- Porsche wins manufacturers’ classification in the GTP and GTD Pro classes
- Porsche Penske Motorsport secures team championship title
- Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr are the new IMSA champions
- AO Racing successfully fights for GTD Pro honours with the 911 GT3 R
- Former Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich crowned GT champion
Porsche has left an indelible mark on the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. At the Road Atlanta finale, the works team scooped the entire title pool in the top GTP class. Porsche Penske Motorsport’s two Porsche 963 finished the ten-hour Petit Le Mans race in second and third place. Works drivers Dane Cameron from the USA and Felipe Nasr from Brazil secured the drivers’ crown. The titles in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup also went to the sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart. In the GTD Pro class, the customer team AO Racing clinched championship honours with the Porsche 911 GT3 R, and the former Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich from Germany is the new champion in the top category for GT vehicles.
Witnessed by a record crowd on the picturesque Road Atlanta racetrack, Porsche Penske Motorsport headed into the IMSA season finale as the hot favourites. Thanks to a healthy lead in the manufacturers’ championship, only one Porsche 963 had to start the 10-hour race to earn the final decisive points in the bid for the title. The sports car manufacturer accomplished this at 12:10 pm when the over 50-strong field rolled onto the grid. However, suspense remained high over the entire 443 laps of the race.
The two Porsche 963 crewed by Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr and Matt Campbell (Australia) as well as Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet and Kévin Estre (France) not only battled between themselves for the drivers’ and team titles but also duelled over ten hours for race victory at Petit Le Mans. For long stretches, the hybrid prototypes outpaced the rest of the field. It was only in the final 35-minute sprint after the last of five safety car phases that they had to admit defeat to the victorious Cadillac. Finishing third at Road Atlanta, Cameron/Nasr clinched the drivers’ championship, while Tandy/Jaminet finished the race and the IMSA season as runner-up. Accordingly, the two Porsche Penske Motorsport crews locked out the first two places in the final team standings.
Moreover, the manufacturers’, team and drivers’ titles in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup also went to Porsche. This separate championship includes the five endurance races in Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta.
“It’s fantastic to see how happy the whole team is about the titles. We brought home everything we’d hoped for,” says a delighted Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board, Sales and Marketing. “It’s obvious from everyone involved that it was incredibly hard work: everyone is shedding tears of joy – what a wonderful sight!”
“It doesn’t get much better than this: We won all titles in the top GTP class. Nothing was left on the table,” rejoiced Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “The impressive performance of the entire team and our crews in Weissach, Mannheim and Mooresville laid the foundation for this – these incredible accomplishments are no coincidence. I’m very proud! I’m also thrilled about AO Racing’s title wins in the GTD Pro class and Laurin Heinrich’s championship crown. I think it’ll only really dawn on us in the coming days what we have achieved today and throughout the entire season.”
“Wow! I couldn’t be prouder,” says Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “Our drivers and every single team member did an incredible job throughout the year. That’s the only reason we’re where we are today. A banner season that we’ll never forget.”
“Our team is at the top of everything, it doesn’t get better than that,” states Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. “Narrowly missing out on winning the final race is a little painful. We looked extremely strong for ten hours and it was super close at the end – but of course that’s complaining at the highest level, because we’ve scooped all the titles. Now it’s time to celebrate and then we’ll look ahead to the start of the next season.”
Proton Competition’s Porsche 963 concluded the 10-hour race at Road Atlanta in sixth place. In the first half of the Petit Le Mans race, the seasoned squad led by works driver Gianmaria Bruni from Italy put in an inspired performance and at times matched the pace of the frontrunners – only to lose ground after two penalties. For the customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports, the final IMSA round ended in disappointment: the distinctive yellow-liveried racing car with the starting number 85 was forced into early retirement after about four hours due to a power steering problem.
The new drivers’ champions of the GTP category
Brazilian Felipe Nasr joined Porsche’s works driver squad in 2022. The 34-year-old began his racing career early in karts before progressing into single-seaters. In 2014 he advanced to Formula 1. There, he spent one season working as a test and reserve driver at Williams, followed by two years as a Grand Prix driver at Sauber. In 2018, Nasr returned to the American continent, where he promptly won the overall IMSA SportsCar Championship at the wheel of a DPi prototype. After finishing the 2019 season as vice-champion, he repeated the title success in 2021. Nasr has been racing the Porsche 963 in the IMSA series since 2023. In January this year, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona for the second time, this year with the Americans Dane Cameron and Josef Newgarden and the Australian Matt Campbell as teammates. Until the IMSA finale at Road Atlanta, he and Cameron pocketed five more podium finishes, including a win at the 6-hour race in Watkins Glen.
