| First Year Ends on a High for IMSA’s Newest OEM October 27, 2025By Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service |
| DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Touring Car (TCR) domain of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge has frequently seen Hyundai at the front of the field, with Audi and Honda doing their best to intervene. As the 2025 season concluded, however, it was IMSA’s 18th and newest manufacturer – Cupra – which ended the year out front. Announced at the 2024 IMSA season finale weekend at Motul Petit Le Mans, Cupra fought through inevitable first-year challenges in the opening few races of 2025. At the halfway point, Gou Racing’s father-and-son pair of Eduardo and Eddie Gou took their No. 55 Cupra Leon VZ TCR to an apparent first podium finish at the fifth round at Watkins Glen International’s LP Building Solutions 120. Although a technical infringement found in post-race inspection removed the would-be podium, the promise was evident. Flash forward to August and both the number of Cupras in the paddock and its performance parameters on track changed. The TCR race-winning Victor Gonzalez Racing Team switched from Hyundai to Cupra with one of its two cars heading into the Road America weekend in August. Pace was immediately on display at both Road America and particularly VIRginia International Raceway. Eric Powell qualified the No. 99 VGRT Cupra second at VIR, moved into the lead on the opening lap and led the first 17 laps. But contact between two Grand Sport (GS) cars saw them ricochet into Powell into Turn 1, ending their race and chances. It marked the second race in a row where early-race pace dissolved into a damaged race car. The agony came to an end in Indianapolis when Powell and Tyler Gonzalez – a winner in multiple other IMSA-sanctioned championships but not in Michelin Pilot Challenge – broke through for their first of two wins in a row to cap the season. The strong finish to the season propelled them up to fifth in the championship, only 10 points removed from fourth. In the last two races, Powell and Gonzalez led 59 percent of the laps (88 of 148 in total, split 26 of 71 laps at Indianapolis, 62 of 77 at Michelin Raceway) and showed significant pace across practice, qualifying and race pace – although the car did not have the fastest race lap at Michelin Raceway. Powell and Gonzalez also had back-to-back runner-up finishes at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with their Hyundai Elantra N TCR before VGRT switched to the Cupra. For good measure, Cupra’s first team – the Gous – got their podium after all at VIR with a third-place finish. |
| Team principal Victor Gonzalez reflected on the journey, which has seen his team shift from Honda to Hyundai to now Cupra in recent years, end with the back-to-back triumph. “I’m over the moon right now, I’m so happy for my guys, you know?” he said. “Because we finished the season with a win. That shows that the gamble I took, it paid off. I have to say thanks to Cupra for trusting us. Without them when we did the change (from Hyundai), we couldn’t be here, and I’m so stoked. I’m really happy for Tyler, for Eric, and especially my guys.” Powell’s been working to gain a greater foothold in the IMSA paddock for several seasons so the elation and relief that came with his first win at Indianapolis was palpable. “Getting that first Michelin Pilot Challenge win is so special for me and means a lot,” he said. “But it means a lot more to the team. These guys have been at it for a long time, and, they have had worked a lot harder than they should have recently. “Arguably, we should have been up here a little sooner. They had to rebuild the car a couple times. But it’s just massive kudos to them. Yeah, it means a lot for everybody. First win in North America for Cupra, first one for a team. First one for both of us in this championship as well. I almost screwed it all up. I made a rookie mistake early in the race and collected a penalty and but thank goodness Tyler had the pace to come back and was able to make up for that.” Powell, a touring car veteran, noted he struggled a bit in the Hyundai but felt the Cupra drove more “like he wanted it to drive.” He said they’ve been very good on corner entry. Gonzalez, too, has progressed from a podium-finishing teenager in his early Michelin Pilot Challenge days since late 2020 driving both iterations of Hyundais – the Veloster and the Elantra – and now the Cupra. He’s been a regular Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin race winner and also won a Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race at Watkins Glen International. He defended against a hard-charging Denis Dupont in one of Bryan Herta Autosport’s Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the second straight win. “We had to have something at the end and just saved as much time as possible in case there was a late race yellow, which there wasn’t,” Tyler Gonzalez said. “So, whenever the crew was telling me that the gap was closing, I was able to pop off a couple good laps here and there. I think I did two pretty solid runs and then just continue to manage from there. Eric drove a great first stint and he definitely made it easy on me and just had to keep the clean windshield and the car in one piece.” With VGRT and Gou Racing showing the Cupra’s potential, there may be more from the car to come in its second season in 2026. |
