JDC-Miller MotorSports, AO Racing on the Podium at Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wis. The six-hour race in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin was marked by numerous incidents. A total of nine safety car periods repeatedly caused shifts in the standings at Road America. At the halfway point of the eighth round of the IMSA Championship, the No. 7 car from Porsche Penske Motorsport was in the lead. But about an hour later, a competitor sent the Porsche 963 – which was competing in the 2007 RS Spyder livery – into the gravel trap. After a lengthy recovery, subsequent repairs, and a total of three penalties, Julien Andlauer of France and Felipe Nasr of Brazil had no chance in the fight for the victory. The winners of the first two races at Daytona and Sebring crossed the finish line in sixth place.
After the misfortune of car No. 7, the sister car initially put itself in a good position in the battle for the race win. During the eighth yellow flag period, Kévin Estre, behind the wheel of car No. 6, was in second place. After the restart, however, the Frenchman collided with a competitor and crashed into the barriers. The Porsche 963, which competed in the livery of the legendary 1973 Porsche 917/30, was ultimately classified in eighth place. Estre shared the car during the race with Belgian driver Laurens Vanthoor.
“First, the good news: We’ve clinched the team and driver titles in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup,” Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh, said. “This shows just how strong our team is in endurance racing. Congratulations to our customer team, JDC-Miller MotorSports, on their second-place finish. Unfortunately, there were also some downsides today. Many cars were involved in incidents during a hectic race. Our two Porsche 963 from Porsche Penske Motorsport were among them. As a result, we didn’t achieve top results here.”
The race day went better for customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports. Factory driver Laurin Heinrich from Germany, American Kaylen Frederick, and Tijmen van der Helm from the Netherlands finished second on the podium. Heinrich, a former Porsche Junior, remains the highest-placed driver in the overall standings from the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer in P2. Porsche also ranks second in the manufacturers’ standings. In the manufacturers’ standings of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup – which includes the endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America, and Road Atlanta – Porsche holds first place.
GT Classes: AO Racing’s “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R on the podium
In the GTD Pro class, the two British drivers Harry King and Nick Tandy delivered a strong performance behind the wheel of car No. 77. The 911 GT3 R, nicknamed “Rexy” for its dinosaur-themed livery, crossed the finish line in second place after 142 laps at Road America. The identical 911 from Manthey also battled at the front at times but finished the race in ninth place following penalties. The sister car, entered by Manthey 1st Phorm, dropped back to 16th place in the GTD class on the final lap.
The highest-placed Porsche in that category was the No. 28 car from RS1, which finished in tenth place with Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Ryan Yardley, Canadian Devlin DeFrancesco, and Belgian Jan Heylen behind the wheel. The Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R retired early following an accident.
The ninth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will take place on August 23 at Virginia International Raceway, with only the two GT classes in action. The next outing for the Porsche 963 in the top GTP class will be on September 20 in Indianapolis.