Porsche Swept IMSA's Biggest Races, but Cadillac Took All Three GTP Titles
Porsche Penske won Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans, but Cadillac's consistency delivered the 2026 manufacturers', teams', and drivers' crowns, with Jack Aitken taking the drivers' title.
Porsche won the race. Cadillac won everything else. The No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 took Saturday's Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, but Cadillac left Georgia with the 2026 IMSA GTP manufacturers', teams', and drivers' championships, ending Porsche Penske's run of back-to-back titles in the series' top class.
The drivers' crown goes to Jack Aitken, who shares the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R run by Action Express Racing with Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti. The trio also takes the teams' title. Aitken's only remaining rival was Porsche's Laurin Heinrich, whose title hopes were already hanging by a thread after Indianapolis.
The championship was effectively decided before the green flag. According to RACER, Aitken's fourth place in Friday qualifying stretched his lead to 151 points, one more than a car can gain or lose across a race, so the No. 31 only had to take the start. Cadillac says just one of its three cars needed to start to secure the manufacturers' title. It's the brand's fifth IMSA manufacturers' championship since 2017.
The race itself belonged to Porsche. Laurens Vanthoor, Kévin Estre, and Matt Campbell beat the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 by 1.205 seconds after 10 hours and 368 laps, Motorsport.com reports. It was Porsche's first overall Petit Le Mans win with a prototype. Add earlier victories at the Rolex 24 and Sebring, and Porsche Penske swept IMSA's three endurance classics in a single season, yet still finished without a GTP title.
Cadillac's result was quieter. Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing's No. 40 of Jordan Taylor, Louis Delétraz, and Colton Herta finished third, with the sister No. 10 of Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, and Will Stevens fourth. The new champions came home seventh after late contact with Aston Martin's Valkyrie roughly 20 minutes from the flag.
Consistency beat raw wins
That split shows how IMSA's points system works. The No. 31 won at Watkins Glen in June, per RACER, but its title came from running at the front almost every weekend. Even its near-misses paid off. At Indianapolis in September, Bamber was passed for the lead with less than six minutes left as BMW's WRT squad scored its first IMSA win, but second place still padded the gap to Heinrich.
GM motorsports boss Eric Warren pointed to the same thing. "I think we've been on the podium 10 races in a row," he said, crediting a "Team Cadillac" approach that pooled work between Action Express and Wayne Taylor Racing.
The GTP field Cadillac will defend against is already changing. Petit Le Mans was the final race for Acura's GTP program with Meyer Shank Racing, RACER reported. GM President Mark Reuss said the titles give Cadillac momentum for 2027 in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, though the company hasn't detailed its lineups. The next GTP round is the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 30–31, 2027.
