Verstappen Sim Racing goes back-to-back as BMW M Team MOUZ holds on for win in IMSA Esports Global Championship Round 4 at Laguna Seca

November 9th, 2026 by

After three rounds of Bleu Mercure Esport control in both the GTP and GTD classes of the 2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship, the points are tighter than ever following Round 4 of the championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

In the GTP ranks, the No. 33 Verstappen Sim Racing BMW of Enzo Bonito and Luke McKeown managed to get their second win in-a-row, closing in on the championship lead still held by the No. 31 Blue Mercure Esport Acura of Atte Kauppinen and Alxander Spetz, the winners of the opening round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. It was a 1-2 finish for the Verstappen Sim Racing outfit, as the No. 1 team managed to recover from an early mishap with the No. 91 Porsche Coanda Team to cross the line right next to their teammates.

There’s been a change in the lead for the GTD championship, as the No. 171 BMW M Team MOUZ entry put on a defensive masterclass for their first win of the 2026 season. Maximilian Benecke drove from second on the grid to the lead, then handed the reigns to Moritz Löhner, who held on for nearly a half-hour to close out the race against the No. 114 EMM Esports Chevrolet, the pole-sitting No. 111 Ronin-Sim-Sport.com Ferrari, and the No. 110 MAHLE Racing Team BMW, all racing under a blanket and with faster GTP traffic the entire way, including the GTP leaders on more than one occasion.

The No. 33 team started fifth, but when their teammates in the No. 1 wound up behind them in having to avoid the No. 91 in a battle for the lead, it put the most-recent winners in the best spot for a victory down in fourth. McKeown started the day in the seat, and through pit strategy, got the No. 33 to the front. However, when he handed the wheel over to Bonito, the No. 1 had managed to get back in front, plus the No. 32 Bleu Mercure Acura had jumped ahead with an overcut. “After I jumped into the car, I still had to make an overtake, which is always on the nerves here,” Bonito explained post-race about his race against the No. 32. “It was more of a strategy race, but luckily, we have the best engineers on our side… I think this was the best race I’ve ever done, I’m not even joking. It was so well executed in every single way that I’m actually speechless.”

As for the No. 171 down in the GTD ranks, the Team MOUZ teammates of Benecke and Löhner have raced at the top level for a long time, but Sunday marked their first wins in the series, both as competitors in general and together as teammates over the changes in the five seasons of competition. ” For once, we started in a good position after always having weird qualifying,” Benecke, the starting driver, said. “Moritz was defending for the whole stint, and we still came out on top, so props to him for the issues that he had.”

Löhner took control on the final stint, with 54 laps to go, and for the majority of the time, he was hanging on to the lead for dear life while battling framerate issues. “I went into the car at the beginning, the first few laps, I only had 80 frames,” Löhner explained. “When you usually practice and drive with 160 stable frames, with everything running smooth, it was like driving Mario Kart on a PlayStation. Something completely different. I didn’t feel the car at all, I didn’t know how much grip I had… defending for a half an hour straight was insane.”

Just one race remains, and it will be the longest of the season, which means more chances for drama to appear. The IMSA Esports Global Championship concludes in two weeks with four hours of racing at Daytona International Speedway, home to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the race that kicks off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

EARLY DRAMA BETWEEN BITTER RIVALS IN GTP

There’s a history that dates back many years between Verstappen Sim Racing, formerly Team Redline, and Coanda Esports. Recently in other top-level eSports competitions, the two came to blows more than once, with Verstappen Sim Racing coming out on top as Florian Lebigre was crowned the Porsche Esports Supercup World Champion.

The two teams adorned the front row of the fourth round of the IMSA Esports Global Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It did not take long for the two teams to get after one another, and it wound up costing them both, one a bit more than the other. In the No. 1 was Lebigre, and after just a few laps, he brought the GTP field right up to the back of the GTD class. In second, the No. 91 was driven by Joshua Rogers, and he was looking to take advantage in the traffic.

On Lap 9, into the Andretti Hairpin, the two were rubbing fenders while maneuvering around the slower cars. Rogers, on the inside, was able to dive and get ahead, but only for a moment as he came up on a slower car quickly, his Porsche scraping the curbs in an awkward way, forcing a spin at the front of the field. Lebigre was right in the path of the spinning No. 91, and had to basically come to a complete stop to avoid damage. It cost them both multiple spots, but they would both continue.

