It was only a little over two months ago that teams competed in the 2024 series championship finale at Road Atlanta. Now, with the holiday season in the rearview mirror, the VSCA SportsCar Championship 2025 season is about to get under way.
Daytona International Speedway will play its usual role of hosting the season opener, beginning with this weekend’s non-points qualifying race, The Roar Before The 24 and next weekend’s fourth annual 24 Hours of Daytona.
A grid of 55 entries will compete in this weekend’s 1-hour and 40-minute race and next weekend’s longest race of the season, split up in four classes: GTP, LMP2, GT PRO and GT AM, as one of the things that remains unchanged from the previous year.
GTP Class 2025 Season Grid
Series champions Mayer Simspeed Performance have left the series and will not return to defend their title in GTP class. The team’s drivers however will return under the banner of Wastegate Racing and the #32 Cadillac, as a brand new team founded by series champion driver Kyle Birnie.
GTP series vice champions and Endurance Cup champions World Of SimRacing Team and their #51 Cadillac will return, hoping to do one better this year and take the series championship. The Spanish team certainly has to be considered one of the favorites for the title this year.
Last year’s LMP2 class champions Rising Panda Racing have used the offseason to upgrade their program to the highest class of competition and will join the GTP class grid with their #46 Acura ARX-06 GTP. This automatically means there will be a new LMP2 class champion for a record-setting fourth straight year in the series.
Amidst an array of changes, including replacing several drivers, the #4 Fischer Motorsport Porsche also returns to the GTP grid. After a rather disappointing and up-and-down 2024 season campaign the Germany team will look to steady and improve its prototype program in the coming season.
PULSAR eSports Team, formerly named DS Racing eSports Team, return to the top class with their #88 Torreense Porsche 963 GTP. After finishing third in points in the 2024 season, the Portuguese team is hungry for more.
One stunning development over the offseason was the announcement of GT AM series champions Digital Chicane joining the GTP class grid for 2025, with their #79 Acura ARX-06 GTP entry.
The GTP grid is complemented with several new arrivals to the series, with four Ferrari 499P from W2 e-ProGTP, Dark Horizon Racing and two from Velocity Racing. Soleil Racing Project is the third Porsche on the GTP class grid with their #70 car making its debut at Daytona. Belgium’s Valkyrie Exype is another newcomer team and will enter the series with its #577 Cadillac, looking to make a splash and attach in the championship.
LMP2 Class 2025 Season Grid
With defending LMP2 champions Rising Panda Racing and vice champions GowinRacing not returning to the class in 2025, the LMP2 class will look differently this year, as the two teams combined for eight wins in ten races last year.
The highest-ranked (third) LMP2 class team from last season that returns to the class is Tri-State Racing, although the team has changed car numbers from #123 to #3.
Vision 1 Motorsports also is back, featuring their iconic #11 Dallara P217. Breaking news in November that they’d return to the series and class after a one-year hiatus, the #96 Albrecht Motorsports Dallara P217 is also back on the grid for Daytona. The team previously left the series after The Roar Before The 24 one year ago.
Another familiar name on the grid is Vulture Motorsports. The team out of Tampa, Florida will feel right at home at Daytona Beach, and will look to take the checkered flag in its home state in the #216 Dallara P217 that finished 12th in LMP2 class points one year ago, despite starting in only four races.
A flurry of new teams will complement the grid with the likes of the #14 Grow Racing Team, #23 Twin Turn Simracing, #89 Keystone Simsport, #158 iRating Today Motorsports, #313 Dark Horizon Racing, #314 Dark Horizon Racing, #531 Pandemonium eSpots x Sim-Lab and #677 Valkyrie Exype Dallara P217.
The question remains, who will take charge in the LMP2 class in the coming season and will the oldest class in VSCA history see domination by one or two teams again, as has been the case in the previous two seasons? Fans and teams alike will be curious to find out.
GT PRO Class 2025 Season Grid
A stunning eight entries in GT PRO class will return from last season, spearheaded with defending GT PRO champions, the #44 Fischer Motorsport Porsche and their team-mates in the #84 Porsche.
The #992 Porsche of DS Racing eSports Team will return with a new team name PULSAR eSports Team and a new car number #917 and the team also has made the change to the McLaren 720S GT3 EVO over the course of the offseason.
Kinetic Racing, the most successful team in VSCA history, returns for its fourth season, but will run the McLaren, after running the Porsche for the past three years. The team has won the 24 Hours of Daytona only two years ago and will look to repeat the feat this time around.
Delta Racing and their #12 BMW M4 GT3 are returning to the grid, hoping to bounce back from disappointment after barely missing out on their first win at last year’s Petit Le Mans. The team out of Brazil also is the only one in the entire series to enter a BMW.
