After a wait of more than two years, Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor returned the team to the top step of the podium, claiming the overall and GTP victories aboard the No. 10 Cadillac V-Series.R in Sunday’s inaugural six-hour Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix.
Following five hours filled with lead changes, strategy, and incidents, the final hour set the stage for an intense battle in all four classes.
The field made its final round of pit stops with approximately 45 minutes remaining in the race. However, the complexion of the race changed moments later when Tom Sargeant made contact with the tire barriers exiting Turn 7, bringing out a full-course caution.
The caution reset the field for a final sprint with less than 30 minutes to go. Albuquerque quickly pulled away on the restart, while the battle for second intensified between Porsche Penske Motorsports’ Kevin Estre in the No. 6 Porsche 963 and Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.
Their fight was interrupted when another full-course caution was triggered with 17 minutes remaining after heavy damage to Tom Blomqvist’s No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06.
The caution was brief enough to allow for one final restart with just over 10 minutes remaining. Estre and Aitken immediately resumed their battle for second, but the duel came to an abrupt end when the two made contact entering Turn 1, sending both cars into the barriers and eliminating their podium hopes. Moments later, Paul Di Resta spun the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca while heading toward the finish, costing the team a podium finish in LMP2.
The incidents brought out the race’s final full-course caution, ending an action-packed conclusion across all four classes.
Joining Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor on the overall podium were Laurin Heinrich, Tijmen van der Helm, and Kaylen Frederick, who finished second in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963. Jordan Taylor completed a successful weekend for Wayne Taylor Racing, teaming with Louis Deletraz to finish third aboard the No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R.
Roman De Angelis initially crossed the line in second overall and in GTP in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie. However, a post-race penalty dropped De Angelis and co-driver Ross Gunn off the podium, although the pair still retained a top-five finish.
In LMP2, Inter Europol Competition continued its strong 2026 campaign with Jeremy Clarke, Bijoy Garg, and Tom Dillmann claiming the class victory in the No. 43 Oreca. Finishing second was the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca of George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, and Toby Sowery after spending much of the race in contention for the lead. The No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca completed the class podium, with Tobi Lütke, Mathias Beche, and David Heinemeier Hansson taking third.
GTD Pro saw a breakthrough victory for Pfaff Motorsports in its Motul-branded No. 9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3, marking the first IMSA victory for the Temerario. Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell put the new car in a prime position throughout the race, remaining near the front of the field for much of the afternoon to score Pfaff’s first IMSA victory since the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2023, when the team competed with Porsche machinery.
Joining the Canadian program on the podium were pole sitters Nick Tandy and Harry King in the No. 77 AO Racing “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), finishing second after remaining in podium contention throughout the afternoon, while Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg placed the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R third.
In GTD, Philip Ellis led the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to its second consecutive podium finish, alongside Russell Ward and Indy Dontje, after passing defending race winner Kenton Koch in the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO. The Triarsi Competizione entry ultimately finished second, with Onofrio Triarsi and Robert Megennis joining Koch on the podium, while YRB Racing earned third-place honors in the No. 068 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, adding to its Road America trophy haul with Valentine Hasse Clot, Trenton Estep, and Marius Fossard completing the podium.
Although DragonSpeed initially finished third, the honors were awarded to YRB Racing after race control determined that the No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R had not completed its pass before the race’s final caution.
“Today was just a special day,” Albuquerque said following the victory. “The beginning of the race was just kind of following along. But then, when Ricky went on, strategy came a little bit to us. Great pit stops from the boys. Ricky put it up there in the top three, following the sister car in P2. You start to get a little bit nervous. You just want a red flag.
“Then, for the end, I got in. It was funny because it’s been such a struggle for us with the pace that sometimes we doubt ourselves. What is it? What is it there? Is it here? I just went down there and said, ‘Just go in there and just be you, do your thing.’ I think everything came together perfectly. We passed the 31, went to the lead, and maintained it there. Ten laps to go, okay, cruising because it was a nice lead. Yellow flag, obviously, like IMSA. Those restarts were tricky because I knew that the Porsche was very, very strong. I needed to be very focused for that. I managed to get ahead of him and caught him off guard on both restarts.
“It’s more than a win. We’ve won more races, but this feels way more special than others, almost like a championship because of how much we overcame, being together as a team and working hard. When you come from the bottom to the top and prove yourself to everybody that you can still do it, it’s a great, great feeling, especially just before the holidays.”
The 2026 IMSA season continues later this month as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to Virginia International Raceway for its GT-only weekend, featuring the GTD Pro and GTD classes, Aug. 21-23. The GTP and LMP2 prototype classes will then rejoin the full field at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Battle on the Bricks, Sept. 18-20.
