The season finale for IMSA’s Airbnb Endurance Challenge, a branch of the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, arrives at Road America this weekend, with the four-race endurance championship set to crown its champion following Sunday’s two-hour race.
While Sunday’s race will complete the four-race Airbnb Endurance Challenge campaign, Road America also adds another layer to the championship battles throughout the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. With four races remaining on the overall season schedule—two at Virginia International Raceway and two at Road Atlanta—the championship fight is far from over.
Gebhardt Motorsport USA’s Oscar Tunjo and Valentino Catalano lead the P3 championship standings in their No. 1 Duqueine D09 with 950 points. The championship battle remains tight, with just 30 points separating the leading Gebhardt entry from the No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P325 of Brian Thienes and Patrick Kujala. Toney Driver Development’s No. 30 Ligier JS P325, piloted by Garett Grist and Ari Balogh, sits another 40 points behind the championship leaders.
The Gebhardt Motorsport No. 1 has been strong across all forms of competition this season, competing at the front in both the sprint and endurance championships. Tunjo has set the pace across the full-season, sprint and endurance standings, while Catalano has joined him for the endurance rounds.
Other notable entries among the nine-car field include the No. 29 Riley Ligier JS P320, driven by Slade Stewart and Andy Lee. The duo, who share driving responsibilities in GT World Challenge America behind the wheel of Riley’s No. 14 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, continue their partnership in IMSA as they help mark Riley’s Airbnb Endurance Challenge debut. Stewart debuted the revived LMP3 effort for Riley at Mid-Ohio.
The Riley entry is also the only car in the field that is not one of the newer Duqueine or Ligier models currently competing in the championship.
Also returning to the field is Forbush Performance’s No. 18 Duqueine D09, driven by Matt Forbush and Jules Caratana. The pairing returns to the championship for the first time since the Circuit of The Americas round in May.
The weekend schedule begins Friday, August 14, with the nine-car field taking to the track for a 50-minute qualifying session at 6:40 p.m. ET. Action continues Saturday, August 15, with the final 50-minute practice session at 12:05 p.m. ET, followed by P3 qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET.
