2026 Sports Car Predictions

Sports car racing keeps things interesting. We are coming off a year where there was a new manufacturer joining the top echelon of sports car racing, and looking ahead we have a year where another new manufacturer will join the top echelon of sports car racing. 

There is plenty of competition to keep you busy in the sports car world, for world championships to domestic series, and it will all start soon enough. It technically has already started as the Asian Le Mans Series season got underway earlier this month, but there is still plenty to preview and predict ahead of the New Year.

FIA World Endurance Championship

1. Genesis Magma will score more points than Aston Martin's 2025 total

New year, and another new manufacturer is joining the WEC grid. Genesis Magma Racing is making its debut with the Genesis GMR-001. Pipo Derani and André Lotterer were contracted to lead the development of this program, and the team has added Mathieu Jaminet, Daniel Juncadella, Paul-Loup Chatin and Mathys Jaubert to round out the lineup.

The driver ability is there. The question will be the car. 

The 2025 season saw the debut of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, a long-awaited entry into the series, which had sat on the shelf for a period of time. For all the attention it got for the noise from its 6.5 liter V12 engine, it only scored 24 points. Its only points finishes were the final two races. The #009 Aston Martin was fifth at Fuji and seventh at Bahrain. 

Genesis has been testing since August and it did a 32-hour test at Portimão in September. That doesn't mean it is going to run well, but I think Genesis scores earlier. It might just be a few points here and there, but they add up. There could be a big result later in the season that helps get Genesis exceed that 24-point total.

2. There will be fewer 1-2 overall finishes for manufacturers

Four out of eight races had a 1-2 finish for a manufacturer. 

Ferrari went 1-2-3 in Qatar and 1-2 at Spa-Francorchamps. Cadillac's lone victory of the season at Interlagos was also a 1-2 result. Toyota closed the 2025 season with a 1-2 in Bahrain.

In 2024, there was only one 1-2 result for a manufacturer, and it was the race a privateer team won. Hertz Team Jota won at Spa-Francorchamps while still a Porsche team ahead of the Porsche Penske Motorsport outfit. 

I don't see it happening again where the only day Cadillac or Toyota win a race also being a 1-2 result. I don't see if Aston Martin has one good race both cars end up 1-2. I think that will just be a quirk for 2025.

3. Every winner in LMGT3 will have a podium finish that isn't first

In 2025, six different entries won in LMGT3, but for four of those cars, their only podium finish was first-place. 

The championship-winning #92 Manthey Porsche won twice, but its next best finish was fourth. The #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus won twice as well, and also had its next best finish be fourth. The #33 TF Sport Corvette won the season opener and never finished better than sixth the rest of the season. The #95 United Autosport McLaren won at Austin, and its next best finish all season was seventh. 

For it to happen once is one thing, but for four of the six winners to have their only trips to the podium be victories is staggering. 

Now, it did happen three times in 2024, and it happened twice in the final year of GTE-Am in 2023. However, I predict a strong market correction and it doesn't happen at all in 2026, even if history says it is going to happen at least once.

4. Among the top five in the LMGT3 championship, British drivers are in the top two most-represented nationalities

Last season in LMGT3, there was a lack of British drivers in the top ten of the championship. There were only two. 

Ian James was fourth with Heart of Racing Aston Martin, and Jonny Edgar was sixth with TF Sport. 

Meanwhile, there were six Italians, three Americans, two Austrians and two Frenchmen. No other nationalities were represented multiple times. In the championship top five, there were three Italians, two Americans and two Austrians.

There are a few more Brits in LMGT3 this year. James and Edgar will each be back in their respective entries, and Edgar was only four points off cracking the top five in 2025. 

James Cottingham will be in a Manthey Porsche. Ben Tuck is back in a Proton Competition Ford. Darren Leung has moved to Team WRT BMW and Dan Harper will be in the other Team WRT entry. Tom Fleming will be in a McLaren with Garage 59. 

It will likely take at least three drivers to crack the top two most-represented. It feels possible.

IMSA

5. Six GTP entries have consecutive podium finishes

Last season, five different entries had a run of consecutive podium finishes at some point.

The #7 Porsche won the first three races and then finished second. The #6 Porsche had five consecutive podium finishes to open the season. The #24 Team RLL BMW was third in consecutive races at Long Beach and Laguna Seca. Wayne Taylor Racing's #10 Cadillac went second and third at Detroit and Watkins Glen. The #31 Whelen Racing Cadillac ended the season with a pair of victories.

But a sixth entry having consecutive podium finishes at some point in the season? Really? Is that possible? Well, it happened in 2022 and 2023. There were only six full-time entries in 2022, so that made it a lot easier, but even with all the cars in GTP for 2026, six of them will have consecutive podium finishes at some point during the season.

6. At least four drivers reach 15 career victories

There are made notable names approaching this milestone. 

Felipe Nasr is on 14 career victories, as is Jon Field, who will be back in LMP2 as Intersport Racing has returned to competition. Felipe Albuquerque, Sébastien Bourdais, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell are all on 13 victories, though Campbell will become an Endurance Cup driver for Porsche in 2026. Jack Hawksworth has 12 victories.

Those are seven drivers within three victories of the 15 milestone. I say just over half get there in 2025. Nasr feels almost certain to get one victory. With how well Porsche did, you would think Vanthoor could pick up two as well. Albuquerque, Bourdais and Hawksworth all went winless in 2025. All three aren't going to be shutout again in 2026. One will definitely win, and in all likelihood at least two will, and multiple victories cannot be ruled out.

7. At least four nationalities are represented between the two GT class winners at Road America

Last year at Road America, the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen won in GTD Pro, and the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari of Kenton Koch and Onofrio Triarsi won in GTD. That is four American winners among the drivers.

However, in 2026, Road America is going to be a six-hour race. In the five endurance races on the 2025 calendar, at least four nationalities were represented among the winning GT drivers in four of them (Watkins Glen was the exception). 

We aren't going to see an all-American set of winners again. With third drivers likely in some entries, we are going to see more possibilities. I think there will be multiple flags being waved for these winners.

8. Two class champions also win the Endurance Cup championships

The champions are rarely the Endurance Cup champions. 

Last year, the Endurance Cup champions were third in GTP, second in LMP2, fourth in GTD Pro, and the Endurance Cup-only #21 AF Corse Ferrari won the title in GTD.

In 2024, two of the champions were also Endurance Cup champions, the #7 Porsche in GTP and the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG in GTD. It also happened in 2023 when the #31 Whelen Racing Cadillac took both titles in GTP and the #74 Riley entry did it in LMP3.

It feels quick for it to happen again, but I think we see a bit of a swing from 2025, and the top teams from the entire season will be on top at the endurance races as well.

Other

9. There will be at least four European Le Mans Series overall winners that have consecutive letters in their last name

Looking at the ELMS entry list, there are a fair number of LMP2 drivers with consecutive letters in their last name. 

Pietro Fittipaldi

Ryan Cullen

Louis Rousset

Enzo Trulli

Griffin Peebles

Alex Quinn

Richard Verschoor

Tom Dillmann has two sets of consecutive letters!

Nick Yelloly

François Perrodo

P.J. Hyett

Last year, three drivers with consecutive letters in their last name won overall, Perrodo, Daniel Juncadella and Esteban Masson. I think that number increases this season.

10. In the Matt Bell battle, LMGT3 Matt Bell will have the better class finish over LMP3 Matt Bell in majority of the races

Two drivers, one name, and the Matt Bell confusion will hit its greatest heights in 2025 when both drivers will be competing in the European Le Mans Series.

Matthew Richard Bell will be competing in the #11 Eurointernational Liger in LMP3. Matthew Thomas Bell will be competing in the #33 TF Sport Corvette in LMGT3.

In the last two seasons, Matthew Richard Bell and Eurointernational has finished second in the LMP3 championship. Matthew Thomas Bell has not compete in ELMS since 2024 when he ran an LMP2 Pro-Am entry with Team Virage. He spent the last three seasons in IMSA, and the last two in a Corvette GT3 with AWA. 

Eurointernational has been a strong team in LMP3, but I think Matthew Thomas Bell with TF Sport will pull off better results than Matthew Richard Bell in LMP3. 

11. No drivers win in multiple entries in Intercontinental GT Challenge

Last year, Kelvin van der Linde took the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship as van der Linde won four of the five races. He won the four races in three different entries. 

At the Bathurst 12 Hour, he won in the #32 Team WRT BMW. He won the 24 Hours Nürburgring with the #99 ROWE Racing BMW. Van der Linde was back in the #32 Team WRT BMW for the Suzuka 1000 km, but he won in the #46 Team WRT BMW at the Indianapolis 8 Hour.

What happens in 2026? No driver wins in multiple entries. It is going to be pretty straight forward. If you win in one car, then you are going to win in that car later in the season, if you win again. 

12. The number of home race winners in GT World Challenge Asia at least doubles

We don't talk about GT World Challenge Asia often in this space, and we aren't going to increase our coverage, but we need another prediction and we need to mix it up. 

In 2025, twice where there home race winners. Malaysian Prince Jefri Ibrahim won at Sepang, and Chinese due Ye Yifei and Zhang Yaqi won in Beijing. 

In 2026, there will be two rounds in China, as well as two rounds in Japan, plus Sepang remains and Mandalika is also on the schedule representing Indonesia. 

With an additional Chinese round, we are highly likely to see another race with home winners, and while Japanese drivers are not overly abundant in GTWC Asia, you would think after being shut out and having no Japanese drivers win overall in 2024 and 2025, at least one will do it in 2026, and there are two Japanese rounds where it could happen. 

