{"id":1738,"date":"2026-08-02T18:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/?p=1738"},"modified":"2026-08-02T17:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T17:37:19","slug":"2026-motul-sportscar-grand-prix-race-report-hours-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2026\/08\/02\/2026-motul-sportscar-grand-prix-race-report-hours-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Motul Sportscar Grand Prix Race Report – Hours 1-2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the first time in its 71 year history, Elkhart Lake’s Road America will see a six hour event grace its tarmac. As Porsche continue their tributes to two iconic cars from their stateside history, and BMW celebrate the new Spider-Man film who will come out on top in this American classic? It’s the Motul Sportscar Grand Prix at Road America, and it promises to be a classic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GTP<\/strong> – BMW Lead 1-2 With Split Strategy as Pole-Sitting Acura Dropped To Rear of Field as Porsche and Cadillac Close In On Lead Battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BMW have laid down the gauntlet in the first third of the Motul Sportscar Grand Prix 2026, with Sheldon Van Der Linde’s #24 leading a 1-2 for the Bavarian marque and the #25 in second and the #31 Cadillac close behind in a drama-free first two hours for the GTP runners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A clean start to the inaugural six hour race saw both Acuras maintain their 1-2 front row lockout off the start, with pole-sitter Nick Yelloly holding a small advantage over the sister #60 of Tom Blomqvist with Louis Deletraz keeping them honest through the opening laps in his #40 WTR Cadillac, and it would stay that way for the majority of the first hour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was under the second yellow that change arrived and the pit stops began for almost the entire field, with Jack Aitken swapped out for Frederik Vesti in the #31 Cadillac as having opted against tires the #7 Porsche 963 of Laurens Vanthoor took second ahead of the Louis Deletraz’s #40 Cadillac V.Series R after the former short fuelled the car. The only car not to have pitted was the #25 BMW of Marco Wittman, as WRT search to emulate RLL’s victory with the M V8 Hybrid at this race last year and opened up a gap of nearly six seconds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further back the #40 Cadillac of Deletraz was handed a drive through penalty for an agressive defensive move on the #7 Porsche, now of Felipe Nasr who moved up to third, while the Cadillac dropped to ninth. It also allowed BMW to lead 1-2, as the Spider-Man liveried #24 moved up to second. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Wittman’s BMW #25 eventually pitted after 32 laps, nine of which were under full course yellow, dropping to the back of the class albeit in clear air, and when the rest of the GTPs cycled through it was the sister #24 that led from the Phillip Eng driven #25. Colin Braun’s #60 Acura ARX-06 was now third ahead of Fred Vesti’s #31 Cadillac and the two Porsche-Penske Motorsport 963s rounded out the top five with the #6 ahead of #7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LMP2<\/strong> – Intersport Out Early, Goldburg Survives Scary Spin Amid Chaotic Opening 2 Hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LMP2 has seen drama aplenty so far, as virtually every car has seen some sort of incident or penalty but leading the field as it stands is the #43 Inter Europol machine of Bijoy Garg ahead of the chasing Jonny Edgar #99 of AO Racing, with Parker Thompson’s #52 of Bryan Herta Autosport in third. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Misha Goikhberg leading the class in the #52 of Bryan Herta Autosport machine ahead of PJ Hyett’s #99 of AO Racing in the opening exchanges there was drama on the first restart of the race, as Dan Goldburg managed to avoid what would’ve no doubt been a colossal impact with the #11 of TDS Racing, spinning in the grass on the exit of the final corner before cutting across the racetrack in an attempt to save the car, dropping to the back of the class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goldburg would ultimately pit to serve a drive through for what was deemed an unsafe rejoin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minutes later the race was brought back under full course yellow conditions as Jon Field’s #37 Intersport Racing LMP2 understeered into the wall hard at the end of the Carousel, the damage enough to instantly sideline the car to an early retirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the second full course yellow the entire field elected to take fuel only, as the #43 of Inter Europol ahead of Misha Goikhberg’s #52 and PJ Hyett’s #99 relegated to third. On the restart however a pileup ensued at the final corner, involving almost half the LMP2 field as carnage reined supreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incredibly however the race stayed green after contact between numerous cars including the #18 of Era Motorsport, the #8 of Tower Motorsport, the previously delayed Dan Goldburg driven #22 and JDC-Miller’s #79 and the #2 of United Autosport, all of whom fell behind the GT cars with some also involved in the chaos on the restart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another spinner was the #73 of Pratt and Miller with Chris Cumming at the wheel after contact from the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo from behind, and would also later find the wall at the Kink, sustaining suspension damage to its right side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The #22 of United Autosports faced the wrong away again with just under four and a half hours remaining, after Dennis Olsen misjudged his braking point at Canada Corner in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GTD Pro<\/strong> – Mixed Fortunes for Porsche See Rexy Lead Class as Manthey Hit With Black Flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile in GTD Pro it’s xxx that holds the advantage after the first two hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry King held the lead in his #77 ‘Rexy’ Porsche of AO Racing during a hectic start with Paul Miller Racing’s #1 of Neil Verhagen slotting into second position and defending class champion Alexander Simms sitting third in the opening exchanges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main mover of the first pitstops was the #911 Manthey Porsche of Thomas Preining which jumped the #3 Corvette as Harry King and Verhagen held their positions as had been the case since the start. On the restart though Niel Verhagen’s #1 of Paul Miller Racing found itself involved in the LMP2 mess, and dropped to second last in the class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Max Esterson’s #59 RLL McLaren 720s GT3 Evo also pitted with damage from contact sustained during the melee, dropping it to last in class and 47th overall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also involved were the #3 of Alexander Simms, Vasser Sullivan’s #14 GTD Pro Lexus RCF GT3 and both works Ford Mustang GT3s of Christopher Mies and Ben Barker, as the #911 of Manthey was handed a mechanical black flag and thus was forced to pit from second in class after failing to adhere to tire operational requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GTD<\/strong> – Myers Riley Becomes First Retirement, AF Corse Hit With Drive Through As Heart of Racing Hold Lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the #16 Myers Riley Ford Mustang GT3 hit the wall at the perilous Kink, it’s xxx who’s up front after two hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Lilou Wadoux converted her pole position into an early lead aboard the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, with Zacharie Robichon second in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo in the opening laps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it wouldn’t be so simple for everyone, as early drama hit the #16 Ford Mustang GT3 of Riler Myers Autosport. After being hit with a drive through penalty for adjusting their car under parc ferme conditions they found the wall at the Kink as prototype traffic passed by, forcing an early retirement and the race’s first full course yellow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the pitstops Wadoux conceded not only the class lead to Robichon’s #27 but also positions to Winward Racing’s #57 and the #96 BMW M4 GT3 of Turner Motorsport’s having dropped to fourth, then further after a drive through penalty for failing to adhere to mandated power parameters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time in its 71 year history, Elkhart Lake’s Road America […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[71,43,36,37,53,32,35],"class_list":["post-1738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gt-racing","category-prototype-racing","tag-2026-imsa","tag-gt3","tag-gtd","tag-gtd-pro","tag-gtp","tag-imsa","tag-lmp2"],"yoast_head":"\n2026 Motul Sportscar Grand Prix Race Report - Hours 1-2 - The Motornerd<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2026\/08\/02\/2026-motul-sportscar-grand-prix-race-report-hours-1-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2026 Motul Sportscar Grand Prix Race Report - 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