Third one-two and Fourth victory in a row for Porsche

IMSA

May 12

Porsche Penske Motorsport already clinched three wins in a row with Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy at Daytona, Sebring and Long Beach in #7 but this time Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell achieved their first win of the season at the Laguna Seca Raceway. For once in nearly three years, there was not a single caution period during the race.

Fourth win in a row for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

At green light, both Porsche 963 slotted into positions two and three – but in reverse order from their qualifying positions. Reigning champion Felipe Nasr promptly overtook teammate Matt Campbell and set his sights on the leading BMW. Further back, the #6 car came into contact with a GT entry, forcing an early pit stop for repairs. Meanwhile, Nasr put in a daring overtaking manoeuvre and swept into P1.
Around 45 minutes into the race, Brazilian driver Felipe Nasr steered the leading #7 Porsche into the pits, handing the wheel to Nick Tandy. Tandy rejoined the race and found himself behind the sister car, now driven by Mathieu Jaminet, who had swapped with Matt Campbell.

📷© Courtesy of Porsche. The two Porsche 963

The two Porsche 963 held firm at the front, running comfortably in first and second positions until the closing minutes – when the #24 BMW launched a last-ditch charge. Separated by mere metres, the top three cars treated fans to a gripping showdown in the final lap with multiple overtaking attempts, slight clashes, and ultimately, a trip into the gravel for the third-placed BMW, also caused by an involved GT racing car.

Porsche #6 and 7 — 📷© Courtesy of Porsche. Both Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 #6 and 7

In the overall standings, Porsche has extended its lead over the competition in the manufacturers’ championship. Porsche Penske Motorsport holds a comfortable lead in the team standings. In the drivers’ championship, Campbell and Jaminet have slightly closed the gap to their teammates Nasr and Tandy. The two driver pairings continue to rank first and second in the standings.

Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “Our first win of the season at last! We were involved in an incident early on, so I didn’t expect such a fantastic result. But a perfect team strategy got us to the front. It was a close battle to the end, even with our sister car. We managed to bring it home. Now I’m really looking forward to the race in Detroit.”

📷© Courtesy of Porsche. Porsche #7 ahead of sister #6 during first stint.

Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #7): “That was another fantastic day of racing for our team. That’s the fourth consecutive podium finish for us in the number 7 car; we’ve finished second or higher in every race so far this year, which is an incredible way to start the season. We just want to keep the momentum going. We’ve only contested four of our nine races. Next up is the street race in Detroit and there’ll be plenty of points up for grabs there again. That’s what we’re fully focussing on now.” Source: Porsche

Second podium for BMW

In terms of qualifying speed, the BMW M Hybrid V8 remains the benchmark in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season after three races. Dries Vanthoor once again shone with an impressive lap time that secured him the pole position. Only van der Linde in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 could match the pace, finishing second to complete the front row entirely in BMW M Motorsport’s hands.

📷© Courtesy of BMW

In the race, both BMW M Team RLL cars initially took the lead, but they lost valuable positions during a pit stop in the first yellow phase. Particularly Wittmann, who took over the #25 from van der Linde, had to fight hard to move up from tenth to fifth place. Eng only had to let the two Porsches at the front go and ultimately drove home a solid third place.

Philipp Eng (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team RLL, 3rd place): “Starting from the first and second positions, this is obviously not the result we had hoped for. Unfortunately, we had a small issue during the pit stop, which caused us to fall behind the two Porsches. If we had stayed ahead, I think we could have kept them behind us. It’s still a podium, but it’s a pity because more was possible. Nevertheless, we are on the right track, and we will come back stronger in Laguna Seca.”

Marco Wittmann (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, BMW M Team RLL, 5th place): “Even though I managed a good comeback to fifth place, the disappointment prevails after this result. We were in first and second place in all practices and qualifying, so you naturally expect more than third and fifth places in the race. We made a strategic mistake with the timing of our pit stop during the yellow phase with our number 25, which almost threw us to the back of the GTP field. We need to learn from this and convert the strong pace that the BMW M Hybrid V8 has into top results next time.” Source: BMW Group

Acura sixth

Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly driving the #93 Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 crossed checkered flag in fifth.

📷© Courtesy of IMSA. #93 Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06

Cadillac sixth, seventh and eighth.

The Cadillac three-car Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) contingent finished sixth, seventh and eighth in the Monterey SportsCar Championship.

The #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R continued its forward progress for the third consecutive race, advancing three positions from its starting spot to finish sixth at the hands of Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti. At Sebring, Long Beach and Laguna Seca, the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R has gained 15 total positions relative to its starts.

The #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R, with Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz sharing driving duties, started and finished seventh. The No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R driven by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque finished eighth after overcoming an unscheduled pit stop 32 minutes into the race because of a mechanical black flag for tire requirements.

📷© Courtesy of Cadillac. #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.

Jack Aitken: “Obviously, you want to be starting up front but I think one of the things we would have been better at last year is gain positions on track instead of on strategy. It’s nice that we’ve made a step forward and the car feels really nice when you’re fighting wheel to wheel. We just need to go and search for some of that raw pace and then we can be mixing it with the leaders.”

Frederik Vesti: “My first race starting in the car in GTP, so it’s a lot of first with qualifying yesterday, which is good because it means a lot of learning. It was good. I maintained my position and pushing hard to overtake the cars ahead of me. I think we had really good pace, especially mid to late in the stint, which helped us later in the race. We want to be fighting at the front, so it is frustrating to be starting P9 and finishing P6. I still think that’s a good result. I think we maximized our race pretty well and it’s good to see Jack battling. Next stop for me is Le Mans and that will be an incredible highlight of the year with Cadillac having four cars there. I’m really excited for that and to keep the momentum going.” Source: Cadillac Racing

📷© Courtesy of Cadillac. #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R.

Jordan Taylor: “We went a bit off-strategy to see what we could do and ended up probably where we ended up anyway. We were a little bit more competitive this race but still missing quite a bit to be fighting for podiums. So, hopefully, Detroit will be better.”

Louis Deletraz: “Difficult race for the Cadillacs in general. We tried an alternate strategy for a yellow that never came, so we had to pit again. We did what we could. We learned and we're getting there but there is still some work required to get to the competition. Just a big thank you to the whole team, the crew, and we'll go to Detroit our home race to try to bring some silverware for us." Source: Cadillac Racing

#10 Cadillac — 📷© Courtesy of Cadillac. #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R

Ricky Taylor: “I think we’re making progress generally with the car. We’ve gotten glimpses of where we really want to be. Unfortunately, today, the pieces didn’t fall into place, but I think we had a stronger qualifying. We seem to be figuring out what makes the car go fast and what we need from the car to perform. I think it’s just a matter of putting it together a bit more and take it to the other guys.”

Filipe Albuquerque: “Another hard day at the office. It was an eventful race for me, a lot of action and too many fights with the 85 Porsche. That’s part of the game and unfortunately I had some damage with the front nose. Lost a lot of time there and then just cruising and tried to survive. We’re not there yet with the car. We need to figure it out.”