Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Aitken and Bamber Finally Break Through to Win Detroit, Seize 144-Point IMSA GTP Lead
Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber ended four races of near-misses at the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on Saturday, driving the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R to victory on the 1.645-mile, nine-turn downtown street circuit. The pair had claimed four podiums in 2026 without winning. Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann finished second in the No. 25 BMW, 6 seconds back, with Ricky Taylor and Felipe Albuquerque third in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. Aitken and Bamber leave Detroit holding a 144-point lead in the GTP drivers’ standings with four races remaining in IMSA’s premier class.
Sources: RACER
Garcia and Sims Survive Detroit Street-Course Mayhem to Clinch Corvette GTD Pro Victory
Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims claimed the GTD Pro class at the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Z06 GT3.R, starting from pole and winning by 1.935 seconds. The final ten minutes produced drama throughout the field, with multiple cars receiving drive-through penalties for contact incidents. Garcia described the closing laps as “a bit of a Mario Kart scene behind my rearview camera.” The result is Garcia’s 32nd IMSA victory and his first at the Detroit Street Circuit, tying him with Allan McNish, Ricky Taylor, and Sascha Maassen for 18th on the all-time IMSA winners’ list.
Sources: IMSA
Heinrich’s 60-Second Penalty at Detroit Reshapes IMSA GTP Title Race with Four Rounds Left
Laurin Heinrich and Tijmen van der Helm, who held the GTP points lead entering Detroit, dropped to 11th and last after a 60-second stop-and-go penalty issued for contact with the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie. The penalty handed their championship momentum entirely to Action Express Racing. Heinrich had led the standings by 21 points over Jack Aitken before Saturday’s race. The result means Aitken and Earl Bamber now command a 144-point advantage with only four GTP races remaining in the 2026 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, making the title fight appear increasingly one-sided absent a dramatic reversal in the closing rounds.
Sources: RACER
GM Claims First IMSA Brand Double Since 2018 as Cadillac and Corvette Sweep Detroit
General Motors celebrated a historic double at the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on Saturday, with Cadillac winning GTP and Corvette Racing claiming GTD Pro for the first combined GM brand sweep in IMSA competition since the 2018 Grand Prix of Long Beach. The result unfolded at the manufacturer’s hometown race, underscoring GM’s strength across both the top-level GTP class and the GT3 division. Cadillac fields three GTP entries in 2026 across multiple teams, while Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller leads the GTD Pro manufacturers’ battle. No other manufacturer secured a podium in either class at the Detroit sprint.
Sources: Motorsport Week
Defending Australian Supercars Champion Chaz Mostert Shines in Detroit IMSA Street-Circuit Cameo
Chaz Mostert, the defending Australian Supercars champion and multiple Bathurst 1000 winner, made his second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship appearance of 2026 this weekend, driving the No. 15 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 on the Detroit Street Circuit. Mostert previously competed for the team at Daytona earlier in the season. He responded enthusiastically to the tight urban layout, with the Lexus finishing seventh and fourth across the two free practice sessions on Friday. The cameo is part of a growing trend of top-level touring car drivers sampling GT3 racing in North America’s premier sportscar series, broadening IMSA’s international driver appeal throughout the 2026 season.
Sources: Daily Sportscar
Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 Scores Landmark First IMSA Podium at Detroit
The Lamborghini Temerario GT3 achieved its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium at the Detroit Sports Car Classic, with Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell finishing second in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entry in the GTD Pro class. The result is a significant milestone for the new-generation Lamborghini GT3 model, which replaced the long-running Huracan GT3 Evo. Christopher Mies and Fred Vervisch completed the GTD Pro podium in the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3, a further 1.9 seconds behind the Corvette winner. The Temerario’s podium confirms the model is finding its competitive footing across major international GT3 championships in only its second full season of competition.
Sources: Motorsport.com
Valentino Rossi and Arthur Leclerc Lead Star-Studded GT World Challenge Europe Grid at Monza Today
The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup returns to Autodromo Nazionale Monza for a three-hour race today, Sunday May 31, with 57 GT3 cars from ten manufacturers on the grid. Valentino Rossi headlines the entry in the No. 46 BMW M4 GT3 for Team WRT alongside Daniel Harper and Max Hesse, using his iconic MotoGP race number. Arthur Leclerc, younger brother of Formula One driver Charles Leclerc, shares the No. 50 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo for AF Corse with Lilou Wadoux and Sean Gelael. The 3 Hours of Monza forms the second round of the 2026 GTWCE Endurance Cup, with qualifying completed earlier this morning at the Temple of Speed.
Sources: GT World Challenge Europe
McLaren Sets Monza Practice Pace as Comtoyou Defends GTWC Endurance Cup Lead
Garage 59’s McLaren set the benchmark in Saturday’s second free practice session at Monza, leading a tightly grouped field as the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup title battle intensifies heading into today’s three-hour race. Comtoyou Racing arrives at Monza as championship leader in the overall standings following its victory at Circuit Paul Ricard, while Garage 59 leads the Gold Cup class standings with back-to-back class wins. Dörr Motorsport topped FP2 overall as Silver Cup entries shuffled the order across the 57-car field. Monza is a critical championship flashpoint heading toward the summer, with the Spa 24 Hours looming later in the season as the Endurance Cup’s marquee event.
Sources: Pit Debrief
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. Rast / van der Linde / Frijns — 35 pts
2. Hartley / Hirakawa / Buemi — 26 pts
3. Kobayashi / Conway / de Vries — 25 pts
4. Magnussen / Marciello / Vanthoor — 24 pts
5. Fuoco / Molina / Nielsen — 23 pts
6. Pier Guidi / Calado / Giovinazzi — 19 pts
7. Tincknell / Gamble — 14 pts
8. Da Costa / Milesi / Habsburg — 12 pts
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. BMW — 59 pts
2. Toyota — 52 pts
3. Ferrari — 42 pts
4. Aston Martin — 14 pts
5. Alpine — 14 pts
6. Peugeot — 9 pts
7. Cadillac — 8 pts
8. Genesis — 6 pts
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. Aitken / Bamber (No. 31 Cadillac Whelen) — Championship lead (+144)
2. Heinrich / van der Helm — 2nd
3. Andlauer / Nasr — 3rd
4. Taylor / Albuquerque (No. 10 Cadillac) — 4th
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. Action Express Racing (Cadillac Whelen) — leads
2. BMW M Team RLL — 2nd
3. Wayne Taylor Racing (Cadillac) — 3rd
After Detroit, May 30
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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