Petit Le Mans 2025 at Road Atlanta

What a spectacle.  From the beautiful views throughout the venue, to the kids signing the checkerboard pavement, to a pre-race fly-over by the Full Throttle Formation Team. The Petit Le Mans 2025 at historic Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta racetrack was something to be experienced.

 This year was my second experience at Road Atlanta.  As popular as ever, IMSA keeps hitting it out of the park with successful events. In this case, a first-ever sold out (yes, you can apparently sell out a sportscar road course!) event. Not only selling out the infield parking but in the afternoon after they hit “capacity” for the venue and completely stopped selling tickets to get in.  I’m not sure how they arrived at that conclusion. I made my way through the gates around 7AM and once inside I was there for the duration (well, almost).

Petit Le Mans 2025 Day 1, 08 October 2025

My first shot of the event was of the #55 Gou Racing Cupra Leon VZ driven by Eddie and Eduardo Gou of Southlake Texas, competing in the Touring Car (TCR) class during the first of two practice sessions for the Michelin Pilot Challenge. The shot was taken from the viewing mound called “Spectator Hill.” This is one of the best vantage points of the course. From Spectator Hill there is a wide view of the “esses” coming down into turn 5. Also it is largely devoid of fencing except to the right toward turn 6. 

I did not have any IMSA credentials for this race. From prior experience I knew that I could get by without them as there are plenty of ways to cover this event without a photo vest.  I had access to every corner, mostly without fencing or at least with enough gaps to make it work. I had access to the paddock and to the front straight, and even the small but functional “grandstands.” Growing up in Little League baseball, we called these the “bleachers”.  From that perch I was able to catch the pit stops as well as the start on race day.

VP Racing Challenge

After the first Pilot Challenge practice came the VP Racing Challenge.  A couple of years ago, the LMP3 category was moved from the Weathertech Series to the VPRC. LMP3 has made for some fantastic racing as well as freeing up the Weathertech paddock. Allowing more teams to compete in the LMP2 category. The LMP3 cars shine as the top tier of the VPRC, and with times posted in the sub-1:20 range. Oscar Tunjo, piloting the #31 GEBHARDT Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08, took top spot of the session (VPRC Practice 2).

 As I moved further along the sidelines toward turn 6, I had to deal with the fencing. With my 400mm zoom lens / 1.4x teleconverter combination was able to punch through it for the most part. Especially in the areas where I could get close.  VPRC Practice 2 finished, and then came the “beehive”; the Mazda MX-5 Cup series.  I am certain that these were the loudest cars at the event. In fact, it was the only class loud enough to compel me to wear hearing protection.  They are a pleasure to watch, and although not nearly as fast, the racing action is very good.  In some ways they resemble NASCAR. Running at full speed bumper-to-bumper and jockeying for position all the way down the straights and trading paint into the corners.

Madza Cup Practice

The second practice session for the Madza Cup, was topped by Nate Cicero in the McCumbee McAleer Racing entry. Posting a time of 1:36.735 and a lap speed of 94.51mph. Cicero was followed up by Jared Thomas in the JTR Motorsports Engineering entry. Parker DeLong was third in his Parker DeLong Racing entry, both within a ¼-second of Cicero’s time.

 I found a cutout about halfway between turns 5 and 6. However, the retention cables ran through the window keeping me from an absolutely 100% obstruction-free shot. It didn’t detract that much from the imagery I produced. You can see the cars, and in some ways I prefer to have something in the foreground to give the impression of the speed.  This is one of those instances where I use the fence as a “prop”. A foreground reference that helps enhance the appearance of the speed. Shooting at 1/80 sec helps too.

Porsche Carrera Cup Practice

Up next was the second practice of the day for the Porsche Carrera Cup.  I made my way down to turn 6, a wonderful fenceless view, and worked that corner for a while.  The Porsche Carrera Cup series consists of three different classes running together. The Porsche Pro (PRO) class, the Porsche Pro-Am (PRO-AM) class, and the Porsche Masters (MAS) class. The differences mainly involve the drivers. Every entry in each class is a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992 with a water-cooled, 4.0L 6-cyl Boxer rear-engine powerplant. These are capable of producing 510 HP at 8,400 rpm.

Porsche Carrera Cup Classes

 The classes are divided by age group, and all compete with the same equipment. The PRO class drivers are aged 17-35. Featuring young talent and future stars in the racing world. Past examples including Seb Priaulx, Kay van Berlo and Tenton Estep. The PRO-AM class includes drivers in the 36-49 year age range, and the Masters class is 50 and over. 

Riley Dickinson knocked out the quickest time logging a 1:22.47 in the first practice and keeping that top spot after practice 2. Ryan Yardley was quickest in the second practice but was unable to match Dickinson’s time. Aaron Jeansonne put the #24 in third overall between the two sessions, setting the stage for qualifying.

