Метка: Road America

Jaminet admits last-lap clash fear with sister Porsche in Penske 1-2

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Road America IMSA SportsCar Championship winner Matthieu Jaminet admits he feared a last-lap crash with Porsche colleague Felipe Nasr in the frantic finale to Sunday’s race.

Jaminet crossed the finish line just 0.39s clear of Nasr in the sister Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 in the 2h40m race at the fabled four-mile Elkhart Lake track, having juggled fuel saving with his pace and risky overtaking moves through a knot of GTD class cars in the closing stages.

Jaminet even suggested giving up his track position to the points-leading No. 7 car to ensure a 1-2 finish.

Penske’s Porsches were the slowest of the factory-entered cars and were even outqualified by the customer 963 run by Proton Competition. Jaminet’s team-mate Nick Tandy suffered a setback on the opening lap when he clashed with Pipo Derani’s Cadillac and earned himself a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact – although he blamed Derani for moving under braking.

#6 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet

#6 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

Nasr, who shares the No. 7 PPM 963 with Dane Cameron, caught Jaminet with just two minutes of the race remaining, and he had 6% more usable energy available over the leader. Nasr also had a charging Ricky Taylor’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura right on his tail – who had to charge from ninth to third in the fastest car on track after being forced to make a late fuel stop.

It was at this point that Jaminet asked over the radio “Does the 7 want position?” but he didn’t get a reply from the pitwall and deferred to team’s previous position of not imposing team orders.

Jaminet clung on to the lead, and crossed the finish line with just 5% of usable energy remaining, according to IMSA’s live GTP telemetry app. The top three cars were covered by 1.1s at the flag.

“Obviously you still need to push,” said Jaminet of the dash to the flag despite his fuel-saving efforts. “In these kinds of situation, it’s best to have your team-mate behind you but sometimes it’s the worst!

“We both wanna win and you don’t wanna crash with your team-mate, so that’s why, on the last lap, I said ‘uh, look, it would maybe make sense that we don’t compromise our championship’ – they are leading the drivers’, but we had them (on pace) in the last race, and had them a little bit also today.

“We’re leading the manufacturers’, teams’ and drivers’ (championships), so it’s an awesome day for the team, it’s been a tough weekend missing performance.”

#6 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet

#6 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

The No. 6 crew was also quick to pay tribute to one of their engineers, who is “fighting for his life”, according to Jaminet.

“That is for Zach LaGrone,” Tandy said of the former Mazda DPi strategist and race engineer. “Our engineer, who is suffering in hospital at the moment, his nickname is Zebra. So we’re carrying the zebra (plush toy) around with us.

“We’d love him to still be here. I’m sure he’s watching. He’s always with us.”

Cameron and Nasr lead the drivers’ championship by 100 points over Jaminet and Tandy with two endurance races remaining at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans.

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Porsche 1-2 as Acura strategy falls short in wild race

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Porsche’s Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy won Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America, to claim their second victory of the season despite a penalty.

Jaminet/Tandy beat championship-leading team-mates Dane Cameron/Felipe Nasr and Acura’s Filipe Albuquerque/Ricky Taylor following a strategic battle in an incident-packed 2h40m race around the four-mile track that’s renowned as ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ and featured a 47-car entry.

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, lead the field to green

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, lead the field to green

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

Pole winner Albuquerque led the field to green in his No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, ahead of the No. 40 sister car of Jordan Taylor. But Taylor grabbed the lead at the exit of the first corner, leading Albuquerque, an aggressive Gianmaria Bruni (Proton Porsche 963) and Renger van der Zande (No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R).

Behind them, Pipo Derani’s Action Express-run Cadillac was spun around by Tandy’s No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 at Turn 6, for which Tandy was penalized. That promoted Connor De Phillippi’s No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 to fifth, which had survived a spin on the warm-up lap to run fifth.

Two early yellows were caused by GTD cars, with Alexander Sims getting punted off on the opening lap, while Danny Formal parked his WTR Lamborghini in the Carousel gravel when it suddenly caught fire.

