Antonio Felix Da Costa has confirmed his step away from the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 2024 season in a social media statement.

Former WEC LMP2 champion and JOTA Hypercar driver Da Costa will not return to the WEC next year.

The Portuguese driver has competed in the last five consecutive seasons, including this year when the JOTA Sport team made their step into the Hypercar class as a Porsche 963 customer team.

Having won the WEC LMP2 championship title in 2022, whereby he also won the Le Mans 24 Hours, Da Costa made the announcement via his Instagram social media.

“It’s with great sadness that I won’t be competing in the World Endurance Championship in 2024,” he said.

“I remember when I first started in endurance and thinking ’24-hour races?’.

“Today [it] is one of my biggest passions. Having had the pleasure to work with a amazing teams, brands, manufacturers, and especially teammates.

“Team JOTA, thank you so much for all that you did in the my life and career, best time I’ve had on a race track.

“This is not a goodbye, just a see-you-later.”

The 2019-20 Formula E champion made his WEC debut during the Super-Season of 2018-19 for BMW Team MTEK in GTE-Pro, which aligned with his responsibilities as a BMW factory driver with a BMW Andretti Formula E drive as well.

In the following season, he drove for JOTA Sport for the first time in their Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 and gained his first WEC win at the 4 Hours of Shanghai, one of five podium appearances during the 2019-20 campaign including a P2 (LMP2) finish at Le Mans.

With teammates Roberto Gonzalez and Will Stevens, the trio won Le Mans in LMP2 last year and rounded up the championship as class-title winners.

As a Porsche Formula E driver, his 2024 commitments are expected to sway towards the upcoming season after pre-season testing last week.

Meanwhile, JOTA has submitted a yet-to-be-approved application to run two drivers for two races in 2024, a year which will see just Hypercar and LMGT3 make up the full-season WEC package.

Da Costa’s final race before his 2024 WEC step-away will be this Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain in the JOTA Hypercar, after claiming an equal-best finish of sixth position at the previous Fuji race.

Inter Europol Competition driver Fabio Scherer spoke to Motorsport Week in-depth about the Centenary Le Mans 24 Hours, nursing an injured foot en route to the LMP2 win, and more.

A tale of perseverance and resilience propelled Scherer and Inter Europol Competition to become Centenary Le Mans winners and title-contenders for the final World Endurance Championship LMP2 title.

Scherer joined the Inter Europol Competition team in 2022 across a select number of WEC races, the full European Le Mans Series campaigns, and Le Mans inbetween.

His FIA silver licence was uprated to gold by the end of 2021, which meant that he could not continue with the WEC United Autosports team he was part of during his debut sportscar season.

This year has been the most successful for the Polish bakery privateer, most notably winning in a highly competitive LMP2 category at the Centenary Le Mans 24 Hours.

With an injured foot, Scherer won the race with Jakub ‘Kuba’ Smiechowski and Albert Costa in the team’s WEC #34 Oreca 07 LMP2 car.

“Working with Albert and Kuba has been great,” said Scherer.

“Albert is a quick driver, and Kuba has been a great silver because he doesn’t make any mistakes.” 

“I have seen a massive improvement from the whole team since last year.”

Scherer has competed in both European Le Mans Series and WEC campaigns for IE Competition, most notably at the 2022 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps when the team charged from last on the grid to second place.

Earlier this year at the 6 Hours of Spa, Inter Europol finished on their first WEC podium after a rain-soaked race, and without tyre warmers.

One of the highlights, for both Scherer and the Inter Europol team, has been the Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans, which marked 100 years since the inception of the famed endurance race at La Sarthe.

Costa qualified the car in 13th position in LMP2, after his best attempts were unable to get the team through to the Hyperpole session.

Scherer, meanwhile, took the race start again this year in one of two Inter Europol Oreca 07s.

However, early in the race a very localised rain shower affected the first sector, as a mixture of the 62 cars opted for slicks or wet compound tyres.

