Porsche wins it all in IMSA

The #7 drivers Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr finished third in the 10-hour race at Road Atlanta and secured multiple titles, helped in this race by the guesting Matt Campbell.

Cameron and Nasr won the 2024 GTP class drivers’ championship and secured the teams’ title too, while Porsche won the manufacturer title.

Campbell was also crucial in helping Cameron and Nasr secure the hotly contested Michelin Endurance Championship title for the team, which is awarded for IMSA’s long-distance races and awards points at various stages of the race.

Porsche earned the manufacturer honours as well.

The #6 car was a close second in the championship with Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy, assisted by a starring performance from Kévin Estre for this race where they scored second, fighting for the win until the end.

“Very pleased,” said Cameron, who secured his fourth IMSA title, with Nasr taking his third. “Really, hats off to the team, as near to perfect as I think you can be really, all the championships, 1-2 for both cars.

"I’m disappointed for the #6 to miss out on the win at the end there but so, so pleased to have number four for myself and a gift for the group.

“We had a plan and stuck to it. I really think that’s been the strength of the team all year, execution, I think that’s what’s delivered these results today. To win everything and be 1-2 with both cars is spectacular.”

The team won four of the nine races this year, took 12 podiums and a pole position. The championships are the icing on the cake of a great season in which Porsche scored its 600th IMSA victory and Penske notched its 100th, both of which have now been added to. Penske has now scored 45 championships in its history.

Elsewhere, after a dramatic race, the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) won the GTD Pro drivers’ and teams’ championship with Porsche sealing the manufacturers’ title too, spearheaded by its champion Laurin Heinrich.

Story of the race

Inside the first 20 minutes a caution already forced the GTP cars onto alternating strategies as some pitted and some stayed out, but both the #7 and #6 began to move forward early in the race. The need to double-stint - not changing tyres at every pitstop to save tyres - also meant a bigger disparity between cars which had or hadn’t changed tyres and explained cars yo-yoing in the classification.

The #7 ran in the top three early on and was into the lead just inside the first three hours following its first driver change with Felipe Nasr taking over the #7 started by Campbell. Nasr extended the gap over 12 seconds.

But that gap came down as Estre took over the #6 started eighth by Tandy, reducing an almost eight second deficit to just over two before pitting ahead of a caution with just under six hours to go.

With a driver change, the #7 dropped to third with Cameron taking over and the #6 of Estre assumed the lead, but on the next stop with just under five hours to go, a rapid stop for the #7 jumped it back to second.

That second position soon became the lead as Tandy was forced to serve a drive-through penalty after contact with a GT car, which dropped the car to third place.

However, Tandy took just 30 minutes to charge down a gap of over 12 seconds to the leaders and just as the #7 lost the lead, Tandy got past also to take second and challenge for the top position.

In a bid to alternate strategy the #7 stayed out longer before its stop in the seventh hour, leading for a long period but then it went a lap down to the leader when it did stop. With one hour and 43 minutes to go Tandy made his move to take the lead, and after hours without one, a late caution involved Tandy’s closest rival and neutralised any strategy with all cars needing a final stop to make it to the finish.

Tandy held the lead while Nasr dropped to fourth in the stops, pitting alone to make sure there was no possibility of any issues with other cars with one eye on guarding the championships and making the finish.

While he led on the restart inside the last hour, Tandy was passed with 15 minutes to go and then was hit by a competitor, halting any chance to come back. With the car that hit Tandy pitting, that promoted Nasr to third to give Porsche a double podium to go along with all of the championships secured in a historic event at Road Atlanta.

Customer racing

The #5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling 963 led the way in customer racing, finishing sixth overall.

The car pulled off some impressive overtakes early on in the hands of Gianmaria Bruni, but the car also suffered contact which damaged the bodywork mid-way through the race, went off at Turn 10 and also received a tyre pressure infringement penalty. Sixth was a strong result given how eventful the race was for the team, with Bent Viscaal alongside Alessio Picariello and Bruni.

The #85 JDC Miller MotorSports car retired with a steering issue. The car, driven by Phil Hanson, Tijmen van der Helm and Richard Westbrook, had run in the top five early in the race but was out inside the first four hours.

GTD Pro

Laurin Heinrich’s race fell apart early on, but at the end it didn’t matter as his pole position had proven the difference in points which ended up being crucial in the GTD Pro class championships for the #77 of AO Racing.

Heinrich had built a gap over five seconds inside the first 12 laps of the race alone from pole. The car was shuffled back as strategy played out but still ran in the top four until shortly after Julian Andlauer took over and the car started to suffer issues.

After a slow restart and stopping on track, the team replaced the steering wheel connection cable but had lost five laps in the pits while it did this. It’s extremely tough to catch back five laps, especially with so few cautions in this race compared to normal.

The team just had to circulate as quickly as possible stuck in 11th in class, and see where the rival #23 car finished at the end of the race. The #23 car had to finish first or second and fought right until the last lap but finished third, sealing the title for AO Racing by four points.

GTD

The #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche had led for a chunk of the race early on and was set to be in position for a strong finish until it was involved in a collision with a rival car late on.

That left the MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) as the sole remaining car in class, with Klaus Bachler, Anders Fjordbach and Kerong Li, but it dropped out of the race late on and was 16th in class, one spot ahead of the #120.

With the IMSA season finished, all attention now turns to Porsche’s bid to secure the World Endurance Championship for the first time since 2017.

It currently leads the standings in that series ahead of the 8 Hours of Bahrain on November 2.