IMSA VP Challenge: Top-5 finish for Courtney Crone on GT4 debut at Daytona International Speedway

Courtney Crone displayed her adaptability by scoring a top-5 finish in wet conditions in the IMSA VP Sportscar Challenge, where the former F1 Academy driver was a consistent frontrunner in the GSX class on her return to the IMSA paddock at Daytona.

Photo credits: Jake Galstad

Courtney Crone displayed her adaptability by scoring a top-5 finish in wet conditions in the IMSA VP Sportscar Challenge. Driving for Peregrine Racing in a BMW M4 GT4 machine, the former F1 Academy driver was a consistent frontrunner in the GSX class on her return to the IMSA paddock.

Crone was running in fifth in lap one, before late race contact resulted in a seventh-place result. A change of conditions for race two saw Crone drive superbly in the wet as she took the chequered flag in fourth following a late-race restart.

After a productive campaign racing in F1 Academy in 2025, Crone made the switch back to closed cockpit racing for the upcoming season. Joining established squad Peregrine Racing, the American driver stepped into their BMW M4 GT4 in the GSX class of the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge.

Crone made her debut on the IMSA package back in 2021 where she raced in the IMSA Prototype Challenge for Forty7 Motorsports, finishing eighth in the championship. Crone completed five further races in 2022 as she secured a top-5 overall result, before improving to fourth the following season with six podium finishes to her name.

After a single appearance in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America in 2024, Crone was awarded a wild card to join the F1 Academy grid at the conclusion of the season. The American racer represented Haas in 2025 as she embarked on a full season, achieving a best result of seventh position on the streets of Las Vegas.

Crone was now looking to draw upon her past experiences to fight for honours within the highly competitive, multi-class IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge. The 2026 calendar sees the drivers visit six iconic circuits across North America with the pair of 45-minute races providing generous track time to those looking to establish a career in endurance racing. 

With limited experience of GT4 machinery ahead of the weekend, Crone used the opening practice sessions to familiarise herself with the car, while reacquainting with the legendary Daytona International Speedway. Crone banked vital experience on her way to an eighth-place result with a fastest lap of a 1:56.282 in the first session on Friday. 

Session two was held later that day and Crone found further improvements while completing a total of 19 laps. Setting a quickest time of a 1:55.527, the Peregrine Racing driver was fourth fastest and just one tenth away from second place in the GSX class. 

Photo credits: Jake Galstad

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with the fifteen-minute session reserved exclusively for GSX cars running uninterrupted. Crone displayed strong speed through the first sector and this allowed her to set a quickest time of a 1:55.045 which was fast enough for fifth position in the competitive GSX class.

For her debut GT4 race, Crone lined up on the third row of the grid for Saturday afternoon’s contest. It was an extremely confident start for Courtney who made a superb move to the inside of turn one to immediately move into third within the GSX class. Although Ismaeel Ellahi fought back to drop Crone to fourth by the end of lap one, the Peregrine Racing driver remained in podium contention in the early stages.

After settling into fourth position, both Sean Quinlan and Jim Jonsin began using the powerful slipstream effect to close in. On lap four, Quinlan made the move in his Stephen Cameron Racing prepared Ford Mustang GT4. Now in fifth spot, Crone was required to defend from Jonsin who was less than half a second behind.

On lap six, Crone responded with a personal best time and she was doing a nice job to remain in contention with Bronze Cup leader Quinlan who was now offering her a useful slipstream on the banked oval. After resisting a spell of pressure, Jonsin overtook Crone on lap 10, however the three-car battle for fourth position remained close as the race passed the halfway mark. 

Crone was learning with each passing lap and a top-5 result remained a realistic possibility as the LMP3 traffic lapped the GSX machines for a second time. On lap 17, a technical issue brought Jonsin into the pits with Crone moving back up to fifth position. After closing to within a quarter of a second of Quinlan, the pair began to battle and this brought fellow debutant Cecilia Rabelo into contention.

With just two laps remaining, Rabelo had joined the duo in the battle for fourth position and the Brazilian racer was looking to make her momentum count. However, Rabelo made contact with Crone at the International Horseshoe and this dropped the Peregrine Racing driver down to eighth position.

Courtney was able to continue and almost drew level with Rafael Martinez on the final lap, before taking the chequered flag in eighth. Rabelo was subsequently awarded a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility and therefore Crone finished the opening race of the season in seventh position within GSX. 

Photo credits: Jake Galstad

For race two of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, the conditions had changed at Daytona International Speedway with all drivers fitting the wet tyres. With the track damp and further rain forecast, an additional pace lap was completed behind the safety car before the green flag was displayed. A technical issue for Westin Workman during the second pace lap promoted Crone to fourth as the racing got underway.

The Peregrine Racing driver looked to the outside of turn one and maintained her fourth position in the opening stages. After completing the first green flag lap in fourth, Workman quickly fought back and this dropped Courtney to fifth at the conclusion of lap three. Directly behind, Jim Jonsin received a ten-second penalty for a false start and therefore Crone had further breathing space over the Goldcrest Motorsports driver. 

On lap six, a puncture for Ismaeel Ellahi saw the debutant spin on the banking and this elevated Crone back into fourth as Ellahi brought his CSM machine into the pits. Jon Brel had now caught Jonsin and after a brief duel, Brel went off-track and Crone’s margin was therefore extended further. Personal best times on laps 10 and 11 strengthened Courtney’s position as she was showing excellent speed through the first sector in particular.

After Jonsin cut the margin to just half a second through traffic on lap 15, his challenge was halted as the race entered a full course yellow period after Brady Golan hit the barrier at the International Horseshoe. Following the clearance of debris from the circuit, the race resumed for one final lap with Crone in fourth position.

The Peregrine Racing driver did a superb job to negotiate a number of LMP3 class machines on the final lap, securing a strong fourth-place finish on her return to the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge. 

Crone drove maturely throughout the event and was unfortunate not to come away with two top-5 results.

Nonetheless, her speed in both wet and dry conditions was excellent as she adapted well to a new class of car. The next round of the IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge takes place at Circuit of the Americas, in support of the NASCAR Cup Series, on the weekend of February 27^th/28^th