Porsche Penske Motorsport Scores Unlikely IMSA Sweep at Road America
(Photo credit: IMSA/Michael L. Levitt/LAT Images)
Having not showed pace all weekend, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy were in the right place at the right time when the race leading No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque pitted for fuel under yellow with 27-minutes remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute sprint.
Jaminet, who did the final one-hour, 31-minutes on a single tank of fuel wasn’t surprised to see the Acura pull in.
“Yeah, I think they pitted that same lap as we do. But for sure. I knew he had less energy. This is clear because he wasn't saving any under the yellows. He wasn't saving any on the green laps before when he kind of took off. So I already knew on the other yellow that for sure. I know I'm tight. Most likely I'm not going to make it but I also knew there is no chance he is going to make it because what he did was very efficiently they took the lead but on the other hand, in a case like this, you're always behind on energy.
“So if you know that even if you need to pit again, then you’re good. So they took the aggressive way of doing it and I think we were more on the on the cautious way. Today paid off. So yeah, it's good.”
But it wasn’t a matter of cruising to the finish. When the green came out with 16-minutes remaining, Jaminet had to hold off Penske teammate Felipe Nasr. Over the final minutes and laps, the racing was intense as Jaminet and Nasr battled through heavy GT traffic, with Jaminet holding off Nasr by 0.390 of a second.
“It was definitely intense,” said Jaminet, “because it was a pretty long shot. And from the moment I got into the car, I'd always had in my mind that we can be good, depending on the yellows, make it to the end there. This is something I was already discussing before. And I was like always saving like hell, and at the end, we were a bit lucky with the next lap of yellow. But then on the other hand, I wasn't sure to keep to keep the lead for the last few laps because of tires and brakes.
“So it was like just surviving for last couple of laps and then we catch traffic. We had a couple of contacts in the last lap. I think I touched a few cars and it was pure insanity racing. This is why we love it. This is why we want to come back every time, you can be you can be nowhere the day before, nowhere at the start of the race and then it was later you come back with a big trophy. Big thanks to to the team to put out the strategy, put the numbers together.”
(Photo credit: IMSA/Michael L. Levitt/LAT Images)
Nasr may have been able to catch Jaminet, but contact entering Turn Five from Taylor, who charged from ninth to third in the final minutes, likely ended his chances.
“I knew it was gonna get dicey at the end with the GT traffic especially in the final lap,” said Nasr. “I had a run coming close to Jaminet and I got hit from behind from the car number 10. That pretty much ended my chances of finding a way to win the race.”
For Tandy, the weekend was a testament to not giving up, from being the slowest of the four manufacturers in the GTP class to fighting back from a drive-through penalty after contacting the No. 31 Cadillac of Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani.
“Yesterday, it was clear we were the slowest of the four manufacturers and we were starting at the back of the grid. And now we sit here, first and second. I mean, it's just a massive testament to not giving up. It's a massive testament to everything that Porsche Penske has put in from the car development side and also especially through trackside on the team aspects, the way that we manage the race with both cars.
“We were even towards the back early on, obviously, like the penalty. From then on, it was a strategy and a fuel race. And honestly one more or one less lap of yellow, we probably wouldn't be able to make it. Matthieu did an awesome job fuel saving under yellow, he did an awesome job fuel saving before the last yellow. And then to restart with not so much energy and the tires and the brakes. It was just an incredible job, and incredible drive by him. And yeah, just just another awesome team effort. I'm super proud.”
“It’s just a massive testament to not giving up.”
Likely playing to Jaminet and Tandy’s favor were the five full-course cautions that disrupted the flow of the race.
“It's obviously difficult to stop, start, stop start all the time,” noted Tandy, “but often it does give you a chance to relax and take in everything and reset. One thing it does is it creates a lot of action. And you know us racing drivers, you don't want the race to be strung out and everybody on their own. Of course you don't want everything to be run under yellow, but you know when there is an incident of course safety comes first. The track has to be cleared but then we will get to start and restart all together again.
“Honestly, a lot of us enjoy it. Obviously, the leader doesn't want to see the yellow but you know more than half the pack do want to see the yellow so it's part of the sport. It's part of the racing. It's a style and it's why we love racing, you've always got a chance even with the slowest car. So, yeah, it interrupts the flow, but, you get used to it and you accept that it gives you another chance to fight.”
(Photo credit: IMSA/Michael L. Levitt/LAT Images)
In another testament to not giving up, Ben Keating and Ben Hanley won in LMP2 after Keating crashed the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07 in Saturday’s practice session before qualifying.
“I can't say enough about the team effort that this was, it's nice to to have the win,” said Keating. “It's nice anytime you can win one of these races because they're so competitive, but it feels like I'm paying back a little bit of all the hard work that the team put in. It was just amazing for them to basically completely rebuild the car, replace the transmission, do all of that in between free practice two and get it ready before qualifying. But not just to get the car ready, but the car felt really, really good when I got into qualifying.
“I had no problem going out there and pushing again after having a big incident and so the car felt equally good going into the race. We qualified second on the front row. I was able to take the lead into turn one, and we had a great car. The car felt so good throughout the race. It was a crazy race. There's lots of, lots of, you know, safety cars and incidents and stuff happening all over the place. For once, we we got lucky. We made all the right calls at the right time, and just happy to be here.”
(Photo credit: IMSA/Richard Dole/LAT Images
Conquest Racing’s Daniel Serra and Giacomo Altoe won in GTP PRO in their Ferrari 296 GT3. The team came to Road America as a one-off effort and wound up taking home the trophy.
“Honestly, we were not expecting to fight for the win when you enter a field competitive like GTD PRO,” said Serra. “We came just for this race, all the mechanics, everyone working for the first time. We were not expecting to fight for it. We gambled into this strategy. We stay out on the first yellow. We knew we have the speed, but we don't have really the straight line speed to fight the other cars, some cars. So we stay out again and we were lucky with the yellows, and it was a good call. And we finish with the fuel light on in the last lap. So it was on the limit that we are super happy.”
Photo credit: IMSA/Richard Dole/LAT Images)
Fuel, or lack it, also decided who won in the GTD class as the leading Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo was forced to pit for a splash of fuel with less than three minutes remaining, handing the win to the Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 of Patrick Gallagher and Robbie Foley.
“At one point, we were on strategy,” according to Foley, “thinking we were looking good. A couple of those yellows put us off strategy, then the next yellow gave us that advantage back. So to be honest, until the last yellow, I wasn't good on fuel, we were able to save quite well. So I was kind of hoping that that would play out, maybe that was going to be our way to victory today.
“The last yellow for us set us good on fuel. I think also the McLaren and everybody behind the Lexus was still quite close, as was the 023 car under that last yellow. So they boxed for fuel.
“Honestly, I didn't drive much, only probably an hour and 15, but it was mentally exhausting, just hitting the fuel numbers, managing the traffic.
“So yeah, just really happy to bring this one home for for Turner.”