IMSA Esports Global Championship: Coanda dominates at Sebring

Both Porsche Coanda and Coanda Esports dominated their GTP and GTD classes, respectively, in the Sunshine State. 

Round 2 of the 2025 IMSA Esports Global Championship had plenty of similarities to the first event, featuring the same scintillating GTP and GTD traffic (though that changes for next week’s round); the same 160-minute race; and even the same pole-sitting teams in both classes, albeit with different drivers.

Elvis Rankin was fastest overall, taking over the #91 car with Charlie Collins for the rest of the season, and Tristan Iglesias was fastest in GTD, just ahead of round one’s fastest driver, Alejandro Sanchez. 

Perhaps against expectations, all 53 cars (including real-world Daytona 24 winner Daniel Morad’s wildcard entry) made it through the first lap, and only on lap two did some GTDs trip over one another. Coanda Esports led away a 1-2 there, while Team Redline was lined up second and third in GTP. 

Unlike at Road Atlanta, the leading Porsche Coanda GTP made it through traffic for the first time to the first pit stops with a three-second advantage, while their teammates had extended the gap to five seconds. Possibly due to hotter-than-expected weather conditions, Drago Racing and BS+ Competition were on a fuel-saving strategy, aiming to cut out a stop compared to the rest. 

This allowed them to lead just before their second and final stop of the day, although they wouldn’t keep this after everyone else’s last stops. Drago was in second, though, looking to maintain at least a podium position.

Diogo Pinto flew past Atte Kauppinen at Tower corner with lots of time to spare, but Gustavo Ariel in the other Redline BMW caught up with just seven minutes to spare. He attempted a move at Cunningham corner two laps in a row, but on the second occasion, he was to the inside, and this was enough to seal the pass.  

Drago’s adventurous strategy would only get its car to fourth in the end, behind the Redline cars and the lead Porsche Coanda car, which came home comfortably for the win. Charlie Collins, who brought the car home, didn’t have much to do other than navigate traffic after the work of Rankin in the first half of the race.

At the finish in GTD, the two Coanda Corvettes, which were back together after being separated in the middle of the race, were finally freed by their respective teams to battle for the win on the last lap. Xander Reed defended to the inside of the final corner of the race from Michael Janney, who got all the way around the outside. The run wasn’;t quite good enough, however, and he lost out in the photo finish. 

It’s now two out of two for Reed and teammate Alejandro Sanchez, whose delight was obvious as he watched his co-drover bring it home. The other teams, both in GTP and GTD, will have to go back to the drawing board for next week’s races, after such a crushing performance from Coanda at Sebring.

And the next round is also a first for the series, as both GTD and GTP races will happen separately, at VIR and Long Beach, respectively, for 80-minute battles. 

IMSA Esports Global Championship 2025 Race 2 results

GTP

1. #91 Porsche Coanda
2. #33 BMW M Team Redline
3. #34 Team Redline
4. #69 Drago Racing
5. #89 BMW M BS+COMPETITION

GTD

1. #181 Coanda Esports
2. #118 Coanda Esports
3. #110 Mahle Racing Team
4. #197 Aditis Racing by WSR
5. #177 EMM Esports

Images courtesy of iRacing