 At one point during the racing action I realized that I had left my wallet and ID at home. It was getting hot, and I was weary after only a few hours. I felt it best to call it a day. I still remember how brutal this track was to walk a couple of years ago. I’m in better shape this year, but with all the elevation changes and long treks to be had here, I felt that I needed to mete out my energy and make the most of the event. I knew that I was going to skip one day, and that was going to be Friday. Unfortunately that meant missing the Fox Factory 120 race, the Michelin Pilot Challenge main event. But I’d rather miss that than the 10-hour feature.

Petit Le Mans 2025 Day 2, 09 October 2025

 Thursday was another late morning start for me.  Qualifying sessions for the Mazda and Porsche Cup series were already in the books. Also the second practice for Michelin, so that put me at the tail-end of the first practice for Weathertech.  The day before I had parked in infield Lot 3. For day 2 I decided to park on the hill to the right of turn 10. Making my way down to the concrete bench-style seating area as quickly as possible.  From there I had a clear vantage point. Again, one of the many places around the course where there is no fencing in the way. I don’t have to fight much to get a good shot. 

There is excellent access to both driver’s left and driver’s right sides of the track. Other than navigating around the odd camper or pop-up tent cover, it is generally easy to make it to the waist-high track-side fence.  Everything is comfortably reachable using a zoom lens on the order of 100-200mm. Or a prime lens within that range. It’s easy to capture images of the cars in a full-frontal pose, angled shots, side pans, and even a nice rear shot as they disappear under the Fox bridge. 

Track-side is accessible on both sides of the bridge, both up-track and down-track.  From the up-track side there is the seating area on driver’s left. A short fence line to driver’s right, all the way from the bridge back to turn 9 entry.  On the down-track side of the bridge you can either find a perch close to the BMW building. This is on the outside of the track (driver’s left). Or walk down the sidewalk from the Fan Zone toward the paddock.

VP Challenge Race #1

The Whelan Cadillac was looking good, and fast. They turned in the quickest lap time of 1:11.26 at a speed of 128.319 km/h. The Acuras of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian were both in the top 5. Along with the Aston Martin Valkyrie of the Aston Martin THOR team. Including the Wayne Taylor Caddy and the #63 Lamborghini, the top 6 were all within a second of each other. The #6 Penske Porsche narrowly missing that distinction by .001″.

I made my way closer to the Fox bridge during the VP Challenge race #1. Oscar Tunjo captured the win in the #31 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08. Valentino Catalano took second in the #30 car of the same team. Lucas Fecury rounded out the podium with a third place finish in the #80 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P320. Fecury has been around in the USF2000 and F4 US series. Now he is stepping up to the ranks of IMSA road racing.

After the race I headed back to my car to relax a bit and take in some lunch. Listening to the radio action for the Mazda race, I waited for the Weathertech bunch to hit the track again. I kept to the same area since I hadn’t taken that many shots during the first Weathertech session.

Weathertech Practice

I continued shooting from the hillside seating for the first part of the second Weathertech practice. Crossing over the bridge to driver’s right mid-session. Making my way down to the fence on that side, finishing the session from there. 

Again, things on track are very unobstructed once you get down to the fenceline, which is only about a meter high.  Some advertising banners on the facing slope make for good backgrounds. Especially for slow shutter speed pans, if you can get them sharp.  I can manage around 1/60^th sec at best, usually more like 1/100^th for that type of shot.  If you can get down to the 1/30^th or 1/15^th speeds then this effect will be much more dramatic. It is a good slope down to the fence and there were already many tents and covers set up.

The Whelen Racing Cadillac was again atop the results page. Improving their time to a 1:10.882 and a slightly faster 129.003 kh/h average lap speed. The #6 Penske Porsche 963 jumped up to the second quickest. Third quickest was the Wayne Taylor Cadillac, only 0.38″ off the pace. This time the top nine spots were all within 0.64″ of the Whelen machine. The grid was beginning to tighten up a little as they dialed things in and turned up the heat.

Porsche Cup

With 20 minutes before the Porsche Cup start, I took the opportunity to move the car near the turn 8 bridge.  There is a good spot across from, and facing, the Spectator Hill viewing area. A slope that gives you a view of the exit of the “esses” at turn 5 and a down-track view of the elevation change back up to the straight that pours into turn 6 at the “bottom” of the road course.  In one spot there is a tree which has low-hanging branches, allowing for another one of those “creative obstruction” opportunities. 

A covered tent had been placed against the fence, but no one was around. Standing under it I shot through the tree branches at the Porsche Cup cars. 

