DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Michael Cooper took charge of the Grand Sport class in the final stages of the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona Int’l Speedway to claim overall victory in the four-hour opening round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Cooper guided the No. 44 Accelerating Performance McLaren Artura GT4 from fifth to first in the closing 20 minutes, executing a series of clean passes to seize the lead before maintaining an advantage of 0.327 seconds over Jan Heylen (No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) at the checkered flag.
Moisey Uretsky drove a lengthy two-hour, 40-minute opening stint prior to handing the McLaren to Cooper in eighth place. Cooper, who has extensive ties to McLaren, enjoyed coming to grips with the latest evolution of the Artura as he diced with Heylen and Billy Johnson, who eventually finished third in the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 he shared with Robert Michaelian.
Leader Heylen allowed the front end of his Porsche to drift slightly wide at the apex of Turn 7, the corner that takes the cars from the infield section of Daytona International Speedway onto the iconic banking between Turns 1 and 2 of the oval with about seven minutes on the clock. The McLaren drew level on the back stretch and eased in front entering the Le Mans chicane.
Heylen, who co-drove with Luca Mars, was unable to pressure Cooper into a mistake in the final three laps, allowing Cooper and Uretsky to claim their first race win in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition. It was McLaren’s first win at Daytona since 2021. Additionally, the rebranded team (previously Baby Bull Racing) won on debut with the McLaren, after campaigning the Porsche in previous seasons.
“That was a lot of fun,” said Cooper, who also has a Rolex 24 At Daytona win on his résumé (2022, Le Mans Prototype 3 class with Riley). “I drove the previous version of the McLaren, so this felt very familiar. It’s an amazing GT4 car and all the guys did an incredible job.
“Moisey ran the first couple stints, way longer than we needed him to, and he handed me over a clean car that I was able to fight with Jan and Billy and take it to the front. Right after I passed Jan, we both just sailed it into (Le Mans) and sailed it into Turn 1 a couple times, using everything up and trying to get away.”
Uretsky added, “Cooper brought it home. The Porsche is a fast car, but Cooper was smart about it, and he picked the right moment. I knew once he had the lead, he wasn’t going to give it up.”
Heylen, a former GS class champion in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, looked to be in solid shape until Cooper made his charge as the race crept into twilight on Daytona’s 3.56-mile road course.
“It’s tough to be this close and then lose it in the last two or three laps,” Heylen said. “Maybe I could have been a bit more aggressive early on, but they were the better car today – it’s as simple as that.”
Sam Paley and Jenson Altzman (No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing with Aerosport Ford Mustang GT4) finished fourth, while Spencer Pumpelly, Andy Lally, and Thomas Collingwood rallied to claim fifth in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS.
With five straight drivers’ and six straight Touring Car manufacturer championships in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian and Hyundai has had little left to achieve in the category.
However, one “white whale” that has eluded the erstwhile dominant force of the class was a win at Daytona Int’l Speedway. At long last Friday, a BHA Hyundai drove into victory lane.
Team co-owner Bryan Herta, whose team has won two Indianapolis 500s in addition to all his IMSA accolades, reflected on adding this win at one of North America’s most special racing venues.
“This place is amazing and has so much history, so to win here is special,” Herta said. “You know, this place and Indianapolis Motor Speedway are ‘cathedrals of speed’ in our sport. This one has eluded us, so I’m very proud to get it.”
Denis Dupont and Preston Brown were the lucky pair who achieved the feat for the team, driving the No. 76 Hyundai Elantra N TCR from ninth to the win and played the better pit strategy game to leapfrog the otherwise pace-setting sister car driven by Bryson Morris and Mark Wilkins.
Morris qualified on pole in the No. 33 Hyundai and led a race-high 48 of 109 laps in class, but fell behind the No. 76 car as the race progressed past the final pit stop sequence. Wilkins pushed Dupont hard enough in the finish and made one final passing attempt high in the tri-oval on the final lap, only to come up short by just 0.067 of a second.
The win is the second for both Dupont and Brown in Michelin Pilot Challenge action and coincidentally, their second straight four-hour race win in the series. The pair won their first race together at last June’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Four Hours of Mid-Ohio, courtesy of an intentional fuel-saving final stint.
“It was a fight,” Dupont said. “(Wilkins) was in the draft, he was fast. I had to close the door sometimes and sometimes we had traffic. He was super close on the finish line, but we held him off.”
Brown added, “It’s about as special as you can get.”
Behind the pair of Hyundais, Audi completed the podium with Ryan Eversley and IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship recipient Celso Neto sharing the No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