Dane Cameron has also been a Porsche works driver since 2022. Born in Newport Beach, the Californian also took his first motorsport steps in a kart before finding his way into sports car and prototype racing via championship titles in American and European formula series. In 2014, he won the GTD class of the United SportsCar Championship, the forerunner of today’s IMSA SportsCar Championship. In 2016 and 2018, the now 35-year-old clinched the overall title at the wheel of DPi prototypes. In 2023, Cameron shared the cockpit of the Porsche 963 with Denmark’s Michael Christensen and Frenchman Frédéric Makowiecki in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC. On his return to the IMSA series, he celebrated his first Daytona victory together with Felipe Nasr, Josef Newgarden and Matt Campbell. Like Nasr, he crowned his career at Road Atlanta with a third IMSA title in the top prototype class.
GT classes: Laurin Heinrich and “Rexy” fulfil all dreams
In the GTD Pro category, Porsche celebrated the ultimate success with its customer team AO Racing – but not before the so-called “Rexy” 911 GT3 R suffered a bitter setback early in the race: the bright green No. 77 racer had to make several unexpected pit stops due to a faulty cable connection on the steering wheel, which cost five laps. Nevertheless, Laurin Heinrich from Germany, Michael Christensen from Denmark and Frenchman Julien Andlauer brought the car across the finish line in eleventh place. All three are former Porsche Juniors. This result was enough to hand Porsche the manufacturers’ championship, AO Racing the team title and Heinrich the drivers’ crown.
Drivers’ post-race quotes
Dane Cameron (Porsche 963 #7): “Heading into a new season, you always have big goals and wild dreams – winning the major event in Daytona, taking the drivers’ title as well as the manufacturers’ and teams’ championship. Add to that the crown in the Michelin Endurance Cup and securing the first two places as a team… We’ve now fulfilled all these dreams. This is almost extraordinary. I’m proud of everyone who worked so hard for our success.”
Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “What a day! So much happened in the race, but none of that matters now: we’ve achieved our dreams! I was involved in the Porsche 963 project from day one. It makes me incredibly proud that all the hard work is paying off like this. My first title as a Porsche works driver is hugely important to me: that was my big goal when I signed on with this great manufacturer. I wanted to reach the top with Porsche and Porsche Penske Motorsport – and I’ve done it! Thank you to everyone who worked with so much passion on this.”
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “We almost wrapped up our IMSA season with a third win, but things got super tight towards the end of Petit Le Mans. We’re delighted for our teammates – congratulations on winning the title. As vice-champions, we contributed to a perfect result for Porsche and Porsche Penske Motorsport. That makes me proud.”
Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #6): “Our race was strong and we were leading for many laps. But then we experienced the typical Road Atlanta finish: yellow phase, gap gone, sprint to the finish. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite have the pace to win. The Cadillac was slightly faster in the end. Congratulations to our colleagues.”
Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): “Unbelievable! On Friday I set pole position and earned critical points that ultimately decided the title at the finale. We led the race from the start and managed to control the front well. But then we were hit by a setback: we couldn’t shift up and lost five laps. Still, we kept our cool, worked perfectly and never gave up. That was enough. Huge thanks to the team and all my teammates this season. Winning the title is the greatest success in my still fledgling career!”
Gunnar Jeannette (Team principal AO Racing): “Everything was running perfectly initially but then we suffered a steering wheel problem. Our drivers had their work cut out for them because the car only shifted up every third or fourth attempt. The team managed to quickly identify and solve the issue. After that, the race remained a nail-biter to the very end – and it was enough. To be honest, today’s eleventh place was the best of my life.”
Race result
GTP class:
1. Van der Zande/Bourdais/Dixon (NL/F/NZ), Cadillac #01, 443 laps
2. Tandy/Jaminet/Estre (UK/F/F), Porsche 963 #6, + 2.948 seconds
3. Cameron/Nasr/Campbell (USA/BR/AUS), Porsche 963 #7, + 13.832 seconds
6. Bruni/Viscaal/Picariello (I/NL/B), Porsche 963 #5, – 2 laps
DNF Van der Helm/Westbrook/Hanson (NL/UK/UK), Porsche 963 #85, – 283 laps
GTD-Pro class:
1. Perera/Pepper/Bortolotti (F/ZA/I), Lamborghini #19, 413 laps
2. Serra/Rigon/Pier Guidi (BR/I/I), Ferrari #62, + 2.361 seconds
3. Gunn/Riberas/De Angelis (UK/E/CDN), Aston Martin #23, + 4.206 seconds
11. Heinrich/Christensen/Andlauer (D/DK/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R #77, – 5 laps
GTD class:
1. Franco/Costa Balboa/Sbirrazzuoli (USA/E/MC), Ferrari #34, 411 laps
2. Goikhberg/Spinelli/Defrancesco (CDN/I/USA), Lamborghini #78, + 0.718 seconds
3. Montecalvo/Thompson/Telitz (USA/CDN/USA), Lexus #12, – 1 lap
16. Li/Fjordbach/Bachler (CHN/DK/A), Porsche 911 GT3 R #86, – 14 laps
DNF Adelson/Skeer/Heylen (USA/USA/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, – 38 laps
