The #32 Wastegate Racing Ferrari 499P won the GTP class at Petit Le Mans and, with it, the 2026 VSCA Endurance Cup, completing a title swing that did not fully arrive until the final race of the championship.
Niclas Pedersen, Jason Birnie and Selena Ward brought the Ferrari home first at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after 372 laps, ahead of the #20 Bravo Snow Schatten Esports BMW and the #51 World Of SimRacing Team Cadillac. The result lifted Wastegate Racing to 42 points, level with the #12 Delta Racing BMW M Hybrid V8 but ahead on the tie-breaker.
Wastegate Racing Wins the Endurance Cup on a Tie-Breaker
The Endurance Cup title was decided only by the five races that counted toward the 2026 VSCA Endurance Cup: Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America and Road Atlanta. Wastegate Racing did not lead the standings after any of the first four rounds, but it led when it mattered after the fifth.
Delta Racing’s #12 BMW had controlled the table from Daytona through Road America. It arrived at Petit Le Mans three points clear of the #32 Ferrari, then finished ninth in GTP after a bruising finale that included contact, penalties and repair stops. The #20 Bravo Snow Schatten Esports BMW, which started from pole at Road Atlanta and finished second, moved up to third in the final standings on 40 points, two behind the tied leaders.
Behind them, the #7 VSR Competición Porsche dropped to fourth with 36 points, while the #51 World Of SimRacing Team Cadillac moved to fifth on 35 after completing the Petit Le Mans podium.
A Championship Built on Podiums Before the Breakthrough
Wastegate’s Endurance Cup began from the front at the Maconi Setup Shop 24 Hours of Daytona, where the #32 Ferrari started first in GTP, finished third overall and third in class, and led 254 laps. Jason Birnie, Kyle Birnie, Niclas Pedersen and Selena Ward opened the campaign with 12 points, two behind the early-leading #12 Delta Racing BMW and one behind the #51 Cadillac.
At Sebring, the Ferrari started seventh and again finished third, one lap down, with 22 laps led. That result moved Wastegate from third to second in the standings on 22 points, trimming the gap to the #12 BMW to a single point.
The first win came at the Abruzzi Six Hours of the Glen. Kyle Birnie, Pedersen and Ward started third at Watkins Glen, finished first overall and first in GTP, and led 26 laps. Even that victory was not enough to take the lead in the Endurance Cup, with Delta still one point ahead after three rounds.
Road America was the campaign’s low point. The #32 started third but finished 11th, one lap down, with no laps led. It was Wastegate’s worst finish of the five-race Endurance Cup run and left the Ferrari second in the standings, now three points behind the #12 BMW heading to Road Atlanta.
Road Atlanta Finale Produces Rain, Records and Disorder
Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta was not a clean sprint to a title. The 2.54-mile, 12-turn circuit in Braselton delivered a chaotic finale, with rain showers in the middle portion of the race creating near-zero visibility and a slick, dirty racing line. The record-setting 13 full-course yellows accounted for 4 hours and 29 minutes under caution, and technical issues with the full-course yellow system added another layer of confusion.
The first full-course yellow came inside the opening hour, with the restart just after the one-hour mark. From there, the race repeatedly broke its rhythm: cautions arrived around the 80-minute mark, before the three-hour mark, shortly after three hours, just past four hours, near the five-hour mark, and again through the sixth, seventh and eighth hours. The final sequence featured repeated interruptions around the eight-and-a-half-hour mark before racing resumed for the run to the flag.
There were 27 GTP lead changes. The #20 Bravo Snow Schatten Esports BMW led first from pole with Thiago Mello, while the #21 Delta Racing BMW led a race-high 142 laps. The #20 BMW led 73 laps, the #7 VSR Competición Porsche led 50, the #55 PAX Simsport Porsche led 23, and Wastegate’s Ferrari led 20.
Wastegate Recovers From Chicane Contact and Mid-Race Penalties
The #32 Ferrari started sixth at Road Atlanta and had to recover more than once. Around the four-hour mark, contact involving the #32 Ferrari and a GT car at the exit of the chicane sent Wastegate into a spin. Race Control later issued a 95-second post-race penalty to the #24 Grow Racing Team Porsche for incident responsibility in that incident.
Selena Ward later put Wastegate into the lead under caution just after the five-hour mark, gaining track position during a full-course yellow cycle. A warning followed for the #32 Ferrari for full-course yellow car contact at Turn 9, and shortly after the restart the Ferrari had to serve a drive-through for too many incident points, dropping from the lead group.
Ward said the key was restraint rather than heroics. “It was just a simple approach of mitigating mistakes,” she said. “The track conditions made it difficult to see, so I relied on my teammates to spot and I did not make any overly aggressive moves. We were fortunate to stay out under a caution or two, which gave us track position, and I felt confident in the car in the wet conditions.”
