Porsche dominates IMSA at the Brickyard

Photo © 2023 Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

The two Porsche 963 fielded by the Porsche Penske Motorsport works team clinched the first one-two victory at round ten of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Works drivers Nick Tandy from the UK and Mathieu Jaminet from France won the 2:40-hour race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Their Porsche colleagues Matt Campbell from Australia and Felipe Nasr from Brazil finished second.

The race

With this success at the “Brickyard”, Porsche has taken the lead in the manufacturers’ championship. The two Porsche 963 run by the customer teams JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition finished the penultimate race of the year in eighth and ninth positions, respectively. Porsche Penske Motorsport was the favorite in Indianapolis on race day after the strong qualifying performance on Saturday, which resulted in both cars locking out the front grid row. However, on the way to the Porsche 963’s maiden one-two achievement, the team and drivers had to overcome several major hurdles. Fans were treated to some gripping race action right from the start: Mathieu Jaminet squeezed past polesitter Matt Campbell in the sister car while braking for the first corner. This order remained unchanged until the first pit stop after about 35 minutes. During a yellow phase, both Porsche 963 came into the pits for a service before lining up at the front behind the safety car.

A little later, the stewards made a surprising decision: Because Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy as the drivers of the two Porsche 963 had not adhered to the requirements during the so-called “class split” (sorting of vehicle classes during a safety car phase), the race directors issued a directive for the third-placed Cadillac to move to the top – a puzzling decision that caused many onlookers to shake their heads, but one that ultimately did not change the race result.

At the restart, Nasr initially pushed past his brand colleague Tandy and then set his sights on the leading car. For almost 30 minutes, the No. 7 vehicle attacked on almost every lap and put the leader under immense pressure. With success: With 63 minutes remaining on the clock, a minor driving error opened the door for both Porsche 963 to overtake. After the last pit stop, Nasr made a small error at the wheel of the leading hybrid prototype. On cold tires, the Brazilian slid onto the grass and lost critical seconds, which put the sister car in the lead. Safely at the front, Tandy brought home a one-two result for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

TIRERACK.COM BATTLE ON THE BRICKS, 10. Lauf IMSA WeatherTech Championship, Indianapolis 2023 – Foto: Gruppe C Photography

Pfaff Motorsport’s bad luck

In the GTD Pro category, the Porsche 911 GT3 R campaigned by Pfaff Motorsports headed into the race from pole position. However, the chances of another class victory were lost a few seconds after the start. Shortly before the start, the Austrian Klaus Bachler switched lines at the wheel of the No. 9 vehicle. For this rule violation, the race director imposed a drive-through penalty and Bachler could not recoup the time lost. The Austrian and his French teammate Patrick Pilet finished the “Battle on the Bricks” in fourth place. In the GTD class, the customer cars fielded by Wright Motorsports, AO Racing and Kellymoss with Riley finished in the midfield.

Race result

GTP class:

Tandy/Jaminet (UK/F), Porsche 963 #6, 113 laps
Campbell/Nasr (AUS/BR), Porsche 963 #7, 113 laps
De Phillippi/Yelloly (USA/UK), BMW #25, 113 laps
Rockenfeller/van der Helm (D/NL), Porsche 963 #5, 113 laps
Bruni/Tincknell (I/UK), Porsche 963 #59, 113 laps

GTD Pro class:

Gounon/Juncadella (F/E), Mercedes-AMG #79, 104 laps
Gunn/Riberas (UK/E), Aston Martin #23, 104 laps
Hawksworth/Barnicoat (UK/UK), Lexus #14, 104 laps
Bachler/Pilet (A/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, 104 laps

GTD class:

Ward/Ellis (USA/D), Mercedes-AMG #57, 104 laps
Goikhberg/Spinelli (CDN/I), Lamborghini #78, 104 laps
Sellers/Snow (USA/USA), BMW #1, 104 laps
Brynjolfsson/Hindman (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #77, 104 laps
Brule/Udell (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 104 laps
Hyett/Priaulx (USA/UK), Porsche 911 GT3 R #80, 104 laps
Metni/van Berlo (USA/NL), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, 103 laps

Qualifying

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s two factory-run Porsche 963 will tackle the penultimate round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season from the front grid row. Australian works driver Matt Campbell qualified on pole position at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his French colleague Mathieu Jaminet set the second quickest time. Klaus Bachler was successful in the GTD Pro class, with the Austrian clinching pole position at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by Pfaff Motorsports.

Porsche Penske Motorsport headed into the qualifying session for round ten of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with high expectations. Driving the No. 7 Porsche 963, Matt Campbell set the fastest times in both free practices on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. In the 20-minute qualifying session, the Australian lived up to his role as a hot favorite, with Campbell turning a blistering pole-setting lap in 1:13.672 minutes. In the No. 6 car, Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet claimed the second grid spot in the identical hybrid prototype from Weissach. Under cloudy skies and in temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius, the works team’s two Porsche 963 waited in the pit lane for two minutes at the start of the session. Campbell and Jaminet then patiently warmed up the tires to attack in the second half of qualifying. The Australian promptly topped the leaderboard and improved his lap time again on his second attempt. With four minutes remaining, Jaminet was in third, then advanced to second position – scoring a perfect result for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

The two Porsche 963 campaigned by the Proton Competition and JDC-Miller MotorSports teams will tackle the penultimate race of the season from the back of the GTP grid. Works driver GIanmaria Bruni from Italy clocked strong lap times in the first half of the session at the wheel of the No. 59 car run by the German customer team Proton Competition but was ultimately unable to make any decisive improvements and finished in ninth place. The 19-year-old Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm qualified tenth in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports car.

GTD classes

In the GTD Pro category, the Canadian team Pfaff Motorsports secured its second pole position this season. Facing heavy traffic in the 22-strong field of GT cars, Klaus Bachler was the fastest driver in his class with a time of 1:23.140 minutes. The Austrian shares the No. 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R with the experienced Frenchman Patrick Pilet. In the GTD class, the identical nine-elevens campaigned by the customer teams Kelly-Moss with Riley, Wright Motorsports and AO Racing will head into the race from positions nine, ten, 13 and 16 respectively.