“Driving at Le Mans start on slicks, we decided to be cautious,” he said, with the car amidst a fiesty LMP2 field.

“The race is not won on the opening lap or the opening hours.”

Unlike at Spa-Francorchamps, the rain at the start decreased in intensity.

Ten minutes after the safety car was deployed for Jack Aitken’s opening-lap incident — which caused debris at the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight — the team changed to Kuba as a “tactical decision” to start fulfilling his drive time.

At such an early point, it was during this pit stop when Scherer’s left foot was run over by the Corvette. 

It was only after the race when the full details of the injury became apparent: ligament damage and an incomplete fracture, which had caused him to limp in and out of the car for the majority of the race.

Following intervention from the team’s physiotherapist, while still uncomfortable, Scherer was well aware of the speed in the package; his determination was stronger than ever to continue pushing, with the car in winning contention.

“The adrenaline helped mask the pain during the course of the race, plus my professional background in skiing helped me find ways of coping with the injury.

“I still braked with my left foot, but instead of turning the ankle, I pushed my left leg, having never braked with my right foot so I did not decide to do so.

By the sixth hour, the team’s #34 Oreca 07 climbed up into the lead of 22 LMP2 cars which were running.

“We were fighting for a potential Le Mans victory, and I did not think much about the injury — just our target to win.”

It was, however, not until the night phase arrived when the rain became more present, and caused several cars to go off the track as others steadily nursed their slicks back around to the pit box for wets.

“Surviving and keeping the lead during the heavy rain conditions in the night truly earned us the win.

“The long safety car period meant we couldn’t keep tyres up to temperature, but we just wanted to make it through the most critical phase.”

Kuba and Costa primarily interchanged driving duties during the early hours of the morning, until Scherer got back in the car at approximately 6.30 am local time.

A quadruple stint by Costa preceded Scherer’s final stint to lead Inter Europol towards their maiden victory, albeit with Swiss compatriot Louis Deletraz catching behind for Team WRT.

“I was not able to fulfil my best potential nursing the injury, but I was able to do enough to keep [Louis] Deletraz from catching me in the final stint.”

By the chequered flag, Scherer finished 21 seconds ahead of second-placed Deletraz of the #41 WRT.

The #34’s quickest race lap time was a 3:37.180 by the Swiss driver set on Lap 158, enough for the fifth-fastest race lap in the LMP2 category by the end.

“Taking the chequered flag was an unbelievable high, a memory I’ll never forget.

“After showing potential for the win last year and encountering an alternator failure, it felt like we completed something we started a long time ago.

“Our reliability was fine throughout the race, apart from a brief trip through a gravel trap.

“Compared to the start, the car felt dramatically different after various weather conditions, components like the clutch and brakes were worn in, and the track was rubbered in.”

The team won from 13th on the grid, a feat never achieved in the LMP2 category before, and Scherer described the podium view over a record-high attendance of fans.

“Wherever you looked, there were people.

“The atmosphere was incredible at the Centenary Le Mans.

“It was amazing to stand on the top step of the podium, and share the celebrations with the team — it was a crazy, emotional positive from a small team from Poland against big names like JOTA, WRT and United Autosports.”

“After the race, we saw and stopped by some fans on a roundabout and decided to share the champagne with them and show them the trophy.

“Hearing (car) horns as others joined in celebrations, it was amazing to see how much the win meant to everyone else as well as our own team.”

The injury took three weeks to recover through bespoke training, although the time passed quicker than expected, according to Scherer.

After securing the full 50 points from Le Mans, the #34 crew scored fourth place and 10 points at Monza just four weeks after Le Mans.

Their title rivals, the #41 WRT crew, won the 6 Hours of Fuji in LMP2 whilst the #34 IE Competition team managed ninth place and two points.

WRT’s #41 crew of Rui Andrade, Louis Deletraz and Robert Kubica lead the LMP2 standings on 135 points, as the #34 crew sit on 102.

