IMSA Laguna Seca: Penske-Porsche seal 1-2 victory

The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport piloted by Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell ended a three-race winning run by the team’s sister car with an impressive victory at Laguna Seca.

Jaminet and Campbell, who have had to watch teammates in the #7 car of Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy win the opening three rounds of the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, have settled with two second-place finishes and a third in the opening three rounds.

However, Jaminet held off a late challenge from Tandy, who banged wheels with pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor at the approach to Laguna Seca’s notoriously tight final left hander, sending the #24 BMW M Team RLL off track on the last corner of the last lap to finish third overall. Officials looked at the contact and no penalty was issued.

The final few laps threw up thrilling racing and led to a grandstand finish as Jack Aitken’s Cadillac bunched up the field when the British driver defended his position to remain on the lead lap.

However, he had inadvertently caused a jam behind him, as the two Porsche cars tussled for the win. But Jaminet avoided the chaos for the win, with his teammate Matt Campbell relieved to get off the mark for the season.

“We are on top and good to finally get a really good result, getting a win on the car #6 for the first time this season and obviously keeping this streak going of podiums, which is really really important for PPM and the championship for the big picture,” said Campbell.

#25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Marco Wittmann, Sheldon Van Der Linde

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

Nasr had earlier pulled off a brilliant overtake for the lead at Turn 5 moving left and then right to pass Vanthoor.

However, the #6 crew pulled off an undercut in the pitstop to take the lead and, after swapping with Tandy, a rare error for the Brit exiting the pitlane handed the advantage to Jaminet, who negotiated back markers to take the victory.

Campbell added: “It wasn't the easiest race. For sure, we lacked a bit of speed but nevertheless thank you to the team and for the strategy obviously coming out on top.

“It was super-close racing and I'm just glad we weren't a part of it [the close finish], so Mathieu did a fantastic job making no mistakes towards the end of the race in his final two stints and he did what we needed to do.”

The battle between the two Porsches played into the hands of the #24 BMW M Team RLL driven by Vanthoor, who had claimed the Motul Pole Award in qualifying.

But the BMW clashed with Tandy’s Porsche and limped home in third place meaning that no pole position winner in GTP has managed to convert from P1 in two years.

Fight to the finish in GTD PRO and GTD

#77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992): Laurin Heinrich, Klaus Bachler

Photo by: IMSA

It was another classic battle between Porsche and Ferrari teams, with the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) driven by Klaus Bachler and Laurin Heinrich finishing just 8.660s up the road ahead of Giacomo Altoè and Albert Costa in the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3. The pair were a full lap ahead of #3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in third.

Pfaff Motorsports finished a notable fourth in class, both for the result — and because the #4 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 was part of the last-lap tussle as the leading GTP cars picked their way past the slower car.

#57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: Russell Ward, Philip Ellis

Photo by: IMSA

Finally, it was another close result in GTD, with Philip Ellis and Rodger Ward in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 taking 16th overall and first in class ahead of the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Parker Thompson and Jack Hawksworth.

1 - 2
Cla	Drivers	#	Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	M. Jaminet M. Campbell Porsche Penske Motorsport	6	Porsche 963	124	-		4
2	F. Nasr N. Tandy Porsche Penske Motorsport	7	Porsche 963	124	+1.692 1.692	1.692	4
3	P. Eng D. Vanthoor BMW M Team RLL	24	BMW M Hybrid V8	124	+33.408 33.408	31.716	4
4	M. Wittmann S. Van Der Linde BMW M Team RLL	25	BMW M Hybrid V8	124	+1'02.080 1'02.080	28.672	4
5	R. van der Zande N. Yelloly Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian	93	Acura ARX-06	123	1 lap		4
6	J. Aitken F. Vesti Whelen Cadillac Racing	31	Cadillac V-Series.R	123	1 lap		4
7	J. Taylor L. Deletraz Wayne Taylor Racing	40	Cadillac V-Series.R	123	1 lap		5
8	R. Taylor F. Albuquerque Wayne Taylor Racing	10	Cadillac V-Series.R	122	2 laps		5
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