Autumn Oaks Racing, doing business as AO Racing, is an American sports car racing team based in St. Charles, Illinois, established in 2022 by American software developer and entrepreneur P. J. Hyett and American racing driver Gunnar Jeannette. The team currently competes in the LMP2 and the GTD Pro classes of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and in LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series. AO Racing have previously competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship in a collaborative effort with Project 1 Motorsport. The team won the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship in the GTD Pro class with Porsche factory driver Laurin Heinrich.
Background AO Racing was founded in 2022 by GitHub co-founder and technology entrepreneur P. J. Hyett, and American race car driver Gunnar Jeannette. Hyett and Jeannette met through vintage racing and became friends. In September 2022, they made the decision to form an auto racing team to compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. The name AO is an abbreviation for Autumn Oaks, which is the name of Hyett's car collection.
Branding approach In lieu of the conventional approach focusing on sponsor exposure and brand prestige, AO Racing promotes a playful and expressive brand personality, utilizing a dedicated canon, faux creature designs, and mascots with a large focus on fan engagement, a strategy which has allowed them to grow into a fan favorite team in sports car racing especially among families and children. The team operates a kids' club similar to professional sporting teams, with members receiving a merchandise pack and access to an exclusive garage tour and driver autograph session at most IMSA events. Hyett credits Jeannette for originating AO Racing's brand approach, stating that he had come up with the idea based on the public reception towards Hyett's race helmet. His race helmet includes a Tyrannosaurus rex and a unicorn on either side, a design he began using at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona inspired by his son and daughter.
As of 2026, the team has four mascots, each represented on the cars that they use. "Rexy", a green male Tyrannosaurus rex, was created by designer T. J. Harley and first unveiled at the 2023 12 Hours of Sebring. "Roxy", a pink female Tyrannosaurus rex, was introduced five months later at the 2023 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR after the Rexy design was moved to AO Racing and Project 1 Motorsport's Porsche 911 RSR-19 for the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship. Roxy has since reappeared as an occasional substitute to the team's full-time Rexy design in select races, which the team describe as Rexy "taking a vacation". "Spike", a purple and orange dragon, was introduced following the team's expansion into the LMP2 class for the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship. AO Racing describe Rexy and Roxy as siblings and Spike as their cousin. "Rockie", a red female winged horse based on Pegasus, was introduced ahead of the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans as their LMP2 Pro-Am entry, stemming from the team's partnership with Mobil. Rockie made her IMSA debut at the 2026 Petit Le Mans.
AO Racing sometimes take creative liberties with their creature designs, including Halloween-themed skeleton liveries of both Rexy and Spike at Petit Le Mans, Rexy sporting boxing gloves and a mouthguard for the 2026 Detroit Sports Car Classic (referencing both the city's strong boxing history as well as the combative reputation of the street race), and a version of Spike featuring gold scales celebrating their 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship LMP2 title. Rexy and Roxy are also altered to include golden teeth each time the team secures a race win, with a permanent gold tooth added following their 2024 IMSA season championship.
Racing history
European Le Mans Series On November 29, 2023, the team announced that they would field an LMP2 entry in the 2024 European Le Mans Series season in partnership with TF Sport. The team signed Louis Delétraz, Jonny Edgar, and former Formula One driver Robert Kubica to drive the car full-time. Polish oil company Orlen would sponsor the car for the full season and the team would compete as Orlen Team AO by TF. The team would go on to win the LMP2 championship ahead of the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition entry.
The team returned to the European Le Mans Series for a second season in 2025, once again partnering with TF Sport. LMP2 class champion Louis Delétraz remained with the team, with team owner P. J. Hyett entering the series for the first time. The team would be competing in the LMP2 Pro-Am category as Hyett is an FIA Bronze driver.
FIA World Endurance Championship
In partnership with Project 1 Motorsport, AO Racing fielded a Porsche 911 RSR-19 in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship. At the third round of the series in the 2023 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the team were forced to withdraw following an accident suffered by P. J. Hyett in qualifying, evaluating that the chassis of their car was too damaged to race. The joint effort team were unable to collect high scoring results, which meant they finished 11th out of 14 teams in the LM GTE class standings. AO Racing effectively left the series after Project 1 Motorsport filed for bankruptcy in 2024.
IMSA SportsCar Championship AO Racing completed their sports car racing debut at the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona, entering a Porsche 911 (992) GT3 R driven by Harry Tincknell, Sebastian Priaulx, and team founders Gunnar Jeannette and P. J. Hyett. The team sported a tribute livery based on the Porsche 935 from Henn's Swap Shop Racing that won the race 40 years prior. AO Racing experienced a difficult race, finishing 19 laps down on the GTD class winner.
At the 2023 12 Hours of Sebring, AO Racing unveiled "Rexy" for the first time as their new full-season livery, a design which would also become the basis for the team's bold brand personality. The livery, which received widespread fanfare for its unconventional theme in contrast to other competitors, was inspired by P. J. Hyett's two children, who had both influenced his helmet design which included a Tyrannosaurus rex and a unicorn. The race would prove difficult, finishing the race 16 laps down on the GTD leader. They would spend the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship in the midfield, completing the season 13th in class. Entering the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, the team announced that they would field a second car, set to compete in the LMP2 class. The team's third mascot, "Spike", was revealed for the first time in the announcement, with AO Racing's new Oreca 07 wearing the purple and orange dragon themed livery. The team signed Matthew Brabham and Paul-Loup Chatin to partner P. J. Hyett for the full season in the LMP2 entry, with Alex Quinn joining the team for the Michelin Endurance Cup. The GTD Pro entry would see Michael Christensen, Laurin Heinrich, and Sebastian Priaulx drive the team's Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) for the full season. At the third round of the 2024 season at Laguna Seca, the team scored their first win as an organization in the GTD Pro class with Heinrich and Priaulx behind the wheel of "Rexy". After two further wins at Detroit and Indianapolis, the team, and subsequently Laurin Heinrich, became GTD Pro champions by four points at the last race at Road Atlanta.