The second caution led to WTR splitting their strategy, with Jordan Taylor pitting the No. 40 for fresh tires and handing over to Louis Deletraz, which meant it tumbled down the GTP order from first to ninth. Albuquerque stayed out to lead from Phillipp Eng’s No. 24 BMW, which missed qualifying after Jesse Krohn shunted it in practice.

Bruni pitted and rejoined at the head of the GTP cars that had stopped, restarting third ahead of De Phillippi and Cameron in the points-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963. Van der Zande slipping to sixth, but immediately passed Cameron.

Deletraz made a poor restart and resorted to banging wheels with the recovering Tandy. Deletraz’s stint went from bad to worse when he smashed Richard Westbrook’s JDC-Miller MotorSport Porsche 963 into a spin at Canada Corner and earned himself a drive-through. He’d later get another penalty for the team working on the car outside of the pit box.

Eng pitted the No. 24 BMW to hand over to Krohn just before the one-hour mark, while Albuquerque stayed out beyond the one-hour mark but dived for the pits to hand over to Ricky Taylor when an LMP2 car stopped at the Kink. The rest of the GTP field followed suit, even though the errant car pulled away again under his own power and the anticipated yellow didn’t arrive.

Sebastien Bourdais spun the No. 01 Cadillac at Turn 2 just after he took over from van der Zande. Bruni stayed out the longest, before handing over to Bent Viscaal who rejoined in the lead.

The third full course yellow was required when Nick Yelloly, who’d just taken over the No. 25 BMW from De Phillippi, crashed hard exiting the Carousel. Yelloly was forced out on the spot, while Bourdais needed a new nose after going off behind him to the inside of the corner.

With just over an hour to go, Ricky Taylor blasted past Viscaal for the lead at the restart, and Mathieu Jaminet (in for Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche) followed suit to grab second at Turn 2 and Jack Aitken (in for Derani in the No. 31 Caddy) also moved by him at Turn 4.

Taylor pulled out a big lead over Jaminet, while Felipe Nasr moved past Viscaal to claim fourth in the No. 7 factory Porsche. A final yellow was required to recover debris from some GTD warfare, not only eradicating Taylor’s 7s lead over Jaminet but he needed to stop again for fuel, which dropped him to ninth when he pitted with 26m to go.

The race went green again with 16m remaining, Jaminet leading Aitken and Nasr. Bourdais attacked Viscaal for fourth and passed him before Turn 5, as Deletraz went off at Turn 2. Taylor was on a charge on fresh tires and picked up a cluster of cars in front of him at the restart.

Aitken attacked Jaminet for the lead at Canada Corner, but his outside move was repelled. But Nasr got a great run on Aitken to sweep around him on the front stretch, while Taylor jumped to up to fourth past Bourdais at Turn 1.

Nasr got right on to Jaminet’s tail in traffic as they took the white flag. Taylor passed Aitken for third and tagged the rear of Nasr at Turn 4. The top four were covered by 1.4s at the finish.

Bourdais spun down to last in GTP as Viscaal passed him around the outside for fifth.

#2 United Autosports ORECA LMP2-Gibson: Ben Keating, Ben Hanley

#2 United Autosports ORECA LMP2-Gibson: Ben Keating, Ben Hanley

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

United Autosports wins in LMP2

Ben Keating grabbed the early lead in United Autosports’ No. 2 Oreca, as pole winner PJ Hyett (AO Racing) fell to third at Turn 5, also dropping behind overall Mosport winner Nick Boulle (Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen).

Daniel Goldburg No. 22 United Autosports Oreca was penalized with a drive-through penalty for running the red light in the first round of pitstops. Hyett regained second after the first round of pitstops, but clashed with Goldburg, who was a lap down, at Turn 1.

Tom Dillmann, who took over from Boulle, left the pits with equipment attached, earning him a drive-through that dropped them to seventh.

That led to a head-to-head between the No. 2 in Ben Hanley’s hands and the No. 99 AO car of Paul-Loup Chatin. A perfectly-timed late yellow played into United’s hands, allowing Hanley to stroke him clear of Gerry Kraut/Scott Andrews (JDC-Miller), as Chatin faded to third.

