Verstappen Sim Racing’s #33 BMW M Hybrid V8 won the third round of the 2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship at Watkins Glen International on 25 October, converting a third-place start into victory after a technical problem eliminated the leading #8 Grid-and-Go eSports Aston Martin Valkyrie from contention.
Enzo Bonito and Sam Kuitert headed the #7 Grid-and-Go Aston Martin of Darius Andrei and Isaac Phelps, while Chris Lulham and Edoardo Leo completed the GTP podium in the sister #1 BMW M Verstappen Sim Racing entry.
Grid-and-Go had locked out the front row, with the #7 on pole ahead of the #8 driven by Jake Denehan and Sean D Campbell. Bonito moved the #33 BMW into second at the start, but Grid-and-Go subsequently took control through its first pit-stop strategy.
Undercut puts #8 in control before late technical issue
Campbell brought the #8 in early during the opening GTP pit cycle for a short fuel fill. The undercut moved the Aston Martin ahead of its sister car and the two Verstappen Sim Racing BMWs once the stops had played out.
The #33 followed a contrasting strategy, taking more fuel earlier to shorten its final stop. That brought Kuitert back into contention, although the BMW remained behind Denehan’s #8 after the last scheduled stops.
The complexion of the race changed with roughly 20 minutes remaining when the #8 stopped off the circuit while holding the net lead. A technical issue prevented Denehan from continuing, ending Grid-and-Go’s hopes of victory.
Kuitert assumed the lead and controlled the remaining laps. The #7 held off Lulham in the closing stages to deny Verstappen Sim Racing a one-two finish.
“For us, from there on it was just, ‘Don’t do anything stupid, bring the car home,’” said Bonito. “We were really fast today. I think we saw that when we had some clean air. But when you’re just stuck behind people, it’s tough to overtake here.”
Bonito added that the result had kept the team’s championship ambitions alive with two rounds remaining: “Everything can still happen. It’s two races to go. We do believe all the time. It’s one small mistake with the traffic and you can get a drive-through, and that pretty much destroys your championship hopes.”
The championship-leading #31 Bleu Mercure Esport Acura ARX-06 demonstrated that risk when it received a late drive-through for contact with the #102 CSM Esports Aston Martin. After dropping outside the top 10, the Acura recovered to fifth and retained the GTP points lead.
P1Sim Pro Team finished fourth with its #98 Cadillac V-Series.R. The #91 Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team entry recovered from 17th on the grid and an early drive-through to take seventh.
Fuel saving secures second straight GTD win
Thibaut Prévot and Vasilios Beletsiotis claimed GTD victory for Bleu Mercure Esport in the #132 Porsche 911 GT3 R, winning from third on the class grid. They beat the #171 BMW M Team MOUZ entry of Maximilian Benecke and Moritz Löhner by approximately 1.2 seconds. Pole-sitting BS+TURNER completed the podium with its #196 BMW.
The #196 led most of the opening stint before the #132 moved ahead as traffic began to influence the contest. Bleu Mercure extended its opening stint and later built an advantage through the pit sequence, but an early final stop left the Porsche needing to conserve fuel to the finish.
Löhner closed the gap during the final stint but ran out of laps. Prévot said the #132 had held an advantage of around five seconds after its last stop before fuel saving brought the pursuing BMW back into contention.
“We had to manage the fuel a lot, so we lost quite some time, and in the end we made it with almost no fuel to spare,” said Prévot.
The victory was the #132 Porsche’s second in succession after its Sebring success, making it the season’s first repeat winner in either class and preserving its lead in the GTD standings. BMW M Team MOUZ’s second place moved the #171 from fifth to third in the championship.
Round 4 will take place at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in two weeks. It will be the final 2-hour 40-minute race before the four-hour season finale at Daytona.
