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Aaron Carroll

The big endurance round-up

Written by Aaron Carroll, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri


Over the past couple of weeks, major news has been breaking out left, right and centre up and down all the endurance paddocks. 


The WEC grid take off at Qatar 2024; Credit: FIA WEC

Over the past couple of weeks, major news has been breaking out left, right and centre up and down all the endurance paddocks. 


First came IMSA, who released their full 2025 season entry list just days before the season finale; Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The GTP lineup includes returning entries such as the reigning champions of Porsche Penske, along with the other Porsche entries from Proton and JDC-Miller, both BMWs and the Iron Lynx Lamborghini. 


One of the main changes is the new Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) run Cadillacs. The team who ran Acura’s factory program in the 2024 season, switched to a different American manufacturer for 2025. They take over the factory Cadillac entry from Whelen who will still run a single entry Cadillac. 


The WTR Cadillac contingent will feature Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, Will Stevens (Endurance Cup) and Brendon Hartley (Daytona) in the No. 10 entry, and Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor, Alex Lynn (Endurance Cup) and Kamui Kobayashi (Daytona) in the No. 40 car. 


The #31 Whelen Cadillac leads the field at Petit Le Mans; Credit: LAT Images

The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac will be driven by Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber for the full season, with Frederik Vesti joining for the Endurance Cup rounds, with a fourth driver yet to be announced for Daytona. 


With the departure of WTR from Acura, Meyer Shank Racing will take up two entries from the only GTP manufacturer not to race at Le Mans. 


Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun will drive the No. 60 Acura car, with Renger Van Der Zande will drive alongside Nick Yelloly in the No. 93. The quartet will make up the full season entries, while we still await announcements for the drivers for the Endurance Cup rounds and the fourth drivers for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. 


Another welcome addition to the 2025 entry list is the new Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie. The British manufacturer will be a welcome sight to both the IMSA and WEC grids in 2025 as they debut their new V12 competitor at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. 


Aston Martin Valkyrie in Heart of Racing colours; Credit: Aston Martin

There was also big news coming from Stuttgart, as Porsche announced it will shuffle its prototype lineup for 2025. The German team will run two drivers instead of three at the shorter rounds in both IMSA and WEC (races up to six hours in length). 


The No. 5 WEC car will be led by Julian Andlauer and Michael Christensen, with Mathieu Jaminet to join them for longer races. The No. 6 will keep Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre at the helm for 2025, with Matt Campbell joining for the longer rounds. 


In IMSA, Campbell and Jaminet will race the No. 6 entry, with Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy piloting the No. 7. Estre and Vanthoor will also support the IMSA crews at selected Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. 


The IMSA Porsche Penske duo #6 and #7 at the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona; Credit: LAT Images

The 2025 factory lineups see the absence of names like Andre Lotterer, Frédéric Makowiecki and Dane Cameron. The three departees will certainly be favourites for seats in Porsche customer entries such as Proton or Hertz team Jota, both of whom are yet to release their 2025 lineups. 


With the prototype grids set to produce more scintillating racing like we got in 2024, there has also been some news on the GT3 front. Namely, the announcement that Haupt Racing will be making the switch from the Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the Ford Mustang GT3. 


The team will race under the banner ‘HRT Ford Performance’ and will appear in GTWC Europe Sprint and Endurance Cups, the Nürburgring Langstrecke Series (NLS) — including the Nürburgring 24 Hours - and a season-long entry in DTM. 


The proposed livery for the new HRT Ford Mustang; Credit: Ford Performance

With endurance categories across the globe witnessing record viewerships in 2024, we can expect to see even more exciting to-the-wire racing through 2025 and beyond. 


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