The No.31 Cadillac has won the 2025 Petit Le Mans, with Porsche sealing the title, but the headlines being stolen by the Aston Martin Valkyrie finishing second place, and giving them their first ever podium.
The green flag waved at 12:10 pm EST, led away by the No. 60 Meyer Shank Acura with the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac hot on the leader’s heels.
Some dust was kicked up by the prototypes in the first couple of corners but there was no evidence of scrapping. Soon after, the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari caught too much kerb in turn 4 and spun straight into the bunched-up GTD pack, which caused a cacophony of contact and race-threatening damage. A full course yellow was brought out immediately, and the chaos caused a lot of debris to scatter across the track.
In the melee, the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari of Brendan Iribe did not see the Conquest spin and ran nose-first full speed into the backwards car.
Other cars that were heavily implicated were the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Lamborghini, the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin, and the No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford. Both the 44 and the 66 had massive bodywork damage; the 66 lost the entire front end of its grey Mustang.
The damage to the No. 70 Ferrari looked to be terminal because of the severity of the hit, which secured the Bob Akin award for Orey Fidani and the No. 13 AWA Racing crew.
A change in the No. 6 Porsche Penske driver lineup was announced over the broadcast concerning Julien Andlauer. The Frenchman, unfortunately, could not participate due to illness, so his stints were covered by Laurens Vanthoor of the No. 7 Penske crew. The Belgian driver would go on to do double-duty over the 10 hours.
The No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini was seen in the pits as their crew struggled to repair a piece of bodywork, losing at least two laps in the process.
The safety car lights went out after 19 minutes under the Full Course Yellow (FCY) and the grid got back to green flag racing. It did not take long before one FCY bred another. We went back under caution because of some debris on the track, not three minutes after the green flag.
The debris was a mirror off the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari. The No. 31 Cadillac ran it over just after the caution was put out, but nothing came of it. The prototypes came into the pits; the No. 60, 31, 7, and 10 GTPs were the only ones to stay out. During the FCY, the No. 44 Aston Martin officially retired from the damage they sustained in the first-lap incident.
The GT pit stops came through; everyone except the No. 4, 14, and 65 cars came in. All of the prototypes took fuel, while some of the GTD cars took tyres and driver changes.
The No. 22 United Autosport USA car had an extended pit stop while they repaired the rear wing of their LMP2, and lost track position. A collision between the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin and the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari was put under investigation, with the No. 19 receiving a drive-through penalty.
On the green flag, Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske was quite aggressive, taking a look around the outside of the No. 31 Cadillac for third position, but backed out. There was some light incidental contact between them. Further back, Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 BMW got past the No. 85 JDC Miller Motorsport Porsche for eighth position.
Another official retirement was announced after our first full green flag lap; the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari’s day was over.
Forty minutes in, Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura led from Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac held a healthy lead over the rest of the field in GTP. In LMP2, Jeremy Clarke in the No. 43 Inter Europol led from the championship-leading No. 99 AO Racing with PJ Hyett at the wheel. In GTD PRO, Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Pratt Miller Corvette had just a 0.6-second lead on the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus. GTD was led by the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione with Riccardo Agostini in the driver’s seat.
Traffic became a serious factor not long after we settled into green flag racing. There was an intense battle between the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche, the No. 65 Ford Multimatic Mustang, and the No. 1 Paul Miller BMW, which the leaders of GTP had to avoid. There was a bit of a scuffle with the GTPs that resulted in the No. 65 Ford being sorted down into eighth position.
Aitken lost some time to Blomqvist in the meantime, but the gap remained under one second. The Cadillac found its stride once again, not long after, and closed the gap down to 0.3 seconds as the two danced through the GT and LMP2 cars.
The No. 48 and No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMWs had a scrap with the No. 81 Dragonspeed Ferrari; the Ferrari was forced to back out after going side by side with the 48 for a few corners. The No. 77 AO Skeleton-themed “Rexy” Porsche quickly looked to snap up fifth place from the Dragonspeed.
There was a moment where Aitken looked dangerous for the lead, but the door closed on him while Blomqvist weaved around the No. 99 AO Racing LMP2.
Steven Thomas drove the No. 11 TDS Racing car up to fifth and counting from the back of the field after having their pole position stripped for a technical infringement after qualifying yesterday. The Bronze driver was rapid in LMP2 qualifying and continued to show pace in the first half of his stint.
Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Aston Martin charged up on the No. 7 Porsche Penske and got up into P3 with a fantastic move. The Valkyrie has looked very good this weekend so far, and their day got just that much better after pulling out a 0.7-second gap not long after.