Four predictions are now complete, and you can catch up on NASCAR, motorcycle racing and Formula One predictions before we conclude the year with IndyCar predictions. 

2025 Motorsports Christmas List

It is Christmas Eve, and you likely wondered if we were going to pass out some Christmas presents this year, but here we are! The last month or so has been rather difficult. It was an active month with Formula One finishing up its season. Then the 23XI/Front Row Motorsports vs. NASCAR was underway and took about a week-and-a-half our attention before the case was settled and the teams were the big winners. Sadly, the last week has been marred with the fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of Greg Biffle and his family.

This December never really settled down. Now Christmas is here. These next few days should be a little more peaceful. It should be a chance to detach for a moment and not be consumed with anything all that important. This should be time for ourselves. 

Before the festivities get going with family visiting, meals shared and gifts exchanged, let’s cover what we are handing out to those in the motorsports world. 

To Denny Hamlin: Immunity for untimely cautions

To Michael Jordan: Cigars

To Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan and Bob Jenkins: Thank You cards from every other NASCAR team owner

To Lando Norris: Jet-ski

To Oscar Piastri: Restored confidence 

To Zak Brown: Humility

To Max Verstappen: Patience in Barcelona 

To Lewis Hamilton: A Time Machine back to December 24, 2023.

To Charles Leclerc: Acceptance when it it time to move on

To Oliver Bearman: Catching another team’s attention

To George Russell: A trip to Bali

To Andrea Kimi Antonelli: No sophomore slump

To Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez: Smooth development

To Cadillac F1: Respectable results

To Colton Herta: His time being worth the switch to Formula Two

To Isack Hadjar: A full season at Red Bull

To Arvid Lindblad: There actually being a change of philosophy at Red Bull with Helmut Marko gone

To Liam Lawson: Continuing to outscore the second Red Bull entry

To Carlos Sainz, Jr.: His best race of the season being in Madrid

To Alexander Albon: Quickly ending his point-less streak

To Nico Hülkenberg: Another podium finish

To Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon: Making up

To Yuki Tsunoda: A dabbling in IndyCar

To Franco Colapinto: Being ready to jump

To Fernando Alonso: A few entries into the record book

To Gabriel Bortoleto: Continuing his development

To Leonardo Fornaroli, Jak Crawford, Luke Browning and a host of other junior drivers: Formula One sprint weekends becoming a separate championship for reserve/development/non-full-time drivers to compete

To Alex Dunne: Less contact

To Marc Márquez: A good challenge in track

To Álex Márquez: A few memorable battles where he beats his brother Marc

To Jorge Martín: Not being rusty

To Marco Bezzecchi: A better start to the season

To Francesco Bagnaia: Staying up right

To Johann Zarco: A few more rainy days

To Fabio Quartararo: Not needing to be majestic just to get average results

To Pedro Acosta: Not getting stuck at KTM if things take a turn

To MotoGP: The Brazilian Grand Prix returning without a hitch

To Daniel Holgado and David Alonso: Becoming title contenders in Moto2

To Supercars: A mulligan for 2025

To Broc Feeney: A clean weekend at Adelaide

To Chaz Mostert: NASCAR Cup weekends at Austin and Watkins Glen

To Kyle Larson: Comfortability in failure

To Chase Elliott: Legos

To William Byron: Reasonable expectations

To Alex Bowman: The first Hendrick Motorsports victory of 2026

To Brad Keselowski: A speedy recovery

To Chris Buescher: More laps led

To Shane van Gisbergen: A top 20 average finish on ovals

To Connor Zilisch: No broken bones

To Corey Heim: A NASCAR Cup Series ride

To Joey Logano: Sunscreen

To Ryan Blaney: Razors

To Austin Cindric: That lost road course ability

To Josh Berry: More than two good races

To Kyle Busch: A clear path for 2027 and beyond

To Austin Dillon: Sustained success at Richmond

To Richmond Raceway: Regulations that allow for competitive racing

To Watkins Glen: A lovely spring weekend for May 9-10

To Bubba Wallace: More road course practice

To Tyler Reddick: Mental clarity

To Christopher Bell: Being on the right side of the cutline after Martinsville

To Chase Briscoe: A pinball machine

To Daniel Suárez: Keeping up with his new teammates

To Ty Gibbs: The ability to be a good teammate

To Erik Jones: Short-track speed

To John Hunter Nemechek: Three consecutive top ten finishes at some point in 2026

To Kaulig Racing and RAM: Not screwing up year one in the Truck Series

To Parker Kligerman: A Daytona victory that counts in the record books

To A.J. Allmendinger: More sports opportunities and an Indianapolis 500 entry with Meyer Shank Racing

To Sheldon Creed: Finally winning a NASCAR national series race 

To Matt Crafton: A peaceful retirement

To Nick Sanchez: Landing on his feet in a competitive seat

To Justin Allgaier: Slippers

To Jesse Love: A fitting championship result 

To Austin Hill: Deep breathing exercises 

To Corey Day: Not being replaced midseason due to results

To Aric Almirola: Full-time in NASCAR’s second division

To NASCAR Brasil Series champion Rubens Barrichello: A NASCAR Cup entry at Austin

To Chicagoland Speedway: Proper-running plumbing

To Iowa Speedway: A better connection with the local area

To Formula E: Their races on a proper channel in the United States and races on weekends and at times when nothing else is going on. 

To Jake Dennis: A sports car role

To Aston Martin: Results that justify the attention drawn to its LMDh program

To Porsche: Better luck on the next set of FIA World Endurance Championship regulations

To Hertz Team Jota: No contact between its cars

To the 24 Hours of Le Mans: A real battle with multiple manufacturers until the checkered flag

To Lone Star Le Mans: Moving to any other weekend but Labor Day weekend. Open the season in Austin.

To IndyCar: A 2028 car that stands out and attracts more attention from manufacturers and viewers

To Álex Palou: As much success in the courtroom as he has on the racetrack

To Scott Dixon: A victory where the leader didn’t drive off course on his own

To Scott McLaughlin: Taking the green flag for every Indianapolis 500 for the rest of his career

To Will Power: Showing it to Team Penske

To Kyle Kirkwood: A complete season

To Marcus Ericsson: A return to 2022 form

To Josef Newgarden: No finishes outside the top twenty 

To David Malukas: Maturity

To Patricio O’Ward: A home race that IndyCar properly supports

To Christian Lundgaard: Better oval results

To Ryan Hunter-Reay: A development role in the McLaren Hypercar program

To Callum Ilott: Two full seasons in IndyCar and IMSA 

To Robert Shwartzman: Road course pace that matches his oval for,

To Prema: A charter and some financial support

To Dennis Hauger: Giving Andretti Global a good headache

To Marcus Armstrong: A few days when he is the best Kiwi in IndyCar

To Felix Rosenqvist: Races where he starts in the top five and finishes better than where he finishes 

To Conor Daly: A good role as an ambassador

To Alexander Rossi: A tire advantage in the final stint at Milwaukee

To Christian Rasmussen: Remaining on Ed Carpenter’s good side

To Mick Schumacher: Fun days at the racetrack

To Graham Rahal: Better tire strategy when leading the Grand Prix of Indianapolis

To Louis Foster: A top ten finish

To Myles Rowe: A real shot at IndyCar

To Caio Collet: Not becoming the next Matheus Leist at A.J. Foyt Racing

To Santino Ferrucci: Proper pit entry at every race

To Rinus VeeKay: Not sweating out a Last Row Qualifying session for the Indianapolis 500

To Kyffin Simpson: Results that do the Sunoco livery justice

To Sting Ray Robb: A snowblower

To Jack Harvey: Lincoln City promotion to the Championships. Currently second in League One

To Romain Grosjean: More weekends at the racetrack as Prema’s reserve driver

To Hélio Castroneves: 112 laps in the Indianapolis 500

To Takuma Sato: Kitchen remodeling

To Victor Martins: Half the success Dennis Hauger had in Indy Lights

To IndyCar’s new street races in Arlington and Markham: No hiccups

To IndyCar’s new officiating panel: Team Penske being in its best behavior

To Tim Cindric: Quiet days at home

To Jack Benyon: A full-time podcast co-host

To Dario Franchitti: A 24 Hours of Le Mans entry

To all the Meyer Shank Racing Acura GTP Drivers: Honda supporting the program to take it to Le Mans

To Kakunoshin Ohta: Honda making up its damn mind over what it wants to do with him in the United States

To Ben Barnicoat: A swimming-based training program

To Kelvin van der Linde: A BMW GTP/Hypercar opportunity

To Kamui Kobayashi: A Super Formula victory

To Genesis Magma Racing: Respectable first-year results

To António Félix da Costa: Making Porsche jealousy

To Richard Verschoor: Peace in sports car racing

To James Calado: Proper recognition from his home country that he is a world champion with Ferrari

To Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi: Proper recognition from their home country that they are world champions with Ferrari 

To Louis Delétraz and Jordan Taylor: Top five finishes

To Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy: Strong finishes

To Frederik Vesti: More than just the endurance races in IMSA

To Jack Aitken: A scooter

To Earl Bamber: Noise-cancelling headphones

To Tower Motorsport: Clearing post-race inspection at the 24 Hours of Daytona

To Dane Cameron: A return to GTP competition. 

