Several Leading Silver, Bronze Drivers Get FIA Rating Upgrades

Several of the leading FIA-rated Bronze and Silver LMGT3 drivers in the FIA World Endurance Championship have had their classification changed for next season, including points leader Jonny Edgar and reigning champion Riccardo Pera.

Edgar had originally been due to be promoted from a Silver to a Gold for this season, but was able to successfully appeal the decision and remained part of the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R squad as a result.

But in a batch of provisional driver ratings changes confirmed by the FIA that will take effect from Jan. 1, Edgar has now been promoted to a Gold.

Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo driver Pera — who won last year’s LMGT3 title — has also been promoted from Silver to Gold.

Fellow Silver driver Ben Tuck, who is part of the Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 EVO stable, has had a similar reclassification, as has Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo pilot Tom Fleming.

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi is among the other Silver drivers to now be reclassified as a Gold, along with DTM race winner Ben Doerr and Nissan SUPER GT driver Atsushi Miyake, who also competes in GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS.

Meanwhile, Peter Dempsey, who returned to competition with TF Sport this season after a 13-year layoff from top-level racing and claimed the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup Bronze title at the weekend, has also been now upgraded to a Silver from Bronze.

Dempsey’s rival for the GTWC Europe title, Kessel Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo pilot Dustin Blattner, is another to have been promoted to a Silver.

Several established factory drivers have now been upgraded to a Platinum, including Ferrari racers Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson, and Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s Norman Nato, along with Porsche Penske Motorsport IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship contenders Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich.

Genesis Magma Racing’s rising star Mathys Jaubert has also been promoted from a Silver to a Gold, after he had been the only  WEC Hypercar driver to not be either Gold or Platinum-ranked.

Several racers have also had their rating downgraded for next season including LMP2 regular Paul Lafargue, who drops from Silver to Bronze.

Two past winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans have also had their ratings adjusted with three-time victor Benoit Treluyer and Timo Bernhard, who triumphed twice, both downrated from a Platinum to a Gold.

Among the drivers that have been provisionally downgraded from Gold to Silver include Alessandro Balzan, Townsend Bell, Michelle Gatting and Paul Holton.

A number of drivers who were under review, meanwhile, notably remain Silver. They include Kobe Pauwels, Benjamin Pedersen, Doriane Pin, Tom Sargent, Toby Sowery, Parker Thompson, Alec Udell, Lilou Wadoux and Finn Wiebelhaus.

It’s understood drivers have a short period to appeal their decision, with a finalized list set to be released later this month.

Any changes do not affect drivers competing in the 2026-27 Asian Le Mans Series, with their 2026 driver ratings being valid for the entirety of the season, which stretches from November 2026 to February 2027.

Notable Provisional Rating Changes for 2027:
Julien Andlauer: Gold to Platinum
Alessandro Balzan: Gold to Silver
Joao Barbosa: Gold to Silver
Nico Bastian: Gold to Silver
Townsend Bell: Gold to Silver
Timo Bernhard: Platinum to Gold
Dustin Blattner:  Bronze to Silver
Lindsay Brewer: Silver to Bronze
Vincent Capillaire: Silver to Bronze
Simona De Silverstro: Gold to Silver
Peter Dempsey: Bronze to Silver
Ben Dorr: Silver to Gold
Jonny Edgar: Silver to Gold
John Edwards: Platinum to Gold
Tom Fleming: Silver to Gold
Michelle Gatting: Gold to Silver
Conrad Grunewald: Silver to Bronze
Phil Hanson: Gold to Platinum
Laurin Heinrich: Gold to Platinum
Erika Hoffmann: Silver to Bronze
Paul Holton: Gold to Silver
Alexandre Imperatori: Gold to Silver
Mathys Jaubert: Silver to Gold
Pierre Kaffer: Gold to Silver
Tadas Karlinskas: Silver to Bronze
Kyle Kirkwood: Gold to Platinum
Paul Lafarge: Silver to Bronze
Joseph Loake: Silver to Gold
Zach Lumsden: Silver to Bronze
Christian Lundgaard: Gold to Platinum
Richard Lyons: Gold to Silver
Pippa Mann: Silver to Bronze
Kyle Marcelli: Gold to Silver
Nicolas Minassian: Gold to Silver
Atsushi Miyake: Silver to Gold
Norman Nato: Gold to Platinum
Riccardo Pera: Silver to Gold
Rolf Ineichen: Silver to Bronze
Valentino Rossi: Silver to Gold
Ben Tuck: Silver to Gold
James Walker: Silver to Bronze
Yifei Ye: Gold to Platinum
Alex Yoong: Gold to Silver

Notable Drivers Who Remain Current Rating (After Review):
Jarett Andretti: Bronze
Michelle Beretta: Silver
Julien Canal: Silver
Ryan Dalziel: Gold
Nicolai Elghanayan: Silver
Chris Froggatt: Silver
Sean Gelael: Silver
Misha Goikhberg: Bronze
Jeff Gordon: Gold
Tyler Hoffmann: Bronze
Elton Julian: Bronze
Chad McCumbee: Silver
Hunter McElrea: Silver
Gray Newell: Bronze
Aurelien Panis: Silver
Kobe Pauwels: Silver
Benjamin Pedersen: Silver
Griffin Peebles: Silver
Doriane Pin: Silver
Nico Pino: Silver
Aaron Povoledo: Silver
Leonardo Pulcini: Gold
Giorgio Roda: Bronze
Tom Sargent: Silver
Benny Simonsen: Bronze
Toby Sowery: Silver
Parker Thompson: Silver
Tim Tramnitz: Silver
Alec Udell: Silver
Kay van Berlo: Gold
Lilou Wadoux: Silver
Finn Wibelhaus: Silver
Salih Yoluc: Silver