MSR leads Petit at quarter distance after first lap GTD pileup

The No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 leads the 28th Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after two hours, but the race got off to an ugly start after an accident involving five GTD cars.

On the very first lap of the races, Conquest Racing's Manny Franco spun in the middle of the GTD pack as the field came down the esses into Turn 4. Brendan Iribe in the No. 70 Ferrari tried to avoid the No. 34 Ferrari, but instead hit Franco's car head-on, while Joey Hand (No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford) and John Potter (No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin) also suffered terminal damage as they got swept up in the wreck.

Franco was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. All other drivers involved were seen and released at the circuit medical centre.

Trent Hindman (No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini) suffered moderate damage and retreated to its garage space; it took over an hour to replace a broken driveshaft, but the car returned to the race.

Winward Racing and its drivers, Russell Ward and Philip Ellis (joined at Road Atlanta by Indy Dontje) only needed to finish 18th or better in the 19-car GTD class to clinch the 2025 GTD championship. With the No. 34 Conquest Ferrari as the first retirement from the race, the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Ward, Ellis, and Dontje has successfully defended its drivers' and teams’ championships.

The incident also has implications for the GTD Michelin Endurance Cup – which Inception Racing led going into the race.

With Fidani driving through the incident unscathed, he secured the Bob Akin Award as GTD's top bronze driver, and an invitation to the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans in his name.

The race restarted after a 19-minute full-course yellow, but was then put back under yellow almost immediately for debris from the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari. A 50-minute green flag run followed, led by the No. 60 MSR Acura of polesitter Tom Blomqvist, just ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R of Jack Aitken.

Shortly after they made their pit stops, contact between the LMP2 cars of PJ Hyett (No. 99 AO Racing) and Naveen Rao (No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports) eventually led to another full-course yellow. Rao was bumped by Hyett in Turn 12, hit an advertising signboard, and eventually that board was thrown up onto the racing line at Turn 10.

The race went back to green with eight hours and 15 minutes to go, then went back to yellow soon after the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG lost its left rear wheel rounding Turn 1. Blomqvist had a close call with the stray wheel at the top of the esses. 

Back under caution, the No. 60 Acura of Blomqvist and the No. 31 Cadillac of Aitken are still first and second in GTP. The No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 and No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 gained track position when they pitted before the previous caution, and are now third and fourth, followed by the quick No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie in fifth.

While the No. 60 Acura leads, the No. 93 MSR Acura began suffering from an intermittent loss of drive, which the team is trying to solve; a steering wheel change did not fix the problem, and Nick Yelloly has dropped to last in GTP.

Jeremy Clarke leads LMP2 in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson, ahead of the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA, the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA, and the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA.

AO Racing brought the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R for a pit stop before the last hour, putting Laurin Heinrich in front, followed by the polesitting No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO in second, then the No. 1 Paul Miller BMW in third and the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3.

It’s Ferrari 1-2-3 at the front of GTD, with Simon Mann in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari leading after an earlier drive-through penalty for blocking and a well-timed pit stop to get the car back up front. The No. 021 and No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferraris are second and third, then the champion-elect No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG in fourth.

HOUR 2 STANDINGS