This gave the lead to the No. 96 Tatum Res-Tech NordVPN Cadillac, driven by Raffaele De Santis and Nicolò Fioroni, with the No. 8 Grid-and-Go.com eSports Aston Martin and the No. 32 Bleu Mercure Esport Acura following through into the podium spots. The No. 33 was elevated to fourth, then shortly to third when the No. 8 had a crash on Lap 31. On the pit stop, the No. 33 took control with a strategy call, but their teammates in the No. 1 were still in the hunt, as was the No. 32 team.

The No. 91 continued to struggle from there. An unsafe pit entrance penalty on Lap 43 took them further out. Another penalty on Lap 81 for aggressive driving sealed their fate to finish in 11th after a promising start. As for their rivals, the two Verstappen team cars found themselves both in the fight for the win in the closing stages.

GTD RACE TAKES SPOTLIGHT IN LATE STAGES

The narrow racing lanes of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca made the GTP versus GTD speed difference look like a choreographed dance for two hours and 40 minutes of racing. The GTP class needed to figure out when to attack, and the GTD class needed to figure out where they could run as to not impede the faster speeds behind. A lot of times, the Zanardi Corkscrew was a magnificent mural of that struggle, and for the GTD leaders, was often a sight of anxiety over the closing 30 minutes.

To start the day, the No. 111 Ronin-Sim-Sport.com Ferrari led the field to the green, but it was the No. 171 right behind in second, looking to close in on the championship lead to the best of their ability. To their benefit, the championship leading No. 132 Bleu Mercure Esport Porsche was mired down in 24th following qualifying, which would be a steep hill to climb for both Thibaud Prevot and Thibault Cazaubon, the winning team in the last two races.

The No. 111 led the opening 28 laps, but Benecke took control with his No. 171 on Lap 29 and began an incredible run over the next hour, nearly a quarter of a track ahead of his classmates by the time he gave up control to Löhner. However, Löhner was having framerate issues, and the battle closed in with 30 minutes to go, with the No. 114 EMM Esports Chevrolet of Dáire McCormack and Jerome Fischer, with Fischer closing in quick.

The incredible defense by Löhner and the more than exemplary patience portrayed by Fischer allowed for the No. 111 of Henry Joslyn and Lewis Barlow to catch up. A few laps later, the No. 110 of Rainer Talvar and Elias Raikaa were in the picture for the win as well. Löhner, Fischer, Joslyn, and Talvar were nose-to-tail, all figuring out where to make moves as they watched their mirrors as often as they watched their windshield.

On two occasions, the GTP field safely worked their way through the GTD dogfight without causing too much of a disturbance. Fischer did everything he could, but Löhner played a masterful defense to claim the class victory.

VERSTAPPEN SIM RACING TEAMMATES FINISH 1-2 IN GTP

Up front in the GTP ranks, a penalty to the No. 31 took them out of the conversation for the victory, but their teammates in the No. 32 were still fighting for the win. On the final stop, the No. 1 wound up out front, but just behind that, the No. 33 was fighting for second against the No. 32. The No. 32 began to fall back, ultimately losing their rear wing and struggling home to finish in sixth. Their teammates in the No. 31 kept their championship lead by recovering to finish in fifth.

The former leaders of the race in the No. 96 held on to the final step of the podium against the No. 92 Vesta Sport Porsche of Przemyslaw Lemanek and Niklas Beu, the biggest movers of the race from 15th on the grid. Ahead of all of that, the No. 1 led, but traffic forced the No. 33 back into the conversation, eventually taking back control. The No. 1 didn’t fight back, and the two teammates posed for a victory photo while taking the checkered flag.