#35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: Daniel Serra, Giacomo Altoe

#35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: Daniel Serra, Giacomo Altoe

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Conquest Ferrari scores shock victory in GTD Pro

In GTD Pro, Nicky Catsburg No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R led Alexander Sims’s No. 3 sister Pratt Miller Motorsports-run car to green. But Sims was punted off at Turn 5 by Mike Rockenfeller’s No. 64 Multimatic Ford Mustang, which wounded its own right-front corner and took them both out of the reckoning.

Jack Hawksworth was the chief beneficiary in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F, rising to second from Oliver Jarvis (Pfaff Motorsports’ McLaren 720S). At the restart, Madison Snow charged up to second in Paul Miller Racing’s BMW M4.

Catsburg tumbled down the order in the first round of pitstops, as Giacomo Altoe stayed out to lead in the No. 35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296, ahead of the incoming Julien Andlauer who’s replaced Seb Priaulx in the points-leading AO Racing Porsche 911.

Altoe and Daniel Serra had just enough fuel to take victory, by 1.8s from the Snow/Bryan Sellers BMW. Ross Gunn, who shared his No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin with Alex Riberas, finished third to close on the AO Porsche in points, which could only finish fourth.

The No. 14 Lexus was given a costly drive-through for a pit violation as Ben Barnicoat took over from Hawksworth.

Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher won the pro-am GTD class in their Turner Motorsport BMW M4, after Parker Thompson was forced to bail out on a fuel strategy gamble in his Lexus.



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Acura sweeps front row, Corvette locks out GTD Pro

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Acura’s Filipe Albuquerque took pole position for this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America.

Albuquerque beat his team-mate Jordan Taylor and Cadillac Racing’s Renger van der Zande in the 15-minute GTP qualifying session ahead of Sunday’s 2h40m race around the four-mile track that’s the self-proclaimed ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ and features a 47-car entry.

The premier class GTP hybrids are back in action at Elkhart Lake after taking a break at Mosport last month, where LMP2 was the top category.

Albuquerque set the benchmark at 1m49.559s in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, as Dane Cameron took a wild trip through the gravel in the points-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 at the Carousel.

Taylor beat the provisional pole time with 1m49.235s in the sister No. 40 Acura, before Albuquerque retook P1 with 1m48.968s, and his pole tear continued with a 1m48.601s that couldn’t be beaten.

Van der Zande entered the conversation by grabbing P2 in the Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac V-Series.R despite being half a second off the pace. But Taylor retook second with 1m48.915s with two minutes to go, still three tenths down on Albuquerque, while van der Zande got within 0.005s of Taylor but stayed third.

“I could not go faster,” said Albuquerque. “It’s (team-mate) Ricky (Taylor’s) birthday and I promised him a pole.”

Jordan Taylor improved to 1m48.863s on his final effort, 0.262s down on the pole time. Van der Zande will start third, with the rapid Gianmaria Bruni the fastest Porsche in Proton’s customer No. 5 963 in fourth, ahead of the Action Express-run Cadillac of Pipo Derani.

Connor De Phillippi’s No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8, which set the pace in practice, will start from the third row in sixth. Nick Tandy was the quickest of the factory Porsches in his No. 6 PPM 963, beating Richard Westbrook’s JDC-Miller MotorSport example and Cameron’s No. 7 car.

BMW’s No. 24 car didn’t take part in qualifying after Jesse Krohn hit the wall at the Kink in FP2 this morning, requiring a serious repair job that included a new hybrid battery and transmission. But as the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team attempted to get the car going, the complex energy storage system refused to comply.

#99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2-Gibson: PJ Hyett, Paul-Loup Chatin

#99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2-Gibson: PJ Hyett, Paul-Loup Chatin

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Hyett scores fourth consecutive pole in LMP2

Overall Mosport winner Nick Boulle set the early pace for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen, but AO Racing’s PJ Hyett was keen on extending his recent run of poles by pipping his 1m54.516s by 0.024s with a 1m54.492s. Hyett improved to 1m53.818s on his next tour before slamming in 1m53.738s on his last lap.

