While the World Endurance Championship (WEC) kicks off its 2025 season in Qatar as the marquee event for the sports car contingent, a pair of support series bring a touch of IMSA excitement stateside with an unexpected pairing of headliners.

The Mazda MX-5 Cup and VP Racing Fuels SportsCar Challenge enter their second race weekend of the season, carrying plenty of momentum from their season openers at Daytona.

At Daytona, the VP Racing Fuels SportsCar Challenge saw dominant performances, with Valentino Catalano (P3), Adam Adelson (GTDX), and Kiko Porto (GSX) each sweeping their respective classes. The GSX class, however, provided late-race drama in Race 1. This weekend, the series runs alongside the NASCAR Cup Series at Circuit of the Americas.

Meanwhile, the Mazda MX-5 Cup lived up to its reputation for unpredictable, action-packed racing, punctuated by a NASCAR-style crash in Race 2. Now, the series heads to its only street circuit event of the season, serving as a thrilling precursor to the NTT IndyCar Series opener in St. Petersburg, Florida.

While WEC commands the spotlight this weekend, these two support series should not be overlooked as must-watch racing action.

VP Racing Fuels SportsCar Challenge Preview

The VP Racing Fuels SportsCar Challenge season opener at Daytona produced dominant results, with sweeps across all three classes.

Heading into the second race weekend, much of the focus remains on the newly introduced GTDX class. Featuring GT3 machinery, GTDX has attracted several teams with experience in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and other GT3-based series like GT World Challenge America.

Meanwhile, the GSX class appears to be highly competitive, with multiple contenders battling for wins at Daytona. Justin Di Benedetto showed strong pace and fought intensely for a podium, but it was Kiko Porto who set the tone for most of the weekend.

While the GT-based classes draw much of the attention, the P3 prototype category could also be a storyline to watch. GEBHARDT Motorsport impressed with strong performances from both entries in Daytona, making them a team to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Mazda MX-5 Cup Preview

The MX-5 Cup season opener at Daytona was nothing short of chaotic, featuring the quintessential “Big One” on the opening lap of Race 2, which eliminated multiple cars from contention.

With St. Petersburg’s tighter, more confined layout, the likelihood of a repeat incident is lower. However, the opening lap through the first set of esses remains a potential trouble spot.

One driver to watch this weekend is Jagger Jones with BSI Racing.

Jones dominated St. Petersburg last year in the P3 class, winning both races outright with FastMD Racing by Remstar. This season, he’s switching to Mazda MX-5 competition, but his open-wheel experience makes him a formidable contender.

Meanwhile, Jared Thomas enters St. Pete as the points leader, but Tyler Gonzalez’s season-opening victory at Daytona keeps the championship battle wide open early in the year.

 
 

Please consider making a donation so we can keep bringing you our best content from the racetrack.