The GTP pit sequence kicked off an hour and 20 minutes in with the blue No. 10 Wayne Taylor Cadillac coming in for tyres and fuel. The No. 7 dove into the pits not long after losing out to the Valkyrie for a left side tyre change. The LMP2s came in gradually over the past twenty minutes as the GTP battles raged on.
Gunn pitted for fuel, but the Heart of Racing THOR team opted for a double stint on the tyres they started on. The two leaders came into the pits as the Aston pulled out. Both teams fitted new left-side tyres and added a bit of fuel. Blomqvist narrowly lost a spot to Aitken on the pitlane but maintained the net lead. The Acura driver had a moment on the first corner, locking up hard on the right side.
The No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen went off track on the main straight after a spot of contact with the No. 99 AO Racing right behind him. The No. 52 picked up a large advertisement board, which got stuck in the wheel well of the bright blue LMP2. The large board broke off halfway through the lap at turn 10, bringing out a FCY because of the debris on the racing line.
This caution benefited the No. 24 BMW, as they were in the pits when it occurred. The No. 85 JDC Miller Motorsport Porsche had just fitted sticker tyres before the yellow, which certainly helped their race. A caution in the middle of the GTP pit sequence surely ruffled some feathers strategy-wise for those who had yet to pit.
Nos. 93, 6, and 25 were the only ones yet to pit, but they were joined by everyone except the two leaders. The GT field came in shortly after.
Before we went back to green, the No. 60 Acura and the No. 31 Cadillac cycled back up to the top. Behind them was the No. 24 BMW with Kevin Magnussen behind the wheel, followed by Max Esterton in the No. 85 JDC Miller Porsche in his debut sports car race. Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Valkyrie cycled back up to P5.
On the restart, the field got back underway cleanly. The No. 93 Meyer Shank was going very slowly off the restart. They came straight back into the pits and changed out the steering wheel on the Acura. The car could not upshift on the restart, but the car’s issues persisted after the wheel swap, and they lost a lap to the leaders.
It seems as though no matter what happened, Blomqvist and Aitken were glued together. Off the restart, their 0.5-second gap resumed.
There was a scary moment with the tire of the No. 80 Lone Star Mercedes coming off the car and narrowly missing the leading No. 60 Acura, and the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Dex Imaging Lamborghini GTD behind him.
The tyre went bouncing outside the track walls where photographers are usually perched, but luckily, none were there at the time of the incident. The No. 80 stopped on track at T5 naturally, and a FCY was brought out with just over eight hours remaining.
After the short yellow, the green flag came back out eight minutes later. Blomqvist got a great jump off the restart with Aitken on his heels. Aitken had a small mistake, but the Cadillac quickly caught back up.
The pole-sitting No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari went off track in turn 10a but rejoined, losing a couple of places. The off was caused by the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche and the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin going two wide in that corner and late braking.
It was Groundhog Day at the front as Jack Aitken continued to chase down the No. 60 Acura of Tom Blomqvist. Kevin Magnussen in the No. 24 BMW was slowly closing the gap to the leaders, however.
With seven hours and 40 minutes remaining, Aitken finally made a move for the lead on Blomqvist and made it stick. The Cadillac driver made a great exit out of the final corner and used the GT traffic to execute the move into turn one. Aitken quickly pulled out a 1.2-second gap, using traffic even further to his advantage.
The No. 60 Acura fell into the clutches of the No. 24 BMW after Aitken’s move, Magnussen only 0.9 seconds back in third place.
Aitken was running away with the lead, 3.5 seconds the gap to Tom Blomqvist, when the leader of the LMP2 field was spun. The No. 43 Inter Europol car made contact with the No. 11 TDS Racing car when the TDS made a move for the lead, and spun. They dropped back to P10 as a result.
Just after this incident, the minimum drive time threshold was reached, and the LMP2 field came in for its pit stops. There was another collision between the No. 43 and 11 on the pit lane to make matters worse.
The No. 2 United Autosports USA had a solo shunt into the wall with Juan Manuel Correa at the wheel. There was a decent amount of damage, but he managed to get back on track, luckily avoiding a FCY in the process. To add insult to injury, they also have to return after repairing the car to serve a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infringement.
It seemed as though Jack Aitken was operating at an even higher level coming up on the next GTP pit stop cycle, leading by eight seconds before coming into the pits. The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Cadillac, No. 23 Valkyrie, and No. 7 Porsche Penske followed the leader into the pit lane. The Nos. 24 and 25 BMWs arrived shortly after.