North Sim Racing and their #69 car have had an up-and-down 2024 season, with their highlight being a win at Laguna Seca. Now, the team out of Torino, Italy will look to attack the new season with renewed aspirations to content for the title and the brand-new McLaren 720S GT3 EVO, after moving away from Porsche during the winter.
Also making a manufacturer change, the #151 World Of SimRacing Team entry returns to the series, but this time featuring a Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) instead of the BMW.
Series veterans Torque Freak Racing also changed manufacturers over the winter, from Porsche to McLaren. The team out of London has accomplished an incredible feat, winning at least one VSCA SportsCar Championship race every season since 2022. Can the team with drivers Neil Middleton, John A Goodwin and Jonathan Dance keep the streak going and perhaps pick up a win already at Daytona?
Digital Chicane are coming off a dominant 2024 season campaign in GT AM. And while their GT AM championship-winning entry will return to that class, the #93 car has moved up to GT PRO for the new year and the team has also changed from Ferrari to Acura, as the brand-new NSX GT3 EVO will be joining the grid for the first time at Daytona.
Making the move from LMP2 to GT PRO, the #112 Rusty Spatulas Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will be the only representative of the American car maker in the GT PRO class at Daytona.
Several teams are new to join the GT PRO grid at Daytona, including TwoLemmaTree Racing with Travis Linscome-Hatfield and Niklas Solle, who departed from Fischer Motorsport over the offseason to form their own team with a McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. Another newcomer to the series is Sim City Racing and their #71 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) with an ultra-strong drivers lineup that has to be considered the top favorites for the series championship in GT PRO class this year.
The lone Lamborghini on the GT PRO grid, the #77 Adrenaline Motorsports Huracán GT3 Evo will be looking for make its debut at Daytona, together with other series debutants #157 iRacing Today Motorsports who are the only Mercedes on the series grid.
GT AM Class 2025 Season Grid
Returning to GT AM in 2025, the #80 Digital Chicane Acura will look to defend its series title in the class, after moving from Ferrari to Acura. The team will have its hands full however, as the GT AM grid is the largest of the series, with 17 cars total, with a mix of series veterans and plenty of new faces and names.
Grizzly Motorsports and their #7 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) are new to GT AM, but have plenty of experience in the series, after winning the GTP class championship in 2023 and also competing in the top class last year.
A new team on the grid from Alicante, Spain, the #13 KTD Comptiticón McLaren 720S GT3 EVO will look to take on the competition in the season opener, along with other series newcomers #74 SRN Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, #81 Penor Competición Porsche, #90 Race Spec Dynamics Porsche, #94 SWF Motorsports Porsche, #183 Blocco Motore Simsport Porsche and the #532 Pandemonium eSports x Sim-Lab McLaren.
After the series departure of Mayer Simspeed Performance, Wastegate Racing is another new name on the grid, but essentially features the driver lineups from last year’s #33 and #34 entries, albeit this time with Chevrolet and its Corvette Z06 GT3.R to power the team forward.
Vulture Motorsports also returns to the series for 2025 featuring its #64 and #65 Ford Mustangs, as the only two representatives of the blue oval on the series grid.
Off in the Esses Racing came close to winning their first VSCA race at VIR last season, and will now return for their fourth season in VSCA competition, being one of the few teams to have started in the inaugural VSCA 24 Hours of Daytona back in 2022. After running the Ferrari last year, the team joins many of its competitors to make the move to McLaren this year, as the series will feature not a single Ferrari 296 GT3 at Daytona.
Real Pixel Motorsport are coming off a difficult 2024 season campaign, but are back for their fourth season in VSCA, looking to bounce back. After running the Lamborghini last year, the team out of Munich, Germany has changed its #312 entry to the Acura NSX GT3 EVO for 2025.
Wolf Motorsport Simracing have benefited from a late withdrawal of an entry, to get promoted to the series grid just in time for the season opener, in a true feel-good story for the German team that will now get to use its #515 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) on the grid at Daytona.
PULSAR eSports Team (formerly DS Racing eSports Team) and their #555 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO are amongst the teams to return to GT AM in 2025, while also following suit and changing from the Ferrari to McLaren, making the British car marker the most represented one with a total of eight cars on the grid for Daytona.
Daytona Event Schedule
Track activities will start on Thursday and Friday with Free Practice 1 and 2 for The Roar Before The 24. On Saturday the qualifying race starts at 1600 GMT and its official results will determine the starting grid for next weekend’s 24 Hours of Daytona.
There will be another Free Practice 1 and 2 on Thursday and Friday on January 9 and 10, preparing teams and drivers for the longest race of the season.
On Saturday, January 11 the fourth annual 24 Hours of Daytona is set to take the green flag at 1500 GMT.
After negotiations with GreenFlag TV fell through and no new sponsor could be found by VSCA over the offseason to cover the costs of a potential new broadcasting deal with a different provider, none of the 2025 season races will be broadcast live. However VSCAracing.com will provide live timing and scoring powered by JRT Joel-Real-Timing.