DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship continues its two-race California swing with the annual trip to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as part of an IMSA-themed “throwback” weekend in Monterey.
This year’s two-hour, 40-minute race for Grand Touring Prototype, Grand Touring Daytona Pro and Grand Touring Daytona features 34 cars entered for the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship.
The GTD PRO class is back for the first time since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with its nine full-season entries. There’s the same 11 GTP entries as at Long Beach and the 14 full-season GTD entries after the class temporarily grew by three at Long Beach.
Earl Bamber (No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, GTP) and Tom Gamble (No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, GTD) return after missing Long Beach.
Meanwhile there are two new driver changes in GTD. Scott Andrews fills in for Valentin Hasse-Clot in the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo while Lorenzo Patrese is listed in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO alongside Albert Costa.
Storylines
- Porsche Penske Motorsport (GTP), AO Racing (GTD PRO) and Winward Racing (GTD) have won at Monterey each of the last two years. If any or all of them can triple up, it’d make for an impressive statistic to cap off the California swing.
- California Sweeps? In Long Beach, Acura (GTP) and Lexus (GTD) won the first of the two California races. Acura last won in Monterey in 2022 in Daytona Prototype international (DPi), while it’s been since 2005 in a Riley chassis DP since Lexus won.
- Paul Miller Racing BMW and Manthey Porsche – the latter only participating in this season’s endurance events – have won the opening two rounds in GTD PRO, as the class resumes for its first sprint race of the year. It’ll be interesting to see who leads the way in this class in Monterey.
- Cadillac Whelen and BMW M Team WRT have podiums but no wins in GTP in 2026. The same is true for AO Racing and Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in GTD PRO. And in GTD, Heart of Racing Team, Conquest Racing, Turner Motorsport and Wright Motorsports have all visited the podium without winning yet. Will one of these teams capture its first win of the season in Monterey?
- The No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 (WeatherTech Championship) and No. 12 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 (Michelin Pilot Challenge) were awarded the CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award for their performance at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring weekend. AO’s LMP2 entry will be presented with the award at its next round, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, while RAFA’s GS entry will be presented with the award in Monterey pre-race ceremonies.
Who’s Hot?
- Whelen: While they haven’t won yet, the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R has three podiums in as many GTP races to start 2026 – the only car in any of IMSA’s four classes to boast that stat.
- The No. 6 car, which has won the last two Monterey races, has opened with finishes of fourth, second and third to start 2026. It won its first and only race of 2025 in Monterey last year.
Who To Watch?
- Nick Tandy: One of five three-time Monterey winners in the field, Tandy’s first North American win came at the track in an NGT Porsche in American Le Mans Series GTC in 2013 with additional triumphs in 2021 with Corvette in Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) and overall and GTP with Porsche Penske in 2024. Paired with two-time defending Monterey winners AO Racing, could Tandy add to his Laguna Seca lore?
- Renger van der Zande: Another driver who scored his first North American win at Monterey in 2014 in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class, van der Zande put himself on the map three years later with a daring pass for the overall win at the Corkscrew in 2017.
- The Taylor Brothers: Ricky has three wins and Jordan one, while both have four poles at the track.
- Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports: Corvette seems close to a Monterey win after a pole achieved in 2024 and a third place in 2025. The team has a series-leading eight wins at the track, although none yet in GTD PRO since that class’ introduction in 2022.