The broadcast picked up a gnarled No. 8 Tower Motorsports car creeping along from turn six, day over for the Canadian team. This, and a spin and crash from the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione from the lead of GTD brought out a FCY once again closing in on the end of the third hour of racing. The Triarsi spun and was dead-stick when they were clipped by the Tower car coming through, wrecking both cars.
The field had its pit stops. In GTP, the No. 6 Porsche Penske cycled up to the lead, ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac. Just before the end of the FCY, the No. 31 with Earl Bamber at the wheel came in for service, likely in a ploy to pick up some extra Endurance Cup points with the first threshold that was coming up in 50 minutes.
Some penalties came through following the restart, including a drive-through for the No. 43 after the pit lane collision with the No. 11, and a stop +60 seconds for the No. 47 car for speeding 42 over the speed limit in the pit lane.
The No. 04 Crowdstrike had yet another issue, which caused Toby Sowery to nurse the car back to the pits; the issue seemed to concern a loose wheel. However, judging from the reactions of the CrowdStrike crew, the issue was worse than just a wheel issue, it in fact broke a front ‘wishbone’ part.
Connor De Phillippi, in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW, made a move for the lead of GTD PRO on Michael Christensen at the wheel of the No. 77 Rexy Porsche. Rexy fell behind Ben Barnicoat in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus not long after.
In GTP, Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 still held the lead by one second to Colin Braun in the No. 60 Acura behind. Kevin Magnussen continued to hold P3 in his No. 24 BMW. In LMP2, Paul Di Resta in the No. 22 United Autosport USA led from the No. 11 TDS Racing car driven by Mikkel Jensen. In GTD, Alessandro Pier Guidi in the No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari had a sizable lead of five seconds on the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione with Onofrio Triarsi in the driver’s seat.
The championship-leading No. 99 AO Racing had a serious issue concerning either a puncture or suspension on the right-rear tyre after a collision with the No. 88 AF Corse LMP2. The No. 99 was able to fix the issue in the pits, but they lost the lead lap. This did not bode well for their championship battle. The No. 88 was handed an incident responsibility drive-through penalty.
The No. 021 Triarsi Competizione officially retired after being stopped for a long time. The No. 04 Crowdstrike rejoined the race after its crew worked out the issue behind the pit wall. They came back out 23 laps down.
Soon enough, we found ourselves having completed four hours of racing so it was time to hand out Endurance Cup points. Those picking up maximum points in their respective classes were the No.6 Porsche, No.11 TDS Racing, No.48 BMW and No.21 Ferrari.
There was then a battle between the No.40 Cadillac and No.85 Porsche in GTP, which ended up with the ‘Banana Boat’ JDC Miller car off the road. Louis Deletraz in the Cadillac was given a drive-through penalty for the incident.
There were a few more battles at the front of the field after a round of pit stops, with the No.6 and No.60 being one. The Porsche eventually fended off the Acura and pulled out a slight gap. Meanwhile, the No.10, No.25 and No.31 were all fighting over the same bit of road through GT and LMP2 traffic.
After these battles died down, the race seemed to fall into a rhythm, as drivers turned the laps and worked their way through their stints.
A car that had led much of the early stints in LMP2, the No.43 got a drive-through for a tyre pressure infringement, adding insult to the injuries they sustained earlier in a pair of collisions with the No.11 TDS Racing car.
Meanwhile the No.31 Cadillac found itself back in the podium places, with a move that put it past the No.24 BMW and the No.60 Acura. Earl Bamber at the wheel of the Action Express car had led their charge back after an unusual strategy call.
The No.25 BMW was the next to fall foul of a drive-through penalty, a pit stop infringement being the root of their issues.
The LMP2s came in to pit, not too far away from some GTP pit stops that would come a few minutes later. The No. 7 Porsche Penske entered the pits, followed by the No. 85 Porsche and the No. 23 Aston Martin.
The track temperatures dropped noticeably when the sun finally set, which set the No. 6 Porsche up well, as it sat in P2. The No. 6, 60, 63, and 40 came in just after. The No. 31 Cadillac and the No. 93 Acura pitted on the lap after.
The GTP Lamborghini experienced a bout of bad luck when it lost a left-side headlight. It had been mysteriously dislodged.
The GTD PRO and GTD pitstops rolled through not long after. A massively dramatic drive-through was handed to the championship-contending No. 81 Dragonspeed Ferrari for a pit stop infringement. They also caused a collision with a fellow Ferrari, the No. 21 Af Corse, which sent the Corse spinning. This all but secured the No. 3 Corvette the championship at that point.
The No. 48 Paul Miller BMW pit from the lead of GTD PRO. The No. 96 Turner BMW was given a drive-through for having too many pit crew members over the pit wall during their stop.
