Imsa Laguna Seca Race Report: The Joy Of Six

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The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport piloted by Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell ended a three-race winning run by the team’s sister car with an impressive victory at Laguna Seca.

Jaminet and Campbell, who have had to watch teammates in the #7 car of Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy win the opening three rounds of the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, have settled with two second-place finishes and a third in the opening three rounds.

However, Jaminet held off a late challenge from Tandy, who banged wheels with pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor at the approach to Laguna Seca’s notoriously tight final left hander, sending the #24 BMW M Team RLL off track on the last corner of the last lap.

The final few laps threw up thrilling racing and led to a grandstand finish as Jack Aitken’s Cadillac bunched up the field when the British driver defended his position to remain on the lead lap.

However, he had inadvertently caused a jam behind him, as the two Porsche cars tussled for the win. But Jaminet avoided the chaos for the win, with his teammate Matt Campbell relieved to get off the mark for the season.

He said: “We are on top and good to finally get a really good result, getting a win on the car #6 for the first  time this season and obviously keeping this streak going of podiums, which is really really important for PPM and the championship for the big picture.”

#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy

Art Fleischmann

Nasr had earlier pulled off a brilliant overtake for the lead at Turn 5 moving left and then right to pass Vanthoor.

However, the #6 crew pulled off an undercut in the pitstop to take the lead and, after swapping with Tandy, a rare error for the Brit exiting the pitlane handed the advantage to Jaminet, who negotiated back markers to take the victory.

Campbell added: “It wasn't the easiest race. For sure, we lacked a bit of speed but nevertheless thank you to the team and for the strategy obviously coming out on top.

“It was super-close racing and I'm just glad we weren't a part of it [the close finish], so Mathieu did a fantastic job making no mistakes  towards the end of the race in his final two stints and he did what we needed to do.”

The battle between the two Porsches played into the hands of the #24 BMW M Team RLL driven by Vanthoor, who had claimed the Motul Pole Award in qualifying.

But the BMW clashed with Tandy’s Porsche and limped home in third place meaning that no pole position winner in GTP has managed to convert from P1 in two years.

Full report to follow…

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