– Washington, Ayhancan Güven and Riccardo Pera Complete Controlled and Competitive Run for GMG’s First Major Endurance Race Victory and Washington’s First Championship
– Breakthrough Win First Overall Victory for Porsche and a Pro-Am Entry in the Indianapolis 8 Hour
– Blockbuster Victory Follows Friday’s Milestone Father-and-Son Triumph in the McLaren Trophy America Finale by James Sofronas and Jenson Sofronas in the No. 14 GMG Racing McLaren Artura Trophy
– Randy Highland Wins McLaren Trophy Pro-Am Papaya Cup Season Honor as Challenging Indy Finale Doesn’t Diminish Productive and Podium Filled Season with Co-Driver Michael O’Brien in the No. 7 GMG Racing McLaren Artura Trophy
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (October 12, 2026) – GMG Racing put the exclamation point on its 20th Anniversary season in motorsports Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) with a career victory in the season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour with team co-drivers Kyle Washington, Ayhancan Güven and Riccardo Pera in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo. The competitive and controlled victory was a first on many fronts, led by Washington and GMG Racing winning their first major races and sealing the 2026 GT World Challenge America Pro-Am driver and team championships.
The Indianapolis 8 Hour was also the season finale for the global Intercontinental GT Challenge series and GMG Racing’s convincing victory – the first overall triumph for a Pro-Am entry in the race’s seven years – helped seal Porsche’s fourth IGTC manufacturer championship. Remarkably, the victory was also the first outright win for perennial sports car racing powerhouse Porsche in the Indy 8 Hour.
“It means a lot, especially for a guy like Kyle who gives and gives and gives and rarely takes,” said GMG Racing Owner and Founder James Sofronas said. “I’m super proud of him. He deserves it. He worked hard for it. He earned it. You know what, they dominated on Saturday and Kyle had a big part in it.”
Washington started the eight-hour race in mid-pack and avoided the early pitfalls that sidelined Pro division favorites and several Pro-Am competitors in the early stages. Washington completed a two-stint cycle to meet his mandatory drive time in the race’s opening hours and handed Güven and Pera a clean and on-pace No. 32 Porsche to take to the finish.
“Well, as I say on my kids’ report cards, I think we exceeded expectations for the year, and I couldn’t be prouder of the team,” Washington said. “When I first got into racing, I didn’t really understand how many parts there were to the program. We have 30-plus people on the team, every one of them with a specific job, and if one of them doesn’t do it, it all falls apart. Every single one of these guys just worked their asses off, way more than me, quite frankly. I am just so proud of them. They gave us a great car every weekend, and, you know, we got lucky. We had some luck on our side too. You got to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good. And we were good.”
Pera quickly moved into the overall and Pro-Am leads, positioning the team to challenge for both victories for the rest of the race. He and Güven then alternated behind the wheel and stayed at the front of the field for the distance while top pit stops and unmatched strategy calls greatly contributed to the convincing victory.
“The execution of the race was really good,” Pera said. “The team did a really good job on the car and on the strategy side. I jumped in the car after Kyle did a really mega job, and then I was able to make up some positions and get to the front. Then Ayhancan also drove really amazingly. The strategy was good. We realized we were fast, we could win the race, and we stayed out of trouble. At the end, we just reached first position. It’s amazing.”
For the majority of the race, event broadcasters referred to the No. 32 as being “off sequence” with the team’s pit stops compared to the competition. It later became apparent, as Güven strapped in a final time to get the No. 32 to the finish, that the team’s pit stop strategy was part of the victorious plan.
Güven put in a quick but comfortable closing stint and took the checkered flag for the monumental win nearly a minute ahead of the second-place finisher, the largest margin of victory in the history of the Indianapolis 8 Hour. The North American IGTC round, which was first was held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca from 2017 – 2019, now shifts to Circuit of The Americas (COTA) beginning in 2027 after a seven-year run at Indianapolis.
“I came here two years ago with this team as the IGTC leader but unfortunately we had a really bad race,” Güven said. “However, ever since that day, we’ve kept telling ourselves that we’d come back stronger. Kyle put in a really good stint, and we were hopeful that the strategy would pay off. Halfway through the race, it became clear to us that we might even be able to aim for overall victory. From that moment on, with Riccardo at the wheel, we really put our foot down, and in the end, it worked out really well.”
Güven and Pera collectively filled in for fellow Porsche ace Tom Sargent, Washington’s primary co-driver who joined him and the team for the first races of the year. Together, Washington and Sargent won two races prior to Indy and finished third and fourth in two others. Sargent reluctantly missed the final as he was sent to Europe to help another Porsche team attempt to win a European Le Mans Series championship, but Washington and the No. 32 team would not have come to the Indianapolis finale in the position they were in without Sargent’s major contributions.
