iRTES Homestead Final Prep Report: FP3 Complete, PCA Sim Racing GT3 Wins Porsche-Heavy Sprint Tune-Up
The Champion Motorsports iRacing Team Endurance Series completed its final day of preparation for the Homestead-Miami Road Course B feature, with Free Practice 3 followed by a GT3-only Sprint Race that gave teams one last competitive rehearsal before the July 12 four-hour main event.
After two earlier free practice sessions helped establish the first GTP and GT3 benchmarks, Saturday’s final prep day gave the field one more chance to evaluate setup direction, tire behavior, fuel numbers, braking references, traffic rhythm, and driver readiness.
Free Practice 3 served as the last open preparation session before the feature, while the Sprint Race offered a short-format racecraft test. For the sprint only, teams were allowed to run single drivers, which created a different dynamic from the four-hour feature. On Sunday, teams return to full iRTES endurance rules, with each entry expected to compete as a two- or three-driver team.
Free Practice 3: Final Setup Window Before the Feature
Free Practice 3 was less about headline pace and more about final systems checks. With the four-hour race looming, teams used the session to refine driver comfort, pit entry and exit timing, brake markers, tire behavior, and how the cars reacted over longer runs on the Homestead-Miami Road Course B layout.
The circuit continues to ask a lot from both classes. The infield section requires patience and rotation, while the oval portions reward clean exits, stability, and confidence under load. That combination means the ideal race car has to be more than fast over one lap. It has to be predictable in traffic, consistent over a stint, and forgiving enough for multiple drivers to manage across four hours.
The GTP prototype entries did not compete in the Sprint Race that followed, but FP3 remained important for their final race preparation. Prototype teams such as cmsracing.com Endurance, represented by Tarcisio Carvalho and James Sauceman, will become a major factor again in the main event when multi-class traffic returns.
Sprint Race: GT3 Takes Center Stage
The Sprint Race was contested entirely by GT3 machinery, with none of the GTP prototype cars taking the start. That created a focused GT3 tune-up race and gave several teams a final chance to test pace, consistency, and racecraft before the larger feature field arrives on Sunday.
Using the corrected timing classification, PCA Sim Racing GT3 came away with the Sprint Race victory. Shea A. McNeely delivered a complete performance in the No. 19 Porsche 911 GT3 R, completing 32 laps with zero incidents and setting the fastest race lap at 1:14.471.
Longhorn Racing Chrome finished second with Marc Johnson in the No. 45 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Johnson completed the full 32-lap distance, posted a best lap of 1:15.162, and finished as the top non-Porsche entry in a sprint field that leaned heavily toward the 992-generation Porsche.
Longhorn Racing Carbon had two representatives inside the top four under the sprint’s single-driver allowance. Mike Tyler brought the No. 44 Porsche home third with a best lap of 1:15.308, while Larry Ford, who also represents the Longhorn Racing Carbon team, finished fourth in the No. 8 Porsche. Ford showed strong outright pace with a 1:14.952, the second-fastest lap of the race.
David Nelson completed the top five for cmsracing.com AM in the No. 78 Porsche. Nelson’s best lap of 1:14.956 was nearly identical to Ford’s, just four thousandths of a second slower, and helped create one of the tightest groups on the timing sheet.
Team Black finished sixth in the No. 30 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with James Kelly and Crisdean MacCoinnigh combining for 30 laps. Kelly recorded the team’s fastest lap at 1:15.227, giving BMW a useful data point from the sprint.
Volker Krebs and Schadenfreude Fodder II were classified seventh after completing 10 laps in the No. 517 Porsche. The entry recorded zero incidents and a best lap of 1:15.403 before exiting the race.
