- JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Porsche 963 finishes second at Elkhart Lake
- Porsche clinches the team and driver titles early in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup
- Factory hybrid prototypes lose all chances of victory after incidents
- AO Racing’s “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R finishes second in the GTD-Pro class
The 6-hour race in the U.S. state of Wisconsin was marked by numerous incidents. A total of nine safety car periods repeatedly caused shifts in the standings at Road America. At the halfway point of the eighth round of the IMSA Championship, the No. 7 car from Porsche Penske Motorsport was in the lead. But about an hour later, a competitor sent the Porsche 963 – which was competing in the 2007 RS Spyder livery – into the gravel trap. After a lengthy recovery, subsequent repairs, and a total of three penalties, Julien Andlauer of France and Felipe Nasr of Brazil had no chance in the fight for the victory. The winners of the first two races at Daytona and Sebring crossed the finish line in sixth place.
After the misfortune of car No. 7, the sister car initially put itself in a good position in the battle for the race win. During the eighth yellow flag period, Kévin Estre, behind the wheel of car No. 6, was in second place. After the restart, however, the Frenchman collided with a competitor and crashed into the barriers. The Porsche 963, which competed in the livery of the legendary 1973 Porsche 917/30, was ultimately classified in eighth place. Estre shared the car during the race with Belgian driver Laurens Vanthoor.
“First, the good news: We’ve clinched the team and driver titles in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. This shows just how strong our team is in endurance racing,” says Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “Congratulations to our customer team, JDC-Miller MotorSports, on their second-place finish. Unfortunately, there were also some downsides today. Many cars were involved in incidents during a hectic race. Our two Porsche 963 from Porsche Penske Motorsport were among them. As a result, we didn’t achieve top results here.”
The race day went better for the customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports. Factory driver Laurin Heinrich from Germany, American Kaylen Frederick, and Tijmen van der Helm from the Netherlands finished second on the podium. Heinrich, a former Porsche Junior, remains the highest-placed driver in the overall standings from the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer in P2. Porsche also ranks second in the manufacturers’ standings. In the manufacturers’ standings of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup – which includes the endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America, and Road Atlanta – Porsche holds first place.
GT Classes: AO Racing’s “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R on the podium
In the GTD-Pro class, the two British drivers Harry King and Nick Tandy delivered a strong performance behind the wheel of car No. 77. The 911 GT3 R, nicknamed “Rexy” for its dinosaur-themed livery, crossed the finish line in second place after 142 laps at Road America. The identical 911 from Manthey also battled at the front at times but finished the race in ninth place due to penalties. The sister car, entered by Manthey 1st Phorm, dropped back to 16th place in the GTD class on the final lap. The highest-placed Porsche in that category was the No. 28 car from RS1, which finished in tenth place. The Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R retired early following an accident.
The ninth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will take place on August 23 at Virginia International Raceway. Only the two GT classes will compete there. The next outing for the Porsche 963 in the top GTP class will be on September 20 in Indianapolis.
More information and links
All results and overall standings: Alkamelsystems
75 Years of Porsche Motorsport: The history of #Raceborn
60 successful years on racetracks: Team Penske
High-resolution photos: Porsche at Road America
Drivers’ comments on the race
Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): “We had a disappointing finish. We pushed to the limit throughout the entire race to keep our chances of winning alive. Things went wrong once just before the end. That’s a real shame. As a team, we made significant progress over the weekend, and the strategy was also very good. But it just wasn’t meant to be. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accidents.”
Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #7): “It was a tough weekend. We were clearly lacking pace in qualifying. In the race, we had to push to the absolute limit at all times just to keep up. It wasn’t until it got a bit warmer toward the end that our car became easier to drive. Unfortunately, we couldn’t capitalize on that anymore because we were already too far behind. When you’re two laps down, there’s nothing left to achieve.”
Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 963 #5): “We didn’t expect a result like this. It was clear to us even before the start that we’d have almost no chance on our own. So we were relying on others to make mistakes. That’s exactly what happened. The pace got tougher and tougher with every restart. Fortunately, we were able to stay out of all the trouble and thus score a lot of points for the championship by finishing second.”
Harry King (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): “We’d put together a great strategy before the start. But all of that went out the window because of the numerous yellow flag periods. We were rewarded for a clean performance overall: no penalties, no contact, no mistakes during pit stops. We more than earned our spot on the podium.”
Further information, film and photo material in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com
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