“To get pole at Road America is such an amazing feeling, my grandfather taught me to drive just 100 miles from here,” said Hyett.

Ben Keating was back out in United Autosports’ No. 2 car after he suffered a brutal crash at the Carousel in FP2 this morning. He grabbed P2 as the clock ticked down with 1m54.110s.

Daniel Goldburg was third quickest in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca with 1m54.129s. Early pole challenger Boulle worked down to 1m54.303s but slipped to fourth.

Luis Perez Companc was fifth for AF Corse despite an off at Turn 12.

#4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg

#4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Corvette Racing 1-2 in GTD Pro

In GTD Pro, Nicky Catsburg took pole position in the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R with an early lap of 2m02.198s, which was three tenths quicker than Alexander Sims’ first try in the No. 3 sister Pratt Miller Motorsports-run car. Sims got within 0.194s on his second push lap to ensure the Corvette 1-2.

“It was an awesome lap and the car was really dialled in, super-cool to have a 1-2 again,” said Catsburg.

Giacomo Altoe was an impressive third fastest in Conquest Racing’s Ferrari 296, ahead of Jack Hawksworth – who had set the pace in FP2 but suffered a big wreck in the Pilot Challenge race that preceded qualifying – in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F.

Oddly, Hawksworth stopped just ahead of the pitlane entry on his in-lap.

Mike Rockenfeller was next up in the No. 64 Multimatic Ford Mustang from Oliver Jarvis in Pfaff Motorsports’ McLaren 720S.

Mikael Grenier was fastest in the pro-am GTD class in Korthoff/Preston Motorsports’ Mercedes-AMG, just over a tenth clear of Zach Robichon’s Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.

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BMW pips Acura by 0.009s in second practice

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BMW’s Connor De Phillippi topped second practice session for this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America.

De Phillippi beat the Acuras of Filipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor in the 90-minute session ahead of Sunday’s 2h40m race around the four-mile track that’s the self-proclaimed ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ and features a 47-car entry.

The premier class GTP hybrids are back in action after taking a break at Mosport last month.

Mathieu Jaminet set the benchmark at 1m52.559s in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 before the Cadillacs took over at the top, Sebastien Bourdais outpacing Jack Aitken for Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express respectively.

BMW joined the chat after 10 minutes, with Jesse Krohn’s No. 25 M Hybrid V8 pipping team-mate Connor De Phillippi in the No. 24 sister car for P1, before it was snatched by Jordan Taylor’s No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06.

De Phillippi wrested back the advantage with 1m50.335s, which would prove the fastest time of the session, pipping Krohn by seven tenths before they dived into the pits holding a BMW 1-2. Taylor then suffered a clash at Turn 5 with Daniel Goldburg in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca that set the pace in LMP2 yesterday.

The No.24 car missed the second half of the session as it required a new transmission installing, after suffering a grassy off at the Kink.

Taylor split the two BMWs at the top of the times with 25 minutes of the session remaining, his 1m50.620s getting within 0.285s of De Phillippi. Then it was Albuquerque’s No.10 WTR Acura that grabbed P2, just 0.009s off the quickest BMW.

Both BMW and Acura have tested recently at Road America, while in Balance of Performance news, the BMW has gained 1 kW of power and the Acura ARX-06 is 5kg heavier.

Behind Krohn, Gianmaria Bruni was the fastest Porsche in Proton’s customer No. 5 963, ahead of the No. 7 Penske-run version.

A red flag was required just after the halfway point to retrieve the No. 34 Conquest Ferrari GTD car of Albert Costa from Turn 8, which broke a driveshaft.

The second red flag was for Ben Keating in United Autosports’ No. 2 LMP2 Oreca, which suffered a big crash in the middle of the Carousel.

#2 United Autosports ORECA LMP2-Gibson: Ben Keating, Ben Hanley

#2 United Autosports ORECA LMP2-Gibson: Ben Keating, Ben Hanley

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

United Autosports quickest in LMP2

Overall Mosport winner Tom Dillmann set a cracking early pace for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen, lapping in 1m53.532s.

