Paul Botting Motorsport closed the 2026 VSCA SportsCar Championship season with a second straight LMP2 victory, as the No. 113 Dallara P217 of Ryan Suralik, Zachary Liebold and Fabian Elbers won Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta by about 59 seconds.
The 10-hour finale at the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Braselton circuit had almost everything: rain, darkness, constant traffic, 31 LMP2 lead changes and a record-setting 13 full-course yellows totaling 4 hours and 29 minutes. The No. 113 led a class-high 88 laps and beat the No. 11 Vision 1 Motorsports Dallara, which charged from ninth to second.
Ayrton Farias Starts the Finale from Pole
Ayrton Farias gave the No. 30 Fury Simsport Dallara pole position with a 1:21.208, the first LMP2 class pole for both Farias and Fury Simsport. He converted it into the early lead when the race went green in the early afternoon, with the field immediately threading through four classes on Road Atlanta’s compact layout.
The opening phase was already busy in class. Early pit sequencing put cars out of order before the first full-course yellow arrived just before the 40-minute mark, and the opening hour became a preview of the day: traffic compressing the field, pit lane packed with crews, and the sharp smell of hot brakes and damp rubber hanging over the paddock.
Fury Simsport remained a factor throughout the race, despite a five-second post-race penalty for a pit road fast-lane violation and multiple warnings issued after stewards’ post-race review. Farias said the podium was a satisfying way to respond after the team’s Indianapolis heartbreak, where a last-moment crash had cost what looked like a secured win.
“It was a bit of a surprise, honestly,” Farias said. “We knew from the start we had the pace and the focus to be up front, but the incidents in the middle of the race, especially with the Albrecht GTP, made things a lot harder. Still, it was a very competitive race from start to finish, and a great way to close out the season with a podium.”
Rain and Cautions Reshape the LMP2 Battle
The race never settled for long. Gamma Sim Racing, Ric Team Racing, RedLab Competizione, Grow Racing Team, Old Dogs Racing, Flight Level Racing, Vision 1 Motorsports and Paul Botting Motorsport all spent time at the front as pit cycles and cautions repeatedly scrambled the order.
The first restart came just after the one-hour mark, followed by a second full-course yellow shortly after. A longer caution period began before the three-hour mark, with the race restarting just after three hours. The sequence of interruptions kept strategy fluid and made track position difficult to hold.
The middle portion of the race turned especially treacherous as rain showers swept across Road Atlanta. Spray hung in the Esses and visibility dropped sharply, putting prototypes into delicate traffic decisions with GT cars and rival LMP2 entries. The wet stretch rewarded patience as much as outright speed.
Elbers felt that phase was crucial to the No. 113’s victory. “The wet played a big part,” he said. “We made some great strategy calls and stayed consistent. My wet stint was honestly some of the most fun I’ve had in the LMP2, being on the charge and hunting everyone down after an earlier mistake.”
No. 113 Survives the Esses and Takes Control
One of the race’s pivotal LMP2 moments came just after the four-and-a-half-hour mark in the rain, when Grant Erlinder in the No. 767 Flight Level Racing Dallara made contact with the No. 87 Ric Team Racing Dallara through the Esses. The No. 113 had to escape into the grass to avoid collecting both cars.
Race Stewards later issued the No. 767 a 35-second post-race penalty for that incident, with the original decision upheld after review. For Paul Botting Motorsport, the moment became part of a larger theme: staying alive when the race was trying to pull everyone into trouble.
“We had a few close calls with traffic, and staying out of trouble was always our aim,” Elbers said. “It is always better to stay alive for 10 hours than play it like a sprint race. The wet was a big deal for us, and Ryan’s final stint in the dry, when he was almost a second a lap faster than anyone else, was phenomenal.”
Suralik said the late phase was anything but comfortable. The No. 113 had to manage a drive-through with about 1 hour and 45 minutes remaining, at a point when full-course yellow procedure issues were beginning to add another layer of uncertainty.
“I honestly thought our chance at the win was gone,” Suralik said. “But it became possible again when the leaders also received incident-limit drive-throughs.”