To Ricky Taylor: New patio furniture

To Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor: Race results matching qualifying results

To Kevin Magnussen: Replicating some of his father’s success

To Nick Cassidy: Peugeot having it figured out

To IMSA LMP2 category: A weekend with a split pro race and amateur race. That would be fun to see. 

To Sébastien Bourdais: Heating pads

To Tom Blomqvist and a host of other sports car drivers: No clashes between IMSA and the European Le Mans Series. I don’t understand how or why a series with six-race weekends would clash with another multi-class series with so many shared drivers.

To Jack Hawksworth: A few breaks

To James Hinchcliffe: No race cars let down on his feet

To Logan Sargeant: Joy at the racetrack

To Memo Gidley: A 24 Hours of Daytona return

To Road America: A stellar IMSA endurance race weekend 

To Dover Motor Speedway: A points-paying NASCAR Cup race

To Zandvoort: A fitting end to this stint on the Formula One calendar

To Sébastien Ogier: A season where it is clear whether or not he will be full-time or part-time

To Kalle Rovanperä: A personal training program to develop the right muscles

To the NHRA: The ability to postpone the final round of the season to another weekend if it is going to rain for the entirety of the scheduled date

To Jim France: A rocking chair and some thick blankets

To Jett and Hunter Lawrence: A tandem bike

To Eli Tomac: One more trip to the fountain of youth

To Cooper Webb: A motocross season that matches his Supercross success

To the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters: Reinforcements after a number of its top drivers announced they would not be returning for 2026

To Antonio García: A championship finish other than first or third

To Jack Doohan: A full-time ride somewhere. DTM?

To Mac Clark: Support up to Indy Lights

To Liam McNeilly: No visa issues and a full season in Indy Pro 2000

To Max Garcia: Enough patience to realize he doesn’t need to be in IndyCar by the time he turns 18 years old 

To Elfyn Evans: Coming back in another time where he isn’t stuck finished second in the World Rally Championship… and a return of Wales Rally GB

To Valentino Rossi: A 24 Hours of Daytona entry

To Kaden Honeycutt: Full-time job security

To Rockingham Speedway: Lights and a NASCAR Cup date in late-spring

To North Wilkesboro Speedway: Its NASCAR Cup race moving to Saturday night. There is no reason for IndyCar and NASCAR to be clashing post-World Cup final

To Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Realizing we have heard enough about the pavement in turn two. Were good.

To Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: Facility updates. Come on, now! This has been too long.

To Lime Rock Park: A proper sports car round. Either IMSA GT only or Michelin Pilot Challenge

To Superstars Racing Experience: A NASCAR-funded resurrection that has it compete at a half-dozen short tracks 

To World Superbike: A competitive championship

To Nicolò Bulega: A challenge for the entire season

To the Grand Prix of Indianapolis: Using oval turn one

To Laguna Seca: A crowd worthy of hosting the IndyCar finale

To the Milwaukee Mile: IndyCar realizing it is the best event currently on the schedule for its finale

To Chip Ganassi Racing’s Indy Lights program: Many spare parts

To NASCAR: A championship format that rewards winning, is a season-long aggregate and accepting that the championship might not go down to the final lap of the season

To the NASCAR In-Season Tournament: Some stakes worth a damn

To the Canadian Grand Prix: Moving to the Sunday before the Indianapolis 500 or the Sunday after the Indianapolis 500 in 2027 and from there onward. 

And that is it! The bag is empty. 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I hope you have a fun few days. We have a few more sets of predictions left before we close out 2025, and soon we will be entirely locked in on the new seasons, which will be here in a flash.

2025 Sports Car Predictions: Revisited

Sports car season is over. Sports car season is about to begin. Most series are over and are settled into the offseason. One series is about to start.

We revisit our sports car predictions for 2025 as the 2025-26 Asian Le Mans Series is about to begin. Over December 13-14, ALMS has a pair of four-hour races from Sepang, and the Sepang 12 Hours is this weekend, but none of those events will change any of the results for the predictions we made for the year 2025. All of these are set. 

FIA World Endurance Championships

1. The pole-sitter will be classified in at least seven of eight races

Correct!

After the pole-sitter retired from three of eight races in 2024, this season saw the pole-sitter finish every race in the 2025. In fact, five times did the pole-sitter finish on the podium this season after the pole-sitter finished only five of eight races total in 2024. Last season, the pole-sitter had only two podium finishes with only one victory. In 2025, the WEC pole-sitter won three races.

2. At least two manufacturers that did not win in LMGT3 in 2024 do win in 2025

Correct!

We were halfway there through the first race of the season as the #33 TF Sport Corvette of Jonny Edgar, Daniel Juncadella and Ben Keating won in Qatar after Corvette went winless in 2024. It would take a minute, but Lexus took victory in São Paulo with the #87 Akkodis ASP Team and José María López, Clemens Scmid and Razvan Umbrarescu, making that two new winners among manufacturers. 

But we aren't done yet! At the next round at Austin, United Autosports took victory in the #95 McLaren with Sean Geleal, Darren Leung and Marino Sato. That's three new manufacturers!

To add to it, TF Sport won again at Fuji, but this time with the #81 Corvette, and the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus won again at Bahrain. In the final four races of 2025, each LMGT3 race had a winner that was a manufacturer that did not win in 2024. 

Porsche won twice (Imola and Le Mans). Ferrari won once (Spa-Francorchamps). BMW and Aston Martin went winless in 2025 after each won a race in 2024.

3. Each Cadillac entry will get a podium finish

Correct!

And it happened in the same race as Hertz Team Jota Cadillac went 1-2 at the 6 Hours of São Paulo. The #12 Cadillac of Alex Lynn, Norman Nato and Will Stevens took the victory ahead of the #38 Cadillac of Earl Bamber, Sébastien Bourdais and Jenson Button.

Outside of those finishes, Cadillac didn't finish on the podium in any other race this season. Cadillac was looking good at the season opener at Qatar... and then the two cars collided under safety car and took each other out of contention for a podium. The #12 Cadillac was fourth at Le Mans. The #38 Cadillac had four finishes outside the top ten in 2025. 

4. There will be at least two overall winners with a driver winning in his home country

Incorrect!

It only happened once. Ferrari won at Imola, and Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi were home winners in the #51 Ferrari. Outside of that, we did not see another home winner. 

There were no Qatari, Brazilian, American or Bahraini drivers that competed in Hypercars this season. 

At Spa-Francorchamps, the best finishing Belgian was Laurens Vanthoor in ninth. Frenchman Kévin Estre was second at Le Mans. Kamui Kobayashi was the top Japanese driver at Fuji, finishing seventh. 

Other than at Le Mans, this wasn't really close to happening a second time.

IMSA

5. The overall pole-sitter will win consecutive races at some point

Incorrect!

After going winless in 2024 and having a 12-race winless streak dating back to 2023, the pole-sitter did finally win an IMSA race in 2025. It took five races as the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande won at Detroit. However, it was not followed with another pole-sitter victory. 

The pole-sitter would not win again until Indianapolis when the #31 Whelen Racing Cadillac of Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti finished first. This was also the penultimate race of the season, which meant the winner at Petit Le Mans had to start on pole position for this prediction to be correct.

The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura won pole position, but the entry finished fifth in the race. 

6. At least three LMP2 races feature a class winner with a Formula One-experienced driver

Incorrect!

Daytona started with a Formula One-experienced driver winning. Initially, Sébastien Bourdais won with Tower Motorsports, but Tower was disqualified for excessive wear to the skid block underneath the car. However, another Formula One-experienced driver was elevated to the race victory. That was Paul di Resta with United Autosports.

It wasn't di Resta's only victory, as he won at Watkins Glen with United. However, those were the only victories this season for Formula One-experienced drivers won in LMP2.

Sébastien Bourdais came close to victory at Sebring as Tower Motorsports was second. Pietro Fittipaldi ran a full season with Pratt Miller Motorsports, but Fittipaldi's best finish in class was sixth. 

The only other past F1 driver to run in LMP2 in 2025 was Felipe Massa, who only ran at the 24 Hours of Daytona with Riley Motorsports. Massa was second.

7. The top three in the GTD Pro Endurance Cup championship will all be full-time entries

Correct!

The #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW won the Endurance Cup championship in GTD Pro with the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW finishing second in the Endurance Cup, and the #77 AO Racing Porsche was third. 

All three of those teams were full-time teams. The #48 BMW was fourth in the overall championship with the #77 Porsche in fifth while the #1 BMW finished seventh. All three cars won races in 2025. The #48 BMW won at Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta. AO Racing won Sebring and Laguna Seca. The #1 BMW won at Road America.

8. Renger van der Zande's winning streak ends at eight consecutive seasons

Incorrect!

Van der Zande and co-driver Nick Yelloly won at Detroit, from pole position as you may have heard, and van der Zande has now won an IMSA race in the premier class in nine consecutive seasons. 

Van der Zande has actually won a race in all 12 seasons since the Grand-Am/American Le Mans Series merger. In those first three seasons, van der Zande ran in the Prototype Challenge class, and he won a race in each of those years, including winning overall at Lime Rock Park in a Prototype Challenge/GT race in 2016. Van der Zande was the PC champion in 2016 with Alex Popow and Starworks Motorsport. 

The #93 Acura was fifth in the GTP championship with additional podium finishes at Sebring and Road America. Each of those were third-place finishes. The #93 Acura did win three consecutive pole positions over Detroit, Watkins Glen and Road America.