But Ben Hanley in United Autosports’ No. 2 car pipped Dillmann for P1 by 0.053s with 1m53.479s. However, when Keating was in the car later, he crashed at the Carousel and smashed into a concrete wall – wrecking the front and rear of the car as it span around.

That leaves the team with a huge rebuild before qualifying later.

Paul di Resta was third quickest in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca.

#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat

#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Lexus fastest in GTD Pro

In GTD, Jack Hawksworth set the pace almost from the start in his No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F at 2m03.475s.

Alexander Sims jumped up to second place in the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R just before the halfway point, 0.14s in arrears of Hawksworth.

The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Madison Snow was third fastest, ahead of the GTD pro-am class leading Lamborghini of Misha Goikhberg and Loris Spinelli.



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Acura fastest from BMW in first practice

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Acura’s Filipe Albuquerque topped the opening practice session for this weekend’s IMSA SportsCar Championship round at Road America.

Albuquerque beat BMW’s Connor De Phillippi and Sebastien Bourdais (Cadillac Racing) in preparation for Sunday’s 2h40m race around the four-mile track that’s the self-proclaimed ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ and features a 47-car entry.

The premier class GTP hybrids were back after taking a break at Mosport last month.

Dane Cameron set the benchmark at 1m53.538s in the points-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 he shares with Felipe Nasr, 0.015s ahead of the sister No. 6 car of Mathieu Jaminet.

Times tumbled after 10 minutes, as Louis Deletraz (No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06), Bourdais (Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R) and Albuquerque (No.10 WTR Acura) all took turns in P1. Albuquerque’s 1m52.555s was then eclipsed by Deletraz’s 1m52.451s.

BMW joined the chat after 20 minutes, with De Phillippi lapping in 1m51.500s, to take top spot in the No. 25 M Hybrid V8, eight tenths clear of Jesse Krohn in the sister No. 24 car. Both BMW and Acura have tested recently at Road America, while in Balance of Performance news, the BMW has gained 1 kW of power and the Acura ARX-06 is 5kg heavier.

Deletraz split the BMWs with a 1m51.902s, but this was still four tenths shy of De Phillippi, while Ricky Taylor took fourth in the No. 10 Acura with 1m52.104s.

Bourdais suffered an off at Turn 5 and continued, which was mirrored by Jack Aitken later in the session in the No. 31 Action Express Caddy. It didn’t seem to hamper Bourdais, who later jumped up to second place, 0.166s off De Phillippi.

The session was red flagged with 35m remaining for debris to be recovered from Turn 14.

The factory Porsches had fallen back to the bottom of the top 10 until Nasr went third fastest inside the final 10 minutes in the No. 7.

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But with less than four minutes left on the clock, Albuquerque rocketed to P1 with 1m51.089s, four tenths clear of the opposition. He just beat a second red flag as Danny Formal put his WTR with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan in the gravel at the final corner.

United Autosports quickest in LMP2

Paul di Resta set a storming pace at 1m53.486s in the opening moments of the session in the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca that proved unbeatable across the 90-minute session.

Tom Dillmann was over half a second off that pace with 1m53.093s for Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen, ahead of Ben Hanley in third United’s No. 2 car from Mikkel Jensen’s TDS car.

Mosport pole-winner PJ Hyett (AO Racing) clashed with Seth Lucas’s No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing entry at Turn 1, which resulted in Hyett being penalized with a drive-through penalty.

McLaren fastest in GTD Pro

In GTD, Laurin Heinrich set the early pace in the points-leading AO Porsche 911 at 2m05.687s but was toppled minutes later by Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R) and Mike Rockenfeller (No. 64 Multimatic Ford Mustang).

But towards the end of the session it was Inception Racing’s Frederik Schandorff who vaulted its McLaren 720S to the head of the times, leading all the Pro class cars as well as his fellow pro-ams.

Garcia led the Pro class from Rockenfeller and Nicky Catsburg in the sister No. 4 Corvette.

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What’s really made Porsche’s 963 the pack-leading GTP car in IMSA?

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What went so right for Porsche Penske Motorsport’s 963?

