Road America Friday Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***IMSA’s ‘Move Over’ branding campaign is making its trackside advertising debut this weekend on the uphill start/finish bridge (pictured above). The campaign, devised by IMSA’s brand team at the beginning of the season, and also seen on social media posts and fan merchandise, symbolizes the essence of multi-class racing and on-track traffic as well as being a tongue-in-cheek way of saying ‘IMSA’s coming.’

***It is the first branding campaign in IMSA’s current iteration. The American Le Mans Series, the predecessor to the WeatherTech Championship, had the catchphrase “For the Fans” that was coined by series founder Don Panoz.

***IMSA’s YouTube channel, which features original trackside content from Marshall Pruett and Sportscar365’s own Jonathan Grace, along with live streaming, retrospectives and the IMSA Endurance Hour Podcast with Matt Yocum, is expected to reach 1 million subscribers this weekend.

***Ross Gunn cautioned the early pace seen from Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Valkyrie, which set the second quickest time in Friday’s opening practice session, admitting that he expects the competition in GTP will get closer by race day. Gunn’s 1:51.328 lap time was just 0.073 seconds slower than pace-setter Tom Blomqvist in the 90-minute session.

***Gunn said: “We had a productive test here a few weeks ago, and the track suits the strengths of the Valkyrie. We continue to make improvements in our understanding of the car, but let’s not forget it’s Practice 1, and, as we have witnessed many times this year, when it comes to race day, many cars find a big step in performance. But let’s enjoy our first time at the pointy end of the field.”

***The No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson has been repaired since Tom Dillmann’s race-ending and back-breaking accident at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with the Polish squad electing not to utilize a new chassis for this weekend.

***Team Tonis, which is making its WeatherTech Championship debut this weekend, is utilizing an ex-High Class Racing Oreca chassis that was acquired in April according to team owner/driver Tonis Kasemets, who revealed they had an accident in testing at Road America last month. While Road America will mark the team’s only LMP2 start this year, Kasemets said they’re planning a full season campaign next year, ideally with Matthew Brabham as one of its drivers.

***AO Racing team principal Gunnar Jeannette said the team’s recent breakthrough LMP2 win has given the entire organization a boost heading into the championship stretch where both of its entries sit second in their respective class championship battles.

***Jeannette told Sportscar365: “They are very much separate programs. It’s not like we’re United [Autosports] running two LMP2s. That does make it fairly easy but the teams and engineers work very well with each other. So it is very much a team effort across both. It’s definitely shaping up for a great second half of the year for both programs.”

***Jeannette exclusively revealed to Sportscar365 on Friday AO’s plans to expand to the GTP class, which although unlikely, could come as early as next year. It’s believed a possible Porsche 963 entry could hinge on whether Porsche Penske Motorsport will continue in WeatherTech Championship competition in 2026.

***Of note, Jeannette and DragonSpeed team owner Elton Julian, who were co-drivers in the inaugural season of the ALMS LMPC class in 2010, have now been turned rival team principals/co-owners in this season’s GTD Pro title fight, between AO’s Porsche 911 GT3 R of Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler and the DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa, which sit second and third in the title race, respectively, entering the weekend.

***Sheldon van der Linde said he was pleased to have received confirmation of BMW’s commitment to the WeatherTech Championship GTP class for next year, as his and fellow BMW M factory driver Dries Vanthoor’s WeatherTech Championship programs were intended to be for at least two years.

***He told Sportscar365: “Obviously learning all the tracks this year, it was always a two-year plan for me. It would have been a shame to learn the tracks for one year, get to grips with everything and then just not come back. For me it’s definitely a two-year plan. I think we’re trying to bring a lot of the WEC information over to GTP and that remains the case for next year as well.”

***GT World Challenge America powered by AWS driver Todd Coleman could make the move to the GTD class next year as part of a possible Michelin Endurance Cup campaign. Coleman currently races with Vasser Sullivan Lexus driver Aaron Telitz in an Archangel Motorsports-run McLaren 720S GT3 Evo.

***Sportscar365 understands that Telitz is expected to remain with Vasser Sullivan next year when it transitions from the Lexus RC F GT3 to the yet-to-be-unveiled Lexus LFR GT3, which recently took part in a multi-day test at Road America. The car has also completed North American outings at Sebring International Raceway, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, among other tracks.

***Porsche Penske Motorsport completed a rollout of one of its Porsche 963s at Chester-Catawba Regional Airport in Chester County, S.C. last Friday, the same day Heart of Racing Team was testing its Aston Martin Valkyrie at Apex Motor Club in Phoenix, both in preparation for this weekend.

***The Porsche 963 is undefeated at Road America. In 2023, Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr teamed to drive the No. 7 entry to the win, while Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet led a 1-2 finish for the team last year.

***Acura has again declined to disclose its Evo joker usage for the ARX-06, with a manufacturer representative stating to Sportscar365 that it will not reveal how many jokers, if any, have been used on its car for “competitive reasons.” Acura is the only LMDh manufacturer to not have publicly disclosed its joker allocation to date.

***Danny Formal revealed he would like to continue racing in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America next year, alongside his GTD duties in the WeatherTech Championship, but could face a hiccup due to the series’ current rules that prohibit a driver from racing in the single-make series for more than five seasons in a single class.

***Formal could theoretically switch from the Pro to Pro-Am class to circumvent the rule, although a final decision is understood to not yet have been made.

***All three Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 teams have been taking an “open book” approach this season in sharing data, telemetry and setup after every session according to Formal, which has helped push the WTR, Forte Racing and Pfaff Motorsports programs forward.

***Entries for the 2026 WeatherTech Championship season will open on Aug. 5, with an oversubscribed field again expected based on current projections. IMSA traditionally reveals the full season and Endurance Cup entry lists at the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans in October.

***Tickets for January’s 2026 WeatherTech Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona are now on sale. The Jan. 24-25 twice-around-the-clock enduro will be preceded by the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 16-18, which will also be open to fans.

***Coverage of the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix will be carried live on Peacock on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST, anchored by the NBC Sports commentary team of Brian Till and Calvin Fish, with Yocum and Kevin Lee on pit lane. IMSA Radio’s broadcast team of John Hindhaugh, Ryan Myrehn and Arjuna Kankipati will be on IMSA’s YouTube stream for international viewers.

Jonathan Grace contributed to this report

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