DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The beauty of competing in IMSA’s Challenge series — either Michelin Pilot Challenge or VP Racing SportsCar Challenge — is that drivers compete against racers and teams on the way up and also drivers and teams that may be on the way up in their careers and also veterans.
The theme of champions in both series in 2025 was the strong blend of both.
In Michelin Pilot Challenge, 45-year-old veteran Jan Heylen and 19-year-old young gun Luca Mars started strong and then fought through a roller coaster second half of the season to hold off a cadre of contenders in Grand Sport (GS) in their No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS.
Harry Gottsacker, who is both young and experienced at age 26, emerged as the solo champion in a three-team fight for the Touring Car (TCR) crown in his No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR to extend that team and manufacturer’s incredible run of form.
The VP Racing SportsCar Challenge champions represent three names who have brighter IMSA futures ahead: 19-year-old Valentino Catalano in Le Mans Prototype 3, 28-year-old Adam Adelson in Grand Touring Daytona X and 22-year-old Kiko Porto in Grand Sport X.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS
In GS, Heylen and Mars couldn’t have started 2025 any stronger, with two wins and five podiums from the first five races to build a 300-plus point lead on their rivals. But nothing is ever that simple in a series known as much for its wild swings of momentum as its intense competition, so other title contenders emerged at various points during the season.
Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister won twice as part of seven top-five finishes in their No. 39 CarBahn by Peregrine racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO. Jenson Altzman emerged as a title contender alongside first Sam Paley, then Nate Cicero sharing in the No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with Aerosport Ford Mustang GT4, with a breakthrough win at Road America.
Consistency also kept Stevan McAleer’s separate car he drove – the No. 27 Auto Technic Racing BMW with Austin Krainz – in the fray as well.
After two tough races, VIR swung the tables back to Heylen and Mars with a crucial third win of the season to have a buffer zone heading into the final two races of the season. They wrapped the titles – Heylen’s second (2021 GS) and Mars’ first – with a sixth place at Michelin Raceway.
“It takes a whole year of hard work and consistency to be here,” Heylen said. “That was the mindset starting at Daytona. It wasn’t always easy. But really happy we brought it home. You’re racing guys with so many different levels of experience and mindsets, so it was important for us not to make mistakes.”
Mars added, “I learned a lot from Jan. He’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever raced with. We pulled through. The last race came down to the wire but as usual Jan got it done.”
The No. 39 car was second in the season points standings with the No. 27 car third, Altzman and the No. 13 team fourth and Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky finishing the year strong in fifth with back-to-back wins aboard their No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4. Turner Motorsport was the year’s only other winner with Francis Selldorff and Dillon Machavern at Mid-Ohio. A total of 16 different entries from all seven GS manufacturers (Porsche, BMW, Ford, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Toyota) scored at least one podium in 2025.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR
TCR stood as a three-horse race, with two Herta Hyundais winning the first four early season races (Nos. 76 and 98), then needing to withstand a summer surge from north of the border in the No. 93 Montreal Motorsports Group (MMG) Honda Civic FL5 TCR shared by LP Montour and Karl Wittmer who delivered back-to-back wins at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Gottsacker, who drove all but one race with Mason Filippi in the No. 98 in the car lead engineered by Megan Ryder, was relatively assured a finish atop the standings until a rough-and-tumble round at VIR where contact from another car sent the No. 98 car down to P11. Contact and a penalty for the sister No. 76 car of Preston Brown and Denis Dupont took them down the order too and combined with a late podium pass for the No. 93 Honda, it set up a two-race battle for the title.
The No. 93 car appeared to seize momentum with the points lead taken after another late podium pass in Indianapolis but lost it all in a mechanical-affected finale at Michelin Raceway where for the third time all season, this car finished outside the top four. Dupont drove an amazing final stint to get up to second but was one spot short of a title. That left it to Gottsacker to secure his second TCR title, having also done so alongside Robert Wickens in 2023.
“We finished exactly where we needed to finish, thanks in large part to a great engineer, Megan, on the box and Mason who was a huge part of this championship,” Gottsacker said. “It all came down to the wire after a friendly battle with these guys. Incredible preparation and execution all weekend.”
IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient Celso Neto and co-driver Ryan Eversley enjoyed a good season with fourth in the championship with three podium finishes in the No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS3 LMS TCR. A late rally propelled VGRT’s Tyler Gonzalez and Eric Powell to fifth in points, winning the last two races after the team switched to the new Cupra Leon VZ TCR.
In a class frequently paced by Hyundai, all four TCR manufacturers won races and all four finished in the top five in points. Two other cars (Mark Wilkins and Bryson Morris, No. 33 Herta Hyundai and Luke Rumberg and Jaden Conwright, No. 31 RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate Audi) also won races and 10 different TCR cars scored at least one podium.
IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge
Although Valentino Catalano didn’t have a primary full-season rival for the P3 title, it didn’t diminish the quality of his achievements.
Driving the No. 30 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08, the German won eight of 12 races to seal the title. Three other drivers won races as well.
Adam Adelson won the first GTDX title with three race wins by getting a perfect start to the season in Daytona. The owner/driver of the No. 24 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R swept the season-opening doubleheader and never looked back, while mainly engaged in a tight battle with A.J. Muss in the No. 66 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.
Meanwhile, after a nightmare Daytona, Jake Walker did everything he could to play catch-up with nine wins in the final 10 races in the No. 6 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.
GSX showcased the potential of RAFA Racing and its two drivers, Kiko Porto and Ian Porter, who were among the revelations of the season. The Brazilian won nine of 12 races in the No. 8 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, and with Porter also winning one, the RAFA organization won 10 GSX races.
Adding in BSI Racing’s Steven Clemons two wins, and Toyota enjoyed a perfect season in GSX with all 12 victories.
Bronze Cup Champions
While 2024 GS champions Team TGM endured a challenging 2025 with its No. 46 entry, its Bronze Cup entry of Ted Giovanis and Hugh Plumb still kept momentum in Michelin Pilot Challenge GS to win that accolade in their No. 64 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO for a second straight year.
In VP Racing Challenge, three of the top full-season finishing entries – Brian Thienes (No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P320) in P3, Samantha Tan (No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3) in GTDX and Ian Porter (No. 68 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2) in GSX – won their respective Bronze Cup titles.