Late Full-Course Yellow Issues Add to the Tension
The final third of the race was repeatedly interrupted. Full-course yellows came just before the five-hour mark, again shortly after five-and-a-half hours, shortly after the six-hour mark, just before seven hours, just after seven hours, just before eight hours, and then twice more in the final 100 minutes.
Technical issues with the full-course yellow procedure created particularly tense scenes late, with some cars not receiving expected wave-bys while the pace car returned to pit lane but yellow conditions remained active. Race Directors were left to manage a heavily disrupted finale while teams tried to keep track of laps, wave-arounds and penalty obligations.
The No. 113 emerged from that confusion in the strongest shape. Suralik took the lead for good on Lap 345 after the final major pit and penalty sequence, then brought the Dallara home to give Paul Botting Motorsport its second LMP2 win in as many races after also winning at Indianapolis.
It was a striking late-season turnaround for the team, which had joined the class for the final three races, finished ninth on debut at Road America, then won Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans with two different driver lineups.
Vision 1 Secures Back-to-Back Endurance Cup Titles
Vision 1 Motorsports arrived chasing a third consecutive Petit Le Mans class win, having won the 2024 and 2025 editions at Road Atlanta. That streak ended, but second place from ninth on the grid delivered something just as valuable: the LMP2 Endurance Cup.
The No. 11 Vision 1 Motorsports Dallara of Rico Kollmeier and Matthew Routon finished tied on 39 points with the No. 87 Ric Team Racing entry, but won the Endurance Cup on tiebreak thanks to having more second-place finishes. It also meant Vision 1 successfully defended its 2025 Endurance Cup title.
For a team that went through a major mid-season ownership change after founder Damien Behnke stepped away and Kyle Allen took over, the title carried extra weight.
“It is a relief, and it feels great,” Kollmeier said. “It is great to get it the second time in a row. It shows that our approach is the right one.”
Kollmeier said Vision 1 had briefly seen a path to the race win before circumstances changed late. “We had the win in sight, but due to an unfortunate incident in front of us, it got taken away,” he said. “We quickly calculated that the championship was still alive, and from there we started to secure our position.”
Ric Team Racing Wins the LMP2 Championship
Ric Team Racing did not need to win Petit Le Mans to take the overall LMP2 championship. Fourth place for the No. 87 Dallara of Francisco Santos Pereira, Roberto Artur and Francisco Silva was enough to secure the title in the team’s first VSCA season.
The championship was built earlier in the year with three consecutive victories at Sebring, Laguna Seca and Virginia International Raceway. Even after a difficult tenth-place result at Homestead-Miami, the No. 87 finished the season with four straight top-five results, including third-place finishes at Watkins Glen, Road America and Indianapolis before Saturday’s fourth at Road Atlanta.
Ric Team Racing had entered the finale 110 points ahead of the No. 757 Flight Level Racing entry, which had beaten it in each of the previous three races. Flight Level’s challenge faded during a rough race that included a late 35-second post-race penalty for contact with the No. 68 TwoLemmaTree Racing McLaren in the Esses, leaving the No. 757 seventh.
“We knew from the start that our real battle was going to be with Flight Level,” Francisco Silva said. “No matter how high or low we finished, we knew we had to stay ahead of them. That was our goal, and we gave everything we had to achieve it.”
Ric Team Racing also lost the Endurance Cup on the narrowest possible margin, tied on points with Vision 1 but beaten on tiebreak. Still, the overall championship, Sprint Cup and Drivers’ Championship made it a landmark debut season for the Portuguese team.
Penalties Shape the Final Order
Race Stewards had a long post-race workload after a race filled with incidents and appeals. The No. 14 Grow Racing Team Dallara received two 35-second post-race penalties, one for Tiago Maduro Dias’ contact with the No. 19 Gowin Racing Ferrari in the second hour and another for Jorge Leitao Dias’ contact with the No. 30 Fury Simsport Dallara around the four-and-a-half-hour mark.
Grow had led multiple times with Alirio Jorge and Jorge Leitao Dias but slipped to ninth after a race that also ended its Endurance Cup hopes. Tiago Maduro Dias called the result “frustrating” after the team had entered one point off the Endurance Cup lead, though he pointed to third in both the Sprint and Endurance Cups as a step forward from last year.
