| Hyett Tops LMP2 Field while Fidani, Iribe Tied Among GTD Bronze-Rated Entries October 8, 2025By Tony DiZinnoIMSA Wire Service |
| Trueman/Akin Points DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The annual battle for IMSA’s Jim Trueman and Bob Akin Awards, earned by the top-scoring full-season Bronze-rated drivers in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), respectively, is reaching a fever pitch heading into the final race of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, Motul Petit Le Mans. The recipients earn an automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June as IMSA rewards those drivers who make their primary living outside the cockpit. AO Racing’s PJ Hyett asserted himself atop the LMP2 and Jim Trueman Award standings at Road America, while the last two Bob Akin Award winners in GTD, Brendan Iribe and Orey Fidani, are tied for the top spot. Hyett’s Summer Surge Moves Him atop Jim Trueman Award Standings |
| Hyett and AO Racing raced this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans courtesy of their success in another series, where they won the European Le Mans Series championship as part of a partnership effort with TF Sport. Hyett stole the march on the Jim Trueman Award with his second straight WeatherTech Championship LMP2 win in his No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07 at Road America co-driving with Dane Cameron, building on the summer swing of momentum the team has had in multiple series and on multiple continents. Hyett holds an 85-point advantage, 1,972 to 1,887 over Daniel Goldburg in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA, heading to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Twelve cars are entered in the LMP2 for the season finale, which opens a potential 160-point in-race swing between finishing first (350 points) and 12th (190 points). That swing could expand or shrink based on qualifying points earned – which range from 35 to 19 in a 12-car grid – as well. Goldburg was particularly unlucky to finish last in an LMP2 season-high 14-car grid at Road America, which created a 180-point swing from Hyett in first to Goldburg in 14th. Nonetheless, with two wins in the first three IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races this season, Goldburg and teammates Paul Di Resta and Rasmus Lindh will need to erase Hyett’s gap in pursuit of the Jim Trueman Award for Goldburg in 2025. Fidani, Iribe Tied Heading to Atlanta |
| In GTD, AWA won the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona coupled with Inception Racing finishing 18th in class, and seventh among the 10 cars with a Bronze-rated designation. That put AWA in strong position to repeat its win of the Bob Akin Award in 2025 and gave Orey Fidani a first race gap of 110 points to Brendan Iribe in these standings. That shrunk to a 30-point gap with Fidani ahead of Iribe leaving the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway and then was erased entirely when Iribe scored a breakthrough first WeatherTech Championship win at the TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Frederik Schandorff and Ollie Millroy in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. Iribe has been the top scoring Bronze-rated entry on five occasions to Fidani’s three this season, but Fidani’s higher-scoring finishes have come on Iribe’s off days to create the tie. As the Indianapolis winner explained post-race, the showdown will be one to watch. “I think it all comes down to the last race, just how IMSA and the fans want it,” Iribe said. “Not exactly how we want it, but we’ll take it, and it’ll be exciting. Can’t wait for Petit.” |
| Fidani’s No. 13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R posted its best finish since the Rolex 24 ranking sixth among all GTD cars at Indianapolis, although a higher potential finish was derailed by a late-race drive-through penalty assessed for blocking. The car count means everything to the Bob Akin Award in GTD because Iribe and Fidani have been the only two full-season entrants. That means whichever driver finishes ahead of the other gains maximum points if it’s only those two scoring points. Extra Bronze-rated entries have run Michelin Endurance Cup races. There were 10 Bronze-rated entries at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, seven at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and six at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and four in Indianapolis. Six are currently entered for Motul Petit Le Mans. Iribe won the Bob Akin Award in 2023 with Fidani doing so in 2024. Both have been able to take their teams to Le Mans, with Inception going in 2024 and AWA – in its Canadian-liveried Corvette – doing so this year. Only one of the two is guaranteed to do so in 2026, and the subplot of which of the No. 13 Corvette or No. 70 Ferrari finishes ahead at Road Atlanta is yet another angle to watch in the final race of the WeatherTech Championship season. |