Most crucially, Inter Europol must win in Bahrain to narrow down the gap, if not also to defend their P2 spot from the #22 United Autosports team situated one point behind.

After a difficult 6 Hours of Fuji, Scherer consolidated on the team’s expectations into the 8 Hours of Bahrain finale on 4 November.

“We want to finish the season on a high in Bahrain, and Fuji was our low and consistency was lacking a bit.

“Bahrain will be full-risk with no opportunity to waste if we want to become LMP2 champions from P2 in the standings.

“We should be very proud of our performance this year regardless of the result.”

Scherer shared the disappointment for LMP2’s WEC departure in regards to IE Competition’s recent progression, but points out the expectations of a growing Hypercar class.

As winners this year, Inter Europol are automatically invited to next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours which will still feature LMP2 competition, even if not in the full-season WEC package.

Above all, Scherer’s ardour to win the Centenary Le Mans was so intense, that even a foot injury did not overshadow his perseverance having spent much of the year preparing for one of the most decorated editions of Le Mans since 1923.

Multiple LMP2 champion Phil Hanson has secured a GTP drive for JDC Miller MotorSports in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as their Endurance driver.

The British driver is most renowned for his LMP2 sportscar efforts with United Autosports, having claimed an LMP2 Le Mans victory within his 2020 LMP2 World Endurance Championship-winning campaign.

Other previous titles during his rise in sportscar racing includes two Asian Le Mans Series championships and a European Le Mans Series title.

The 24-year-old Briton will take part in the IMSA WeatherTech season in Porsche 963 LMDh machinery for the first time in his career.

Hanson, set to drive the #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche, said: “I’m very excited to be joining JDC Miller Motorsport for the 2024 IMSA endurance races.

“After my first taste of IMSA back in 2018, I am thrilled to be back in the IMSA paddock and above all, to be making my debut in the GTP class with JDC’s 963 Porsche.

“I can’t wait to see what we can achieve.”

Hanson’s previous IMSA experience includes two 24 Hours of Daytona entries, the first of which in 2018 saw him debut into the sportscar discipline, alongside taking on the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Six Hours of the Glen.

Next year will host six IMSA Endurance Cup events: The 24 Hours of Daytona in January, 12 Hours of Sebring in March, Six Hours of the Glen in June, Battle on the Bricks (six hours) in September, and Petit Le Mans in October.

Another former United Autosports LMP2 driver Tom Blomqvist was confirmed last week in an Endurance Cup drive with Action Express Racing, which will be followed alongside his Meyer Shank Racing IndyCar duties.

John Church, Managing Partner at JDC-Miller MotorSports, added: “JDC-Miller MotorSports is very pleased to announce Phil Hanson will be driving our Porsche 963 GTP in the 2024 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events.

“We have been following Phil’s career for quite some time and his accomplishments are very impressive.

“He is a proven winner at the top levels of sports car racing and will be a great addition to the team.

“It will be fun to see what Phil can accomplish in a Porsche 963 GTP.

“JDC-Miller MotorSports is excited to take Phil to success at the next level of his already impressive career.”

Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO Porsche Motorsport North America, commented: “We are very proud of what JDC-Miller MotorSports achieved in their first season of racing the Porsche 963.

“They were the first to make the commitment to take on the challenge of customer racing in the GTP class.

“Each week we learned more together, and I see no reason this won’t continue into 2024.

“To attract a driver the calibre of Philip Hanson to the team speaks well of the program that has been built.

“I think we will see the true potential of customer race teams show against the works programs in the class.

“This is like what we saw in the 1980s with the 962 and that speaks well for the future.”

JDC Miller most recently completed their first year in IMSA GTP with their 963, finishing fifth at Petit Le Mans in the hands of Tijmen van der Helm (who will continue in his full-time seat next year), Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button.