It was at this time last year that everything seemed to click for the new-for-2023 prototype, after stumbling out of the blocks despite the longest pre-season testing program (which started in the summer of 2022) compared its IMSA SportsCar Championship rivals Acura, BMW and Cadillac.

Although it bagged a front-row starting spot in that year’s Daytona 24 Hours, gearbox failure took out one car and the other finished 14th after hitting trouble with the then brand-new common hybrid system. There certainly were some glum faces around its garage that day.

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It showed at Sebring that, when the night air cooled temperatures, the 963 could find its performance window. But a late-race clash with Acura took out both of its cars, and podium finishes went begging.

Its No. 6 car, driven by Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet, notched an unexpected first win on the streets of Long Beach, after a bold gamble to run on a single set of Michelins paid off. But the fact it could do this showed it wasn’t really working its tires efficiently, and had very poor pace, so this was a Hail Mary effort that luckily paid off.

Chances at Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen went begging – a front row lock-out squandered and an on-the-road victory ruled out for excessive plank wear on the No. 6 car respectively. After an abject showing at Mosport, where only BMW was slower in qualifying, then came Road America…

#7 Team Penske Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr

#7 Team Penske Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

“For sure, Road America in 2023 was the turning point, where things really started to click,” says ex-F1 racer Felipe Nasr, who leads this year’s championship. “It was truly a weekend that we could unlock the performance of the car, the true speed of the car.”

Back then Nasr shared the No. 7 with Matt Campbell, who since swapped seats with Dane Cameron to race in the World Endurance Championship for 2024.

“That win was really the breakthrough of the 7 crew,” Nasr adds. “If you look at all the results since, I really think the 7 car has been on a high, really ticking the boxes and being consistent.”

Porsche’s director of LMDh factory racing, Urs Kuratle, refers to it as a “very honest victory” that truly kickstarted its successful sequence of races in America.

#7 Team Penske Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr

#7 Team Penske Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

“It’s like we had a backpack on us that was filled with reliability (issues) and also with performance and operational topics as well,” admits Kuratle.

Following the win, he recalls: “I remember one guy talked to me, ‘So now we can start racing!’ I’m not saying we haven’t had any problems ever since… but maybe that’s the best expression I could say: It’s like the backpack was gone.

“But we are never leaning back, we have to keep on pushing on the whole thing.”

Motorsport.com asked Kuratle what exactly are the key factors that have made the 963 the pack leader: “I think the key strength is that we have a very, very solid package that starts obviously with the drivers,” he replies.

“Road Atlanta is the only race since Road America last year where we have not been on the podium with at least one car. And that is only possible if you have a very strong driver lineup, if the car is reliable and the team doesn’t make any mistakes. These are the key factors.

“I think compared to all the competitors, we have the strongest package on that one and that’s something we are still not 100% happy – if you ever can be happy about this – we still work on every detail to be, to become better on all those topics.”

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell, Josef Newgarden

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell, Josef Newgarden

Photo by: Bob Meyer

This year, the No. 7 car has won the Daytona 24 Hours and The Six Hours at The Glen, while the sister car prevailed at Laguna Seca.

Cameron and Nasr go into this year’s Road America race with a 93-point lead over Cadillac Racing’s Sebastian Bourdais and Renger van der Zande, and are 132 clear of Tandy/Jaminet (who’ve trailed since a disastrous Sebring).

Nasr points to their most-recent victory at Watkins Glen, a race impacted by heavy rainstorms, as the best indicator yet of this team’s precision under pressure.

“When I look at Watkins Glen, I think it was really a test of all of those elements,” Nasr said. “It was a super-hard race with extremely difficult conditions where we had really 50/50 of both.

“It was wet or it was dry, which tires to take, which time to come in the pits. I think that was a really good test to see how we operated in that race, and having the win in Watkins was what’s really not only incredible but was very important for the state of the championship.”

What does a rival think?

Early last year, if you asked one of Porsche’s rival drivers for their thoughts on how the 963 appeared to them in combat, you’d get some puckered lips and responses like “very snappy, very oversteery” and “it seems to struggle to find the performance window on these tires”.