European Le Mans Series

9. At least two different Americans win a race

Correct... kind of

I don't like a class inside of a class. In ELMS, there is the LMP2 class, but there is also the LMP2 Pro-Am class. LMP2 entries with a bonze-rated driver are placed in the LMP2 Pro-Am class. It is essentially the same class, only one of the drivers is seen as more amateur than others in those entries. 

Based on the ELMS structure, three American drivers won in 2025. P.J. Hyett and Dane Cameron were co-drivers in the #99 AO by TF Oreca, and they won at Imola with Louis Delétraz. Boom! Prediction correct right there, but to add insurance, Rodrigo Sales won in LMP2 Pro-Am with TDS Racing.

In LMP2 Pro-Am, three American drivers won a race. In LMP2, LMP3 and LMGT3, there were no American winners.

10. LMGT3 will have different British drivers win in consecutive races

Incorrect!

There were no British winners in LMGT3 in 2025. Since 2021, only three times has a British driver to win in the GT class in ELMS. Duncan Cameron won at Monza in 2021 with Spirit of Race. Sam De Haan won at Imola in 2022 with Oman Racing with TF Sport. In 2024, Cameron won at Circuit Paul Ricard with Spirit of Race.

Other

11. The closest finish in an Intercontinental GT Challenge race will be greater than four seconds 

Incorrect!

This prediction was looking good. 

At the Bathurst 12 Hour, the #32 Team WRT BMW won over the #46 Team WRT BMW by 10.244 seconds. 

The Nürburgring 24 Hour is a bit of a mess because the #911 Manthey EMA Porsche was first on the road, but received a one-minute and 40-second penalty for causing a collision during the race. This elevated the #99 Rowe Racing BMW to first-place overall, and the listed margin of victory was 1:17.810. Even if we got based on the margin of victory on the road, the #911 Porsche was more than four seconds ahead of the #99 BMW.

Grasser Racing Team won the 24 Hours of Spa by 8.703 seconds over the Rutronik Racing Porsche. Team WRT won the Suzuka 1000 km by 13.647 seconds over Absolute Racing. 

What happened in the final IGTC race, the Indianapolis 8 Hour?

Team WRT won by 0.805 seconds over Mercedes-AMG Team GMR.

Yep. So close. At least Indianapolis was a good finish.

12. Ben Barnicoat will win a proper class on at least three different continents in at least two different championships

Incorrect!

This one hurts because Ben Barnicoat was hurt for most of 2025. After a mountain biking accident in the middle of March, Barnicoat was sidelined until June. 

Prior to that biking accident, Barnicoat had raced only once in IMSA and once in WEC. He had also raced in four Asian Le Mans Series races, and he won the first race from the Dubai Autodrome in the #96 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG on February 8. 

That was Barnicoat's only victory of the season. In IMSA, he ran seven races but his best finish with Vasser Sullivan Racing was fifth at Indianapolis. In WEC, he ran four races, but his best finish was the first race of the season, fourth at Qatar. 

I don't know how much the cycling accident affected this prediction, but it certainly did not help. 

Five-for-12. 

It wasn't even a strong 5-for-12. One of those is correct on a technicality (Thanks LMP2 Pro-Am). There were a few close ones. It always feels like there are few close ones. I hate to think I have to take driver's training programs into consideration when making predictions, but it might be good to keep in mind moving forward. More drivers should be swimmers. 

Best of the Month: March 2025

It is back to normal. Formula One is here. IndyCar is here and no one is happy. Sebring is behind us and the FIA World Endurance Championship season has begun. MotoGP has restarted and Marc Márquez has turned back the clock. That was March, the month where the swing of motorsports can be felt. It might not be at full force, but after the previous three months, it is seismic. 

Much of the season remains unwritten, but a few races have given us an idea of how the script will turn out. We only have a piece but we are already guessing what will come next. We could be right, but we could be in for a surprise. We must wait and see.

Loeb and Ekström

This month started with the Race of Champions, an event I enjoy more than the average motorsports fan. It is something different in a motorsports world where everyone complains about the monotony. Everyone wants it to be the 1960s where the greatest talent regularly crossed paths. Here is an event that brings together an abundance of talent from various forms of motorsports. What else could you want? 

Sébastien Loeb was the big winner in this year's competition. He won everything. Loeb won the Nations' Cup on the first night, representing France with Formula Two driver Victor Martins. On the second night, Loeb won the Champion of Champions competition for a record-breaking fifth time. In doing so, Loeb became the first driver to win both competitions in the same Race of Champions.

A host of incredible drivers have competed in ROC. Loeb being the first to sweep the weekend is a bit surprising. You would have thought someone else would have done it once prior. Yet, it had never happened until Loeb had a magical weekend in Sydney. 

Loeb is 51 years old, past his prime but in the 21st century, sporting brilliance is finding a new outlook on life. We are no longer seeing tennis players break down in their early 30s or quarterbacks call it quits at 34. The best athletes are still competing at the highest levels deep into their 30s and into their 40s. For motorsports, some are competing into their 50s like Loeb. He is only a little over three years removed from his most recent World Rally Championship victory, and he has finished on the overall podium at the Dakar Rally in three of the last four years, with 14 combined stage victories during that time. 

After Loeb's victories in this year's Race of Champions, I started wondering what his overall record was in the competition. He has seven combined titles between the two ROC competitions. He has raced an unfathomable collection of drivers from around the world and from all different platforms. What is his record and what is his record against specific drivers?

Going over the results, I have found the following....

Loeb has competed in ten Race of Champions. In these ten ROCs, Loeb has competed in 88 races. He has gone 66-21-1 in those races. In 2022, he and Oliver Solberg ended one of their races in a dead heat, but since Loeb won the first race, he advanced to the next round. 

Loeb's winning percentage is 75% in ROC. 

He has competed against 36 drivers. Here is the list of drivers Loeb has a losing record against...

Mattias Ekström 2-4

Johan Krisoffersson 1-2

Will Brown 0-1

That's it. That's the list! And though he lost to Brown in the final of this year's Nations' Cup, Martins bailed Loeb out and they still won the title. 

Loeb went 8-2 against Marcus Grönholm, including winning his final seven races against the Finn. 

He is 4-1 all-time against Sebastian Vettel, which inlcudes going 3-1 in the 2022 Champion of Champions final. 

Loeb is 5-0 all-time against Tom Kristensen. 

There are only four other drivers Loeb has a .500 record against. They are Filipe Albuquerque (2-2), Heikki Kovalainen (2-2), who beat Loeb 2-0 in the 2024 Champion of Champions final, and Loeb got even with Kovalainen in the group stage of this year's Nations' Cup; Andy Priaulx (2-2) and Petter Solberg (1-1).

Loeb has beat David Coulthard (2-1), Jimmie Johnson (1-0), Tony Kanaan (2-0), Colin McRae (2-0), Stéphane Peterhansel (2-0) and he has even beat Walter Röhrl (1-0). It is rather remarkable.

However, entering this year's competition, there were two drivers gunning for their fifth Champion of Champions title. Unfortunately, illness kept Mattias Ekström from traveling to Australia to defend his title, and it is a shame because Chaz Mostert made the final and faced Sébastien Loeb. Chaz Mostert was the driver that replaced Ekström. It was lined up for us to see the two drivers with four titles each go for the record. 

As you saw above, Ekström has a winning record against Loeb. It all began in 2006. Ekström won the Champion of Champions final 2-0. In 2008, Ekström beat Loeb in the Nations' Cup first round. They would not meet again until 2022 in the Nations' Cup semifinal. Loeb won 2-1. 

If we are looking at Loeb's record, and Ekström has one fewer title but the better head-to-head record, how does Ekström stack up overall?

Ekström has competed in nine Race of Champions, but only 17 competitions. He did not compete in the 2011 Nations' Cup in Düsseldorf. 

The Swede has run 58 races. His record is 44-14. That is a winning percentage of 75.862%. If you dropped Loeb's deadhead with Oliver Solberg from the record, Ekström and Loeb would have identical winning percentages in Race of Champions competition!

Who has Ekström beat? Besides Loeb...

Ekström is 4-0 against Tom Kristensen (oof... sorry Tom)...

4-2 against Michael Schumacher (including being 4-1 all-time in finals against Schumacher)...

2-0 against Mick Schumacher... 

1-0 against Sebastian Vettel... 

6-0 against Travis Pastrana (Pastrana's ROC participation is a conversation for another time)... 

And Ekström has beat Sébastien Bourdais, Jenson Button, Mick Doohan, Heikki Kovalainen, Colin McRae and Bernd Schneider in his one meeting against them. 

Who does Ekström have a losing record against? 

Out of 28 drivers, the answer is Marcus Grönholm (2-3), Sébastien Ogier (0-1), Nelson Piquet, Jr. (0-1) and Martin Tomczyk (0-1).

Other than Grönholm, he has only lost to guys he has faced once. Of all the drivers Ekström has faced twice, he has won at least once. The only drivers that are .500 with Ekström are both Petter and Oliver Solberg (each are 1-1) and Andy Priaulx (2-2, man does this make Andy Priaulx look good).

Not many have had Ekström's number. 

Loeb is 51 and Ekström is 46. Both are pretty much done with full-time driving. They still compete in rally-raid and Ekström was third overall in the Dakar Rally this year. A day is coming soon where they will not be at Race of Champions. 

We must probably recognize what they have done in this competition and the greatness of both drivers.

Road America's Endurance Race

At this year's 12 Hours of Sebring, IMSA got ahead of the curve again when it announced its 2026 calendar nearly ten months before the first round. Nothing has changed except for Road America becoming a six-hour race while Indianapolis will revert to the two-hour and 40-minute duration. 

