‘Spike’ Carries Cameron & Hyett To LMP2 Glory

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Midway through his explanation of the cautious circumstances at Motul Petit Le Mans that led to yet another championship for Dane Cameron, he dropped this matter-of-fact line:

“We just pulled the chutes a little bit and made sure we got home with all the pieces pointed the right way.”

If ever a single sentence could describe the 2025 season – and Cameron’s career – it was that. Cameron and P.J. Hyett saw the view from 30,000 feet, eased Spike, the dragon-themed No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 to earth, and celebrated the Le Mans Prototype 2 class championship in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

It was the fifth IMSA championship in Cameron’s storied career, which has covered 20 seasons and several forms of motorsport. It also clinched the Jim Trueman Award for Hyett, securing a place for him in the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s the team’s second IMSA championship, after winning the Grand Touring Daytona Pro title with Laurin Heinrich and Porsche in 2024.

“That’s obviously the goal when you start the year,” Cameron said after he, Hyett and Jonny Edgar brought the No. 99 home in sixth place at Petit and first in the driver standings. “We believed in the project and the pieces that were there that it had this potential to bring a championship. Just needed a little bit of … glue to hold everything all together and elevate things a little bit more.”

Elevating things was the theme for both drivers during the 2025 season. After running with Porsche Penske Motorsport and winning the Grand Touring Prototype championship with Felipe Nasr in 2024, Cameron, 36, joined AO for the second year of its expansion into the LMP2 class, joining Hyett, the 42-year-old software developer and team owner.

Together, they won two WeatherTech Championship races and three Motul Pole Awards in 2025. Cameron carried on his reputation as one of the best veterans in the business, while Hyett, who has earned a reputation as a first-rate qualifier, was honored with the Trueman Award as the championship-winning Bronze-rated driver in LMP2.

“Driving with guys like Dane is a huge boost in confidence to know what I’m capable of,” Hyett said during AO’s summer hot streak after winning at Road America in August. “There’s all these things you learn and just have to do. You have to be wheel-to-wheel.”

The season didn’t begin the way they wanted – fifth at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and seventh at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – but it came to life in June at Watkins Glen International, where they started first and finished second. That led to consecutive victories at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America, followed by a fifth at Indianapolis and the sixth-place effort at Michelin Raceway.

The Road America win, in particular, stood out because it flipped the championship battle on its head. Daniel Goldburg, Hyett’s primary championship rival, was involved in a first-lap incident and finished last in the season-high 14-car LMP2 field.

Coupled with the perfect weekend for AO scoring maximum points with the pole and win, it was a 180-point swing in Hyett and Cameron’s direction.

“It was a difficult year in certain parts and a very strong, consistent year in other parts,” Cameron said. “I think of all the years that I’ve won the championship, this is probably the longest 10 hours that I’ve spent here. It was a pretty long day, pretty stressful day. Looked like it was kind of going to slip away there at a couple of points.”

Instead of slipping away, the race and the championship landed safely. Once it was safely secured, talk of returning to Le Mans next year to defend their LMP2 Pro-Am title became the logical next topic of conversation. After all, Cameron and Hyett teamed with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing GTP driver Louis Deletraz to win the class at Le Mans in the No. 199 AO Racing with TF Sport ORECA in June. Why not try again?

“It’s obviously a bit of a dream until you get there, and it was kind of a dream week for us,” Cameron said. “That was more than I would have expected. I would love to do it again, for sure.”

Steven Thomas, who announced Motul Petit Le Mans would be his last scheduled IMSA start, wound up second in the LMP2 championship. He and teammates Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea rallied to consecutive victories to end the year in their No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA and also came from behind to win the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup LMP2 championship.

Goldburg was an unlucky third, having had his best WeatherTech Championship season to date in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA. He won the Rolex 24 At Daytona with Paul Di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and James Allen and added a second win at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with Di Resta and Lindh. He’ll resume once more with United in 2026 in pursuit of the championship.