It’s one area that the 963 has vastly improved over its competition lifespan, as it has now won races using all of Michelin’s range of tire compounds – soft, medium and hard – which are mandated for each round.

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Speaking on the subject this week, Acura’s Filipe Albuquerque has advocated Michelin leaning more on the use of its soft compound where possible, to try and avoid instances of these heavy yet powerful cars crashing on cold rubber.

“I believe it’s better to blister a tire than to crash a car on the out lap,” he says. “The performance is better with the harder compound wherever you go (in helping stint lengths), but what it is harder is just the survival on cold tyres.

“Having a softer compound, it’s just much easier to apply the energy on the out lap, but eventually you will pay through the long run. But, at the end of the day, it’s going to be the same for everybody.

“For example, at Long Beach we had the soft when last year it was medium. So that was the main change from last year to this year. On top of that, obviously, all the drivers know and then taking their adjustments, but it seems like Porsche has been a little bit ahead of things on cold tyres.

“They’ve been a little bit stronger than the others as well in WEC. I mean, I think that’s the perks of having cars in multiple championships.”

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

When Nasr is asked about the tire warmup issue, he says it’s been a real focus of attention.

“I feel like one year under our belts make a huge difference on understanding on how to turn on the tires, depending on each track and the tire compound as well,” says Nasr. “We’ve seen that several times and in the last race in Watkins, when it was mixed conditions.

“Some cars could really light up the tire right away. Some took maybe a few more laps and, you know, it goes in favor of some cars depending on the track layout and how we put the energy on the tires.

“It’s certainly one area we’ve been working a lot. Not only as a team but as drivers as well trying to see where we can produce and put more energy in the tire, but with the car as well, like setup-wise, things that we can do to generate more heat in the tire.

“Everything counts, you know, in-laps, the out-laps and how you generate the heat on the tires in the race.”

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

So, while Porsche was already decent on these tire compounds, it was still prone to struggles at high-energy tracks like Mosport (which is no longer on the GTP schedule) and Road Atlanta, which hosts the Petit Le Mans finale.

Porsche’s 963 has certainly hit its sweet spot to lead the IMSA drivers’, teams’ and constructors’ standings with just three rounds to go. And PPM is leading the WEC drivers’ and constructors’ championships too, with customer JOTA topping the teams’…

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Title contender Gunn reacts to Priaulx’s exit from IMSA-leading Porsche

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Heart of Racing’s Ross Gunn says it’s “business as usual” following the shock departure of IMSA SportsCar Championship GTD Pro title rival Seb Priaulx from the points-leading AO Racing Porsche squad.

AO revealed last week that 23-year-old Priaulx is stepping down from partnering Laurens Heinrich “to focus on his growing commitments with Multimatic”.

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A statement from the team, which has recruited Porsche-contracted Julien Andlauer to replace him at Road America this weekend, added: “Increasing obligations and schedule conflicts have necessitated the transition sooner than expected.”

Priaulx and Henrich scored back-to-back GTD Pro victories at Laguna Seca and Detroit, and hold a 98-point lead over Gunn, who’s also had multiple team-mates in Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas this year in the #23 HoR Aston Martin Vantage.

When asked by Motorsport.com for his thoughts on Priaulx’s exit from the car he’s chasing for the title, Gunn replied: “For us, I think it doesn’t really change anything. The AO guys have been really strong all year already, and I’m pretty sure Andlauer did some IMSA races last year, so I don’t think there’ll be any sort of time for him getting up to speed.

“Obviously, he’s a very experienced Porsche guy and very quick. So, to be honest, I don’t think there’s any change on that front for us. It’s just about focusing on our job and making sure that we execute in the best possible way.

“Those guys have been phenomenally quick this year and have also done a very good job in getting podiums consistently and, yeah, I think they’re still gonna be the ones to beat going forward for sure.”

#23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas

#23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Although Gunn said it would be “business as usual” from his side, he did suggest that mid-season driver swaps with non-regular IMSA drivers could risk some pitfalls.

