The ten-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta is the traditional season finale of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IWSC). This weekend, in the 2025 edition of the race, Paul Miller Racing’s M4 GT3 came away with the win in GTD Pro and took home the class championship in the Michelin Endurance Cup.
The Petit Le Mans has a reputation for drama, and this year’s race was no different. Somehow, the #48 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVO driven by Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Connor De Phillippi was able to avoid it all and had a trouble-free run. Harper put the #48 on the pole and the car remained at the front of the field for most of the race. Unfortunately, the #1 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVO driven by Neil Verhagen, Madison Snow and De Phillippi (who was pulling double-duty in the #48 and #1 entries) had a turbo boost issue that dropped them back to a ninth place finish after starting sixth.
Dan Harper celebrates his GTD Pro pole position.
The win for the #48 car gave Paul Miller Racing the GTD Pro Michelin Endurance Cup championship with the sister Paul Miller car, the #1, earning the silver. The Endurance Cup only counts points from the longer endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta. “I’m pretty speechless and exhausted after this tough race,” said Hesse. “Everyone said beforehand that Petit Le Mans is one of the hardest races to win. The fact that we managed to do it on our first attempt is incredible. Winning the Endurance Cup title on top of that crowns this day. Huge thanks to Paul Miller Racing for the perfect job and to BMW M Motorsport for the great car.”
Dan Harper (left), Connor De Phillippi (middle) and Max Hesse celebrate their GTD Pro class win.
In the full season GTD Pro drivers’ championship, Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia and former BMW factory driver Alexander Sims took the title. Paul Miller’s Harper and Hesse ended the season in fourth while Snow and Verhagen were seventh. BMW just missed out on the GTD Pro manufacturers’ title, finishing the seasons second to Porsche.
The celebrations for the Paul Miller Racing crew and BMW came amid some uncertainty over the program for the 2026 season. The team has already announced that they will scale back from two cars to one in GTD Pro, but they haven’t yet decided which car they will be racing. It’s understood that they are having discussions with both McLaren and Lamborghini in addition to BMW.
The Random Vandals Racing team that has been racing in the SRO GT World Challenge series this year is also planning to enter the IMSA GTD Pro class with BMW, though they are not yet on the entry list for 2026. “There’s been some unusual complications that are outside of our control that I can’t really comment on,” said Random Vandals Team Principal Paul Sparta in an interview with Sportscar365. “BMW is a great partner to us. We’re just working to determine what the full scope of what we’re going to be doing next year.” This situation should all play out before the end of the year, but there should be at least one team racing a BMW in GTD Pro again next season.
The #24 M Hybrid V8 was on course for a fourth-place finish before getting a flat tire with ten minutes to go.
The Petit Le Mans race was BMW M Team RLL’s last running the pair of M Hybrid V8 cars in the GTP class, as BMW M Team WRT will take over in 2026. While the GTD Pro-winning M4 avoided the drama, the #24 GTP car of Philipp Eng, Dries Vanthoor and Kevin Magnussen fell victim to it. That car was running in fourth with ten minutes left when they had to come into the pits with a flat tire, dropping them back to ninth. The #25 car of Marco Wittmann, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns finished eleventh after getting hit with two penalties during the race. The GTP class and overall win went to the #31 Cadillac.
The #25 M Hybrid V8 finished eleventh after getting hit with two penalties.
Eng has been with BMW M Team RLL across GT and GTP programs since 2018. “It’s unbelievable that we suffered a puncture just ten minutes before the finish,” he said. “We were in a good position, had a strong package, and were on course for fourth place. That would have meant second place in the drivers’ standings for Dries and me. It’s really disappointing, but life goes on. A big thank you to Dries for being such an incredible teammate this season. I especially want to thank BMW M Team RLL for eight great years together. Our first race at Daytona in 2018 was my debut in a works program. Since then, we’ve experienced so much, and I’ve made many friends in the team. That makes this farewell emotional for me. Thanks also to BMW M Motorsport for all the hard work throughout the season.”
The pair of GTP cars scored four podium finishes this season, highlighted by a one-two finish at Road America back in August. Vanthoor and Eng ended up finishing fourth in the GTP drivers’ championship, with the title going to Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell. Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann ended up eighth in points. BMW finished fourth in the manufacturer championship behind Porsche, Acura and Cadillac.
Turner Motorsport finished eighth in the GTD class.
In the GTD class, the Turner Motorsport #96 M4 GT3 EVO driven by Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher and Jake Walker finished eighth in the nineteen-car field, with the victory going to the #21 Ferrari. Foley and Gallagher ended up fifth in the GTD drivers’ championship, highlighted by five top-five finishes. The driver’s championship went to Mercedes-AMG drivers Phillip Ellis and Russell Ward. BMW finished sixth in the GTD manufacturers championship, which went to Mercedes-AMG.
The 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will open with the longest race of the year, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, on January 22nd-26th.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy LAT Images]
