Porsche Penske Motorsport signed off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season with a hard-fought win in the 29th edition of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
The #6 crew of
It marked the third victory of the season for Porsche Penske Motorsport, the first for the 963 at Road Atlanta, Estre’s first IMSA success as well as one final GTP win in Porsche colours for 2025 IMSA champion Campbell.
Porsche also retained its Michelin Endurance Cup Manufacturers’ Champions status, taking that accolade for a third year in a row.
However, there was disappointment for the #7 crew, as its hopes of completing a clean sweep of wins in IMSA’s three biggest races in one season came to an end 90 minutes from the finish.
“For multiple reasons, we really wanted to win this race. Sights were set on that, and it was all or nothing,” said Laurens Vanthoor. “It feels very good, because we had a tough year on car #6. Not what we hoped for. And what we’ve seen from the outside, in terms of results, didn’t always reflect actually the good work we were doing behind the scenes, which nobody really saw besides people on the team. So I think this is a very nice way to end the season.
“We ticked off a lot of boxes for Porsche, for Penske, the three of us. For myself, it was a dream of mine in America to win Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans. Now that dream is achieved. So, it’s an absolutely incredible day and I think with Kévin and Matt, we’ve had our success together - won World Championship races together, finished second at Le Mans - and like Kévin said, this is, for now, probably our last race together. So to end it in style is pretty sweet.”
Story of the race
The two Porsche Penske Motorsport cars lined up fifth and seventh, with Vanthoor in the #6 car ahead of
Rain throughout the morning had stopped in the two hours before the race start, but that still made for tricky conditions as the season finale kicked off with the full GTP field on wet tyres.
Yet the start was well-behaved, and the two 963 ended the first lap in formation as Vanthoor maintained position and Heinrich gained a place on the opening lap.
The track had dried sufficiently by lap 11 - around 15 minutes into the 10-hour race - for the #6 car to pit from sixth place, with the #7 car in one lap later. Fast work from the Porsche Penske Motorsport crew in the pits allowed both cars to gain a place, with Vanthoor then executing a great overtake on the #31 Cadillac to move into a net fourth.
Vanthoor was among the fastest drivers on track at this point before the intervention of a pair of full course yellow periods in the second hour thwarted the progress of the two cars, with the #6 also delayed by a drive-through penalty for contact with a GTD Pro car.
With driver swaps completed under the second of those periods,
While Estre remained in the #6 beyond the end of the third hour, Nasr made way for
But it was as the rain began to fall once again on lap 134 where Andlauer really shone, as he moved up to fourth on-track, was promoted to third when the race leader pitted, and then pitted just before a full course yellow was called.
Andlauer rejoined from this in fourth, but was up to second when Estre pitted on the restart and the race leader, still on slicks, tumbled down the order before another full course yellow as two LMP2 cars collided. That remained in place until a red flag was shown with six hours and 21 minutes left on the clock, with 145 laps completed, due to severe weather in the area.
The race resumed a little under half an hour later, with Andlauer second in the #7 car and the luckless #6, now with Campbell at the wheel, at the rear of the GTP field.
Andlauer eventually handed over to Heinrich during one of the race’s longer green-flag racing periods as the #7 jumped the two leading cars during this pitstop phase.
And the strategies essentially converged under the next caution period, with Heinrich pulling in for a fuel top up only while others - including the #6 - pitted for full services and driver changes.
Heinrich thus took the lap 228 restart from first place and quickly established a lead over the opposition, with Estre now back in the #6 in fifth and attempting to make inroads on the others.
He did that by avoiding one spinning rival and passing another who had been delayed in that incident, then hunted down and passed the second-placed car with a bold move for second around the outside of the first corner as the 963 started to hit its stride as the sun began to set.
Heinrich and Estre had stretched 10 seconds clear of the chasing pack when a full course yellow was thrown on lap 261, only to be jumped in the pitstop phase - taking the restart in third and fourth, Estre now ahead of Heinrich.
