Last week, Ivan Machado Perez joined an illustrious club of drivers as a Skip Barber Race Series champion. The Spaniard capped off his masterpiece-like season with a dominating win in the rain at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, his tenth victory of the season. Perez dedicated his final win of the season to fellow driver Alan Orzynski’s father who passed away the morning of the season finale. Orzynski and Perez developed a close bond over the course of the season with the two Spanish-speaking drivers often found dissecting each other’s on-board videos, steering inputs and pedal telemetry. Orzynski finished the 2025 season runner-up to Perez, his career-best result in the Skip Barber Race Series. Perez began this journey over one year ago, competing in the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series before earning one of three spots at an in-person shootout at VIR. There, he impressed instructors from Skip Barber and was awarded a seat in the 2025 Skip Barber Race Series. Since then, Perez has served as model of what is possible for the top sim-racers, showcasing the power of simulators and iRacing in driver training and development. He earned his first win at VIR in June, igniting a stretch of nine races where his on-track pace was unmatched. His win streak was eventually broken by Orzynski when the Series returned to VIR in the fall. Throughout the season, Perez, Orzynski, and Brazil’s Naim Saleh stood as stalwarts at the sharp end of the grid with the trio amassing 30 podiums between them. For Saleh, his 2025 campaign ended earlier than he would have hoped as he was sidelined due to an injury, he sustained in a crash in the F4 Brazilian Championship in São Paulo. Meanwhile, a pair of drivers, Scott Pyle and Trevor LaTourrette quickly pounced on opportunities for strong results at Laguna Seca. Pyle earned his first-career Skip Barber Race Series victory, beating out LaTourrette in a one-lap dash that had shades of the 2021 Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi. LaTourette parlayed that result on Wednesday into a stellar drive in wet conditions on Thursday to earn his fourth-consecutive podium. Canada’s Thaden Van Wong scored the best result of his young Skip Barber Race Series career. With a podium finish in Race 1 he bests the previous records of former BMW factory driver John Edwards and 2024 champion Oliver Wheldon as the Series’ youngest podium finisher. Fresh off his debut in GT4 racing, Robert Mosteller scored a fourth-place finish in the rain in Race 2. He jumped one spot in the overall standings, ending his season on a high note. While the future plans for this year’s class of drivers remain to be finalized, on the horizon for drivers are outings in European open-wheel racing, North American GT racing, and more. For information on the 2026 Skip Barber Race Series, including a preview of the schedule, click here. Everyone at Skip Barber sends their best wishes to Saleh on his recovery, and the Orzynski family for their loss.