Lilou Wadoux seals IMSA Endurance Cup title with Petit Le Mans win

With a dominant victory at the IMSA season finale, the Motul Petit Le Mans, Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux sealed the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title alongside AF Corse teammates Simon Mann and Alessandro Pier Guidi, in a remarkable performance for the Frenchwoman, who also secured the GTD fastest lap of the race and becomes the first woman to win an IMSA title since 2017.

Photo credits: Michael L. Levitt

With a dominant victory at the IMSA season finale, the Motul Petit Le Mans, Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux sealed the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title alongside AF Corse teammates Simon Mann and Alessandro Pier Guidi, in a remarkable performance for the Frenchwoman, who also secured the GTD fastest lap of the race and was consistently among the fastest drivers on track. She becomes the first woman to win an IMSA title since Christina Nielsen in 2017.

Wadoux piloted the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 in the IMSA Endurance rounds, often showcasing outstanding speed but unable to capitalize until the final round due to misfortunes. Just a few weeks earlier, she had impressed with a front-row qualifying at Indianapolis, but her race ended early due to technical issues. Her best result prior to Petit Le Mans came with a top-five finish at Watkins Glen.

A dominant performance by all three drivers at the tricky Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta saw Wadoux running at the front in her opening stint and fighting back from an early penalty, setting fastest laps and then retaining the lead throughout her night stint, outpacing most of the grid. Leading at the 4-hour, 8-hour, and 10-hour marks, the team was unchallenged and secured enough points to seal the title.

Wadoux, who has also been combining a European campaign in ELMS, is currently also leading the LMGT3 standings with one round to go, with two race wins to her name. She now collects her first GTD win in North America, following her maiden IMSA victory at the 2024 Six Hours of the Glen in the LMP2 class.

The 24-year-old from Amiens is no stranger to making history, having become the first woman to ever win a race in FIA WEC at the 2023 6H of Spa, the first woman to stand on a Japanese Super GT podium in nearly 30 years, as well as having tested Hypercar machinery in two WEC rookie tests.

Coming into the iconic Petit Le Mans season finale, the #21 crew of Wadoux, Mann and Pier Guidi were tied for second in the Michelin Endurance Cup, three points behind Inception Racing. Their speed was soon clear after practice, having gone third fastest in the opening session.

On Friday, Lilou Wadoux again tackled qualifying duties in the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3. She was quickly up to speed, setting a 1:18.8 to go fourth fastest — a time that held up until the end, with Patrese taking GTD pole in the #47 Cetilar Ferrari. It would be a promising start from the second row.

Photo credits: Brandon Badraoui

Wadoux started the 10-hour race, ready to showcase her racecraft. It was a clean start for the Frenchwoman, while further down the field a massive crash unfolded mid-pack on the first lap: Manny Franco spun and was hit head-on by Iribe, with multiple cars plowing into the accident. The Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini, Gradient Racing Mustang, and Magnus Racing Aston Martin were all heavily damaged, with five cars out on the first lap. Wadoux made it cleanly through as the race went under caution.

After 20 minutes of yellow, the race went back underway — and immediately back under caution for debris, as Wadoux’s Ferrari lost the left wing mirror after a three-wide action where she had to take to the grass while pushed off track, allowing Gallagher in the #96 Turner BMW to go through. The #19 Van der Steur Aston Martin was eventually handed a penalty for the incident.

When the pits opened, Wadoux stayed out, moving up into second in GTD behind the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari. The race finally went green 40 minutes in.

Lilou was immediately quicker than GTD leader Agostini, closing on the leading Ferrari while also keeping the #023 Ferrari behind. Unfortunately, Wadoux was handed a drive-through penalty for blocking while defending her position. She served the penalty, dropping to P10 in GTD but stayed on the lead lap.

In clear air, Wadoux was quickest in class, setting a 1:20.590 — the fastest lap up to that point in the entire GTD and GTD Pro field. On a charge, she began making up places, passing Lacorte and Adelson to move into eighth. Another lap within one-tenth of her best showed her relentless pace, as she caught and overtook Montecalvo’s Lexus for seventh.

With more laps in the 1:20s, the only driver in the field at that pace, she closed a 5-second deficit, passed the #80 Lone Star Mercedes, and neutralized the effect of the drive-through, rejoining the leading GTD group after an outstanding first stint.

Photo credits: Jake Galstad

By lap 50, as the first round of pit stops began, Wadoux was back in the top three. Just as the race was about to go under full-course yellow for debris, Wadoux pitted and handed over to Simon Mann, completing a stunning opening stint.

As the pass-around procedure commenced at the end of the pit cycle, Simon Mann led GTD. With Kenton Koch’s #023 Ferrari close behind, both tried to pull away from the rest of the pack. However, another caution was called when the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes lost a wheel at the two-hour mark.

