In addition to Porsche Penske Motorsport committing to the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in GTP, two Ferrari GT customer teams are among the latest to confirm plans to race next year in the GTD category.
Inception Racing will return for its sixth season in GTD next year, with drivers Brendan Iribe, Frederik Schandorff, and Ollie Millroy confirmed as its 2026 driver line-up. Iribe and Schandorff will drive the full season in the No. 70 Ferrari 296 GT3, while Millroy will return in his role as the Michelin Endurance Cup driver in IMSA’s five long-distance races. Their fourth driver for the 2026 Rolex 24 At Daytona will be announced later.
Following a mid-season change from McLaren to Ferrari in 2024, Inception Racing has had a productive first full season with the 296 GT3, in which the team finally took its first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – and got to keep it. Inception Racing looked as if it had won the 2022 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course before the team was stripped of victory when its car was found to be 2kg underweight.
Inception and its drivers currently lead the GTD Michelin Endurance Cup standings going into the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, with their win at the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis, a second-place finish at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, and fourth at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Iribe is also competing for the 2025 Bob Akin Award, given to the top Bronze driver in IMSA’s GTD category. The Akin Award winner will receive an invitation to the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours. Iribe, who won the 2023 Akin Award and then won LMGT3 Pole Position at Le Mans in 2024, is currently tied with 2024 Akin Award winner Orey Fidani of AWA. Whoever finishes first between them at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will win the award.
Conquest Racing and driver Manny Franco will return for the 2026 season, their third year of GTD competition. Franco’s co-drivers for 2026 will be announced later.
The duo of Franco and Daniel Serra have already scored three podiums in the No. 34 Ferrari. Third-place finishes at Laguna Seca, Road America, and Indianapolis have them seventh in the GTD Drivers’ Championship heading into Petit Le Mans, which Conquest and Franco won last year.
That was Conquest’s first IMSA win since it returned to the series after a 12-year absence from the top levels of North American sports car racing.
“I’m proud of everything I have accomplished this year,” said Franco. “This season has been an incredible learning experience. I’ve grown a lot as a driver, my stints have become stronger, my lap times more consistent, and our overall performance has continued to build race after race. Competing in IMSA means constantly evolving, and I’m proud of the progress we’ve made together as a team. I’m really looking forward to carrying that growth into 2026 and pushing for even greater results with Conquest Racing.”
“Our team has taken important steps forward in 2025, both in performance and consistency,” said Team Owner Eric Bachelart. “We have learned a lot, and we are ready to apply those lessons to our 2026 season. With Manny continuing to lead our efforts, and the strength of the Ferrari 296 GT3, we’re confident that next season will be another step toward establishing Conquest Racing as a regular podium contender in IMSA.”
Both teams are expected to upgrade to the Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, which makes its racing debut in 2026.
Over in a growing LMP2 class, Era Motorsport has confirmed its 2026 entry with the No. 18 ORECA 07-Gibson.
The 2021 and 2024 Rolex 24 class-winning team has three top-five finishes this year: Fourth at Daytona and Watkins Glen, and fifth at Road America. First-year LMP2 Bronze driver Tobias Lütke has anchored the No. 18 car for most races – aside from CTMP, where he was replaced by Canadian Travis Hill.
David Heinemeier Hansson, Ryan Dalziel, Paul-Loup Chatin, Kakunoshin Ohta, and Oliver Jarvis have also driven for the team throughout the season.
The complete 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entry list is expected to be published on Thursday during the annual State of the Series press conference at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.