A slower shutter speed would have been better here, something on the order of 1/30^th sec.  I had to make do with 1/100^th sec but I still feel like it worked out fine. Once I was satisfied with that I continued on toward the fence. Shooting from a vantage point about 10M lower and close to trackside.  I could see them heading down from turn 4, across the far-side rumble strip and up the hill on their way to the bottom corners 6 and 7. I caught the tail end of the Porsche Cup and all of the Michelin Pilot Challenge. Once that was finished the dinner break / track inspection was on for an hour or so.

Weathertech Night Session

The Weathertech night session was scheduled to begin after dinner. For that I walked down to turn 7. Then made my way over toward turn 6 exit, just down-track from the corner marshall shack.  In this area the entire view is unobstructed between the turns. It can get cozy down here if there are a lot of people. 

Between the short cyclone fence and an Armco barrier, it is just wide enough for two people. You can pass each other comfortably until you get closer to turn 6. It is then really just wide enough for one. 

There are certain areas that are more adequately lit than others; mostly at each end of that short chute.  In the middle, I relied on groups of cars to illuminate each other. I feel like it gives a more genuine “night” impression and less of the “flash-in-your-face-at-the-party” look that is often the result of stark track-side lighting. It is what it is, and I just moved around until I found a spot that allowed me to get the shots that I wanted.

That was the last session of the day. Heading back to my lodging I was looking forward to download the days capture and relax. Previously I had made the conscious decision to skip Friday in order to maintain my own freshness on race day.  Turns out, that was an excellent plan, because race day was challenging, but very rewarding.

Petit Le Mans 2025 Day 3 – 11 October 2025 – Race Day

This year’s Petit le Mans was only my second. However, I knew a little more about how things worked this time around. First, I knew that the shuttles were going to be full all day, so I prepared for that. Having purchased an infield parking pass (an absolute must, along with getting on site before 7am) I headed straight away to the turn 3 parking area. Arriving early gave me an advantage for parking. After 9am the chances of finding a spot, and apparently even getting into the facility, drop off tremendously. 

This year’s race boasted the highest attendance ever recorded for the event.  After about 1pm, not only did they stop allowing parking in the infield, they stopped selling general admission tickets altogether.  I have never heard of that for a permanent road course up until this event. 

Petit Le Mans 2025 Paddock

 Once I had the car securely parked, I walked into the paddock.  I figured that this was probably the only time I would see it, and because it was still hours before the race, I had the time to kill.  Most of the cars were visible under their team canopies, and a few of the drivers were around.  It’s easier to walk through the paddock area when it is less crowded, and better for the photography potential. 

One of my favorite teams has become the AO Racing group, with their eye-catching “Roxy” and “Lexi” entries, usually donned in green and purple.  For this race, they dressed them out in skeletal liveries, along with matching crew uniforms.  These guys really play to their fans, and it is very much appreciated.

 I also enjoy the Ferrari and Lamborghini entries, especially the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari.  Over the last few years I have found myself fixated on that particular car, and for the most part its livery hasn’t changed much.  It looks fast just sitting there.

 I managed to pop off a few shots out in front of the pit wall, thanks to the help of a couple of “yellow-shirts.”  Walking along the fence behind the pit boxes I found a few interesting things, but I was really on my way to the front straight bleachers, from which I had previously decided that I would experience the start of this year’s race.

Petit Le Mans 2025 Qualifying

Although I was not in attendance on Friday, I was interested in the qualifying order for each class. I had expected the #31 Whelan Cadillac to do well, and in fact Jack Aitken/Earl Bamber/Frederik Vesti did quite well, securing the pole position for the race with a quick lap time of 1:12.276.

Only two tenths off the pace, P2 in qualifying was a surprise in the Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie in its first year of competition. Piloted by the driving team of Ross Gunn/Roman de Angelis/Alex Riberas. In third, but with a slightly quicker time than the Valkyrie, was the #6 Penske Porsche driven by the team of Mathieu Jaminet/Matt Campbell/Laurens Vanthoor. Just 8 tenths of a second separated the entire GTP field.

Petit Le Mans 2025 LMP2

In the LMP2 class the top spot was taken by Steven Thomas/Mikkel Jensen/Hunter McElrea in the TDS Racing Oreca LMP2 07. McElrea has had some success in motorcar racing, starting out in 2023 in the Indy NXT series with Andretti Motorsport (I caught him a couple of times that year including Nashville), and with the same driver team has won both the 2024 IMS and Road Atlanta races and the 2025 “Battle on the Bricks” at IMS.

At thePetit le Mans 2025 he will be seeking his fourth LMP2 win. Second on the grid was the Inter Europol Competition Oreca driven by Tom Dillman/Bijoy Garg/Jeremy Clarke, off by less than a tenth. Finally in third spot was the Era Motorsport Oreca driven by Tobi Lutke/David Heinemeier Hannson/Oliver Jarvis.