Since Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series merged ahead of the 2014 season, people clamored for an endurance race at Road America. It was generally dismissed over increasing a race distance and keeping the full season to the same number of hours. However, when Indianapolis became the fifth endurance race on the schedule a few years ago, the door was opened and instead of maintaining the endurance race at one of the most famous venues in the United States, it will move to Road America. 

There are plenty of positives to this decision. 

1. We get a longer Road America race.

2. This race will occur during the summer and not during football season at a venue just down the road from an NFL stadium where a game could be taking place simultaneously. 

3. It shows flexibility from IMSA. It is a little surprising it is taking away an endurance race from Roger Penske's venue, but it shows it can work with all parties and give Road America something special after being an outstanding event for all these years while keeping Indianapolis on the schedule and at a pivotal place as the penultimate round. 

This does make me wonder if IMSA's fifth endurance race could be a rotating endurance race. The schedule is pretty short. Half the schedule is endurance races. There are also two races that could not be endurance rounds, the street races in Long Beach and Detroit. That leaves Laguna Seca, Mosport and Virginia International Raceway. 

If it is going to be an endurance race, it will have all four classes competing. Currently, none of those three venues host all four races. LMP2 does not go to Laguna Seca, GTP doesn't go to Canada, and neither prototype class visits Virginia. Laguna Seca is also tight on space, as is Mosport.

One of the faults of the IMSA calendar is certain areas do not see the top class and the top drivers. It is shame GTP doesn't go to Canada and VIR remains the only GT-only round on the schedule. Lime Rock Park for a number of years also had the GT-only distinction but the current prototypes are likely more than the track can handle. 

A rotating endurance race could be the way to bring GTP to some of these places even if it is not on an annual basis. 

For starters, we get Road America, and we should be thankful for that. 

April Preview

Speaking of endurance races, next month the European Le Mans Series begins, a collection of a half-dozen four-hour races spread over spring, summer and a bit of autumn. Though lacking LMDh and Hypercars, Europe's premier sports car champion is an outstanding gathering of talent in the LMP2. 

Take last year's champions AO by TF. Louis Delétraz, Robert Kubica and Jonny Edgar were the drivers. They any good?

Unfortunately for Delétraz, he has lost his two co-drivers from last year, but don't worry, he has Dane Cameron and P.J. Hyett joining him in the #99 Oreca. It will be a pro-am entry, meaning the overall championship will be an unlikely repeat, but there are plenty of stellar lineups set to compete for the top prize. 

How about IDEC Sport's two cars? In preparations for running the Genesis program in 2026, IDEC is holding auditions for next year. In the #18 Oreca will be Jamie Chadwick, Mathys Jaubert and Daniel Juncadella. The #28 Oreca will see 2019 champions Paul-Loup Chatin and Paul Lafargue reunite with Job van Uitert filling out the entry. Not bad.

Perhaps you want drivers who are already competing in LMPh or Hypercars. ELMS has that as well. 

Try Nielsen Racing's #24 Oreca, which has Filipe Albuquerque leading the way with Ferdinand Habsburg and Cem Bölükbasi. 

If you are looking for a Meyer Shank Racing Acura driver, you are in luck. Nick Yelloly will be in the #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca along with Tom Dillmann, who was second in the championship last year, and Jakub Śmiechowski. There is also Tom Blomqvist in the #37 CLX - Pure Racing orca with Alex Malykhin and Tristan Vautier. 

Oh, and the other CLX Motorsport Oreca will feature Lusophone's finest in Pipo Derani, Manuel Espírito Sano and Enzo Fittipaldi. If Enzo Fittipaldi is not the Fittipaldi you are looking for, Pietro Fittipaldi will be in the #10 Oreca for Vector Sport with Ryan Cullen and Vladislav Lomko. 

We haven't even mentioned United Autosport yet. It is approaching five years since United Autosports' most recent ELMS title. It will have Oliver Jarvis, Marino Sato and Daniel Schneider in the #21 Oreca, a pro-am entry. Ben Hanley, Manuel Maldonado and Grégoire Saucy will be in the #22 Oreca, a pro entry.

IndyCar reject Théo Pourchaire has found a home at Algarve Pro Racing in its #25 Oreca with Lorenzo Fluxá and Matthias Kaiser. 

AF Corse keeps two-time defending pro-am champions François Perrodo, Alessio Rovera and Matthieu Vaxivière together in the #88 Oreca. 

If you were wondering, "Where is Sérgio Sette Câmara competing these days?" Look no further than ELMS! Câmara has James Allen and Anthony Wells as his co-drivers in the #27 Nielsen Racing Oreca.

We haven't even touched the LMP3 and GT3 classes in the series. There is plenty of reasons to be excited about this ELMS season. 

Barcelona hosts the first round on April 6 before visiting Circuit Paul Ricard on April 6, Imola on July 6, Spa-Francorchamps on August 24, a return to Silverstone on September 14 with the season closing at Portimão on October 18. 

Other Events of Note in April:

After a round in Suzuka, Formula One will run two night races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

IndyCar and IMSA get together for a weekend at Long Beach. 

MotoGP will be at Qatar and Jerez.

NASCAR visits its core: Darlington, Bristol, Talladega.

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters opens its season at Oschersleben.

Supercross spends a month in the Northeast. 

2025 Sports Car Predictions

We will end this week looking into the sports car world as we have 2025 coming more into focus with each passing second. For the sports car world, competition comes quickly after the calendar flips. It does not take look for us to get into big endurance races from all across the globe. There always seems to be something new in sports car racing, and that will be the case again with the introduction of the Aston Martin Valkyrie program. Aston Martin aside, there are plenty of things to watch across a variety of categories.

FIA World Endurance Championships

1. The pole-sitter will be classified in at least seven of eight races

The fastest qualifier is usually a good car. It might not win all the time, but it is good. It is expected to be competitive. You are more likely to win from pole position than from last place, even in WEC's Hypercar class, which does not feature the greatest number of entries.

However, in 2024, the pole-sitter failed to finish in three of eight WEC races. Because WEC isn't the longest season, three retirements is quite a lot. I think there will be a correction in 2025. We are not going to see the pole-sitter fail to be running as often as we did this past season. 

I will leave the door open that in at least one race the pole-sitter falls out of a race, but not more than that.

2. At least two manufacturers that did not win in LMGT3 in 2024 do win in 2025

The first year with GT3 cars in WEC was rather successful. Four manufacturers were victorious. It should be noted that rather coincidentally that all four winners were past participants in WEC's GTE class. Not sure if there is any correlation but it is a note. 

While four manufacturers won, five did not. Lamborghini, McLaren, Chevrolet, Ford and Lexus all went winless. Lamborghini will not be back, but Mercedes-AMG enters the championship in its place. Those five other manufacturers combined for five podium finishes. Only one of those was a runner-up result. 

At least two new manufacturers win in 2025. TF Sport's Corvettes went second and third in the Bahrain finale. Mercedes-AMG has yet to find a GT3 series it does not win in. Lexus should be competitive. McLaren will have a good shot at a win. Things will change this season.

3. Each Cadillac entry will get a podium finish

In its final season with Chip Ganassi Racing running the program, Cadillac’s best finish was a fourth in Austin. With Team Jota taking over, Cadillac will have two entries in the world championship. The #12 Cadillac V-Series.R will have Sébastien Bourdais, Alex Lynn and Jenson Button behind the wheel. Earl Bamber, Norman Nato and Will Stevens will drive the #38 Cadillac.

Team Jota won at Spa-Francorchamps with the Porsche 963, and the #12 entry was the sixth-best in the championship. 

Cadillac had a good 2023 season in WEC. Its one entry was fifth in the championship. Last year, Cadillac scored 42 points over the eight races, though it won pole position in Fuji. In IMSA, Cadillac has been able to win endurance races and a championship. That success has not translated to WEC yet.

It might not be a championship, but Cadillac should be a little more competitive and it will have two capable entries to get results. Both will shine at times in 2025.

4. There will be at least two overall winners with a driver winning in his home country

Last year, no WEC race featured a victorious native-son overall. The previous two seasons had seen home country winners. Both of those were at Fuji with Ryō Hirakawa in 2022 and Kamui Kobayashi in 2023. Fun fact, the last three home country winners have not been European. Gustavo Menezes won with Rebellion Racing at Austin in 2020. The last European driver to win a race at home was Mike Conway with Toyota in the season opener for the 2019-20 super season at Silverstone. 

While there are eight races on the 2025 WEC calendar, only four will likely feature a natives in the Hypercar class. We are not going to see a Qatari nor a Bahraini. There is a good chance there will not be an American nor a Brazilian either. I like the chances at the other four races.

One, Toyota is going to be competitive at Fuji. Ferrari is a good option to win at Imola. Porsche has two French drivers, one in each of its entries and Porsche has this things with winning at Le Mans. That is also without taking into consideration the two French drivers at Cadillac, four French drivers at Alpine and at least one with possibly more French drivers at Peugeot. Of the 18 full-time Hypercar entries, at least seven will have a French driver. The Vanthoor brothers represent Belgium in the top class and it just so happens there is a race at Spa-Francorchamps.

We had no home winners in 2024. We will see at least two in 2025.

IMSA

5. The overall pole-sitter will win consecutive races at some point

Entering 2025, IMSA has not had a winner from pole position in GTP in 12 consecutive races. The most recent victory was with Meyer Shank Racing at Mosport in 2023. Earlier in 2023 was the most recent time IMSA saw consecutive races won from pole position. That was with Meyer Shank Racing with its illegal tire pressures at Daytona and then with Whelen Racing at Sebring. 