LAGUNA SECA | ROUND 4 | GTP RESULTS

POS. ST. NO. TEAM DRIVER 1 DRIVER 2 MANUFACTURER INTERVAL PTS.
1 5 33 Verstappen Sim Racing BMW Enzo Bonito Luke McKeown 0.000 376
2 1 1 BMW M Verstappen Sim Racing BMW Florian Lebigre Diogo Pinto -0.092 355
3 4 96 Tatum Res-Tech NordVPN Cadillac Raffaele De Santis Nicolò Fioroni -10.105 328
4 15 92 Vesta Sport Porsche Przemyslaw Lemanek Niklas Beu -11.012 296
5 6 31 Bleu Mercure Esport Acura Atte Kauppinen Alxander Spetz -24.788 285
6 8 32 Bleu Mercure Esport Acura Maxime Brient Augustin Bernier -26.087 273
7 7 89 BMW M Team BS COMPETITION BMW Jaden Munoz Dominik Hofmann -27.705 264
8 14 88 Deletraz Automotive by PCdesign Porsche Michal Zajac Aiden Mataisz -30.050 247
9 11 7 Grid-and-Go.com eSports Aston Martin Jere Lehtinen Darius Andrei -39.645 240
10 10 62 SOELPEC Precision Racing Aston Martin Robin Schwanke Maximilian Muir -1:00.565 231
11 2 91 Porsche Coanda Esports Porsche Dayne Warren Joshua Rogers -1:01.422 232
12 16 17 Maniti Racing Aston Martin Tristan Cabrera Chris van de Nesse -1 L 205
13 19 4 Mivano Acura Tanguy Billon Loïc Marchand -1 L 192
14 13 43 XBD RACING SIMLAB Cadillac Carlos Boza Puya Unai Ortiz -2 L 188
15 3 8 Grid-and-Go.com eSports Aston Martin Sean Campbell Jake Denehan -6 L 190
16 17 69 Tatum Res-Tech MOZA Racing Cadillac William Armani Roland Pali -17 L 164
17 20 81 Coanda Esports Porsche Victor Wolfsohn Elliott Vayron -64 L 151
18 12 78 Maniti Racing BMW Philip Schiff Jaidyn Ladic -108 L 149
19 9 98 P1Sim Pro Team Cadillac Ruben Paulino Lucas Bayle -110 L 142
20 18 3 Mivano Acura Loïc Rabier Marcus Hamilton -129 L 123

GTP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4 AT WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA

POS. NO. TEAM MANUFACTURER PTS. + / – WINS POLES T-5’s T-10’s
1 31 Bleu Mercure Esport Acura 1275 Ldr. 1 0 4 4
2 33 Verstappen Sim Racing BMW 1217 -58 2 0 3 3
3 1 BMW M Verstappen Sim Racing BMW 1125 -150 0 1 3 3
4 7 Grid-and-Go.com eSports Aston Martin 1103 -172 0 1 1 4
5 8 Grid-and-Go.com eSports Aston Martin 1067 -208 0 0 2 2
6 32 Bleu Mercure Esport Acura 1054 -221 0 0 2 4
7 91 Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team Porsche 1031 -244 1 1 1 2
8 62 SOELPEC Precision Racing Aston Martin 1010 -265 0 0 1 4
9 92 Vesta Sport Porsche 991 -284 0 1 2 3
10 96 Tatum Res-Tech NordVPN Cadillac 990 -285 0 0 1 2