Akkodis ASP Team has confirmed a two-car Lexus RC F GT3 effort in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, which will be the first season for the LMGT3 category.

Next year, Jerome Policand’s team celebrates their 25th anniversary, and will take on the WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time.

The championship itself has yet to feature a Lexus competitor, and so the new LMGT3 formula will enable two RC F GT3s to be represented.

In an online statement, ASP said: “The team will enter in the LMGT3 category, in a championship that they will be discovering, and notably with a new car, the LEXUS RC F GT3; this is a familiar approach for the Akkodis ASP Team, who is specialised in GT3 at the highest level.

“The Team intend to enter two cars in 2024 subject to the decision of the ACO/WEC selection process next month.

“The crews will be announced in a few weeks.”

ASP won consecutive 2022 and 2023 Endurance Cup titles in GT World Challenge Europe, and led the charge on landing Mercedes’ first win in almost a decade at the 24 Hours of Spa.

Most recently in international sportscar racing, the Lexus has been represented in Vasser Sullivan’s GTD efforts in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth won the GTD Pro title in the RC F GT3 package.

This will mark the fifth automotive manufacturer ASP has collaborated with in their history, having ran with the likes of Renault, Porsche, Ferrari and Mercedes machinery.

As part of an ongoing two-day Goodyear tyre test at Portimao, ASP are running a Lexus RC F GT3 to gain data with their LMGT3 tyre manufacturer.

Next year’s WEC season will begin with a 10-hour event in Qatar in March, before traveling to Europe for the Imola, Spa-Francorchamps, and the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

In July, the WEC will return to Sao Paulo in Brazil having not raced there since 2014, and will then travel to the United States at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas venue for September.

A six-hour race in Fuji and an eight-hour race in November will conclude the 2024 WEC season.

The third test of the Alpine A424 LMDh took place last week at Jerez over three days, reaching up to 1200 km of testing mileage as Mick Schumacher got his maiden outing in a sportscar.

Alpine continued their testing programme as part of their preparations for the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship as a Hypercar team.

Three current Alpine LMP2 drivers took to the wheel of the A424: Charles Milesi, André Negrão and Nicolas Lapierre.

In addition, former Haas F1 driver Mick Schumacher drove his maiden laps in the Hypercar, which is powered by a heavily modified turbocharged variant of the V6 Mecachrome engine from the outgoing Formula 2 cars.

After testing at Circuit Paul Ricard and Motorland Aragon, the Signatech Alpine outfit tested at Jerez in Spain, from 17-19 October.

Philippe Sinault, Alpine Endurance team principal, summarised his thoughts in regards to the test, which introduced night and wet weather conditions for the A424.

“Overall, we are satisfied with our tests in Jerez.

“Despite the ever-changing weather conditions, we found the right running windows to optimise track time and keep improving the car.

“We made significant progress, particularly in aerodynamics, onboard systems, headlight settings and other essential lighting for night runs.

“These tests were also crucial for the teams, who have to learn to work together, and we were able to put in a little more practice in what were sometimes extremely challenging conditions over these three days.

“This is another step towards the forthcoming challenges, particularly in terms of regulations.

“The pressure is mounting by the minute, but we’re moving forward calmly, well aware of the road we still have to travel.”

Night testing at Jerez showcased the aesthetic of the A424 which will eventually take on next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, an endurance race which involves a full day-night cycle of racing at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

With the chassis designed by Oreca, Alpine were able to integrate their emblem into the rear lights as it appeared when they first announced the A424.

Nicolas Lapierre, development driver, said: “The Hypercars are quite powerful and robust cars that require us to adapt our driving style.

“We have several areas to focus on, specifically tyre reaction and the energy recovery system.

“These two factors have an influence on the car’s balance, and we need to take the time to understand and master them so that we can homologate the car within a good performance window.”

Their next private test will involve a return to Aragon for a crucial endurance test. This may be the first time the A424 is tested to a 24 hour duration, an important milestone in any endurance sportscar’s pre-racing life.