A year after no winners from pole position, IMSA will have one occasions where the overall pole-sitter will win consecutive races.

6. At least three LMP2 races feature a class winner with a Formula One-experienced driver

The LMP2 class will feature a stout collection of drivers in 2025. With a few driver changes and manufacturer alliances changing in the GTP class, LMP2 is much stronger on the professional front, especially with drivers with Formula One experience.

Sébastien Bourdais moves to LMP2 with the Cadillac program leaving Chip Ganassi Racing for Wayne Taylor Racing. Bourdais will be with Tower Motorsports. Pietro Fittipaldi is driving for Pratt Miller Motorsports as the PMM joins LMP2. Fittipaldi made two Formula One starts in 2020. Paul di Resta will be back with United Autosports. Felipe Massa will be back for the 24 Hours of Daytona with Riley Motorsports.

LMP2 will be a sneaky good class and we will see top drivers lead teams to victories. There will be a spell where we see those with history on the grand prix grid.

7. The top three in the GTD Pro Endurance Cup championship will all be full-time entries

In 2024, the top three entries in GTD Pro in the Endurance Cup were the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW (43 points), the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari (41 points) and the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini (39 points). Risi and Iron Lynx were Endurance Cup-only teams. Risi won the 24 Hours of Daytona and Iron Lynx won at Petit Le Mans.

In 2025, GTD Pro will see the top three in the Endurance Cup all be full-time entries, not a complete reverse from this past season, but a big change nonetheless. There are plenty of capable full-time teams in GTD Pro. They will be tough to beat in the endurance races. The endurance-only teams will hold their own, but they will not be as strong as they were in 2024.

8. Renger van der Zande's winning streak ends at eight consecutive seasons

Perhaps this should not be as big of a surprise, but van der Zande has won an IMSA race overall in eight consecutive seasons. He has also won in 11 consecutive seasons after winning in the Prototype Challenge for three consecutive years. 

As harsh as its sounds, I think van der Zande comes up short in 2025. After seven seasons with Cadillac, van der Zande moves to Acura with Meyer Shank Racing. We know MSR is a capable team and it knows the Acura ARX-06, but this is MSR returning after a year away and it is now a two-car team. The #93 Acura, van der Zande's car, is effectively the new team. Nick Yelloly joins from BMW to round out the program.

This does not feel as strong of an entry as we have seen van der Zande in over the last few seasons. It will be tough for it to be the top Acura let alone the best GTP car period. GTP is a tough class, and we just saw the #31 Whelen Racing Cadillac go winless in 2024 with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken. If Derani can go winless in a season, van der Zande can go winless in a season. 

All good things must come to an end, and I think we will see something not seen since 2016.

European Le Mans Series

9. At least two different Americans win a race

American drivers combined to win zero races in ELMS last season. For 2025, there are already six Americans confirmed for ELMS participation. 

In LMP2, Logan Sargeant will be with IDEC Sport. Rodrigo Sales and P.J. Hyett will each be in pro-am LMP2 entries with TDS Racing and AO by TF respectively. Wyatt Brichacek is going to be in LMP3 with DKR Engineering. Gustavo Menezes will return to full-time competition with an Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG in LMGT3. Scott Noble will drive a Ferrari for JMW Motorsport. 

The numbers are there. Sargeant is the favorite. It will be tough for Sales and Hyett to win overall as a pro-am in LMP2, but it is not out of the question. Menezes is making a change to GT racing after years in prototypes. However, I think we will see more American winners.

10. LMGT3 will have different British drivers win in consecutive races

Duncan Cameron won at Circuit Paul Ricard with Spirit of Race Ferrari in the LMGT3 class. It was the only victory for a British driver in the LMGT3 class. 

ELMS has not had British winners in consecutive races in the GT class since the first two races of the 2018 season. Liam Griffin and Alex MacDowall won at Circuit Paul Ricard. Cameron then won at Monza.

Cameron will be back in LMGT3 in 2025, but ELMS' GT class, but there will be a few other Brits in the class. Ben Tuck and Andrew Gilbert will each be in a Kessel Racing entry. Michael Wainwright is set for a  ride with GR Racing. There are also a number of open seats that could be occupied by British drivers. If Cameron wins in 2025, he will not be the only one and there will be another Brit not too far behind.

Other

11. The closest finish in an Intercontinental GT Challenge race will be greater than four seconds 

IGTC does have a knack for close races. 

The Nürburgring 24 Hour was decided by 0.603 seconds, and that wasn't even the closest race in the 2024 IGTC season! The Indianapolis 8 Hours saw Team WRT BMW win by 0.260 seconds over the Wright Motorsports Porsche. Even the Bathurst 12 Hour was decided by just over 2.6 seconds. 

After a year of close finishes, we are going to see a year for fewer close finishes. Four seconds is close, but that will be the closest it gets in 2025. 

The upcoming IGTC season will see the return of the Suzuka 1000km. There will be one more chance for a close finish, but I don't think they will be as close as we saw in 2024.

12. Ben Barnicoat will win a proper class on at least three different continents in at least two different championships

Barnicoat is a bit of an under-appreciated driver, but he has been rather successful with the Lexus program  in IMSA. For 2025, we will see Barnicoat move to Lexus' WEC program with Akkodis ASP Team.

It is not clear how much Barnicoat will run in IMSA, but he has won seven races in three full seasons in IMSA. He could lead Lexus to WEC glory to the surprise of no one. Whether or not Barnicoat is full-time in both championships or an endurance driver in IMSA, he is going to be competing in multiple series, and I believe he will be winning in multiple series as well in multiple corners of the globe.

We are beyond halfway in our 2025 predictions. With Formula One and NASCAR also in the bag, we will have some two-wheel predictions come Monday.

2024 Motorsports Christmas List

Christmas will be here in a few days! I hope all of your presents have been purchased and wrapped and you are not caught in the last second scramble to satisfy everyone's dreams. This should be a relaxing next few days before the holiday is here and we are all gathered around Christmas trees. 

Before spending that time with your family and digging into the stockings of your own, it is our annual tradition of giving out gifts to the people, places and events around the motorsports world. Even the most successful and riches drivers in the world need something this Christmas. This is our chance to give them what they need.

With that said, I hope you have your favorite drink and a few cookies next to you as your eyes wander across this list...

To IndyCar: An even geographical spread of races across the United States.

To Formula One: A championship battle that will be appreciated and not result in juvenile bickering online.

To NASCAR: The ability to share.

To the FIA World Endurance Championship: Two more rounds and better competition in Hypercar.

To IMSA: The GTP class competing at every round and two more races.

To MotoGP: Competitive Japanese manufacturers, and fewer cancelled rounds midseason.

To the European Le Mans Series: No broadcast partner in the United States so those races can be streamed on YouTube. Or at least a proper broadcast partner that more than six people have. 

To Formula E: A better broadcast partner in the United States. 

To Amazon: Minimal complaints over how it does broadcasting NASCAR races.

To James Hinchcliffe: Greater sway as a voice in motorsports. 

To Patricio O'Ward: A marketing department that makes the most of his charisma.

To Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel: Results that force McLaren not to make any rash decisions.

To Colton Herta: Enough SuperLicense points to shut everyone up.

To Marcus Ericsson: Smooth oval races.

To Kyle Kirkwood: More fishing rods.

To Álex Palou: The other $500,000 that IndyCar owes him.

To Scott Dixon: Better qualifying form.

To Marcus Armstrong: A few podium finishes.

To Felix Rosenqvist: More races where he finishes better than his starting position than he finishes worse.

To Linus Lundvist: A loving home.

To Conor Daly: A legitimate sponsor that is not financially questionable.

To Josef Newgarden: Results to win back the fan base.

To Scott McLaughlin: Plenty of diapers and infant clothing.

To Will Power: An Indianapolis 500 pole position. 

To Max Verstappen: Enjoyment in what he does.

To Lewis Hamilton: Rejuvenation in red.

To Charles Leclerc: Sound pit strategy and leads to a championship push.

To Yuki Tsunoda: General respect around the paddock.

To Lando Norris: More opening laps led. 

To Oscar Piastri: No races where he is the fastest McLaren driver but the team gives him the less favorable pit strategy and forces positions to be re-addressed.

To George Russell: Cars at the proper weight every post-race.

To Andrea Kimi Antonelli: Confidence. He is going to need it.

To Valtteri Bottas: Permission to run the Indianapolis 500. Mercedes will be fine at Monaco.

To Sergio Pérez: Peace in whatever comes next.

To Fernando Alonso: The ability to hold his tongue.

To Kyle Larson: One sunny day and he gets to select when it happens.

To Alexander Rossi: A time machine back to January 1, 2018.

To Santino Ferrucci: Some aspirin.

To David Malukas: Dialing it back by about 30%.

To Callum Ilott: Carrying Prema to sensational results. 

To Robert Shwartzman: Nobody asking him how to pronounce his last name.

To Prema: No races outside of the Indianapolis 500 where more than 27 cars enter.

To Graham Rahal: A cushion from the last row shootout in Indianapolis 500 qualifying.

To Louis Foster: A guarantee of a second and third year in IndyCar.

To Christian Rasmussen: Less run ins during practice, qualifying and races.

To Romain Grojsean: A return to Dale Coyne Racing. 

To Toby Sowery: A full-time ride with Dale Coyne Racing.

