Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA
Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet gave Team Penske its 100th sports car victory. This day also marked Porsche's record-breaking 600th and 601st IMSA wins at Sunday's MOTUL Course de Monterrey hosted by Hyundai N.
Tandy was locked in a battle for the lead with Jack Aitken's No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V Series.R, sponsored by Whelen Engineering, with 10 minutes left after Aitken went wide in traffic. Avoided GTP cars. 2 hours and 40 minutes of WeatherTech Sports Car Championship Contest.
The British rider had just taken part in the FIA World Endurance Championship race at Spa on Saturday, with team owner Roger Penske in attendance, and the No. 6 Penske car at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He won a historic victory over Aitken in a Porsche 963 in 5.764 seconds.
Felipe Nasr led the No. 7 Penske Porsche to a double podium for the team, fending off the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande. A fuel-only strategy at the final stop backfired on the Dutchman after a tough fight. For grip.
Van der Zande's co-driver, Sébastien Bourdais, led the car to pole position on Saturday, but finished only fifth.
The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing car of Jordan Taylor and Luis Deletraz's Andretti Acura ARX-06 finished fourth, while the No. 10 Acura of teammate Filipe Albuquerque finished sixth. .
Nick Yelloly, driving the BMW M Hybrid V8, lost time early on due to problems with changing the right rear wheel, but took the best position in 7th place. Yellowley went off the track in the second hour and fell further down the order.
Richard Westbrook finished eighth in the JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche, while the No. 24 BMW was damaged in the second hour when Jesse Krohn retrieved an advertising banner.
The No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche received a drive-through penalty due to Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Roman de Angelis due to responsibility for the accident. Afterwards, it surfaced at the rear of the GTP field.
There was only one full-course caution in the race due to debris from the No. 7 Penske-Porsche car, and the rear deck had to be replaced during a yellow in the second hour.
AO Racing roars to victory in GTD Pro. Winward wins GTD
Laurin Heinrich pilots the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R to AO Racing's first WeatherTech Championship win in GTD Pro, while Winward Racing extends its GTD points lead with its third class win in four races this season. .
Heinrich fended off Oliver Jarvis' No. 9 Pfaff Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with 1 hour and 13 minutes remaining, holding off a late-race charge from Jarvis' co-driver Marvin Kirchhofer and finishing in the dinosaur livery. This gave the car “Lexy” the first victory. .
The 22-year-old German shared top class honors with Seb Priaulx in his first season of WeatherTech Championship competition.
This was Porsche's first win in GTD Pro since last year's Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, which ironically was won by Sunday's runner-up Pfaff.
The No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner) in class pole position struggled with its pace compared to the Porsches and McLarens. He finished on the podium in 3rd place in his class.
Robbie Foley's late-race bobble handed GTD honors to the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward.
Foley was en route to winning the Turner Motorsports class in his 557th start for BMW when he had potential contact with Jordan Taylor's No. 40 WTRA Andretti Acura, sending him off the track with less than five minutes remaining. .
Ellis finished 3.458 seconds ahead of Foley, who recovered to take second place.
Meanwhile, the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson finished on the podium in third place for the second time this year in the GTD class.
Result: MOTUL Course de Monterrey presented by Hyundai N
