Porsche Penske Motorsport claims a podium finish at the Battle on the Bricks
• Sister car of the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team was involved in a collision early in the race
• Championship will be decided at the Petit Le Mans on October 3
The Porsche factory team is back on the podium in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In the penultimate race of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the No. 6 Porsche 963 finished in third place. Thanks to the podium finish, the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer still has a mathematical chance of defending its title. The sister car lost all hope of a successful race early on after a collision that was not its fault. The season finale will take place on October 3 at Road Atlanta.
Indianapolis, Ind. The 2-hour, 40-minute race in Indianapolis got off to a dramatic start. During an unfortunate incident in the first turn, all three Porsche 963 were involved in collisions. Car No. 7 was hit the hardest, sustaining significant damage. Its sister car, No. 6, however, emerged virtually unscathed. French driver Kévin Estre and former Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich from Germany brought the hybrid prototype from Weissach across the finish line in third place with strong lap times.
The No. 7 sister car lost all chance of a good result as early as the first corner of the very first lap. In an unfortunate collision, the car driven by Frenchman Julien Andlauer spun. The LMP2 cars coming from behind were unable to avoid the Daytona and Sebring winning Porsche 963 and collided with it. Due to the necessary repairs, Andlauer and his Brazilian teammate Felipe Nasr fell 22 laps behind. In the end, car number 7 was classified in eleventh place in the GTP class.
‘We got the most out of the No. 6 car today,’ Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport, said. ‘The comeback to the podium was impressive and the result of a perfect team effort. Unfortunately, despite this result, our hopes of winning the championship again are now purely theoretical. Nevertheless, we’ll give it our all at the finale at Road Atlanta. Car No. 7 had terrible luck on the first lap. It was a very unfortunate incident. I hope we’ll have luck on our side at Petit Le Mans.’
‘We’re back on the podium for the first time since April. That feels really good,’ Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh, said. ‘We did everything right strategically today. That, combined with the drivers’ strong performances, earned us this result. Congratulations to BMW on the race win.’
In the manufacturers’ championship, Porsche still has a mathematical chance of winning the title again. They trail the leader by 136 points. If all cars start the race, they could make up as many as 165 points. Based on this, Laurin Heinrich’s hopes for the drivers’ title are also still alive. The German is 147 points behind the leader, Jack Aitken from Great Britain.
JDC-Miller MotorSports customer team strikes bad luck on the first lap
The Porsche 963 from the JDC-Miller MotorSports customer team was also caught up in the collision on the first lap through no fault of its own. The No. 5 car, driven by Tijmen van der Helm, had to make a pit stop for repairs and fell behind all the GT cars in the process. The Dutch driver and Porsche works driver Nico Müller from Switzerland fought their way up to ninth place overall as the race progressed.
GT Classes: ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3 R far behind after penalty
In the GTD Pro class, the Porsche 911 GT3 R from AO Racing nicknamed ‘Rexy’ was on course for a podium finish at times. However, the American customer team had bad luck during a safety car period. Factory driver Nick Tandy had to head into the closed pit lane to refuel. Since the team performed more work than allowed during such an ’emergency stop,’ a 60-second penalty was imposed. This dropped the team back to tenth place. In the GTD category, Wright Motorsports delivered a solid performance. The No. 120 911 finished sixth in the class with drivers Adam Adelson and Callum Ilott.
Pilot Challenge Porsches fall short on strategy; Carrera Cup race tightens
In addition to the WeatherTech Championship battle, Porsche was in action throughout the Indianapolis weekend in Michelin Pilot Challenge and Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
The Andretti Performance Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport driven by Jarrett Andretti and Gabby Chaves and the Unitronic JDC-Miller MotorSport Porsche of Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor were first and third with nine laps to go in an attempt to stretch the fuel mileage in the last half of the two-hour race. The yellow came too late for both teams – the Unitronic JDC-Miller machine pulled to pit lane with nine to go, followed by the Andretti Performance machine with just four laps remaining to finish ninth and 28th, respectively.
The 20-car Porsche Carrera Cup North America field saw the championship battle tighten up when Tyler Maxson (TOPP Racing) and Aaron Jeansonne (Kellymoss) split the weekend in their respective Porsche 911 Cup cars. Maxson leads the title chase by just 11 points with four races remaining on the calendar.
The season finale of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will take place on October 3 at Road Atlanta. The annual Petit Le Mans race will run for ten hours.
Driver comments on the race
Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 963 #6): ‘That was a great comeback. It was fantastic to be able to drive the No. 6 car. We made the best of our situation. This was my first time sharing a car with Kévin Estre and we immediately ended up on the podium. Given our current capabilities, that’s a dream result. I still have a chance to win the championship. That was the goal for this weekend. We achieved it.’
Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #7): ‘We started the race with a lot of confidence, but then everything was lost right after the first corner. Three cars tried to go through the corner side-by-side, which of course didn’t go well. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Our team repaired all the damage within 20 minutes. That was impressive! Afterward, our car was like new. We weren’t able to gain any more positions as the race went on, but we collected important data. This might help us at the season finale at Road Atlanta.’
Nico Müller (Porsche 963 #5): ‘My teammate was caught up in absolute chaos right after the start. He couldn’t do anything in that situation to avoid contact. Unfortunately, we then had to pit for repairs and serve a penalty. After that, we were a lap down. Thanks to a good strategy, we at least managed to move up a bit. For the next race at Road Atlanta, we need to try to get our Porsche 963 into the optimal operating window more effectively. If we can do that, a good result is possible.’
About Porsche Cars North America, Inc. | One Porsche Drive, Atlanta, GA 30354 USA
Established in 1984, Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA) is the exclusive U.S. importer of the Porsche 911, Macan, Cayenne, Panamera and Taycan. The Porsche Car Configurator can be used by anyone to customize and pre-order any vehicle in that lineup at any time. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, since 1998, PCNA is home to the first Porsche Experience Center in North America, which features two module-based 1.6 mile driver development tracks, a business center and Restaurant 356. The campus is also home to the U.S. headquarters of Porsche Classic. The company operates a second Porsche Experience Center near Los Angeles. That complex features a driver development track with eight educational modules totaling 4.1 miles, a business center, Restaurant 917 and the headquarters of Porsche Motorsport North America. PCNA supports 204 independently owned and operated Porsche dealerships in the U.S., five Porsche studios and six satellite stores in the U.S., including supplying parts, service, marketing, and training. They, in turn, work to provide Porsche customers with a best-in-class experience that is in keeping with the Porsche brand’s 75-year history of leadership in the advancement of vehicle performance, safety, and efficiency. PCNA is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Porsche AG, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
At the core of this success is Porsche’s proud racing heritage that boasts some 30,000-plus motorsport wins to date.
Photo credit: Porsche
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