To Dale Coyne: An investor who will gladly take that team off his hands. 

To Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: The resources to return to full-time IndyCar competition.

To Tom Blomqvist: A second chance at the Indianapolis 500 so he can get to say he completed a lap. 

To Colin Braun: A better IndyCar opportunity than one race with limited testing with Dale Coyne Racing.

To Hélio Castroneves: Entry in the Daytona 500. 

To Dane Cameron: An LMP2 championship to go with the three IMSA top class championships and the GTD title he already has. Oh, and an LMP2 class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Big Christmas for Dane Cameron. 

To 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports: A good day in court.

To Kyle Busch: A year that gets him a better ride in 2026.

To Alex Bowman: Three race victories indenting up as the best Hendrick Motorsports driver in the championship.

To Chase Elliott: A shred of personality.

To Denny Hamlin: It being his year.

To Christopher Bell: Not being on the wrong side of race manipulation.

To A.J. Allmendinger: Some early success.

To Wayne Taylor Racing: Results matching its first stint as a Cadillac team.

To all three Cadillac teams in IMSA: 24 Hours of Le Mans entries.

To Felipe Nasr: A few IndyCar races with Team Penske.

To the Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers: No fear in losing their jobs if they win a championship.

To Robert Wickens: Still being quick in a GTD car. 

To Tommy Milner: Carrying over the results from GT World Challenge America back to IMSA's GTD Pro class.

To the Aston Martin Valkyrie: Competitiveness on speed and not because of Balance of Performance.

To Lamborghini: Good results with the SC63 in IMSA and maybe changing its mind on pulling out of WEC.

To Andy Lally: Not getting the itch to get back in a race car once he starts his new role.

To Kevin Magnussen: A few outstanding drives in the BMW M Hybrid V8.

To the Ferrari AF Corse program: A victory for both entry.

To Francesco Bagnaia: More points from sprint races.

To Marc Márquez: Staying on the bike in intense moments.

To KTM: A business lifeline.

To Jorge Martín: Aprilia having respectable pace.

To Pedro Acosta: Strides in his sophomore year.

To Enea Bastianini: Keeping up with Pedro Acosta.

To Franco Morbidelli: A little magic on a year-old Ducati.

To David Alonso: Perspective for when it gets tough.

To Joe Roberts: Avoiding getting injured for the entire season.

To Indy Lights: At least two more teams to spread those entries around.

To the Indianapolis 500: The Miami Grand Prix remaining in early May and the Canadian Grand Prix not running on Memorial Day weekend in perpetuity. 

To Indianapolis 500 qualifying: No format changes because there is a new television partner. 

To Race of Champions: Returning to a yearly competition and occurring at a time where the most possible competitors are available. 

To Rockingham Speedway: A great crowd for its NASCAR weekend.

To Iowa Speedway: Finishing the repave.

To Laguna Seca: Drawing crowds like it once did.

To Mid-Ohio: Facility upgrades that are now well over a decade overdue. Beyond the work that has already been done and actually looks good. 

To Bowman Gray Stadium: Good behavior.

To Mexico City: A respectable first NASCAR Cup race.

To the NASCAR in-season tournament: Five thrilling weekends that keep people engaged.

To the Chicago street race: Let's try this again... sunny weather.

To Bristol Motor Speedway: Understanding why the tires wore how they did in the spring 2024 Cup race.

To Richmond: A combination weekend with IndyCar and the NASCAR modified series. 

To Eli Tomac: A strong season to go out on. 

To Jett Lawrence: No thumb injuries.

To Hunter Lawrence: Making all the Supercross main events. 

To Jorge Prado: Comfort racing in a new championship.

To Chase Sexton: The best of his 2024 Motocross season being the norm going forward.

To Nico Hülkenberg: A improbable podium with Sauber

To Isack Hadjar: Space from Helmut Marko.

To Liam Lawson: Also, space from Helmut Marko.

To Carlos Sainz, Jr.: The best championship finish for a Williams driver in nearly a decade. 

To Alexander Albon: Significant contribution to Williams finishing in the top six of the constructors' championship.

To Esteban Ocon: General appreciation.

To Jack Doohan: Respectable results that does not lead him to be dumped after a season.

To Pierre Gasly: Pace carrying over from the end of 2024 to 2025.

To Franco Colapinto: A year succeeding in a bunch of fun one-off appearances around the world of motorsports. 

To Daniel Ricciardo: A year where he doesn't visits any racetracks and figures out what he loves in his life. 

To Shane van Gisbergen: An average finish around 18th on ovals.

To Joey Logano: Results that warrant a championship.

To William Byron: Jet ski.

To Chris Buescher: An extra 0.01 seconds in his favor that can be used when needed.

To Brad Keselowski: Roombas. 

To RFK Racing: A two-car program for NASCAR's second division.

To Carl Edwards: People stop asking him if he will ever return to NASCAR. 

To Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: People stop asking him if he will ever expand JR Motorsports into the Cup Series.

To Martin Truex, Jr.: A Daytona 500 victory and that being a walk-off end to his career. 

To Ryan Truex: A full-time seat with Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR's second division. How many times does he have to win at Dover to get a full-time shot?

To Tyler Reddick: More consistent results in autumn. 

To Bubba Wallace: A complete day in a race on a 1.5-mile track. 

To Chase Briscoe: The #18. Let the #19 go with Truex, Jr. and have Joe Gibbs Racing return to its original identity. 

To Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric: Sharing a Ford Mustang GT3 in the 24 Hours of Daytona.

To Roger Penske: A clear plan for what his future looks like. 

To Chip Ganassi: Enough sponsors to properly hire three drivers to his IndyCar team.

To Mario Andretti: A few new hobbies that get him out of the house.

To Juan Pablo Montoya: Another Brickyard 400 start.

To the Daytona 500: A finish that does not involve review or a 24-car pile-up. 

To Homestead-Miami Speedway: A NASCAR playoff race because a race in March is attractive to no one.

To World Superbike: Again, more than one round outside of Europe. 

To Toprak Razgatlioglu: A round in Istanbul. 

To Nicolò Bulega: The ability to capitalize on an opportunity.

To Jonathan Rea: A few races where he is competing for victory.

To Super Formula: At least five international drivers to add flavor to the championship. This would actually be a fun place for Franco Colapinto. Frederik Vesti needs more than just a few endurance races as well.

To the Intercontinental GT World Challenge: More than a week between the Nürburgring 24 Hours and the 24 Hours of Spa.

To Supercars: Satisfaction in whatever happens with its new championship format because it has fallen down the rabbit hole and good luck with whatever comes next.

To Mazda MX-5 Cup: A round at Road America. It is criminal it is not racing there... or Sebring... or Watkins Glen... or Laguna Seca. MX-5 Cup might need to be a 12-round championship.

To Jak Crawford: A development contract with the Cadillac Formula One program.

 

To Leonardo Fornaroli: At least one race victory.

To Sebastián Montoya: His best year in a car to date. 

To World Rally Championship: A French manufacturer. Maybe Peugeot pulls out of Hypercar and returns to rallying. 

To Pipo Derani: A fair number of opportunities mixed with his role developing the Genesis LMDh project.

To Jimmie Johnson: Understanding that it is time. 

To Legacy Motor Club: Being in the conversation with the other Toyota teams in the Cup Series. 

To Chandler Smith: A time machine to 2003 when someone would have hired him for his talent. 

To Corey Heim: A time machine to 2003 when someone would have hired him for his talent and would not be stuck in the Truck Series. 

To Ty Majeski, and really all the successful drivers in the Truck Series: A way to move up to NASCAR's second division and have a proper opportunity competing there as well.

To Nazareth Speedway: A time machine to 2003 and someone bringing the pristine facility to 2025 when NASCAR is looking for different racetracks and not living and dying with cookie-cutter intermediate tracks with capacity over 125,000 people. 

To Pikes Peak International Raceway: The same thing as Nazareth Speedway. 

To Layne Riggs: Having his second half of 2024 be his entire 2025.

To Connor Zilisch: A NASCAR Cup Series debut on a road course. 

To Josh Berry: A positive season with the Wood Brothers.

To Justin Allgaier: No championship hangover.

To Sheldon Creed: Just one race victory and it is a race he dominates.

To Jeb and Harrison Burton: No run-ins on track that could cause tense moments in the family. 

To Parker Kligerman: A full-time ride in Michelin Pilot Challenge's GS class with an Michelin Endurance Cup ride in GTD.

To Sho Tsuboi: A leading role in a third Toyota entry at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Fuji WEC round. 

To Jack Hawksworth: One of the seats alongside Tsuboi in those entries. 

To António Félix da Costa: Again, more than Formula E. 

To Jaguar: No championship collapse.

To Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy: A home race in New Zealand in January 2026. 

To Sébastien Buemi: Waffle maker.

To Mike Conway: A stationary bike and taking up swimming for exercise. More drivers should swim over cycling from how it looks.  

To all the competitors in the FIA World Endurance Championship: No race being extended beyond its run time due to weather. 

To Sam Bird: Indestructible hands. 

To GT America: Officially becoming a series for drivers 50 years and older and add about a dozen more notable names. Scott Pruett! Come on down!

To Théo Pourchaire: A loving team that will get the most out of his talent. 

To Jack Harvey: Cookie sheets.

To IndyCar fans: Understanding why there are no night races.

Also to IndyCar fans: Acceptance of commercials during practice broadcasts.

To Thermal Club: A competitive and uncontroversial IndyCar race.