Following that, Alpine’s attention will be on their homologation deadline, which fixates the car’s major qualities like the internal combustion engine and the chassis, under a five year homologation period.

Bruno Famin, Vice President at Alpine Motorsport, concluded: “This session was a new step in the development of the car and this project.

“We improve with each run, and the good news is that there’s no bad surprise, but we still have a tremendous amount of work. 

“Everyone is working hard to be firmly ready for the next steps.

“The first race in Qatar is just around the corner, and this will be the beginning of our racing learning process throughout the 2024 season.”

Thomas Preining charged to victory for the 16th and final race in the 2023 DTM season at Hockenheim with Mirko Bortolotti in second place.

After Thomas Preining secured the 2023 DTM championship in qualifying, the attention was still on whether he could make it a clean sweep this weekend having taken both pole positions and the Race 1 victory so far.

SSR Performance Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti was just six-thousandths-of-a-second away from the champion’s pole position time, after attempting to match him in yesterday’s qualifying, but had his fastest lap time deleted due to a track limits violation.

Nevertheless, the final hour of racing this season set drivers and teams fighting for the win around the 4.574 km Hockenheimring circuit, as last year’s champion Sheldon van der Linde started on the second row in his BMW M4 GT3.

As the lights went out for the final time this year, Preining fended off his lead with Bortolotti at the front, whilst S. van der Linde got the best of Luca Stolz by taking third position.

Behind them, the train of GT3 cars roared away staying close to one another and kicked up substantial dust, although it was last week’s Petit Le Mans GTD Pro winner Maro Engel who jumped up into sixth place, behind Stolz who was not able to retain his third grid spot during the opening laps.

A safety car was deployed after just five laps of racing, after the #19 Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Christian Engelhart suffered an accident when Marco Wittmann’s BMW caught him on the rear.

He cruised to second place in yesterday’s race, and so this was a premature ending for him in the barrier, although he made it clear he was safe after the incident.

Rene Rast was the most notable gainer during the opening phase, having climbed to P11 from 23rd position.

After his destroyed Lamborghini was retrieved, the race got back underway with under 50 minutes of racing remaining.

Engel’s Mercedes-AMG was quickly challenged by Kelvin van der Linde’s Audi behind him, and the pair continued to race closely with one another for sixth place.

Thierry Vermeulen of the #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari lost several positions when he was forced off the track by Wittmann, who was given a black-and-white warning flag for the manoeuvre.

The #69 Ferrari 296 GT3 dropped to 12th position, and had Arjun Maini’s HRT Mercedes-AMG in his mirrors.

Twenty minutes into the race, the pit window opened for drivers to make their mandated pit stop for a set of new tyres.

Stolz and K. van der Linde made their early moves for the pitlane within the 20-minute window.

The front-runners stayed out, as Preining and Bortolotti fought for the lead and built a gap to third-placed S. van der Linde, before the Schubert Motorsport BMW driver made his trip to the pits.

Bortolotti pitted his Lamborghini on Lap 12 as Preining continued, and emerged on cold, fresh slicks from a well-executed pit stop.

Jack Aitken in the other Emil Frey Ferrari was amidst several tense fights in the midfield after many drivers, including himself, conducted their pit stops and remained in close proximity to one another.

Rast asserted strong pace amidst his surrounding rivals pitting before he did, maintaining his momentum as the triple DTM champion put in a redeeming drive from his underwhelming qualifying result.

Bortolotti’s earlier pit stop timing to Rast meant he warmed up the tyres sooner than the BMW driver, thus showcased an overtaking manoeuvre as the final pit stops were carried out.

The last drivers to pit were the SSR Performance Lamborghini teammates of Franck Perera and Alessio Deledda, as Perera waited until the very end of the pit window.

Elsewhere, Engel got himself in net-third place past Rast, who he built a gap upon shortly after he passed him.

