2015 Silly Season Update 2: GTLM/GTD

Photo: IMSA

Silly season continues to be in full swing in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. With full-season entries due by Dec. 1, teams are in the process of finalizing their programs for the 2015 season.

Following its first update published last month, Sportscar365 takes a look at the confirmed and possible entries for the GT Le Mans and GT Daytona classes.

Click Here for the Prototype/Prototype Challenge Silly Season update.

GT LE MANS

Confirmed Full-Season (7 cars):

Corvette Racing – The Pratt & Miller squad are set for a return with its pair of factory Corvette C7.Rs. Drivers have not been announced, although it would seem logical for Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin, Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen to all continue. (2 cars)

Porsche North America – The CORE autosport-run factory squad is confirmed for 2015. Driver lineups for the two Porsche 911 RSRs have yet to be determined and could be dependent on the future of Manthey’s works effort in FIA WEC. A third full-season car has been ruled out for the TUDOR Championship. (2 cars)

BMW – BMW will return with two updated Z4 GTEs in 2015, although it has yet to confirm its partner team or driver lineup. With an all-new car likely due for 2016, logical wisdom would point towards a continuation of the existing Team RLL partnership. An official announcement is expected on Dec. 6. at its Sport Trophy awards ceremony in Munich. (2 cars)

Team Falken Tire – Derrick Walker’s privateer Porsche squad will return with a relatively unchanged program, with Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers expected to be back in the blue and turquoise-liveried entry. Walker has ruled out an expansion to a second car. (1 car)

Likely/Possible Entries (1-3 cars): 

Risi Competizione – Despite having had an expensive start and end to its 2014 season, it’s understood the Houston-based squad is planning a return with its Ferrari F458 Italia, which could be for the Patron Endurance Cup races only. No word has been given on the driver lineup. (1 car)

TBA – There could be an additional privateer Porsche 911 RSR on the grid next year, with Porsche reportedly in discussions with a prospective customer. (1 car)

Aston Martin Racing – The factory Prodrive squad could field up to three Aston Martin Vantage GTEs in the Patron Endurance Cup, including one for Paul Dalla Lana. A strong possibility exists of an all-pro lineup in one of the cars as well. (1-3 cars – partial season)

GT DAYTONA

Confirmed Full-Season (5 cars):

Scuderia Corsa – The Giacomo Mattioli-led squad will field only a single full-season Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 for Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell, with the possibility of its Brazilian customer team returning for the Rolex 24 only. (1 car)

TRG-AMR – Christina Nielsen and James Davison will mount a championship attack in one of Kevin Buckler’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3s next season. Additional cars, either for the full season or Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races are possible. (1-2 cars)

Magnus Racing – The John Potter-owned will return with its Porsche 911 GT America for Potter and Andy Lally. Ex-Dempsey Racing team manager Greg Cates has joined the team. (1 car)

Paul Miller Racing – After taking class honors at Petit Le Mans, the Audi squad is preparing for a full-season return but has yet to finalize its driver lineup. Bryce Miller will scale back to endurance races only due to his business commitments. (1 car)

Riley Motorsports – Despite the demise of the factory program, Bill Riley is preparing to field Ben Keating’s Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R. It’s understood a second entry could be possible for additional races. Jeroen Bleekemolen has been confirmed as Keating’s co-driver again. (1-2 cars)

Likely/Possible Entries (3-7 cars)

Alex Job Racing – The Porsche stalwarts are expected to again field two 911 GT Americas, with its Team Seattle-backed effort for Mario Farnbacher and Ian James already confirmed. However Alex Job told Sportscar365 that his program is currently on hold pending a final outcome from IMSA’s driver pairing regulations. (2 cars)

GB Autosport – Multiple series and car options are currently being explored, although a return for a minimum of the Patron Endurance Cup races plus a few additional GTD races appears likely for the Michael Avenatti-led squad. Damien Faulkner has been confirmed as one of the drivers. Expect a further announcement next week. (1 car)

Muehlner Motorsports – The Bernhard Muehlner-run group is working towards a two-car Porsche GT America program, but nothing confirmed at this point.  (1-2 cars)

Flying Lizard Motorsports – The IMSA stalwarts could be off to Pirelli World Challenge next year, while scaling back its TUDOR Championship involvement, with the Rolex 24 at Daytona being the team’s only confirmed race so far with the Audi R8 LMS cars. (2 cars)

Park Place/Horton – The status of the John Horton-led effort is unknown following multiple reports of a potential team split. Sportscar365 has been unable to reach either Horton or team principal Patrick Lindsey at time of publish.

Partial-Season Entries (1-2 cars)

Wright/Snow Racing – It appears the pieces are being put in place for a return with its Porsche 911 GT America next year, although not under the Dempsey Racing tent. A partial season program is reportedly being considered that could also include Patrick Dempsey as a driver for Daytona and Sebring. (1 car)

Vita4One Racing – The veteran German squad, owned by Michael Bartels, is planning a multi-race program with its BMW Z4 GT3, which is likely to include Daytona and Sebring. (1 car)

Unlikely Entries 

Dempsey Racing – The majority of the Georgia-based team’s staff has been laid off, with no current plans for a Dempsey Racing operational entity competing in GTD next year.

Turner Motorsport – Despite winning the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championship, there are currently no plans for a return to GTD in 2015. The team previously announced a two-car BMW Z4 GT3 program for World Challenge.

NGT Motorsport – The Florida-based squad previously announced its departure from the series and will instead field multiple Porsche entries in World Challenge.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John