QUALIFYING REPORT: 2025 IMSA Detroit Grand Prix

German Teams Face Uphill Battle in GTP and GTD Pro

The IMSA Chevrolet Detroit SportsCar Classic opened with a tight qualifying session on Friday. Both the GTP and GTD Pro grids saw fierce competition, with the German marques, Porsche, BMW, and the customer-run AO Racing Porsche hoping for better fortunes in the race than the qualifying timesheets suggested.

GTP Class: BMW Shows Speed, Porsche Looks to Strategy

BMW M Team RLL made the strongest impression among the German manufacturers in the top prototype class. Sheldon van der Linde put the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 on the second row, qualifying third with a time of 1:06.078. Teammate Dries Vanthoor followed close behind in the #24, fourth on the grid at 1:06.140, despite a momentary off into the Turn 1 runoff. Both drivers briefly held the fastest lap at points in the session, underscoring BMW’s pace on the tricky Detroit streets.

For Porsche Penske Motorsport, Friday proved challenging. Matt Campbell qualified fifth in the #6 Porsche 963 (1:06.496), with Nick Tandy sixth in the #7 (1:06.626). Tandy, who had lost his best lap earlier in the day after causing a red flag in practice, struggled to bring the tyres up to temperature in the cooler conditions. Team Executive Director Jonathan Diuguid explained, ‘We’re a little off the pace over one lap, but in the second practice during the heat of the day, we saw we were better over the longer distance.’ The team hopes to use strategy and race pace to move forward on Saturday.

The independent JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 qualified tenth with Gianmaria Bruni at the wheel (1:07.682). Bruni reported the team had been ‘chasing the right setup since this morning’, making changes after FP1 that worked better, but further adjustments for qualifying ‘went in the wrong direction’. More tweaks are planned ahead of the race.

Acura, not a German brand, locked out the front row, so the battle for top honours will be hard-fought for the German entries.

Porsche GTP Qualifying Quotes

• Matt Campbell (No. 6 Porsche 963): ‘Fifth place is a pretty solid qualifying result for us in our number 6 car, but we can’t get to the front with outright speed this weekend, so hopefully we can gain the edge in tomorrow’s race with strategy. It’s my first time racing here on the streets of Detroit, a very interesting but also challenging street circuit: narrow and quite slow through the hairpins.’
• Nick Tandy (No. 7 Porsche 963): ‘Because of a change in weather, the track temperature dropped. We struggled a lot to get the tyres up to temperature during the short qualifying session. Overall, the day has been good. The Porsche is running nicely, and the team has done a great job. We have high hopes for tomorrow.’

GTD Pro: AO Racing Porsche Caught Out, BMWs Promoted

In GTD Pro, the AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (the brightly-liveried “Roxy”) of Klaus Bachler and Laurin Heinrich will start eighth in class after a frustrating session disrupted by a red flag. Bachler described the timing as ‘not perfect’, with the tyres needing another lap or two to reach their peak.

The two Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVOs benefited from a penalty for a rival, promoting the #1 (Neil Verhagen) to third and the #48 (Dan Harper) to fourth in class. Harper had been among the early pace-setters before the interruption, while Verhagen’s steady run put the team in a strong spot for the race.

Ford locked out the front row, but both German brands have reason for optimism, with BMW, particularly, showing a well-sorted package.

GTD Pro Qualifying Notes

• Klaus Bachler (No. 77 AO Racing Porsche): ‘The qualifying didn’t really go perfectly for us. When the red flag came out, our tyres weren’t 100 per cent ready—they needed another lap or two to reach their ideal temperature. But it is what it is, there’s nothing we can do now. We’re focusing on tomorrow and will do the best we can in the race.’

Technical Trends and Challenges

Track conditions caught several teams out, with ‘greasy’ tarmac left over from IndyCar rubber and a drop in temperature late in the day. Tyre warm-up proved crucial, an issue particularly acute on a street circuit like Detroit.

Porsche and BMW ran lengthy practice sessions, gathering as much data as possible for race setup. With overtaking opportunities at a premium and strategy likely to play a role, both camps are banking on consistency over long runs.

Absent Brands: Audi and Mercedes-AMG

Neither Audi nor Mercedes-AMG fielded cars in GTP or GTD Pro at Detroit. Both brands have shifted their factory attention elsewhere, though privateer and GT3 programmes remain important parts of their global strategy.

What to Watch on Race Day

• Porsche’s hopes will depend on long-run pace and clever strategy.
• BMW starts closer to the front and could challenge the Acuras if the race comes to them.
• Watch for the AO Racing Porsche in GTD Pro as they look to limit the points loss and defend their championship lead.
• Ford’s home race advantage is clear, but street circuit chaos often throws up surprises.

The Chevrolet Detroit SportsCar Classic goes green on Saturday, with live coverage available outside North America via IMSA.tv and YouTube.