Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Monday, June 29, 2026
Cadillac Whelen Converts Pole to Six Hours of the Glen Victory for Second Straight Win
Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, and Frederik Vesti delivered the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen team back-to-back GTP victories with a commanding win at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International on Sunday. The Cadillac V-Series.R led 143 of 182 laps, managing fuel strategy through nine full-course cautions to hold off the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing of Nick Yelloly, Renger van der Zande, and Kaku Ohta. The No. 5 JDC-Miller Porsche of Laurin Heinrich, Tijmen van der Helm, and Kaylen Frederick completed the GTP podium in third. The result extended Aitken’s championship points lead heading into the second half of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar season.
Sources: Motorsport.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Lionspeed Porsche Claims Spa 24 Hours from Pit Lane Start in Historic Comeback
Lionspeed GP claimed victory at the 79th running of the Spa 24 Hours with Ricardo Feller, Thomas Preining, and Bastian Buus taking the chequered flag after completing 541 laps, finishing 12.3 seconds clear of the field. The Porsche 911 GT3 R was forced to start from the pit lane after mechanics replaced the engine overnight following a qualifying incident, making this the first time a car has won a GT World Challenge Europe race having started from the pits. The result marks Porsche’s ninth Spa victory. Lucas Auer, Maro Engel, and Luca Stolz in the No. 48 Mercedes-AMG finished second, with the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari third.
Sources: Motorsport.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Max Verstappen’s Mercedes-AMG Team Retires from Spa 24 Hours in 17th Hour
The No. 3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing, co-owned by Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, retired from the 2026 Spa 24 Hours in the 17th hour after technical problems traced back to pit lane contact at the race’s halfway mark. Drivers Daniel Juncadella, Chris Lulham, and Jules Gounon were unable to continue their victory bid. The retirement was a second consecutive major disappointment: the team had come within three hours of winning May’s Nurburgring 24 Hours before a driveshaft failure ended that bid. Verstappen, unable to race due to an F1 calendar clash, had previously stated he would have joined the entry had scheduling allowed.
Sources: Speedcafe.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Matt Campbell Misses Spa 24 Podium by Seconds in Final Porsche GT3 Appearance
Australian driver Matt Campbell finished fourth at the 2026 Spa 24 Hours, just seconds off the podium, in what is expected to be among his final competitive Porsche GT3 appearances before joining Ford’s 2027 WEC Hypercar program. Campbell shared the No. 22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3 R with Ayhancan Guven and Frederic Makowiecki. The trio’s podium bid ended after Guven received a five-second penalty for contact with a rival Porsche at La Source in the 22nd hour. Campbell confirmed his Ford WEC move earlier in June, stating he is “extremely excited and proud” to join Ford Racing’s new Hypercar program in pursuit of Le Mans success.
Sources: Speedcafe.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
GetSpeed Mercedes Excluded from Spa 24 Hours Superpole after Illegal Brake Work
Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed was excluded from the Spa 24 Hours Superpole session after officials discovered mechanics had removed the No. 17 car’s right rear brake and cleared out debris during the third qualifying segment — work not permitted under the regulations. GetSpeed, with drivers Maxime Martin, Maximilian Gotz, and Fabian Schiller, had set the fastest combined qualifying time of 2 minutes, 17.049 seconds to top the 32-car field. Following the exclusion, the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessio Rovera, Tommaso Mosca, and Nicklas Nielsen inherited pole position for the 79th running of the Spa 24 Hours. Additional starting-grid penalties subsequently reshaped the front-row lineup further before the race began.
Sources: Motorsport.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Curb Damage Delays Watkins Glen Qualifying Three Hours as Aitken Sets GTP Track Record
Qualifying for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen was postponed three hours on Saturday after a piece of curbing at the Inner Loop chicane broke apart during the preceding IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race, severely damaging a Turner Motorsports GT4 car. Officials removed the curbs in the affected section before permitting GTP cars on track. Once qualifying ran, Jack Aitken set a new GTP track record of 1 minute, 31.284 seconds at 134.544 mph in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen, eclipsing Renger van der Zande’s previous record of 1:31.558 set last year. Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing qualified second, 0.197 seconds behind Aitken.
IMSA Confirms Next-Generation LMP2 Cars Will Debut at 2029 Rolex 24 at Daytona
IMSA confirmed Thursday that next-generation Le Mans Prototype 2 race cars will debut in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the 2029 Rolex 24 at Daytona, one year after the new specification debuts in ACO and FIA championships worldwide. Two approved constructors, Ligier Automotive and ORECA, will supply the cars, all powered by 420 kW turbocharged V6 engines from Gibson Technology. The current ORECA LMP2 07 and Gibson V8 engines continue through 2028 before the transition. IMSA President John Doonan said the announcement provides “clear direction for current and prospective future LMP2 competitors on the timeline for using existing equipment, as well as planning investment in new cars.”
Porsche Earns Largest BoP Weight Concessions at Watkins Glen but Cadillac Still Wins
IMSA issued a significant Balance of Performance update ahead of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, granting factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entries a 27 kg weight reduction to 1,073 kg and the JDC-Miller 2025-spec Porsche a 24 kg break to 1,058 kg — the largest single concessions awarded. The Cadillac V-Series.R and Acura ARX-06 each received just 6 kg reductions. The Aston Martin Valkyrie, the only non-hybrid prototype, had its minimum weight cut to 1,020 kg, below the standard 1,030 kg GTP floor. Despite the concessions favouring Porsche, the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen went on to win comfortably from pole position, leading 143 of 182 laps.
Sources: Motorsport.com Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
WEC Hypercar — Drivers
1. Conway / Kobayashi / de Vries — 75 pts
2. Rast / Frijns — 71 pts
3. van der Linde — 61 pts
4. Buemi / Hartley / Hirakawa — 56 pts
5. Pier Guidi / Giovinazzi / Calado — 39 pts
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing — leading
2. BMW M Team WRT — close 2nd
3. Ferrari AF Corse — 3rd
After Round 3 — 24 Hours of Le Mans
IMSA GTP — Drivers
1. Jack Aitken — 1,760 pts
2. Laurin Heinrich — 1,616 pts
3. Julien Andlauer — 1,606 pts
IMSA GTP — Teams
1. Cadillac Whelen (No. 31) — leading
After Watkins Glen — June 28, 2026
Curated by JD · samwise.agency