But considerable work had gone into honing the night set-up of the Porsche 963, and those efforts showed as the cars remained among the fastest on track through the final driver swaps, where Nasr took over at the wheel of the #7 and Vanthoor stepped back into the #6.
Both were still in the thick of the fight with 90 minutes remaining when disaster struck for Nasr.
As he tried to follow Vanthoor through traffic along the front stretch, he turned across the front of a GTD car and went hard into the barrier.
Now the sole 963 in the fight, Vanthoor took the subsequent restart in third place and muscled his way into second on the single lap before another full course yellow.
And he executed another brilliant overtake with just over an hour left on the clock when he passed for the lead exiting the final corner.
Vanthoor did briefly lose the lead on his final outlap from the pits as he brought his tyres up to temperature, but reclaimed it a lap later with a masterful move out of the final corner while his main rival was boxed in behind lapped traffic.
From there, Vanthoor was faultless - building an advantage up again until the final caution period, then surviving a late attack on the race’s 16th and final restart to close out the season with top honours.
GTP customer racing
For the JDC-Miller MotorSports team, a season that included a historic first win for any customer team in the GTP era came to a disappointing end two hours from the finish.
Having started last in class, with Kaylen Frederick at the wheel, the car he shared with Nico Müller and Tijmen van der Helm stayed on the lead lap in the opening stages but gradually dropped away and was two laps down midway through the race.
However, with canny strategy work around the many full course yellow periods the crew hauled themselves back onto the lead lap and were running ninth in class as darkness fell.
But their race came to an abrupt end with just over two hours remaining, when Van der Helm went wide onto the grass trying to pass two GTD cars and lost control, hitting the wall on the outside of Turn 9 before coming to a halt at the start of the Turn 10 chicane.
GTD Pro
Both customer GTD Pro entries were major protagonists for the win throughout what was a thrilling contest for class honours in the 10-hour Road Atlanta contest.
The Manthey car and the AO Racing entry even ran 1-2 in the middle part of the race, when the two ran side-by-side exiting the chicane - with the #77 AO car losing a place at that point and the #911 Manthey assessed a drive-through penalty for that moment.
Thomas Preining fought back through into the lead fight in the final stint but dropped back to seventh at the finish in the #911.
That left Harry King to lead the charge in the car he shared with Nick Tandy and Alessio Picariello. King battled hard in the closing laps but ultimately ended up 1.507s shy of GTD Pro honours.
GTD
There was another runner-up finish to celebrate in the GTD division, as the #912 Manthey 1st Phorm made it three Porsche podiums courtesy of Riccado Pera, Ryan Hardwick and Morris Schuring.
Much like the #77 AO Racing car, the #912 was in the thick of the fight for victory in the closing stages of the contest, but ended up a mere 0.733s short of the class win.
The #120 Wright Motorsports car had been in contention inside the final hour too but a drive-through penalty for contact scuppered its chances, eventually finishing eighth.
The #28 RS1 entry had also been in the thick of the fight at the front of the class but went behind the wall following contact with an hour and a half remaining.
Full Porsche Petit Le Mans results:
GTP class (Porsche 963):
P1 - #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport: Kévin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell DNF - #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport: Julien Andlauer / Felipe Nasr / Laurin Heinrich DNF - #5 JDC-Miller MotorSports: Nico Pino / Tijmen van der Helm / Kaylen Frederick
GTD-Pro class (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
P2 - #77 AO Racing: Harry King / Nick Tandy / Alessio Picariello P7 - #911 Manthey: Klaus Bachler / Ricardo Feller / Thomas Preining / Ayhancan Güven
GTD class (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
P2 - #912 Manthey 1st Phorm: Ryan Hardwick / Richard Lietz / Morris Schuring / Riccardo Pera P7 - #120 Wright Motorsports: Adam Adelson / Callum Ilott / Tom Sargent DNF - #28 RS1: Jan Heylen / Ryan Yardley / Zachary Vanier