The Ferrari was delayed again in the seventh hour when contact involving the #32, the #20 Bravo Snow Schatten Esports BMW and the #26 Ignium Motorsport BMW cost Wastegate positions. The #20 BMW received a 35-second post-race penalty for incident responsibility at Turn 6, while its appeal pointed to treacherous track conditions and early braking by the GT car ahead. The Race Stewards’ post-race decisions left the penalty listed.
Delta Racing’s Lead Slips Away Late
The title fight tilted heavily when the #12 Delta Racing BMW began losing time in the second half. A 35-second post-race penalty was issued to André Vitor Dias for incident responsibility with car contact at Turn 2, after contact with the #62 Paul Botting Motorsport Acura just after the six-hour mark.
Delta’s appeal argued that the #62 was rejoining from pit lane in poor visibility, several laps down and moving onto the racing line while the #12 was in an active position fight. The stewards’ decision remained part of the post-race file, and the #12 later suffered further delays, including black flags, pit stops and repairs during the late caution sequence.
When the #12 BMW fell multiple laps down after trouble around the eight-and-a-half-hour mark, Wastegate’s approach changed. Kyle Birnie, who was part of the Endurance Cup campaign but was unable to race the finale after being left too sore from a road accident in California earlier in the week, described the closing mindset plainly.
“The race was a wave of emotions and a roller coaster,” Kyle Birnie said. “We started strong, fell back in the middle of the race, but bounced back and let the race come to us. We had some luck on our side too, as our competition had their own struggles and wrecks. Once we realized it was fully ours to lose, we all agreed: no risks, no pushing. If others wanted to be aggressive, just give it to them. All we needed was to bring the car home.”
Pedersen Becomes VSCA’s Lone Winningest Driver
For Pedersen, the Petit Le Mans victory was his 11th career VSCA win, moving him clear of Álvaro Martínez as the lone winningest driver in series history. It was also Wastegate Racing’s sixth VSCA win across all classes.
“We came into this race knowing we were on the back foot, but also confident that if we kept our nose clean and executed well, we would have a chance,” Pedersen said. “The race itself was up and down, but in the last hours, after our main competition had some issues, we focused on bringing the car home in one piece.”
Pedersen also credited the wider group around the #32 Ferrari. “It was an amazing season overall for both cars,” he said. “Of course we had some issues along the way, but our way of going racing and our mentality brought us into a position to compete, which shows we are doing the right things. A big shout out to my teammates. It was a well-executed season overall, and they were there to keep spirits high even in the challenging moments.”
The Numbers Behind the No. 32 Ferrari’s Title
Across the five-race 2026 VSCA Endurance Cup campaign, Wastegate Racing contested all five races, scored two class wins, four podiums, four top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes. Its best result was first and its worst was 11th, with an average starting position of 4.0 and an average finishing position of 3.8.
The #32 Ferrari had no DNFs and no disqualifications. It led 322 total laps across the Endurance Cup and held the championship lead after only one of the five rounds: the last one. Its final total was 42 points.
The entry’s incident totals by race were 12 at Daytona, 18 at Sebring, 18 at Watkins Glen, 18 at Road America and 13 at Road Atlanta. Its fastest-lap ranks were fourth at Daytona, fifth at Sebring, third at Watkins Glen, ninth at Road America and seventh at Petit Le Mans.
Pedersen raced in all five Endurance Cup rounds for the #32 Ferrari. Jason Birnie, Kyle Birnie and Ward each raced in four of the five, and all four drivers were part of the championship-winning campaign.
Ferrari 499P Claims Its First VSCA Championship
The title is Wastegate Racing’s first Endurance Cup crown in GTP. One year earlier, the team had not won an Endurance Cup race and finished fourth, 14 points behind the 2025 Endurance Cup champion #51 World Of SimRacing Team Cadillac. This time, the Ferrari 499P delivered the manufacturer’s first VSCA championship since joining the series in 2025.
Ward called it “a major honor” to share the championship with Pedersen, Kyle Birnie and Jason Birnie. “We had a really cohesive bunch,” she said. “It is even sweeter to share a championship alongside our teammates in the GT series. I am super proud of their efforts. As always, thank you to the organizers and the other competitors for all the hard work involved in making this league an enjoyable experience each and every race weekend.”
Kyle Birnie also made a point of acknowledging the opposition after a finale that turned hard on several contenders. “We want to give a big shout out to Albrecht Motorsports and BMW M Team TSR,” he said. “Both of them had remarkable seasons overall and were fierce competitors to fight with. They showed grit when things did not go their way and were respectful to us when racing. We understand how hard this must be for both of them, given even we did not want them to have the unfortunate luck they did at Petit.”
For Wastegate Racing, the 2026 VSCA Endurance Cup was won not by leading all season, but by staying close enough to strike when Road Atlanta finally broke open. In a finale of rain, cautions, penalties and battered bodywork, the #32 Ferrari was still there at the end, and that was enough to turn a season-long chase into a championship.
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