The fourth round of the IMSA was held at Laguna Seca. Porsche performed well in the GTP class with the 963 scoring a one-two in qualifying by taking the entire front row and then an excellent podium finish with a second place.
At the WeatherTech Raceway in California, the American Endurance Championship in which the big car brands compete including Porsche with Team Penske Motorsport and exceptionally from this stage, with an extra car at the start granted to the JDC-Miller MotorSports team. The Stuttgart prototypes proved immediately competitive and fast from Friday. This allowed the drivers to better concentrate on the work to be done in view of the first official practice on Saturday.
In qualifying, the No. 7 Porsche 963 of Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr imposed its strength by taking pole position ahead of brand and team mates Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6, who placed second. The yellow Porsche of JDC-Miller, on the other hand, posted the ninth fastest time. In the light of these results, the crews prepared themselves for a star-studded Sunday to bring home the best possible result.
In Sunday's 2.40-hour race a bad start for Campbell and a bit of bad luck in the second stint for Nasr did not allow the Penske duo to consolidate what they had done in qualifying. Having lost the lead at the first corner, from which they came out between seventh and sixth position, they then joined the leading group in chasing. Unfortunately a contact while lapping a GT car cost them a drive-through, which relegated them to last place in the GTP classification. Nasr subsequently ran off the track, damaging the car, which had to return to the pits. On his return the Brazilian driver found himself lapped by as many as eight laps and that was the end of his race.
Jaminet got off to a good start and found himself third, losing only one position. With a confident and courageous drive he showed a solid pace that allowed him to be fast throughout the race. Especially the last twenty minutes when Tandy at the wheel of the Porsche 963 No. 6 risked a few overtaking moves and moved into second position, where he remained until the finish. The Anglo-French pair after their victory in Long Beach scored more points than anyone else this weekend so they were able to defend their championship lead.
The JDC-Miller-branded car in its absolute debut brought home a solid seventh place with the pair of Tijmen van der Helm and Mike Rockenfeller who tried to understand and get to know the car better, also collecting data with a view to the next rounds.
Next appointment is at Watkins Glen for the 6 Hours to be held from 22 to 25 June.