100th win for the Penske team in sports car racing
After triumphs in both classes of the FIA WEC and Team Penske’s 100th sports car pole in Spa-Francorchamps, the success at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Laguna Seca was the icing on the cake. The Porsche 963 driven by Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet won the action-packed thriller in California. This marked the 600th victory for a Porsche racing car in the IMSA series and the 100th triumph for the Penske team in sports car racing. Clinching third place, the sister car shared by the championship leaders Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron continued its podium streak. Moreover, AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R won the GTD class.
Acura #40 and Porsche #7 are co-leading championships ahead of Long Beach
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
With just twelve minutes left on the clock, Le Mans winner Nick Tandy made the crucial final move: In a last-ditch push, the UK driver catapulted his No. 6 car past the leading Cadillac and safely brought home the factory team’s second win of the season in North America. With this win, Tandy and Jaminet progress to fifth place in the drivers’ standings. Porsche Penske Motorsport ranks first in the team classification.
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
“Laguna Seca is one of my favourite tracks and seeing the Porsche 963 win there today was fantastic,” states Roger Penske, CEO and founder of Penske Corporation. With this result, his team celebrates its 100th victory in sports car racing: “I was in Spa until yesterday evening watching the WEC team, now I was part of the success here in California – and later I’ll follow our team in the Indycar race. Many people know that we’re winners. We’ve underlined this several times with Porsche Penske Motorsport. Now we’re setting our sights on Le Mans.”Source: Porsche
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #6): “Our team did a tremendous job. Keep in mind, first, the crew clinches the 100th pole position for Penske in sports car racing, and then a day later the IMSA team scores their 100th victory. The results on both sides of the Atlantic clearly show how much we’ve improved in all areas over the past few months. That’s exactly what we needed. I’m so proud to be a part of it!”
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “Luck eluded us in the first three races of the year, but now the tables have finally turned. The team did a perfect job, from preparing the cars to pit stops and strategy. Our Porsche 963 was a dream to drive today. Nick delivered a thrilling and ultimately successful fight for victory. Let’s continue like this.” Source: Porsche
#31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R earns third second-place finish in 4 races
#31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R finished runner-up Sunday in the Motul Course de Monterey. It is the third second-place finish in Grand Touring Prototype competition for Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, who qualified second for the 2-hour, 40-minute race.
Cadillac sits atop the Grand Touring Prototype Manufacturer Championship standings, while Derani and Aitken moved to second in the Driver Championship.
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
Jack Aitken: “It was a really tough fight. Unfortunately, traffic was just wild today. Some of the GTDs were fighting me like they were fighting for the overall win and I’m not really sure why. It was a great, fun race and I enjoyed the battle. It’s a shame that we didn’t come out on top, but it was good for the championship. We just have to keep getting those points and that win is going to come sooner or later. I’m really proud of the Whelen Cadillac team.”
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
Pipo Derani: “It was one of those days when everything looked perfect for a race win but it slipped away at the end. You look at the positives. It was a good points day, the third second place of the year and three poles so far and front row in every race. We’ll look forward to moving to Detroit, our home race, and hoping that we can do one better at Detroit.” Source: Cadillac
P3 for Nasr and Cameron with Porsche 963 #7
With a P3, Nasr and Cameron retain first place in the drivers’ standings after round four race of the season, while teammates In the manufacturers’ championship, Porsche reduced the gap to the leaders in second place..
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “Congratulations to our colleagues in the sister car. It was a fantastic day of racing in California for our team. We crossed the finish line in third place with our number 7 car – that earned us a lot of points in our bid for the championship. We’ve extended our lead in the drivers’ standings, which was our goal. During my stints, I came from seventh on the grid and reached the podium. That was great fun.” Source: Porsche
#40 Acura ARX-06 climbs from eighth to fourth
Starting eighth in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP field, Deletraz expertly negotiated traffic while managing his fuel and tires to crack into the top five prior to handing the #40 machine over to teammate Jordan Taylor. Taylor would continue Deletraz's charge, working through the GTD traffic and tussling with the rival #01 car to take fourth at the line.
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
Jordan Taylor (#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06): "I think it was a good race for us! We went from eighth to fourth, so good progress. We were lacking a little bit of pace all weekend, but we executed very well in the race to go up the grid a little bit. We had some good fights on track—and I think we had the car to fight for P3—but it was all down to getting the traffic in the right spots. I think taking two tires was a good strategy call to make up some ground on the out lap to be able to fight. It is frustrating not to battle for the win, but we're heading in the right direction.' Source: Acura
The #01 Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, finished fifth.
Bourdais, who reset the track lap record of 1 minute, 12.455 seconds in the dash for the pole in the 15-minute qualifying session, led the race for 24 laps while battling low tire pressure caused by a puncture on Lap 1. On lap 16n Bourdais did set a new race lap record of 1:14.196 on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca road course.
A Cadillac GTP entry has recorded the fastest race lap in three of the four races, and Cadillac has earned the pole in all four races (Derani at Daytona, Sebring and Long Beach to start the season and Bourdais earning his seventh career IMSA pole with the record lap at Laguna Seca).
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
Renger van der Zande: “You win some and you lose some, and last time this call was giving us the win. We didn’t change tires like at Long Beach, but it didn’t work out. We tried to go for the win and we learn from that. You don’t make those decisions to go backward; you make those decisions to go forward. That’s racing. I’m very proud of the team and Cadillac.” Source: Cadillac
AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R wins GTD Pro class for the first time
The Porsche 911 GT3 R demonstrated its potential in the two GT classes. In the GTD Pro category, the customer team AO Racing brought home a commanding win with the so-called ‘Rexy’ 911. UK racer Sebastian Priaulx laid the groundwork at the wheel of the #77 car with a solid drive in his first stint. Former Porsche junior Laurin Heinrich followed up with an inspired drive. For long stretches, the German was undoubtedly the fastest GT driver on the track and built a significant lead over his pursuers.
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Laguna Seca 2024.
Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): “I’m over the moon! Not only is this my first win in the IMSA series but also for our AO Racing team and our much-loved ‘Rexy’. Laguna Seca is only our third race with this configuration – and against many factory-supported teams in the notoriously competitive GTD Pro class. I’m immensely grateful and happy.” Source: Porsche
Related Info
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona and Sebring 2023. Start of IMSA sprint season at Long Beach
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2023. Louis Delétraz charges to victory at Sebring
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2023. Porsche wins Rolex 24
