As the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech Championship barrels through its early chapters, one thing’s been crystal clear: Porsche Penske Motorsport isn’t just setting the pace — they’re dictating the tempo. Unbeaten in every GTP class race so far, the Stuttgart squad has looked untouchable, leaving the competition scrambling just to keep them in sight.
But if there’s a team that’s managed to hang in the draft, it’s BMW M Team RLL. They’ve been the quiet constant — never flashy, never flailing — with a top-five finish in every round and a podium to show for it. Bobby Rahal’s crew hasn’t made a lot of noise, but they’re steadily making a name for themselves as Porsche’s most persistent shadow.
“You’re just trying to improve the car in all ways,” Rahal said, leaning into the long game. “We’ve learned more about the car this year, I think. Of course, that learning process really took some speed last year, about halfway through the year. We saw the benefits of that at, of course, Indianapolis, where we won. Petit Le Mans, we were in the hunt for the lead right until the bitter end. It really came in over the wintertime with what we needed to do with the car to get it where we want it to go.”
The team doesn’t just have pace in the races, they’re showing pace in qualifying as well. Dries Vanthoor has won the pole for all three races to this point. They just haven’t been able to convert those poles into victories.
And while the spotlight’s been aimed squarely at Porsche’s dominance, over in the GTP ranks, Madison Snow and Paul Miller Racing have been quietly trailing the red hot AO Racing Porsche of “Rexy”.
“Yeah Porsche has been fast, they’ve been doing good and they were good last year,” Snow said. “We’ve [Paul Miller Racing] also been very strong with BMW having two cars in the Pro Class, performing very competitively. While we always have our eye on Porsche and OA [Racing] I think the moment you take your eye off the other competitors, all of a sudden, somebody is going to pop up and shock you and do something surprising and you’ll end up behind them.
And that’s been the theme of 2025 so far — depth. Sure, Porsche is out front, but this isn’t a one-horse race. With every round, the grid gets tighter, the battles closer, and the sense that anything can happen grows stronger.
After all, in racing, shadows don’t stay in the dark for long.
