Weekend preview: in America and Europe for the title fight
The final IMSA round at Petit Le Mans will be decisive in awarding the titles at stake, with Ferrari still in contention on several fronts. Among the various crews, six official drivers are taking part: Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Daniel Serra, James Calado, Miguel Molina and Lilou Wadoux. The Ultimate Cup Series heads to Magny Cours for the penultimate round of the season, with two Ferraris leading their respective standings.
IMSA. Late-season momentum includes three victories and podiums in five most recent events Ferrari takes a three-race winning streak and plenty of momentum into this weekend’s Petit Le Mans, the 10-hour season finale for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road Atlanta.
Three different Ferrari teams have scored class victories in the most recent events, with Ferrari carrying a six-race podium streak into Round 11 of the 2025 campaign. Ferrari is also the defending Petit Le Mans GTD class winner with Conquest Racing.
Ferrari ranks second in the manufacturer standings for GTD Pro by 46 points and for GTD by 114 points. The Prancing Horse is also in contention for various team and individual championships, including the GTD Pro title, GTD crown in the Endurance Cup, and the Bob Akin Award that includes an invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
DragonSpeed will conclude its first full season with Ferrari, fielding the No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3 shared by Albert Costa, Giacomo Altoe and factory driver Davide Rigon.
Costa is second in the driver points, only 18 marks in arrears, while DragonSpeed is also second in the team standings by a similar margin. The team has podiumed well in its last five starts, featuring a victory a Mosport in July and runner-up finishes in the most recent events at Virginia International Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“It’s always nice to come to Petit Le Mans with all the options on the table,” said Costa, part of Conquest’s winning GTD lineup in last year’s Petit Le Mans. “You’ve been working all year to be in the best position you can for the end of the championship. Petit Le Mans is always very challenging. It’s a 10-hour race, super challenging, and when the night comes, the traffic will be really terrible on a very short track for all the classes.
“Also, the hour when the sun is changing to the night is pretty hard, when the sun comes straight through the window. You need to be very smart to survive, and you need to rely on the team if you want to win.”
Meanwhile, the GTD class for Pro-Am lineups sees six Ferraris fielded by five teams – most of any marque.
The No. 70 Inception Racing entry driven by Brendan Iribe, Frederik Schandorff and Ollie Millroy is coming off its first victory at Indy’s Battle on the Bricks in September. Combined with a second-place finish at Watkins Glen and two segment victories at the Daytona 24 Hours, the trio leads the Endurance Cup by three points. Iribe also enters the finale tied for the lead for the Bob Akin Award.
“Petit is a race that every driver looks forward to,” Millroy said. “The circuit is awesome. The Ferrari felt great there last year, so hopefully we’ll have some pace again this year and we can go for a good result.
“The Bob Akin Award is really exciting, and we’re also leading the Endurance Cup, as well,” Millroy added. “It’s a bit too close, and that makes Petit Le Mans even more exciting. It affects how both [contending] teams approach the race from a strategy point of view. We’ve got to weigh it out, whether we target those Endurance Cup points or focus solely on the Akin trophy and the end of the race. Luckily, it isn’t my department.”
Manny Franco and factory driver Daniel Serra join Mike Skeen in Conquest Racing’s No. 34 Corsa Horizon 296 GT3. Franco is the defending GTD winner at Road Atlanta, joining Costa and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli in the 2024 lineup. Conquest has three podium finishes this season, taking third at Laguna Seca, Road America and Indianapolis.
Owner/driver Onofrio Triarsi and Kenton Koch return to the No. 023 Ferrari of Central Florida / David SW entry, joining factory pilot James Calado. That car is running for the Endurance Cup, with its best finish of fourth coming at Watkins Glen. Triarsi and Koch were winners at Road America in August and placed second at VIR one race later, albeit at the wheel of the team’s sister No. 021 Ferrari of Central Florida 296 GT3.
Koch is third in the GTD points, 228 points in arrears, while Franco and Serra are seventh.
Triarsi Competizione’s full-season No. 021 Ferrari is entered at Road Atlanta with A.J. Muss and Joel Miller, with a third driver to be announced.
Completing the Ferrari lineup are two teams running in the five Endurance Cup events. AF Corse will have the No. 21 296 GT3 for Ferrari factory drivers Lilou Wadoux and Alessandro Pier Guidi, joined by Simon Mann. Wadoux qualified second at Indianapolis, and the team is tied for second in the Endurance Cup, three points behind Inception Racing.
Rounding out the Ferrari roster is Cetilar Racing’s No. 47 Ferrari 296 GT3 for Lorenzo Patrese, Roberto Lacorte and factory driver Miguel Molina. This will be the second race of the campaign for Lacorte, who joined his son Nicola Lacorte in the Daytona 24 Hours.
Practice for Petit Le Mans begins with three 90-minute practice sessions on Thursday – at 10:40 a.m., 3:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (all times ET). The 15-minute GTD qualifying round begins at 3:20 p.m., followed by GTD Pro at 3:40 p.m. The 10-hour race takes the green flag at 12:10 p.m. on Saturday.
The opening three hours of the race will be televised on NBC, beginning at noon ET. The entire event will be streamed live on Peacock and broadcast on SiriusXM Channel 206, in addition to the IMSA YouTube Channel for international viewers.
Ultimate Cup Series. The French circuit of Magny-Cours hosts the penultimate round of the season this weekend, featuring the return of the reigning champions in the number 1 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 fielded by Visiom. Despite missing the previous leg at Aragón, Jean-Paul Pagny, Jean Bernard Bouvet and David Hallyday are firmly at the top of both the overall GT Endurance Cup standings and the UCS1 class.
In the GT Sprint Cup, Lyle Schofield – paired with Emilio Rocchi in the number 353 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo of SR&R – heads the overall standings with 82 points (against the 48 of his closest rival) and the UCT class with 96 points (against the 72 of the second). Completing the line-up is the number 350 Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo of SR&R with Maurizio Fondi.
On Friday’s schedule are the free practice sessions and qualifying sessions, as well as the opening race of the GT Sprint Cup, set to start at 9.25 p.m. The other three races will take place on Saturday at 2.10 p.m., 5.45 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. The GT Endurance Cup will hold qualifying on Saturday from 9.05 p.m. to 9.45 p.m., with the 4-hour race starting on Sunday at 10.30 a.m.
All times are local.