To Newton, Iowa: High temperatures that do not exceed 84º F on the weekend of July 12-13

To Milwaukee Mile: Tire wear remaining at the same level for IndyCar.

To the Grand Prix of Long Beach: Stability under new ownership.

To Barber Motorsports Park: More visitors because it is the best looking racetrack in the country with a phenomenal museum on the property.

To the IndyCar Toronto race: A modern track configuration around Exhibition Place with a proper pit lane.

To Jacob Abel: One more in Indy Lights but with the results in no way negatively effecting his status as a potential IndyCar driver.

To: Yuven Sundaramoorthy: Having Chip Ganassi Racing realize it has hired the drivers that finished 13th and 20th after only running nine races in Indy Lights in 2024 with a combined zero top five finishes and Sundaramoorthy deserves to be racing after how his season ended.

To Kiko Porto: A full-time ride in Indy Lights.

To Dennis Hauger: Making it clear he was a Formula Three champion and making it hard for any IndyCar team to overlook him for the 2026 season. 

To Myles Rowe: No mechanical issues or opening lap problems.

To Jamie Chadwick: Improving on tire wear over a course of a stint. 

To Juncos Hollinger Racing: Better public relations and crisis management. 

To Zandvoort: Something to fill the void once Formula One is gone in 2026.

To the Belgian Grand Prix: Returning to late-August once the Dutch Grand Prix is gone so the 24 Hours of Spa can return to late-July.

To the Las Vegas Grand Prix: Honestly, a better start time. Something that makes sense for the United States.

To the British Grand Prix: An all-British podium.

To the many young drivers that cannot break into Formula One: A return for A1GP, a series that would give talented drivers rides in proper race cars and could be a springboard for careers while also being a different concept that can fill the winter months.

And, of course, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. If you are somewhere cold, I hope you stay warm. If you are somewhere warm, I hope you enjoy the weather. No matter the conditions, cherish this time with the loved ones around you. Stay safe and healthy!

Peace and love to all!

2024 Sports Car Predictions: Revisited

Most championships are complete at this point. Sports car season is basically over, but it is about to start again and it has a few races left to run. The Gulf 12 Hours will take place in a few weeks, and the Asian Le Mans Series season begins in less than two weeks with a doubleheader in Sepang.

But we have to cut the season off somewhere and this year is basically complete when it comes to reviewing our 2024 predictions. We say basically because one pesky championship is not over yet. Either way, we know the answer to most of these and we know how these predictions have played out.

FIA World Endurance Championships

1. A manufacturer not named Toyota nor Ferrari will have at least three podium finishes

Correct!

This one was technically achieved in the first race of the season as Porsche went 1-2-3 with its factory cars in first and third and the Hertz Team Jota entry in second at Qatar. 

Porsche then put two more cars on the podium in the second race from Imola and went one-two with Hertz Team Jota winning at Spa-Francorchamps. It was shutout from the podium at Le Mans, but had both factory cars on the podium at Interlagos. Porsche won Fuji and was second in Bahrain.

Porsche ended with 11 combined podium finishes this season, more than double the next best manufacturer. Ferrari and Toyota each combined for five podium finishes. 

2. At least SIX drivers get their first overall WEC victory

Correct!

This one was taken care of very quickly. We had eight first-time overall winners in the first four races. Each race had at least one driver pick up his first career victory.

We had Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the opening race from Qatar.

The #7 Toyota won at Imola, a familiar winner in WEC competition, but it was the first overall victory for Nyck de Vries in only his second start in the top class.

In round three, we had Callum Ilott and Will Stevens win at Spa-Francorchamps. 

At Le Mans, Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen won overall. 

Then we had Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Yi Yifei won at Austin. 

There were 11 first-time overall winners this season.

3. No entry in LMGT3 will finish on the podium in four races or more

Wrong!

The #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche of Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm had six podium finishes this season. The #92 Porsche had four podium finishes in the first five races.

Two other entries had three podium finishes. The #91 Manthey EMA Porsche of Richard Lietz, Morris Schuring and Yasser Shahin had three and the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas also had three podium finishes.

4. In at least two rounds will the overall winner and LMGT3 winner be manufacturers from the same parent company

Correct!

With Porsche winning the drivers' championship in both class, it is no surprise that Porsche did it twice.

The #6 Porsche and the #92 Manthey PureRxcing won the classes in the opening round in Qatar. Two races later, the #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche and the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche split the classes at Spa-Francorchamps. 

Ferrari was the only manufacturer that won in each class this season, but not in the same race. Ferrari won twice overall, Le Mans and Austin. Ferrari also won twice in LMGT3, but it won the final two races at Fuji and Bahrain.

IMSA

5. Antonio García does not finish first nor third in the GTD Pro championship

Wrong!

We have already covered this partially, but this was crushing. 

García and the #3 Corvette sat fifth in the championship in the final race. It looked like a long shot for the #3 Corvette to get up to third. Then it significantly out-qualifies the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW and the #14 VasserSuvillan Lexus at Petit Le Mans, the #14 Lexus retired from the race and the #3 Corvette finished ahead of the #1 BMW. 

It was enough to move García up to third and for the 13th consecutive year, García has finished first or third in the championship. This was the third consecutive year García has finished third in the championship. It is bound to end, but it just never seems to.

6. At least three drivers will have class victories in each WEC and IMSA

Correct!

This one was tight, but we had exactly three drivers win in each WEC and IMSA.

The first driver to achieve it did it in consecutive weekends. Nicklas Nielsen won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and then the following weekend won in LMP2 at Watkins Glen. 

Alex Riberas also won at Watkins Glen in the GTD Pro class, and then he won at LMGT3 in September at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. 

It was getting a little tight on the third winner, but then the #54 AF Corse Ferrari won the LMGT3 class at Fuji with Davide Rigon as one of its drivers. Rigon won the 24 Hours of Daytona in GTD Pro in January. 

It was tight, but it happened. 

7. The Riley Motorsport LMP2 entry's average finish will be greater than 3.5

Correct!

The #74 Riley Motorsport Oreca ended up second in the LMP2 championship and it had four podium finishes in seven races, but a tenth-place finish at Road America tanked its average finish and it finished at 4.1428. If you remove Road America, the #74 Oreca had an average finish of 3.1667 in the other six races.

8. In one race, the pole-sitter from at least three classes will take victory

Wrong!

Not only was this one wrong, but there were only four instances of pole-sitters winning a race all season.

No pole-sitter won in either prototype class in the 2024 IMSA season. 

Three times did the pole-sitter in GTD Pro.

The #14 VasserSullivan did it at Sebring, the #3 Corvette did it at Mosport and the #1 Paul Miller Racing did it at Virginia International Raceway in GTD Pro.

The only GTD entry to win from pole position all season was the one race VasserSullivan entered a second Lexus at Long Beach when the #89 Lexus took the victory. 

This was not close, which is interesting at how much it appears qualifying doesn't matter in IMSA. The five endurance races are understandable, but the two-hour and 45-minute races should see the fastest car over one-lap be able to put together a full race. 

Let's keep an eye on this in 2025.

European Le Mans Series

9. The #22 United Autosports entry does not extends its winning streak

Correct!

Not only didn't the #22 United Autosports' entry not win a race, but no United Autosports' entry won in ELMS in 2024. United Autosports had one podium finish all season, third in the season opener at Barcelona, fittingly with the #22 entry.

This was the first season United Autosports did not win in LMP2 since 2016 when it only had entries in the LMP3 class.

10. In GT3, there will not be a winning entry with multiple Italian drivers

Correct!

Only one Italian driver won the entire season in GT3. It was Andrea Caldarelli in the season finale driving the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini. 

Eleven different nationalities won a race in the GT3 class in 2024. The one with the most different winners was Denmark with four different winners. The #50 Formula Racing Ferrari of Conrad Laursen, Johnny Laursen and Nicklas Nielsen won the season opener in an all-Danish effort. Michelle Gatting won at Imola as well. 

Other

11. The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup champion finishes outside the top five in the Spa 24 Hours

Well...

We don't know yet. The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup was supposed to end last weekend, but the finale from Jeddah had been pushed back a week. We had already planned on doing these predictions prior to Thanksgiving. So we don't know yet, and it can go either way.

Technically, any of 12 entries could win the championship this weekend. Three entries are covered by three points and then fourth is 16 points back.

Three of the top four were top five finishers at the Spa 24 Hours. The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim lead the championship on 54 points and the #7 Aston Martin won at Spa.

Three points back is the #51 AF Corse - Franchorchamps Motors Ferrari of Alessandro and Alessio Rovera, which was second at Spa. Also three points back is the #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi of Alex Aka, Ricardo Feller and Christopher Haase, which finished 12th overall at Spa. 

The #163 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini of Franck Perera, Jordan Pepper and Marco Mapelli is fourth, 16 points back, and it was fifth at Spa.

We will wait and see how this plays out. It is on the fence and can go either way. We will update on Monday.

12. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters will not have a stretch with five manufacturers winning five consecutive races

Wrong! 

There were multiple stretches with five different manufacturers winning five consecutive races.

From race two to race six: Lamborghini, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, BMW.

Race eight to race 12: Lamborghini, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG.

Race nine to race 13: Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Lamborghini. 

Race 11 to race 15: Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Lamborghini, BMW, Audi.

There were four different instances where it happened, but never did six different manufacturers win in six consecutive races. I guess five is the limit.

Heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, we are sitting at 7/11 with one to be determined. Being 8/12 is a lot better than being 7/12.