Old Dogs Racing finished fifth despite three post-race penalties: 35 seconds for full-course yellow car contact, 95 seconds for a closed-pits violation under yellow, and 95 seconds for Dan Piazza’s incident with the No. 77 GT PRO Porsche near pit entry. Stefano Evangelisti still marked his debut with laps led in the No. 59 Dallara.
RedLab Competizione had one of the roughest days in the class. The No. 552 finished eighth after a warning, a 35-second penalty, a 155-second penalty and 14 driver license penalty points across various incidents and infractions.
Gamma Sim Racing completed the top ten but failed to meet the 70 percent minimum distance after completing 183 laps. The No. 235 had briefly led early with Aidan Johnson before its race unraveled, including a 155-second post-race penalty for Jesse Deshazier’s incident in the Esses with the No. 112 Rusty Spatulas Racing McLaren.
Fury, Old Dogs and Flight Level Complete the Main Finishers
Fury Simsport finished third, one lap down, with Farias and Daan de Ruijter salvaging a podium from a turbulent day that included warnings, drive-throughs for incident points and repair time. Farias said the team’s target was to “keep it clean and steady,” adding that de Ruijter “was a rocket the whole race.”
Ric Team Racing placed fourth to seal the championship, Old Dogs Racing took fifth, and the No. 767 Flight Level Racing Dallara of Kekoa Lycett and Grant Erlinder finished sixth after showing front-running pace but losing time to penalties and repairs.
The No. 757 Flight Level Racing entry, which had entered as Ric Team Racing’s main championship threat, finished seventh after a difficult final stretch. RedLab Competizione was eighth, Grow Racing Team ninth, and Gamma Sim Racing tenth.
Post-Race Reactions
Zachary Liebold, #113 Paul Botting Motorsport Dallara P217: “The team put together a very strong entry for Petit Le Mans, and within the entry we played to everyone’s strengths perfectly. It was hugely rewarding to be part of such a competitive car and to contribute meaningfully to its success.”
Liebold said there was little pressure from the organization, which helped the debutants settle in. “We knew they had put together a competitive team, so we could focus on keeping it clean and enjoying the experience rather than needing to drive every lap at 100 percent.”
Ryan Suralik, #113 Paul Botting Motorsport Dallara P217: “Winning Petit Le Mans with what is essentially a brand-new team entry in VSCA is an incredible feeling. To also win the race before this with an entirely different driver lineup shows how strong everyone at Paul Botting Motorsport is.”
Suralik praised Elbers, Liebold and Connor Botting after the team made a late setup change. “Fabian and Zach adapted incredibly well to a completely different setup from what we had practiced. Connor was the biggest part of this event. He gave up his seat and supported every team entry, and that says a lot about who he is.”
Fabian Elbers, #113 Paul Botting Motorsport Dallara P217: “With a professional team around you like Paul Botting Motorsport, it is a lot easier to manage the pressure. Zachary and Ryan worked really well together to make this happen.”
Elbers also singled out Connor Botting. “He managed four cars for Petit Le Mans and supported us throughout the whole race. He trusted me straight away from the moment I joined the team, and I cannot thank him enough.”
Connor Botting, #113 Paul Botting Motorsport Dallara P217: “I loved being the spotter for this team. It was a real pleasure to work with all three of them. I just wish we could have got Zachary some extra time behind the wheel. All three were so solid and went above and beyond for the team. It is certainly a very strong potential lineup for Paul Botting Motorsport in LMP2 next season.”
Rico Kollmeier, #11 Vision 1 Motorsports Dallara P217: “Great year. Let’s go for another one.”
Ayrton Farias, #30 Fury Simsport Dallara P217: “The rain was not even the toughest part; it actually leveled the field. The real turning point was the incident with the Albrecht GTP, going from leading to six laps down with about four hours still on the clock. The best part was clawing back to finish just one lap down.”
Farias added: “I would like to thank all of our sponsors and Fury Simsport for supporting us from the start of the season and helping me give my best.”
Tiago Maduro Dias, #14 Grow Racing Team Dallara P217: “It is frustrating, no question. We came into the finale one point off the Endurance Cup lead and left without it, and we slipped from third to fourth overall. That hurts.”