Sprint Race Results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Car No. | Car | Laps | Inc. | Gap | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shea A. McNeely | PCA Sim Racing GT3 | 19 | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 32 | 0 | Winner | 1:14.471 |
| 2 | Marc Johnson | Longhorn Racing Chrome | 45 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020 | 32 | 2 | +22.40 | 1:15.162 |
| 3 | Mike Tyler | Longhorn Racing Carbon | 44 | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 32 | 1 | +35.97 | 1:15.308 |
| 4 | Larry Ford | Longhorn Racing Carbon | 8 | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 32 | 3 | +36.80 | 1:14.952 |
| 5 | David Nelson | cmsracing.com AM | 78 | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 32 | 4 | +37.47 | 1:14.956 |
| 6 | James Kelly / Crisdean MacCoinnigh | Team Black | 30 | BMW M4 GT3 EVO | 30 | 5 | 2 Laps | 1:15.227 |
| 7 | Volker Krebs | Schadenfreude Fodder II | 517 | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 10 | 0 | Out | 1:15.403 |
Fastest Laps from the Sprint
| Rank | Driver | Team | Car | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shea A. McNeely | PCA Sim Racing GT3 | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 1:14.471 |
| 2 | Larry Ford | Longhorn Racing Carbon | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 1:14.952 |
| 3 | David Nelson | cmsracing.com AM | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 1:14.956 |
| 4 | Marc Johnson | Longhorn Racing Chrome | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020 | 1:15.162 |
| 5 | James Kelly | Team Black | BMW M4 GT3 EVO | 1:15.227 |
| 6 | Mike Tyler | Longhorn Racing Carbon | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 1:15.308 |
| 7 | Volker Krebs | Schadenfreude Fodder II | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | 1:15.403 |
What We Learned
PCA Sim Racing GT3 delivered the most complete sprint performance. McNeely combined the race win, the fastest lap, and a zero-incident run. In a short tune-up race, that combination of speed and control was the standout performance.
The fight from third through fifth was extremely close. Mike Tyler, Larry Ford, and David Nelson finished within roughly 1.5 seconds of each other. Ford and Nelson were also separated by only four thousandths of a second on best lap, suggesting that the midfield GT3 fight could be very tight in the feature.
Longhorn Racing showed depth. Chrome finished second with Marc Johnson in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, while Carbon had both Mike Tyler and Larry Ford inside the top four under the sprint format. That gives the Longhorn group useful momentum heading into Sunday.
The Sprint Race was heavily Porsche-oriented. Five of the seven classified GT3 entries used the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), including the winner and four of the top five finishers. Longhorn Racing Chrome provided the strongest manufacturer variety by taking second in the Mercedes, while Team Black represented BMW with the M4 GT3 EVO.
The manufacturer picture should look different in the feature. While the sprint leaned toward Porsche, the four-hour race is expected to bring a broader mix of GT3 manufacturers, along with the return of the GTP prototype class.
The GTP cars sat out the Sprint Race. The prototype entries did not compete in the tune-up race, but they will return for the main event. That includes cmsracing.com Endurance drivers Tarcisio Carvalho and James Sauceman, who will be part of the GTP field rather than the GT3 sprint picture.
Race Day Preview
With FP3 and the Sprint Race complete, the focus now shifts fully to the Homestead-Miami Road Course B feature on July 12. Champion Motorsports is expecting a strong field of approximately 25 to 30 cars for the four-hour race.
The main event schedule begins at 15:30 GMT, with the green flag scheduled for 17:00 GMT.
Sunday’s race will be a very different challenge from the sprint. The prototypes will return, the GT3 manufacturer mix should broaden, and teams will move back from single-driver sprint running to full two- and three-driver endurance lineups. That means the race will be decided not only by pace, but by traffic management, clean driver changes, pit execution, consistency, and the ability to keep the car in contention across four hours.
PCA Sim Racing GT3 leaves final prep day with the sprint victory. Longhorn Racing showed strength across both Chrome and Carbon. cmsracing.com AM flashed strong lap speed. Team Black gathered valuable BMW mileage. Schadenfreude Fodder II showed clean early pace before exiting. Now the full iRTES field turns toward the feature, where preparation must become execution.