The #6 drivers delve into their sensational IMSA season, from crucial consistency to their enduring friendship.
The final day of the 2025
Stuck in over 90 minutes of traffic as they battled through a record crowd to reach Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the pair were forced to abandon their car and walk the final section of their journey to reach Petit Le Mans.
Once they finally arrived, more bad news: Third driver
This fight back in the face of adversity was a fitting metaphor for the pair’s season.
Kicking off the year at the
They went on to finish third, and consecutive second-place finishes followed at
“I would say the start of the year was really frustrating,” said Jaminet on the Thursday of the final weekend of the season.
“We did a lot of podiums in a row, but until we got our first win, we saw the sister car winning and obviously Daytona was a massive disappointment on the way it played out, leading the race with 45 minutes to go and pretty much in line to get the win, then strategy and calls made it that it wasn’t for us.
“That turned to be I think one of the biggest frustrations of my career until now, I have to say, in 20 years.”
Campbell concurred: “We were always in a position to fight for the victory in those races, but unfortunately we were never in a position to get the win towards the end of the races.
“Quite frustrating from many different points of view, and a few of them being outside of our control.
“That definitely caused some frustration, there’s no doubt about that, but we kept our heads and made sure that for the rest of the year we had full push but also no missed takes.”
That “full push” came at the fourth round at
Both drivers brand this moment a “turning point” in the season.
Jaminet said “[it] was definitely a turning point mentally and for everyone in the team on car #6, knowing we can win a race. Mechanics and engineers can start to question a lot of things when they see the sister car winning and you’re not.
“So it was a big boost for everyone and it gave the confidence that we can also do it and we are fully in the fight for the championship.”
Campbell, speaking once the title was won, added: “I would say it was after Laguna where it really started to look like something was maybe going to be possible. Consistency is key in a championship run, and more or less from Laguna onwards that's where we were consistent and getting those valuable points.
“Let's say we weren't always the most competitive car, but we were sort of punching above our weight in those races towards the end of the year and scoring those points, which is important, and making sure we finished races.
“That was definitely a bit of a turning point where we were able to see maybe there was something possible. For sure in the last races not making mistakes, doing good job, and yeah, that was a key point for our championship.”
The
What proved crucial for the #6 crew were the consistent performances they went on to give, finishing fourth at
That consistency, while other cars were involved in incidents or received penalties, meant the #6 headed to Road Atlanta with a margin of 131 points to second place in the drivers’ standings.
“We see a lot of inconsistency and mistakes from our competitors, whether that be from drive-throughs or mistakes on track and having contacts with competitors and having damage and so forth,” Campbell said.
“Whereas for us, we’ve always been above where we should be finishing in terms of position with the speed we had on those weekends. So always punching a little bit above our weight in the last half of the year in terms of speed compared to finishing position, which is obviously key against some of our competitors for the championship.”
It all came down to the final race: Petit Le Mans.
Starting fifth, Campbell pulled off an excellent first stint as, despite being caught out by an early caution, he overtook multiple cars before a great strategy call put him out front.
With Jaminet taking over, twice he built leads of between eight and 12 seconds from his rivals after pitstops and led well through the halfway mark despite challenges from other cars.
Despite losing two spots under caution with four hours to go, with Vanthoor running third having had a stint in the lead himself, it mattered little in the titles and championships.
Vanthoor, in fact, was the second fastest driver of the whole race during his 53-lap stint in the #6 car, with an average lap time of 1m13.546s.
Campbell and Jaminet ran 202 and 146 laps of the race respectively, both with average lap times in the 1m13s.
Come the end of the 10-hour Petit Le Mans, the trio had finished third to secure the championship - and Campbell and Jaminet especially were elated.
“Phenomenal to get another championship with Mathieu,” Campbell said, on “a day I won’t forget”.
“That’s two years in IMSA partnering together and two championships, so very proud of that.”
While Campbell and Jaminet put in many brilliant performances on-track, that off-track relationship can also be credited with much of their success.
The pair met as Porsche Juniors in 2016 but first drove together in 2019. They won their first championship in 2022 with Pfaff Motorsports, helping the team win the 2022 driver, team and manufacturer championships in IMSA’s GTD Pro class.
Though they spent time apart - on-track, at least - in the interim, they were reunited for 2025.
Campbell says it’s a “very special partnership” - noting that he and Jaminet have only finished outside first or second in the championship once in the time they have driven together.
“Obviously we’re good mates and we’ve been good mates for a long time and team-mates for a long time,” he said.
“We should have been together co-driving from the start of this programme but unfortunately this didn’t happen, and now to be finally back together, I think we’ve proven our relationship on and off track and how strong we are in many different areas that would make a strong driver line-up.
“How we bounce off each other and push and pull each other has been working phenomenally well and that’s what’s also put us in this position.”
Campbell added: “To finally be back together now after a couple of years away, it's really, really cool to be able to be in this position and say we're champions once again because it's a phenomenal partnership.
“It's been working extremely well for a long time. To come home with No. 1 is very special.”
It was a monumental day not just for the two drivers, but for the whole team. It marked the seventh IMSA title for Porsche, and the second in a row after Nasr and Dane Cameron’s success in 2024.
Penske Racing President, Jonathan Diuguid, said: “It's difficult to put into perspective because you never go into a season expecting it.
“But what put us here was the hard work of not just one driver, one group, or one person, but as a collective group and never giving up even though we were in the doldrums of the middle of the season, where the results weren't coming and frustration levels got high, but showed up here leading all the championships and left here leading all the championships.
“That's what the main goal is and what we're trying to do and really happy to be able to be successful because some of them are really tight.”
Though Diuguid says the two seasons were “very different,” he says there was a “carry over” of the team operating at a strong level, and added that “it’s good to be able to maintain the level of performance we’ve had for so long”.
He continued: “Going back to back in Daytona is a huge accomplishment, going back to back in manufacturers’ or teams’ or Endurance Cup championships is also a huge accomplishment.
“It shows that we can maintain the level of performance, we can repeat it every single weekend, we’re always going to be fighting for the front.
“I think the biggest thing is racing can also be a mental game, it’s a technical game, you have to have a fast car and make all the right decisions, but when you can always have your competition thinking about where are the Porsches or that they’re always fighting against the Porsches, it’s also an advantage as well.”
The biggest lesson of 2025 was resilience.
“Just trying to keep your eye on the prize and understand what your potential is that weekend and then going back and putting forth the work to try and improve for the next weekend,” added Diuguid.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to stay motivated, but I think the good thing is that we’ve led the championship from the first race of the season and that’s enough motivation in itself.”
Going forwards, there will be even more focus on the IMSA programme, but with another slew of championships in its pocket, the Porsche Penske Motorsport team is sure to be fighting at the front once more when the next season rolls around.
The 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship kicks off with the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 24-25 at Daytona International Speedway.
Before that though comes the
