca was going to be IMSA’s first official throwback event, I was very excited as a long time sportscar fan,” said Gunnar Jeannette, Team Principal of AO Racing. “It did create an interesting problem for AO, as our team doesn’t have much history to throwback to!
“So, instead of a historic livery, we, through our fans would appreciate seeing Rexy turn into his origin Story & first sketch."
The other team to have joined the throwback party is Pratt Miller and Corvette.
They will be paying homage to the legendary Corvette CR-5 from the early 2000's American Le Mans Series.
“Reviewing liveries over the years, it was about finding a striking scheme and one that works well on the Z06 GT3.R body contours and styling lines,” said Matt Stasiak, the Operations Manager of Pratt Miller Motorsports, and the team’s livery designer since 2024. “The C5-R 2000 early-season livery was a perfect fit, while body styling of Corvette’s has evolved over the years, the livery remains timeless.”
The No.1 BMW which will be driven by Verhagen and De Phillippi will also be sporting a throwback livery.
This one pays homage to the 1975 BMW 3.0L CSL. In the hands of Hans-Joachim Stuck, Brian Redman, Allan Moffat and Sam Posey it won that years 12 Hours of Sebring, and won one of two heats at the Monterey Triple Crown, while also setting the lap record at the time in qualifying.
Schedule
The weekend will kick off on Friday with first practice at 15:20 local time (23:20 BST), with FP2 being at 9:55 local (17:55 BST). That's all the teams get for practice, with qualifying taking place at 15:15 (23:15 BST) later that day.
The main event will get underway at 13:10 local time (21:10 BST) on Sunday and run for two hours and 40 minutes.
Fans at the track and following along on the official YouTube channels and IMSA TV can also enjoy action from the IMSA Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo and Ford Mustang Challenge.
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