LAGUNA SECA | ROUND 4 | GTD RESULTS

POS. ST. NO. TEAM DRIVER 1 DRIVER 2 MANUFACTURER INTERVAL PTS.
1 2 171 BMW M Team MOUZ BMW Moritz Löhner Maximilian Benecke 0.000 382
2 3 114 EMM Esports Chevrolet Dáire McCormack Jerome Fischer -0.339 350
3 1 111 Ronin-Sim-Sport.com Ferrari Henry Joslyn Lewis Barlow -0.762 335
4 7 110 MAHLE RACING TEAM BMW Rainer Talvar Elias Raikaa -1.211 304
5 4 141 THE FARM Ferrari Enzo Tebani Nicolas Lux -4.177 288
6 11 134 natural elements by Walkenhorst MS Aston Martin Josh Thompson James Beumee -5.571 270
7 8 112 Fiercely Forward Lamborghini Niclas Laubisch Rodrigo Meezs -9.148 263
8 14 124 TC Esports Chevrolet Pablo Espes Carlos Fenollosa -15.015 247
9 17 115 EMM Esports Chevrolet Luca Neudeck Raphael Rennhofer -27.770 234
10 16 188 WSR Esports Aston Martin Lukas Prada Andrew Caron -34.636 225
11 15 121 Ronin-Sim-Sport.com Mercedes-AMG Shoma Shintani Pablo Mercerat -35.558 216
12 13 107 Risi Competizione by GnG Ferrari Daniel Pásztor Nicolas Mateo -35.981 208
13 5 128 Vesta Sport Ferrari Sem Giesbers Gaël Valero -45.220 206
14 12 196 BS TURNER BMW Daniel Lafuente Oskari Rinne -46.396 189
15 24 132 Bleu Mercure Esport Porsche Thibaud Prevot Thibault Cazaubon -1 L 167
16 26 142 THE FARM Porsche Baptiste Jimenez Geoffrey Leemans -1 L 155
17 9 162 VØRAX Mercedes-AMG Nicolás Rubilar Felipe Cabrera Loyola -1 L 162
18 30 190 UNI-G Racing Ford David Toth Norbi Kiss -1 L 131
19 18 144 TC Esports Academy Chevrolet Ricardo Ferreira Vicente Aparicio -1 L 133
20 27 125 SDR SIMRACING Ford Santiago Baztarrica Marcos Saavedra -1 L 114
21 21 126 UNI-G Racing Lamborghini Dániel Oláh Mate Varga -1 L 110
22 28 179 Alpha One by SX Porsche Luca Wunsch Nicolai Pedersen -1 L 93
23 25 187 WSR Esports Aston Martin Ayden Young Kamil Grabowski -1 L 86
24 22 118 Altitude FreeM eSports Aston Martin Francis Mcginn Cooper Prout -1 L 79
25 29 178 Maniti Racing Ford Ryan van de Grijp Tim Matzke -2 L 62
26 20 127 Vesta Sport Mercedes-AMG Jefke Caesteker Samuele Spiezio -2 L 61
27 31 109 Team Purple Coanda Ford Victoria Thomson Andrea Aymon -2 L 41
28 23 177 Zero7 Racing Porsche Lorenzo Castellani Alessio Bonino -3 L 38
29 10 199 Nova Legio Racing Lamborghini Yohann Harth Kevin Ellis Jr -96 L 41
30 6 198 Nova Legio Racing Lamborghini Daniel Antúnez Matteo Kuenzer -108 L 35
31 19 123 SDR Simracing BMW Fabrizio Belziti Roman Pascucci -119 L 22
DNS DNQ 161 VØRAX Mercedes-AMG Beckham Jacir Estefano Barrera DNR 0

GTD STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4 AT WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA

POS. NO. TEAM MANUFACTURER PTS. + / – WINS POLES T-5’s T-10’s
1 171 BMW M Team MOUZ BMW 1239 Ldr. 1 0 3 3
2 132 Bleu Mercure Esport Porsche 1215 -24 2 1 3 3
3 107 Risi Competizione by GnG Ferrari 1082 -157 1 0 1 3
4 134 natural elements by Walkenhorst Aston Martin 1014 -225 0 0 1 3
5 196 BS TURNER BMW 990 -249 0 1 1 3
6 124 TC Esports Chevrolet 962 -277 0 0 0 3
7 110 MAHLE Racing Team BMW 845 -394 0 0 1 3
8 114 EMM Esports Chevrolet 827 -412 0 1 2 2
9 162 VØRAX Mercedes-AMG 783 -456 0 0 1 2
10 142 THE FARM Porsche 782 -457 0 0 1 1

LAGUNA SECA ROUND 4 PROTEST REPORT

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO FOUR HOURS IN DAYTONA BEACH

The championship will be decided in Daytona Beach in two weeks. Bleu Mercure can still sweep the classes, but they come into the GTD championship 24 points behind Team MOUZ after only getting up to finishing in 15th at Laguna Seca. In the GTP ranks, however, the No. 31 still leads by 58 over Verstappen Sim Racing’s No. 33. Anything can happen, and has happened before, especially at the World Center of Racing.

Tune into the finale on Sunday, November 22nd. Each race of the IMSA Esports Global Championship will be broadcasted live on IMSA’s and iRacing’s social channels with the Countdown to Green pre-race show beginning at 1:45 p.m. ET (18:45 GMT). Race coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET.

For more information on the IMSA Esports Global Championship, visit iracing.com/imsa-esports.

For more information about the Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO), visit vco-esports.com.

For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iracing.com.

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