Maduro Dias said the team’s pace was strong, but mistakes proved costly. “The defining moment was the crash while overtaking a GT3 just minutes before the eight-hour checkpoint. Had we kept it on track, we would have taken the Endurance Cup lead. Watching our race and championship end there was tough.”
Looking ahead, he said Grow must improve its decision-making in traffic. “We showed strong pace and consistency in virtually every race, and the win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was a breakthrough. But we also tended to be overly aggressive and take unnecessary risks. We know exactly what to fix.”
Doriano Ricchiuti, #59 Old Dogs Racing Dallara P217: “Unfortunately, even in this race, penalties made us lose the podium. We still have a lot to learn, but we are happy with how we finished the championship. We will come back much better prepared next season.”
Dan Piazza, #59 Old Dogs Racing Dallara P217: “We had the pace, even with an endurance-focused setup that gave us consistency but not always the speed we wanted. Two more penalties stood between us and a standout result, but that is okay. We need to make mistakes this year if we want to aim for a major goal next season.”
Piazza said Evangelisti’s debut was a highlight. “He prepared meticulously, and his superb driving, combined with our setup, allowed him to maintain incredible pace as soon as it started raining.”
On the incident near pit entry with the No. 77 Porsche, Piazza said: “It is always unpleasant to cause a problem for another team, and I am sorry about that. The pit entry at Road Atlanta is widely considered one of the worst in existence, and the Porsche slowed far too abruptly for my reaction time. I think next year the regulations should require signaling an intention to enter the pits.”
Stefano Evangelisti, #59 Old Dogs Racing Dallara P217: “It was a challenging debut. I ended up driving in the rain for my entire stint, but I absolutely loved it. The wet conditions were a blast. It is a pity there were so many safety cars, which interrupted the rhythm, but leading the race for a moment was an amazing feeling.”
Kekoa Lycett, #767 Flight Level Racing Dallara P217: “Overall, I think we showed that we had the pace to fight at the front. Grant was rapid in the rain and did a stellar job getting the car into the lead even after a couple of drive-through penalties.”
Lycett said a late incident cost the No. 767 a possible podium. “The biggest positive is that we ended the season showing what this team and car are capable of. Now it is about cleaning up the little things and putting together a complete race. We are looking forward to the Daytona test and getting an early start on 2027.”
Francisco Silva, #87 Ric Team Racing Dallara P217: “It is emotional above all. It was our first season, and we honestly never expected this. Thanks to our hard work and dedication, we made it possible.”
Silva said the three-race winning streak at Sebring, Laguna Seca and VIR defined the campaign. “Those three races made us dream. Of course, we wanted to take everything, and with the Endurance Cup as well we would have won absolutely everything. But I am still incredibly happy and proud of what we accomplished.”
Silva also thanked the team, sponsor PcComponentes, teammates Afonso, Mota, Marco, Roberto and Xico, and team owner RicFazeres. “Without him, none of this would have been possible. This season will always be special to us.”
José Barbosa, #87 Ric Team Racing Dallara P217: “It is an incredible feeling. Coming into our first ever VSCA season, we knew we had the pace to compete, but winning the LMP2 championship in our first attempt is something really special.”
Barbosa said the team’s consistency after its early winning streak made the difference. “We did not win another race, but we kept finishing inside the top five and picking up important points even when things did not go our way.”
On losing the Endurance Cup tiebreak, Barbosa said: “It is disappointing, of course. To lose it on a tiebreak after everything we put into those races is tough, so congratulations to the No. 11. But the SportsCar Championship was the big objective, and we have just won that in our first season.”
Flight Level Racing, #757 Flight Level Racing Dallara P217: Team management and drivers were unavailable for comment after the race.
Daytona Test Opens the 2027 Chapter
The next scheduled event for the class is the Daytona Test on December 12, 2026, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Round EX1 event for the 2027 VSCA SportsCar Championship is scheduled to start at 14:00 GMT.
Ric Team Racing will arrive as the defending LMP2 SportsCar champion, Vision 1 Motorsports as back-to-back Endurance Cup champion, and Paul Botting Motorsport as the hottest late-season winner after back-to-back victories. Fury Simsport, Flight Level Racing, Grow Racing Team and Old Dogs Racing all leave Road Atlanta with pace to build on, but also with clear lessons from a finale where traffic, rain and discipline decided as much as speed.
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