At the restart, Mann lost out to Koch but held second, maintaining a safe margin. Over the next laps, Russell Ward’s Winward Mercedes closed in, before Mann managed to pull a small gap again and settled in second.

After strong pace in the 2:21s and 2:22s throughout the third hour, Mann pitted from second, and Alessandro Pier Guidi took over the #21 Ferrari.

Shortly after, a big incident between the #021 Triarsi Ferrari and the #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 of Alvarez, who collected the spun Ferrari at Turn 5, triggered the safety car, with Pier Guidi rejoining in P5.

As other teams pitted under caution, the #21 AF Corse Ferrari emerged again in the lead, with Pier Guidi in prime position at the restart with 6h45min to go. The Italian began driving through the GTD Pro field, passing the two Multimatic Ford Mustangs and the Pfaff Lamborghini, proving to be the quickest among the Pro entries and pulling away from the GTD rivals. Over the stint, Pier Guidi extended the gap to Triarsi to over 15 seconds, also passing the AO Porsche in GTD Pro as he recorded his first lap in the 1:20s. When he handed the car back to Mann, the #21 AF Corse team held a solid lead with 5h48min to go.

Mann held the lead from Jake Walker in the #96 Turner BMW, now second in GTD but almost half a minute behind, while also pulling away from the Dragonspeed GTD Pro Ferrari. Mann’s stint was very strong; he retained the top spot while mixing with GTD Pro cars, running as high as third overall among the GT entries before pitting on lap 202 and handing back over to Lilou Wadoux with 4h45min remaining.

Wadoux soon became the first driver under the 1:20s barrier, setting a 1:19.997 and going fastest across both GTD and GTD Pro. She led comfortably but later got caught behind lapped GTD traffic, nevertheless managing the margin well. The gap was however erased when the #96 Turner BMW picked up damage after being hit by the Cetilar Ferrari, bringing out another full-course yellow with 4 hours to go.

At the restart, the #21 Ferrari rejoined behind the GTD Pro field as per class split rules, which removed her buffer. However, Wadoux quickly returned to 1:20s pace and began rebuilding her gap: soon, she was on the gearbox of the GTD Pro Multimatic Ford Mustang, trying to clear Ben Barker, navigating heavy traffic. Despite being stuck behind the #64 Mustang, her consistency allowed her to rebuild a 6-second gap to the DXDT Corvette of Alec Udell.

Photo credits: Jake Galstad

With 2h50min left, Wadoux pitted from a solid lead, having never relinquished the top spot and managing prototype traffic perfectly in the sunset conditions. Alessandro Pier Guidi returned to the car.

Pier Guidi’s out lap was strong at 1:20.2, but he was soon involved in light contact with the #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari (GTD Pro) — both cars went around but continued, and Pier Guidi retained the lead.

As dusk turned into darkness at the undulating Road Atlanta circuit, Pier Guidi held a 10-second lead after the second-placed #96 BMW was handed a drive-through penalty for too many crew members over the wall. His pace remained highly competitive, and with several more laps in the 1:20s, Pier Guidi re-established a 10-second advantage over the #023 Triarsi Ferrari. Over the stint, he climbed through the GTD Pro field again, putting three cars between himself and the closest class rival at the 8-hour mark, securing crucial Michelin Endurance Cup points.

On lap 321, Pier Guidi pitted, and Simon Mann got back behind the wheel. Mann lost the lead to Robby Foley’s BMW, who would have to stop again, and later dropped to third as James Calado moved into second. As Foley pitted, Mann followed Calado within two seconds for the rest of the stint, both running strong laps and pulling further away from the rest of the GTD field.

With one hour to go, Mann pitted, and Pier Guidi climbed back in for the final run. He rejoined in the lead, with Calado’s #023 Triarsi Ferrari now a couple of seconds behind. The Ferrari factory driver managed the gap carefully, extending it to four seconds, though Calado closed back in to just one second with 30 minutes to go. Pier Guidi responded with several more laps in the 1:20s, and after a dominant performance from the AF Corse trio, crossed the line as GTD winners.

After securing her first IMSA win at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen two years ago in LMP2, Lilou Wadoux therefore adds another prestigious success to her burgeoning career, claiming victory in the Motul Petit Le Mans and securing the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup title after a superbly dominant final race.

The French driver contribution was crucial, especially in her opening stint, where she recovered brilliantly from a penalty and brought the car back into the lead group, and in her second stint, where she set the fastest lap of the race, which held for the entire 10 hours, and never lost the lead.

She becomes the first female IMSA champion since Christina Nielsen in 2017, marking her first GT3 title.

Photo credits: Michael L. Levitt