Vautier to Replace Bourdais at Tower

Tristan Vautier will replace Sebastien Bourdais at Tower Motorsports for the remainder of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

It was revealed that four-time IndyCar champion Bourdais would step down from driving the Tower Oreca 07 Gibson in the wake of the Rolex 24 at Daytona season opener to focus on his commitments in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the JOTA-run Cadillac squad.

Now it has been announced that Vautier, who has been a regular in the WeatherTech championship’s top class but has not contested the LMP2 division, will take Bourdais’ place alongside John Farano in the Tower entry, with Sebastian Alvarez remaining as the team’s third driver.

While Vautier has no WeatherTech Championship LMP2 experience, he has been a fixture in the Pro-Am-enforced prototype ranks in both the European and Asian Le Mans Series for the past three campaigns, including finishing as runner-up in the 2024-25 Asian LMS season.

“With Tristan’s experience and leadership, we are confident this is exactly what we need to hit the ground running at Sebring,” a statement from Tower read.

“We look forward to the energy he will bring as we build on the success the team has come to know and to carry that energy forward through the remainder of the 2026 season.”

Bourdais, Alvarez, Farano and Kyffin Simpson finished eighth in class in the opening 2026 event at Daytona, while Tower – which took the 2022 class crown – was 10th in last year’s LMP2 standings.