The contending No. 11 TDS Racing was given a mechanical black flag for an issue with their rear lights. The No. 99 AO Racing benefitted, as they jumped up into P2. As a result, this gave the Spike car an even bigger championship lead regardless of the No. 22 United Autosport leading the race.
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac still held the lead from the No. 6 Porsche and the No. 24 BMW. The No. 23 Valkyrie sat in fourth ahead of the No. 63 Lamborghini in fifth. In LMP2, the No. 22 United Autosports led. The No. 4 Corvette led in GTD PRO, and the No. 21 Af Corse led in GTD. The No. 11 served its black flag shortly after it was given to the TDS team, dropping them down to fifth place.
The GTPs had an intense fuel-saving strategy underway, with the No. 6 Porsche noticeably lifting and coasting with Matt Campbell at the wheel. The No. 04 Crowdstrike LMP2 sent the No. 77 AO Racing off track. Rexy sustained significant bodywork damage. The No. 04 was handed a drive-through penalty naturally.
The No. 77 Porsche had to come in for some serious repairs after being handed a black flag for having no lights. The incident essentially stripped the nose and rear of the skeleton-liveried Porsche. Bachler soon returned to the track with a new rear end, two laps down.
With two hours to go there was heartbreak for the No.22 United Autosports crew in LMP2. They had to go behind the wall and back to the garage from the lead of the race, putting them out of contention for the win, and more importantly the championship.
The team eventually identified the problem as a suspension issue, and they quickly fixed it. But it didn’t really matter, by the time the car re-emerged onto the track they had already lost 14 laps.
There was more drama in LMP2, this time involving the then second placed No.11 TDS Racing car, as they were spun around by the No.73 Pratt Miller car. That car got a drive-through for responsibility for the incident.
Up front in GTP, the Aston Martin was flying once again, with Gunn getting past the No.24 BMW for fourth and soon pulling out a gap of a couple of seconds to Eng behind. The No.10 also overtook the No.60 for seventh.
The Valkyrie continued its charge, soon catching the No.7 for third as well, Gunn making quick work of Nasr. The V12 was coming alive in the cooler conditions.
The No.60 Acura had dropped off the pace somewhat after the halfway mark, with the MSR team eventually saying that the car was suffering from a mechanical issue.
Meanwhile, the Valkyrie continued to charge, cutting the lead gap down to almost nothing over the course of 20 or so minutes. However the V12 was burning much more fuel that its competitors, so it probably would have to make an extra stop than the rest.
There was also a fight in GTD Pro for the lead. The No.48 BMW went for a move on the No.4 Corvette and briefly made it stick, but Nicky Catsburg wouldn’t let it go without a fight, retaking the lead just a corner later.
They continued to scrap for another handful of laps before Dan Harper finally took first place in class.
Back at the front, strategy was the conversation of choice for everyone in the pit lane. It wasn’t clear if any of the top three could make it to the finish without an extra stop, but Heart of Racing decided not to hang around and find out. They brought the Aston in with 50 minutes remaining, allowing Roman De Angelis to push all the way to the end.
Bamber and Jaminet continued on, doing massive lift and coast in an attempt to make it to the flag.
It became clearer and clearer as we went on that those two were the only ones with half a chance of making it to the end without another stop, outside of the Lamborghini of Romain Grosjean, which was holding the Valkyrie behind.
The No.6 had the least fuel, with the No.31 having roughly a lap more and the No.63 a further lap more. With half an hour remaining, any of these four cars could have won the race.
The Porsche and the Cadillac gave in an pit with over 10 minutes to go. The No.31 held the lead, but came out just a second ahead of Grosjean in the Lamborghini, with the Aston Martin two seconds back. Jaminet dropped off a bit, probably focusing more on securing the title for Porsche.
A few laps of close racing followed as the gaps ebbed and flowed in traffic. Soon it became clear though that the No.63 would need to stop, and Grosjean did stop with six minutes remaining.
Despite De Angelis’ best efforts, he couldn’t quite catch Bamber and had to settle for second place.
It was Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederick Vesti that took the top honours in the No.31 Cadillac, but the No.6 Porsche of Matthew Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet who sealed the GTP title and rounded out the podium, with the Lamborghini ending fourth.
In LMP2 it was the No.11 TDS Racing guys that won by some 50 seconds, but the No.99 AO Racing crew took the title. PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Jonny Edgar received the Truman award, and an invite to Le Mans.
In GTD Pro, the No.48 BMW held its pole position, but the No.3 Corvette took the title in a season where they never won a race. The No.21 Ferrari led a Ferrari 1-2 in GTD, with the No.57 confirming the already sealed title.
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