Cadillac Wins Again at Motul Petit Le Mans as No. 6 Porsche Clinches Championship

Cadillac Whelen ended the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with its second consecutive race win, Aston Martin and Lamborghini starred, and Porsche Penske Motorsport delivered another championship-winning performance.

All of that played out over 10 hours in glorious Georgia sunshine and then into night before a record crowd Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti drove the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R to a 5.182-second victory over Roman De Angelis, Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie in the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans.

The season-ending round of the WeatherTech Championship was packed with close competition and drama from start to finish, culminating in Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell clinching the driver’s and manufacturer’s championships for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the premier Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class with a third-place finish in the No. 6 Porsche 963 they shared with Laurens Vanthoor.

With the No. 31 Cadillac’s Petit Le Mans victory and its win September 21 at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aitken vaulted from sixth place to second in the driver’s standings. It was Cadillac’s fifth triumph at one of the world’s crown jewel endurance sports car races.

“I wouldn’t have predicted back-to-back wins to finish the season, but we were knocking at the door quite a lot and putting ourselves in position to win,” Aitken said. “Everything finally came together, and it’s been a true pleasure the last couple of weekends.”

Aitken was fastest in two of the three practice sessions in the lead-up to the race, and he qualified the No. 31 Cadillac on the outside of the front row. He stalked Tom Blomqvist in the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 through the first two stints before taking the lead early in the third hour.

But Bamber soon suffered the misfortune of a punctured tire while running under caution shortly after he took over the No. 31. That started a furious comeback drive that saw the Whelen Cadillac scythe through the 12-car GTP field to regain the lead at the six-hour mark. They were able to control the race from there, their main drama coming when the last four hours ran caution-free, forcing a late stop for fuel that cut their comfortable lead to less than a second. But their competitors also required a late splash-and-go.

“That was a true IMSA race,” said Bamber. “The guys did a great job keeping me updated and we timed the strategy perfectly at the end. Just a phenomenal job by Cadillac to get the victory here. We’ve built a good core team, and winning these last few races has really been sweet.”

The Aston Martin Valkyrie garnered many fans around the world in 2025, in large part due to the sound of its shrieking V-12 engine. The car’s best result in IMSA competition prior to Saturday was sixth place at the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix at Road America in August.

“I was told before I got in the car that we were fighting for third place,” said De Angelis, who despite being the youngest driver in the team was tabbed to drive the anchor stint. “I don’t think I realized until 15 minutes to go we were in with a shot for the win. It would have been fun to have a chance to fight, but from where we started the year, or if you had told me this morning we would be second, I probably would have laughed.

“It’s pretty special to cross the line for the first podium for Aston Martin and The Heart of Racing.”

Another popular entry among fans – the No. 63 Automobili Squadra Corse Lamborghini SC63 shared by Romain Grosjean, Edoardo Mortara and Daniil Kyvat also achieved its best result in worldwide sports car competition with a fourth-place finish that saw Grosjean vying for the win in the latter stages before having to peel off for fuel.

Jaminet and Campbell wound up with a 187-point provisional edge over Aitken in the driver’s standings, while Porsche expanded its slim two-point edge over Acura at the start of the race to a 42-point cushion. Jaminet and Campbell also teamed to win the IMSA Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) championship for Porsche in 2022.

Julien Andlauer, the scheduled third driver for the No. 6 Porsche, was a late scratch due to health reasons. Vanthoor stepped up to serve as the third driver for both Porsche Penske Motorsport entries.

“There was so much traffic getting into the track that we almost missed the recon laps, and half an hour before the race, we didn’t have a third driver,” Jaminet said with a smile. “After all that, it went pretty smooth, I have to say. We had a really good car going into the race and the team did really good preparation. Here we are, up on the podium and with a championship. I couldn’t be more happy than today, for sure.”

“That’s two years in IMSA together and two championships,” added Campbell. “Coming back together this year after a couple years apart has worked phenomenally and we hit the ground running. We really showed our consistency and experience together, and that put us in position for this championship title.”

LMP2: Thomas’ Winning Exit Strategy

Steven Thomas knew entering the Motul Petit Le Mans weekend that it would likely be his last race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. 

Being the fastest qualifier for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class and going on to claim his second consecutive win in the classic 10-hour endurance race was the perfect send-off.

Despite losing the Motul Pole Award due to a post-qualifying technical infringement on the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07, Thomas drove from the back of the field to the lead in his opening double stint. Hunter McElrea and Mikkel Jensen completed the job, with Jensen crossing the line 48.903 seconds ahead of Tom Dillmann and the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 he shared with Bijoy Garg and Jeremy Clarke. To boot, the No. 11 TDS trio also won the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup on a tiebreaker over the No. 43 car thanks to more race victories.

“It was actually really emotional,” Thomas said after his second consecutive WeatherTech Championship LMP2 race win (coming on the heels of a victory at the TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and seventh of his career. “I was able to put it on pole in my final race, which was super exciting, and then like an hour later they said so you failed scrutineering, so you’re starting in the back.

“I started in the back, and it was it was just so much fun,” he continued. “When I got out of the car, I’d done my drive time and that was the end for me. Ending on this victory and maybe the best stint I’ve ever driven was like a dream. That is the perfect ending.”

Jensen, who owns 12 IMSA race wins, was Thomas’s co-driver for the last three years, and he paid tribute to his team owner and friend.

“It’s just amazing to finish on top,” Jensen said. “Steven is not only my Bronze driver, he’s also become a great friend and we’ve created memories for life. That’s why emotions are really high and it’s just been an incredible end to the season. Steven has done his best racing ever, starting from the back of the field and giving me the car in P1.”

PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron, and Jonny Edgar finished sixth at Petit Le Mans in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 to claim the LMP2 class championship for the 2025 season. Hyett also won the IMSA Jim Trueman Award as the top Bronze-rated LMP2 driver, which carries a guaranteed entry into the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“Pretty amazing,” said Cameron, who has now won five IMSA championships in five different classes. “Obviously this is the goal when you start the year. I believed in the project and that the potential that was there. It just needed a little glue to hold everything together and elevate things a little more. 

“I’m grateful to PJ and Gunnar (AO Racing co-owner Jeanette) that they had the trust in me to be the guy to get them there.”

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors will enjoy a well-deserved break before reconvening at Daytona International Speedway in November for 2026 homologation testing.

Results are HERE