Preining and Bortolotti were a second within another, as the field began to set personal fastest lap times.

Vermeulen was given a penalty lap three times for his collision with the #40 Audi of Mattia Drudi.

Right through into the final 15 minutes, Preining was under pressure from Bortolotti close behind, but the champion managed to keep his pace up in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3.R.

Preining eventually gained some space at the front, and the Austrian driver pulled 1.5 seconds ahead of the #92 Lamborghini of Bortolotti.

Deledda was ambitious upon a corner entry point, which led him to run into the dirt and the styrofoam billboards, although continued his way to the chequered flag.

After being crowned DTM champion this morning, he made it a clean sweep of both pole positions and race victories this weekend.

It was his third and final victory of this season and finished ahead of Bortolotti and Rast, who climbed 20 positions from 23rd on the grid.

Rast was a benefactor of Engel falling foul of a last-lap technical issue, where a bolt in the suspension of his Mercedes-AMG broke.

This allowed S. van der Linde through into fourth in the second Schubert BMW.

Engel wound up fifth, ahead of Laurin Heinrich’s Team75 Motorsport Porsche in sixth – Stolz finished in seventh, and Lucas Auer claimed eighth place.

Ricardo Feller claimed ninth position by the end, as Aitken rounded off the top-10 order.

The final Drivers’ standings leave the champion at the top on 246 points, and Bortolotti on 213.

Thomas Preining commanded his way to victory during the opening DTM race at Hockenheim which extended his championship lead for Manthey EMA.

The penultimate race on the 2023 schedule provoked wheel-to-wheel racing on the eighth venue and final venue of the season, as the championship title fight edged closer to its conclusion.

Preining extended his championship after he took pole position, thus claimed the three points on offer for the privilege.

Mirko Bortolotti started in eighth position, as he attempted to close down the 13-point gap during the 1-hour Saturday race.

As the lights went out, Preining retained his lead ahead of Christian Engelhart’s #19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, before Dennis Olsen quickly made a move to take second place.

This set Manthey EMA’s two Porsche 911 GT3.Rs in 1-2 formation at the front of the field as Jack Aitken jumped up to fourth place in his Ferrari 296 GT3.

Further back, there were several fights taking place with drivers keen to leave little room to spare.

Sheldon van der Linde’s BMW made contact with Jusuf Owega’s Team HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 amidst the tension, as the pair fell back to the rear of the 28-car field.

Ricardo Feller, who is third in the standings, had his sights down on on Aitken’s fourth place.

After 10 minutes and seven laps completed, the field was more settled although a noticeable two-second gap separated third-placed Engelhart and Aitken behind, as the Emil Frey Racing driver faced more pressure from the cars which trailed him.

His position ahead of the closely-matched field enabled the front three runners to build a gap over Aitken, who was kept busy with defending from Feller.

Bortolotti ran in seventh position as his title rival pulled away, and his Grasser Racing teammate Franck Perera was with him in eighth.

After 20 minutes of racing, the (20-minute-long) pit window opened which saw Aitken and Feller each make their mandatory pit stop.

Bortolotti also pitted, keen to set himself about taking a fresh set of tyres as early as possible.

At the 26-minute mark, Preining made his pit stop having run a comfortable lead and emerged in third, although regained his lead after Olsen and Engelhart pitted.

Olsen emerged 10th as a handful of competitors had not yet pitted, nevertheless behind his teammate.

Their formation enabled Preining to keep the lead as Olsen was on-hand to fend off competitors, if need be, with a championship title at priority in the Manthey EMA.

Perera was awarded a penalty lap for speeding in the pitlane, hampering his proximity to teammate Bortolotti.

Speaking of which, Bortolotti was racing closely with Kelvin van der Linde.

K. van der Linde was waved a black-and-white (warning) flag after momentarily forcing Bortolotti off the circuit.

Meanwhile, Feller managed a cunning move on Aitken for net-fourth position.

