Porsche Penske Motorsport endured a challenging race on the Detroit Street Circuit, but still came away with valuable points from the fifth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
While the #6 Porsche 963 of
The sister #7 car of
After securing three victories in the opening four races of the season,
But with overtaking opportunities at a premium, strategy and execution quickly became the key factors in the 100-minute sprint race.
After a frustrating weekend in which its daring approach went unrewarded, Porsche falls to second in the Manufacturers' Championship.
Story of the race
Detroit’s tight and unforgiving street circuit once again delivered a strategic and closely fought sprint race.
After triggering red flags during practice or qualifying, both factory Porsche 963 entries had their fastest laps deleted in qualifying.
Consequently, the #7 Porsche lined up eighth on the grid, two places ahead of the sister car.
But on a track where overtaking opportunities are extremely limited, the #6 Porsche 963 emerged as Porsche Penske Motorsport’s strongest contender from the opening stages.
Thanks to a series of strong overtaking moves from Estre and a strategy that stretched the window to its limit, the Frenchman inherited the overall lead on lap 28.
However, the race soon became more complicated. Contact in the opening half of the event damaged the bodywork of the #6 Porsche 963, forcing the team to carry out quick repairs during its scheduled pit stop.
Despite that, Vanthoor remained firmly in the fight for a strong result and was running third and closing on the BMW ahead.
The turning point came in the closing stages. Following further contact through no fault of Laurens Vanthoor, the car lost pieces of rear bodywork and was forced to return to pit lane for repairs.
While running inside the top four less than 20 minutes before the end, the #6 Porsche 963 lost valuable track position and eventually crossed the line in eighth place.
“The first stint went really well, even though there were a lot of collisions and fierce battles on the tight street circuit,” said Estre.
“I fought my way up the field with everything I had. Our strategy was spot on. After the pit stop, we were in third place. Unfortunately, another driver rear-ended us shortly after that. We had to pit for repairs. In the end, eighth place was the best we could manage.”
The race of the #7 Porsche 963 was more straightforward.
Nasr and Andlauer focused on consistency and avoided the incidents and penalties that affected several rivals throughout the afternoon.
While never quite able to challenge the leading Cadillac and BMW entries, the Rolex 24 winners steadily moved forward and converted a difficult weekend into a fifth-place finish.
That was certainly not our best day. We knew before the start of the sprint race that it would be a difficult task. That proved to be the case. All Porsche race cars were set back by collisions and penalties. We are now looking ahead. We’ll be back on the attack at the end of June at the Six-Hour Race in Watkins Glen.
- Urs Kuratle, Directory Factory Motorsport LMDh
GTP Customer Racing
The race proved more difficult for JDC-Miller MotorSports and its customer Porsche 963 shared by Tijmen van der Helm and Laurin Heinrich.
After remaining on the lead lap during the opening stages, the #5 Porsche 963 lost ground through a series of incidents and penalties.
A drive-through penalty for a pit-lane infringement was followed by a Stop + 60-second penalty after contact with the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
The team later had to return to pit lane to address an issue under a mechanical black flag.
On a circuit where recovering lost track position is notoriously difficult, those setbacks left little opportunity to fight back. Van der Helm and Heinrich were classified eleventh in the GTP category.
GTD Pro
AO Racing returned to Detroit with its #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R named Rexy, driven by Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy and Harry King.
The pair spent much of the race battling in the middle of a closely contested GTD Pro field and remained in contention for a top-eight finish throughout the afternoon. Running ninth after the first half of the race, the crew continued to push as the category fight intensified.
A late incident ultimately put an end to any hopes of gaining further positions. With just over ten minutes remaining, Nick Tandy made contact with the tyre barriers at Turn 5, triggering one of the race’s final caution periods. Although he was able to continue, the interruption effectively sealed the outcome of the race.
The #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R completed 78 laps and finished ninth in class.
Coming next
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship now heads to Watkins Glen International for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 28.
The third round of the Michelin Endurance Cup, the six-hour race marks a return to endurance competition after consecutive sprint events at Long Beach, Laguna Seca and Detroit.
The event will also see the GTP and GTD Pro competitors reunited with the LMP2 and GTD classes.
Full Porsche results at the 2026 Detroit Sports Car Classic
GTP class (Porsche 963):
P5 – #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport: Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer
P8 – #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport: Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor
P11 – #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports: Tijmen van der Helm, Laurin Heinrich
GTD Pro class (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
P9 – #77 AO Racing: Nick Tandy, Harry King