Petit Le Mans 2025 GTD PRO

In the GTD PRO class it was Max Hesse/Dan Harper/Connor di Phillippi in the Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO taking top honors. Just ahead of Tommy Milner/Nicky Catsburg/Nico Varrone in the #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The #3 Pratt Miller team car took the third spot, guided by Antonio Garcia/Alexander Sims/Daniel Juncadella.

Finally the GTD top spots were filled at 1 and 2 with a pair of Ferrari 296 GT3’s; the first of which was the Af Corse machine driven by Simon Mann/Lilou Wadoux Ducellier/Alessandro Pier Guidi, and the second the Triarsi Competizione car driven by Onofrio Triarsi/Kenton Koch/James Calado. The Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Jack Hawksworth/Parker Thompson/Frankie Montecalvo rounded out the top three in GTD.

With the grids set, all that was left to do was getting the last minute preparations taken care of and the pre-race ceremonies done. The paddock was busy with movement and once I had made my rounds it was time to find a spot to watch the start. For this year’s race I chose the bleacher-style grandstands along the front straight opposite of the pit boxes.

Petit Le Mans 2025 Pits

 Once I got into the upper seats I still had a couple of hours to spend before the race actually started.  I found a spot at the very end and top, just below the spotters for some of the teams. 

This vantage point gave me an excellent view across from the pits, and with my zoom lens it was more than enough to capture some great pit action after the start.  In the time leading up to the race I watched all of the usual pre-race ceremonies, including the open grid walk.

The pre-race stage set up was too far to capture any meaningfully sharp images; I took them for historical record more than anything else.  There were opportunities to find drivers walking around, and a few other interesting things.  But once all that was cleared out, it was time to go racing. 

Petit Le Mans 2025 Race

I would have a relatively clear view of them coming under the bridge, although there was a fence there and it would be in the shots, partially obstructing any cars on the near side of the track. 

As it turns out, it is a really great place to watch the race, but other than the pit shots, not so much for photography.  I hadn’t planned on staying for too long, and after about 45 minutes I left the stands and became mobile for the rest of the day.  Stopping at the main tower I did some work around the turn 11 exit, then made my way across the walk-over bridge and back into the paddock. 

Petit Le Mans 2025 Location pit-IN entrance

I found a sweet spot just at the pit-IN entrance. From there I caught a good bit of downhill action.  The pit entrance provided some foreground for context, with a tree, some fencing and tire barriers all giving different “looks”, and a nice background, free of campers and with a decorative fence and trees in the distance.  Things like this can make a portfolio much more interesting than a collection of “car-on-the-track” shots.

 One thing about working a 10-hour race as a photographer is that there is a lot of time to experiment, travel to different parts of the track, and get a good variety of shots over the course of the race.  It has become one of my favorite ways to experience car racing. In the last couple of years I have been leaning toward this type of event; the Daytona 24 hours, the HSR Sebring and Daytona Classics, Petit Le Mans. These longer events, along with the SVRA SpeedTours, provide a wide latitude of experiences in the world of racing.

Petit Le Mans 2025 Location Turn 1

 I took an early afternoon rest at the car, and then found my way to the inside of turn 1.  There is a spot just past the exit where the retaining fence ends and you can see open track.  To catch them coming out of this corner, I found it challenging to capture a fully focused image.  As the cars came out of the turn, they were continuously changing apparent direction and speed; it took a while but I was able to read the rhythm of each car.  That helped with focus, because that difference in speed comes at you quickly.

Petit Le Mans 2025 Location Spectator Hill

 The track has some interesting attributes, a result of the heavily wooded surroundings, elevation changes, and the open infield vantage points like Spectator Hill.  In late afternoon the shadows from the trees began extending across the track, giving patches of shade for the cars to cross in and out of.  Catching this can lead to a nice, interesting track shot, as I found out during my first Petit in 2023.

By the time evening came and the light faded, I was getting run down, and I knew at that point that I wasn’t going to make it to the end.  I had one last goal of getting a few dusky videos with the sunset that was developing, but after that I decided it was time to go. I thought I might try and make it to the turn 10 seats again, but after close to 45 minutes on the shuttle I had them drop me by the car and I packed it all up.

Petit Le Mans 2025 Results

At the time I bailed, Jack Aitken was still in command of the GTP prototypes, Di Resta was in front of the LMP2’s, Varrone held fast to the top spot in GTD Pro and Pier Guidi was in the lead of GTD in the #21 Ferrari just ahead of the #023 Triarsi Ferrari. At the end of the race, Earl Bamber took the checkered in the #31, Mikkel Jensen took LMP2 honors in the TDS Racing #11, Dan Harper in the #48 took the GTD Pro win and GTD went to Alessandro Pier Guidi in the Af Corse Ferrari, leading at the green and checkered flags.

My next event will be the SVRA SpeedTour at Barber Motorsports Park.  Please have a look at this and my other reports, and you can check out my website as well in the link below.

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