Rene Rast’s race turned to misfortune as tyre damage was struck on his BMW M4 GT3, after wanting to defend himself after his pit stop on cold tyres which forced him to retire from the race.

As Preining led by four seconds over his teammate, and Bortolotti remained seventh, therefore the Lamborghini driver needed to climb at least one more position if he was to keep his title chances alive into Sunday’s race day.

Kelvin van der Linde was keen not to give away his vital sixth position to Bortolotti, though was kept on the stewards’ attention with a few track limits warnings.

With 10-minutes to go, Bortolotti made a push for sixth place stick in his Lamborghini.

Aitken was now being chased by Bortolotti, who was adamant to make up more places with his capable form.

Into the final five minutes, Aitken made a mistake which opened the door for Bortolotti and Feller to jump into the top-five runners.

By the chequered flag, Preining commanded the race lead ahead of his teammate Olsen, fronting a 1-2 for Manthey EMA and the Teams’ Championship.

Engelhart finished third in his #19 GRT Lamborghini, ahead of Feller and Bortolotti.

Sixth place was taken by K. van der Linde, who took the position in the final laps from Aitken, who finished in seventh position.

Eighth place was claimed by Luca Stoltz for Team HRT, as the highest-finishing Mercedes-AMG.

In ninth position was the highest-placed BMW of Marco Wittmann for Project 1, as Laurin Heinrich rounded off the top-10 positions.

Preining extended his championship lead to 218 points, after he took three for pole and 25 for the race win.

Bortolotti’s fifth place earned him 11 points, making his latest total points at 191.

He must claim first or second position in qualifying tomorrow in order to mathematically stay in the title fight.

WeatherTech Racing acquired their fourth IMSA GTD Pro victory this year, having started with a victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and finished the season with a Petit Le Mans win and the Endurance Cup title.

The Proton-run #79 Mercedes-AMG also claimed the team’s fourth Petit Le Mans win in their history.

Despite not being able to close the gap to the GTD Pro championship winners after the #14 Vasser Sullivan team won at lights out, the #79 charged to the win and claimed the Endurance Cup title on 42 points.

Misfortune for their rivals played a role in the #79’s success, as the #14 Lexus RC F suffered major front-end damage when Ben Barnicoat had a brief off-track excursion at Turn 4.

He hit a sponsor banner held down by sandbags which dropped down a curb and clung off the whole front end of the Lexus.

Meanwhile, the #3 Corvette led in the hands of Tommy Milner before it retired with transmission issues within two hours prior to the chequered flag.

“We came into this race with big hopes… ” Jules Gounon said.

“We started the year with the amazing win at Daytona and then at Sebring we did our best and finished third.

“Petit Le Mans is an amazing race and one that every driver wants on their C.V.

“None of us had won here, and for me it was my first time here and to get a win is just great.

“I want to thank the MacNeil family, David and Cooper for all of the effort to build this project around us.

“To win Daytona, Petit Le Mans and two sprint races was great.

“We are proud of the WeatherTech Racing/Proton team for all their hard work.”

“We had a tough middle of the season, but we had a great car today,” Juncadella added.

“It made my life easy to bring it home for the win in my last stint,” after having to fend off the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3.R of Kevin Estre, before the two caution periods were utilised within the final hour.

“It was great to win the IMEC Championship, Rolex 24 and the two sprint races and then to finish with a big win today is amazing.”

“An amazing end to the season and my first Petit Le Mans win,” Maro Engel said.

“Thanks to David and Cooper [MacNeil] and everyone at WeatherTech for this amazing program.

“It has been an amazing season, first by winning the big one at Daytona and now winning Petit Le Mans. To cap it off getting the IMEC Championship for Dani and Jules is great as well.”

Cooper MacNeil concluded: “Stellar season by the entire WeatherTech Racing/Proton crew.

“Dani and Jules did the heavy lifting this year running in the car for the full season.

