SEBRING, Fla. — Ibiza Farm Motorsports is quickly establishing itself a true master of the master tracks with co-drivers Moisey Uretsky and Michael Cooper claiming their fourth IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge victory Friday afternoon – and first of the season.
The win comes on yet another of the country’s most famous circuits, Sebring International Raceway.
With a strong qualifying effort, Uretsky, 43, of Miami, started second and was ahead of the 10-car accident as the field took the green flag at the iconic Sebring road course.
Uretsky put the No. 44 McLaren Artura GT4 to the front and ultimately handed it over to Cooper to hold off the 33-car Grand Sports (GS) Class, finishing 2.506-seconds ahead of Daan Arrow in Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes AMG GT GT4 to claim the trophy in the two-hour Alan Jay Automotive Network 120.
It is the Ibiza Farm team’s first victory at the venerable Sebring track, adding to an impressive list of the team’s winning venues including the Daytona International Speedway Road Course, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta just last season.
It also returned the McLaren name to Sebring victory lane, more than 66 years since Bruce McLaren won the one and only Formula 1 race here in 1959. McLaren also teamed with Mario Andretti to win the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1967.
While the margin of victory was substantial, it was not an easy drive, however. For anyone.
A huge chain reaction crash happened coming out of Turn 17 as the 49-car, two-class field approached the green flag to start the race. The melee eliminated 10 cars and brought out a nearly 30-minute caution period before the race re-started.
“I was on the timing stand and Moisey (Uretsky) was in second,’’ recalled the 36-year-old New York-native Cooper. “IMSA races are always amazing and can be chaotic and crazy at times. That start was a little too much maybe. But then from there it was a good clean run for everyone.
“On [another] restart [later in the race], I worked past a couple cars real easy. I think some people didn’t take tires, maybe, and I was able to capitalize. The temperature today was much higher and people were sliding wide a lot of places and just making mistakes. As long as I was neat and tidy I was able to capitalize on all that and bring it home for Ibiza Farm and McLaren.”
Arrow and co-driver Bryce Ward finished second ahead of Turner Motorsport driver Dillon Machavern, who brought the No. 95 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 EVO home third after an impressive and spirited drive in the final minutes of the race. Machavern, whose co-driver was Luca Mars, passed a pair of cars in the last half hour and then had to hold off Tiago Camilo in the No. 54 PANAM Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 and Stevan McAleer in the No. 27 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO.
“Super interesting start and that made things very interesting especially after a year when there were no cautions here so we really didn’t know what to expect,’’ said the 30-year old Virginian Machavern.
“That changed up our strategy quite a bit. The Turner Motorsport boys put an awesome car out there and [we were] really out there trying to conserve [fuel] as much as we could. The light came on the last lap. We had a really good battle with McAleer to get around but once we were clear we were able to conserve. Hats off to the guys over the wall and the strategy.
“That’s what it’s all about. That’s what makes this racing fun.”
TCR: Gonzalez Runs Away
Michelin Pilot Challenge race wins don’t come much more convincing than the Touring Car (TCR) class triumph Franco Girolami and Tyler Gonzalez posted Friday at Sebring International Raceway in the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120.
Victor Gonzalez Racing played the strategy perfectly in a two-hour contest that started with 30 minutes of running behind the Safety Car due to a multi-car accident approaching the start line in the Grand Sport (GS) class. When a majority of TCR competitors stopped during a second caution period just after minimum drive time of 40 minutes, VGR kept Girolami in the car until the No. 99 Cupra Leon VZ TCR made its last pit stop and installed Gonzalez in the car with 50 minutes to run.
When the two front running cars made their final stops with about half an hour remaining, Gonzalez found himself with an 11.1-second lead, and he pulled away during a caution-free run to the checkered flag to cross the line 13.988 seconds ahead of the No. 18 Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR shared by Harry Gottsacker and Lance Bergstein.
BHA Hyundais also claimed third and fourth place, with the No. 33 of Mason Filippi and Bryson Morris heading home Mark Wilkins and Madeline Aust in the No. 98. It was Bergstein’s first career podium finish in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, while fourth place matched Aust’s career best.
Tyler Gonzalez, who is not related to team owner Victor Gonzalez, drove Hyundais for VGRT until the team switched marques to Cupra in mid-2025. Gonzalez and Eric Powell then ended the season with victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Now he and Girolami, who has extensive experience racing the Cupra Leon VZ TCR in championships around the world, have claimed the laurels in their second start together.
VGR won its class at Sebring for the second time (2022) and the team has now scored all three of Cupra’s victories in IMSA competition. Tyler Gonzalez has been part of all three.
“I just have to say hats off to the Victor Gonzalez Racing Team,” Gonzalez said. “These guys have been on it all weekend and all through the offseason to get these Cupra Leon TCRs ready for us and Franco drove a great stint. He did all the work, honestly. I just had to get in and not make any mistakes. I’ve done a lot of laps here and I knew the track was going to get super greasy. We just had to keep the tires under us.”
Girolami was almost shocked to have tasted victory so quickly at the start of his IMSA career.
“I’m so happy to win for the first time in America and my first time at Sebring,” he said. “Tyler did an amazing job and all the way through he’s helped me because I didn’t know the track. I’m so surprised to be here – it’s just amazing.”
Gonzalez in turn heaped praise upon his new teammate.
“The Cupra is definitely different, and it took some getting used to – I’m not going to lie.” he said. “It’s been great to have Franco here because he’s driven these cars for so long and helped with their development.
teaching him a lot of things about racing in the States, and he’s teaching me a lot about the car. It’s a really good pairing.”