He added: “Of course, there are some things that a driver will have to get used to, and there’s only two practice sessions to get used to communicating with the team, get used to the style of racing and also the pitstops and rules set. That’s a big change from Europe and the WEC.

“I’ve raced (Andlauer) quite a few times, and Heinrich is obviously a very quick driver as well, so I’m sure they’re going to the guys to beat. They still have a pretty big gap, and been quick in the last few races, so it’s up to us to do the best job that we can and that can open some doors.”

#23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas, Ian James

#23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas, Ian James

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

Gunn pointed to recent successes for Heart of Racing in IMSA and WEC competition, as well as Aston Martin’s Spa 24 Hours victory with Comtoyou Racing, a race he finished in fourth place with Walkenhorst Motorsport.

He feels that momentum can help in his quest to overhaul AO in IMSA GTD Pro.

“The last few months have been very, very good for Heart of Racing and also Aston Martin,” said Gunn. “We’ve had several wins in the WeatherTech Championship, we had a podium in WEC and Aston won the Spa 24 Hours, so it’s been an awesome period.

“I think the energy is really positive right now and everyone is feeling it. For us, we’re in a very good position in the championship, not quite where we want to be but we’ve gradually been progressing throughout the year. We were fourth at the start of the year, then third and now second.

“There’s a gap to the Porsche in front, but we’re gonna give it everything we can. We’ve got some really positive momentum right now.”

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Andlauer replaces Priaulx after mid-season AO Racing Porsche departure

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


IMSA SportsCar GTD Pro championship leader AO Racing has recruited Julien Andlauer for the next round at Road America, after the shock departure of Seb Priaulx on Wednesday.

AO had already revealed that its green T-Rex-liveried 911 GT3 – nicknamed ‘Rexy’ – is being replaced for the next two races by its pink sister, called ‘Roxy’.

Team principal Gunnar Jeannette said this was because the car had been “racing his little arms off, so we decided to give him a little R&R”.

#80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R 992: PJ Hyett, Seb Priaulx in 'Roxy'

#80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R 992: PJ Hyett, Seb Priaulx in ‘Roxy’

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

On the reason for Priaulx’s split with AO, the 23-year-old Briton is “to focus on his growing commitments with Multimatic”. A statement from the team added: “Increasing obligations and schedule conflicts have necessitated the transition sooner than expected.”

Priaulx and co-driver Laurin Heinrich scored back-to-back class wins at Laguna Seca and Detroit. Jeannette said of the move: “All of us at AO Racing wish Seb the best and are thankful for the time Multimatic let him spend with us.

“He has been a huge part of our team as we brought Rexy to life, and we are proud to have our early successes with him on the effort.”

#5 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Gianmaria Bruni, Alessio Picariello, Julien Andlauer

#5 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Gianmaria Bruni, Alessio Picariello, Julien Andlauer

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

The 25-year-old, Porsche-contracted Andlauer, whose previous IMSA start this year was in Proton Competition’s 963 hypercar at the 12 Hours of Sebring, will race alongside full-season driver Heinrich from next weekend’s round in Road America.

“I’m super excited to be back in IMSA, and to join the AO Racing Team which has been very successful so far,” said Andlauer. “I’m really looking forward to jumping in the car and giving the maximum to give my best effort for the team to have a good chance for the championship.

“I don’t know Road America yet, but it looks to be an amazing track, and I hope it can suit our beautiful Roxy. I will fight well and look forward to being there and working with the entire team.”

Andlauer made his name by winning the GTE Am class of the Le Mans 24 Hours with Dempsey-Proton’s 911 RSR partnered by Matt Campbell and Christian Ried in 2018. He has been racing full-time this year in Proton’s 963 in the World Endurance Championship.

Jeannette added of the former French and German Carrera Cup champion, who has previously raced 911s in IMSA with WeatherTech Racing and Riley: “We are excited to welcome Julien to AO Racing for Road America. We’ve raced against him in many championships across the globe and can’t wait to see what he can do with Roxy at our home race.”

Heinrich and Priaulx lead the championship with 1955 points, thanks to four podium finishes this season, to Heart of Racing Aston Martin’s Ross Gunn on 1857.

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