“Hats off to them for finishing second in the GTD Pro championship. Four wins on the season and the IMEC win is spectacular.

“The WeatherTech brand has four Petit Le Mans win trophies, and I have three of those as a driver.”

In a World Motor Sport Council meeting, the FIA has approved an implementation for the World Endurance Championship to change the outgoing qualifying format to the ‘Hyperpole’ setup seen at Le Mans only.

From next year, a new qualifying procedure will host a 12-minute session for each of the Hypercar and the LMGT3 classes, followed by two 10-minute long Hyperpole sessions (for each of the classes).

Having only been utilised for the Le Mans 24 Hours, the top-10 competitors in each class from the first qualifying sessions will continue to Hyperpole to determine their grid positions.

The new style replaces the outgoing WEC qualifying arrangement which hosts 15-minute sessions for each of the three classes.

In 2024, with the absence of LMP2 apart from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the WEC will be made up of the expanding Hypercar field, and the new LMGT3 class.

Within the opening address by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, he mentioned the WEC’s upcoming Hypercar climate.

“… I also welcome the recent announcement of Aston Martin and their commitment to enter the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2025.

“This class is going from strength-to-strength with an impressive line-up of some of the world’s biggest manufacturers.”

LMGT3’s technical regulations, which are based around the existing FIA GT3 platform, was also approved in the meeting as they will replace the LMGTE formula used since the inaugural WEC season in 2012.

The new GT category “will focus on gentlemen drivers and private teams”, the FIA said in an online summarisation.

WEC-specific adaptations will feature on LMGT3 cars, such as luminescent number panels, leader lights and torque sensors.

Doriane Pin’s notable qualifying and opening race stint were memorable highlights for the Iron Dames’ first ever Petit Le Mans after contact early on hampered their competitive chances.

The #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 marked the end of their first ever IMSA WeatherTech (Endurance Cup) campaign this year with a difficult outcome.

Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin all drove the #85 GTD entry to finish 14th in a class of 16, three laps down on the winning #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The female-run outfit recognised their highlight qualifying performance in the hands of WEC Prema Racing LMP2 driver Pin, who qualified second in GTD and third in the entire classification of Pros and GTDs, with a 1:23.795 lap time.

After the qualifying results were amended for others’ infractions, Pin started the race and asserted the fastest laps of the category during her opening stint, which saw her fight past the two Vasser Sullivan Lexus’ who she was racing around.

Afterwards, she quickly established a 10-second gap at the front of GTD.

“The Iron Dames put in a very solid weekend for their first Petit Le Mans, which unfortunately was not reflected in the final result due to a contact at the end of the second hour,” said Deborah Mayer, founder of the Iron Dames project.

“Nevertheless, the results of the weekend, and more generally of this first season in the highly competitive IMSA championship, are very encouraging.

“Doriane, Rahel and Michelle showed very strong driving and mental qualities and there is no doubt that they were up there with the best.

“Doriane’s performance in qualifying will remain a highlight, further confirming her speed, determination and high-speed progress.”

Little over two hours in, rear left contact with an LMP3 car damaged the corner on the #85, thus the suspension had to be repaired behind the wall.

Frey said: “It was a pleasure even if it was a hard first one for us. We have finished Road Atlanta with a lot of positive notes.

“We have been fast, all the three of us, throughout the race unfortunately a contact dropped us down eight laps.

“It’s a pity, I am very sorry for the entire team which did [a] great job but it is overall a good finish to the season and something we can build on for next one.”

Gatting added: “Of course, it is a very disappointing result for this race because Doriane did a great qualifying and a great first stint which put us in the lead with a big gap and gave us a lot of confidence.”

Pin said: “The result is not the one we expected after a strong qualifying yesterday and with a very good car we could aim for something great.

“For sure, the unfortunate contact didn’t help us but we tried to push until the end but it was not enough. I really enjoyed driving here.

“Road Atlanta is a fantastic track like most of the American ones and I hope to come back soon.”