WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge reaches the halfway point of the year with this weekend’s LP Building Solutions 120 from Watkins Glen International.
It’s round five of the 10-round championship and 44-car entry list that features 30 Grand Sport and 14 Touring Car entries. Round 4, the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio, revealed who may be title contenders with some significant shakeups.
With four top-four finishes in GS to start the year, Dillon Machavern and Luca Mars are well-positioned with a 200-point lead. The pair of past GS champions now sharing the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO have parlayed a mix of great strategy and pace thus far.
“The team has been on rails so far, with Dillon at the start, great strategy and great pit stops,” said Mars, who switched to Turner at the start of the year after winning the 2025 crown with RS1. “Everyone has just showed up to do everything perfectly.”
Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky in the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4 have balanced a pair of wins with a pair of ninth or worse finishes. They’re tied for second with the consistent duo of Stevan McAleer and Austin Krainz, who have four top-six finishes in as many races in the No. 27 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO.
An alternator belt issue took Bryce Ward and Daan Arrow from second leaving Monterey, 30 points behind down to fifth, 280 back. Arrow will fall out of the title battle in Watkins Glen with a schedule conflict; Winward Racing taps its two-time defending WeatherTech Championship Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) champion Philip Ellis to race alongside Ward in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 this weekend.
On the flip side of how fast things can change, a pole-turned-podium brought Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister in their No. 39 CarBahn by Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO up from 30th leaving Monterey to 14th leaving Mid-Ohio.
The TCR battle once again features the single No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR against the armada of Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCRs. Just 110 points separate the top five in the championship, with the No. 93 Honda in amidst the Nos. 18, 33, 76 and 98 BHA Hyundais.
Bryson Morris and Mason Filippi had a relative “off” day at Mid-Ohio, finishing eighth in the No. 33 Hyundai, which saw their lead drop from 110 points to 20 as teammates Denis Dupont and Preston Brown were second in the No. 76 Hyundai.
Karl Wittmer’s last-lap pass of Dupont positioned the No. 93 Honda fourth in the championship, just 100 off leaders Morris and Filippi in the No. 33 car. They entered Mid-Ohio seventh, 220 points in arrears.
Wittmer and co-driver LP Montour are heading into the stretch of venues where their 2025 title charge took hold, as they won back-to-back at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
“He has something about last laps,” Montour said of Wittmer. “We stayed in the fight the whole race. We knew with Karl in at the end, we had a chance. We’re on a good run.”
Audi will try to get on the board this weekend with either the Baker Racing or Gou Racing w/Stallion RS3 LMS TCRs. An Audi win would complete the set of all 18 participating OEMs winning at least one IMSA-sanctioned race in 2026 by the end of June.