Saturday’s blockbuster was preceded by another milestone for GMG Racing also worthy of a Hollywood script. Sofronas, a successful sports car racing driver in his own right with several championships on his resume, joined his teenage son, Jenson Sofronas, in co-driving together for the first time. The father-and-son duo shared the No. 14 GMG Racing McLaren Artura Trophy in the weekend’s twin McLaren Trophy America 50-minute races and came away Am-class winners in Friday’s final race of the season.
The then reigning McLaren Trophy Am-class champion, the senior Sofronas was making his first start in the series this season while his 15-year-old son drove a McLaren in competition for the first time in what was also his first two-driver race. The No. 14 pitted from the Am lead in each of the weekend’s races and the Sofronas duo was able to maintain the top spot straight the checkered flag in Friday’s finale.
“My victory with my son yesterday was super special,” Sofronas said. “To be with Jenson for his first win and see Kyle finally get a deserved championship are both incredibly special because I’ve seen Kyle through the entire journey, started him when he just got into this, and to see this success just makes me very proud. Now we are starting Jenson’s journey too and it makes me even prouder to see both the initial and long-coming success for each of them. Much more to come!”
Jenson Sofronas scored his first major motorsports victory on the hallowed ground of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and as close as he could be to his co-driver father.
“It felt amazing,” Jenson Sofronas said. “Racing alongside my Dad, doing driver change pit stops with him, has been a dream of mine since as long as I can remember, and the win was just a great way to end the weekend. Across other series, I have had some trouble this year, but winning with my Dad makes it all better. I am so glad and hope to do more races with him in the future. We will see where we go from here.”
Indianapolis also saw a successful first season of major racing come to a close for first-time driver Randy Highland and Teammate Michael O’Brien in the No. 7 GMG Racing McLaren Artura Trophy. The No. 7 team arrived in Indianapolis with a perfect Pro-Am class record of top-three podium finishes in every race run to date. The Indy weekend actually started with a race on Wednesday that was a make-up round for a cancelled sprint race in Miami earlier this year.
Highland and O’Brien finished third in the “Miami” race but unfortunately the No. 7 sustained contact from a careless competitor trying to recover from a spin in Thursday’s opening Indianapolis round, which knocked the No. 7 out of a race for the first time this year. The GMG Racing crew capably rebuilt the McLaren to take part in Friday’s finale, and O’Brien and Highland persevered in the recovered car for a sixth-place Pro-Am finish.
While the season didn’t end quite the way the No. 7 drivers and team wanted, the high-note was Highland winning the Pro-Am Papaya Cup, a prestigious honor rewarding the top performing drivers over a certain age or of limited experience each season. Highland and the No. 7 team also finished third in the overall Pro-Am championship.”
“The season finale wasn’t quite what we were hoping for, but it started out with a nice podium P3 finish for the Miami make up race,” Highland said. “My qualifying for Indy race one went well and pace for qualifying has definitely been my strength this season. Unfortunately, an incident with another car took us out of race one on the first lap through no fault of our own, which ended our podium perfect ride. Michael had a great first stint in race two, putting us in the lead coming out of the pits. I struggled with grip and wasn’t able to hold on to our lead, which was disappointing, but I’m extremely happy with our overall results this season in the McLaren Trophy America series. We finished third in overall points for the Pro-Am class, and winning the McLaren Papaya Cup was definitely icing on the cake in my first year of racing. None of this would have been possible without a well prepared car, capable of winning every race this season, and to our race team, Trevor, Nevin and Jack, and GMG Racing, who made it happen I’m extremely grateful. My race partner, coach and good friend Michael O’Brien is the best, and has made the first year’s journey a phenomenal learning experience and loads of fun along the way. So, cheers to 2026, and looking forward to an even better ‘27 racing season!”
About GMG Racing: Founded in 2001, GMG Racing quickly established itself as North America’s premier performance tuning facility. What began as a small 1,200 sq. ft. shop, maintaining two race cars, has grown into a state-of-the-art performance tuning, racing and service facility relocated last year to The Thermal Club and a 28,000 sq. ft. trackside motorsports facility. The staff, attention to detail and passion are what make GMG the choice of professionals and enthusiasts worldwide. GMG, in its early years, was located directly across the street from Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA). This close proximity allowed GMG to build a strong relationship with the legendary racing brand which has helped the company support its customers to the highest level possible. We have since won several Championships, not only with Porsche, but with Audi, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and McLaren. From club racing to Sebring, Daytona, Spa, Montreal, COTA and The Thermal Club, GMG can take you as far as you want to go. More information can be found at www.gmgracing.com.