The team returned for the 2025 season once again competing in the LMP2 and GTD Pro classes. 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship GTD Pro champion Laurin Heinrich remained with the team to drive the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Joining him was Klaus Bachler, who drove the No. 77 Virginia International Raceway in 2024, and Belgian racer Alessio Picariello. For the No. 99 LMP2 entry, the team signed Dane Cameron, Jonny Edgar, and Christian Rasmussen to partner team owner P. J. Hyett. The No. 99 LMP2 car won the title in its class in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship at the 2025 Petit Le Mans season finale.
Intercontinental GT Challenge AO Racing made their SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge debut at the 2026 Suzuka 1000 km in partnership with Hong Kong-based team Absolute Racing. Regular AO IMSA driver Picariello was joined by Heinrich as well as fellow Porsche factory driver Julien Andlauer for the race, which saw AO also introduce a special livery named "Bushi Rex", described as "Rexy's ancient samurai ancestor".https://aoracing.com/ao-racing-partners-with-absolute-racing-for-suzuka-1000km-debut/ The trio piloted the No. 8 entry to victory from sixth place on the starting grid, in the process securing Porsche's first win at Suzuka since 1994.https://aoracing.com/ao-by-absolute-racing-delivers-historic-overall-victory-at-suzuka-1000km/
Racing record
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassNoChassisEngineDrivers1234567891011Pts2023DAYSEBLBHLGAWGLMOSLIMELKVIRIMSPET AO Racing TeamGTD 80Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 P. J. Hyett Gunnar Jeannette Sebastian Priaulx Harry Tincknell1416DNS111487116108 13th 22452024DAYSEBLGADETWGLMOSELKVIRIMSPET AO RacingLMP299Oreca 07Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 Matthew Brabham Paul-Loup Chatin P. J. Hyett Alex Quinn 8 Ret 7 8 3 4 7 6th 1942GTD Pro 77Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 Julien Andlauer Klaus Bachler Michael Christensen Laurin Heinrich Sebastian Priaulx 2 9 1 1 6 3 4 7 1 11 1st 31222025DAYSEBLBHLGADETWGLMOSELKVIRIMSATL AO RacingLMP299Oreca 07Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 Dane Cameron Jonny Edgar P. J. Hyett Christian Rasmussen 5 7 2 1 1 5 6 1st 2254GTD Pro 77Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 Klaus Bachler Laurin Heinrich Alessio Picariello 8 1 1 5 5 3 8 5 7 85th2963GTD177Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 Jonny Edgar Laurens Vanthoor 1 21st 3822026*DAYSEBLBHLGADETWGLMOSELKVIRIMSATL AO RacingLMP299Oreca 07Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 Dane Cameron Jonny Edgar P. J. Hyett Christian Rasmussen 5 6 1 3 3rd 1274GTD Pro77Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 Nick Tandy Harry King Alessio Picariello 9 2 3 9 7 2 3rd 1766GTD177Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2)Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 Harry King Mikkel O. Pedersen 1322nd202 * Season in progress.
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassNoChassisEngineDrivers1234567Pts2023SEBPORSPALMNMONFUJBHR Project 1 - AOLMGTE Am 56Porsche 911 RSR-19Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 Matteo Cairoli P. J. Hyett Gunnar Jeannette Guilherme Oliveira Miguel Ramos Efrin Castro 12 6 WD78510 11th 36 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps 2023 Project 1 – AO 56 Porsche 911 RSR-19 Matteo Cairoli P. J. Hyett Gunnar Jeannette LMGTE Am 309 35th 7th 2024 AO by TF 14 Oreca 07-Gibson Louis Delétraz P. J. Hyett Alex Quinn LMP2 (Pro-Am) 295 20th 2nd 2025 AO by TF 199 Oreca 07-Gibson Dane Cameron Louis Delétraz P. J. Hyett LMP2 (Pro-Am) 366 20th 1st 2026 AO by TF 99 Oreca 07-Gibson James Allen Dane Cameron P. J. Hyett LMP2 (Pro-Am) 356 24th 3rd
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassNoChassisEngineDrivers123456Pts2024CATLECIMOSPAMUGPOR Orlen Team AO by TFLMP2 14Oreca 07Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 Louis Delétraz Jonny Edgar Robert Kubica 7 3 2 1 5 2 1st 932025CATLECIMOSPASILPOR AO by TFLMP2 Pro-Am99Oreca 07Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 Dane Cameron Louis Delétraz P. J. Hyett 8 2 1 3 2 2 1st 1002026*BARLECIMOSPASILPOR AO by TFLMP2 Pro-Am99Oreca 07Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 Dane Cameron P. J. Hyett Louis Delétraz Jonny Edgar 10 2 99th22 * Season in progress. Race Wins
Overall Wins #SeasonChampionshipDateClassesTrack / RaceNo.Winning driversChassisEngine12024ELMSAugust 25LMP2Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps14 Jonny Edgar / Louis Delétraz / Robert KubicaOreca 07Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
Class Wins