Vautier replaces Bourdais at Tower Motorsports

Tower Motorsports has added veteran French driver Tristan Vautier for the rest of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, starting with next month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Vautier replaces his countryman Sebastien Bourdais, who departed Tower after Daytona to devote more energy and focus towards his upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship campaign with Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA.

“With Tristan’s experience and leadership, we are confident this is exactly what we need to hit the ground running at Sebring,” a statement from the team read. “We look forward to the energy he will bring as we build on the success the team has come to know and to carry that energy forward through the remainder of the 2026 season.”

Vautier will make his first start with Tower Motorsports at the site of his only IMSA win; he was part of JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing team that won overall at the 2021 12 Hours with the Cadillac DPi-V.R.

Last year, the 36-year-old driver made two starts in Proton Competition’s privateer Porsche 963 at Daytona and Sebring, and then resurfaced at Acura Meyer Shank Racing for Petit Le Mans. His primary activities were in LMP2 overseas, racing in the Asian Le Mans Series for Romain Dumas’ RD Limited team, and the European Le Mans Series for CLX–Pure Rxcing.