The Porsche Penske Motorsport works team’s Daytona-winning Porsche 963 has wrapped up the 12 Hours of Sebring on the podium. After a thrilling race in Florida, the works drivers Felipe Nasr (Brazil), Dane Cameron (USA) and Matt Campbell (Australia) crossed the finish line in third place with the No. 7 race car. 

Race

The No. 6 sister car was plagued with bad luck, ultimately finishing only ninth after an incident. Another hybrid prototype fielded by Proton Competition came eighth. In the GTD-Pro class, AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the penultimate lap. Wright Motorsports secured third place in the GTD category with its 911.

The first nine hours of round two of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season were contested under blue skies and high temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius. All teams in the top GTP class opted for the same strategy: to conserve tyres for the crucial stints at the end of the race. After the first quarter of the 12-hour endurance classic, Dane Cameron moved into the lead for the first time at the wheel of the No. 7 race car. However, during an additional pit stop due to a faulty seat insert, the team lost ground again. At that moment, the sister car was on the spot and swept into the lead.

The excitement, however, was short-lived: While lapping a slower car, Frédéric Makowiecki nudged a GT vehicle. Shortly afterwards, a tyre blew out and the Frenchman had to drive slowly back to the pits for almost an entire lap of the 6.02 kilometre circuit – costing him a total of two laps. The crew didn’t manage to close the gap as the race progressed and crossed the finish line in ninth place.

In the meantime, the Daytona winners in the No. 7 car reclaimed the lead. However, as temperatures dropped after dark, performance waned slightly compared to the competition. When the race went green for a final 24-minute sprint after the eleventh safety car phase, Felipe Nasr lost all chances to claim his second win of the season. The Brazilian secured third place and added to the team’s points tally from the season-opening victory.

“That was a hard-fought podium finish for our Porsche Penske Motorsport works team,” summed up Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “Congratulations to Acura. They had the fastest car in the decisive final phase. We couldn’t quite match the pace of the leaders in the cooler temperatures during the closing stages of the race. Now it’s time to analyse those results and draw relevant conclusions for future races. My congratulations also go to our Wright Motorsports customer team. They achieved a podium finish in the GTD class with the Porsche 911 GT3 R after an immaculate performance.”

“It was definitely a difficult race for us. Initially, we were hampered by minor setbacks but we systematically fought our way back,” summarises Urs Kuratle. The Director Factory Motorsport LMDh adds: “Then tyre damage threw our number 6 a long way back. Number 7 at least finished on the podium – that was good. Others, however, did better still. Our customer teams put in strong drives but unfortunately were not rewarded correspondingly.”

“We’re on the podium with our car again, which is something our entire team can be proud of,” explains Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. “Our cars were simply not fast enough today compared to some of our rivals. We’ll have to take another close look to find the reasons for that. It’s a shame that our number 6 lost two laps quite early on due to the tyre damage. Unfortunately, things like this sometimes happen in motorsport through no fault of our own.”

The customer teams in the GTP class set a fast pace at times with their Porsche 963 but were ultimately unable to harvest for their effort. Proton Competition’s No. 5 entry fell from fourth to eighth place in the last ten minutes. The identical car fielded by JDC-Miller MotorSports retired with a technical defect after an impressive performance in the early stages. 

GT classes: Wright Motorsport’s Porsche 911 GT3 R on the GTD podium

The Porsche customer teams contesting the two GT categories experienced varying degrees of success. In the GTD-Pro class, AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R affectionately named “Rexy” was on course for victory for long stretches, only to have a penalty relegate it back to ninth place on the penultimate lap. In the GTD category, the Wright Motorsports squad celebrated a podium finish after a flawless performance. Third place went to the two Americans Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer, as well as Belgian Jan Heylen. The cars campaigned by Andretti Motorsports and MDK Motorsports finished eighth and twelfth respectively.

GT classes: Another strong qualifying for AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R

The Porsche customer teams tackling the two GT categories only managed to partially meet expectations. The 911 GT3 R fielded by AO Racing achieved another strong result in the GTD Pro class: Daytona polesitter Sebastian Priaulx put the “Rexy” 911 on P3. The Englishman shares the cockpit with works driver Michael Christensen from Denmark and former Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich from Germany. In the GTD category, the three 911 cars from Wright Motorsports, Andretti Motorsports and MDK Motorsports will start from positions 15, 18 and 19.

Round two of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, at 9:40 am local time (2:40 pm CET). The 72nd running of the 12-hour race in Sebring may turn into a milestone for Porsche and its partner team Penske: The car manufacturer from Stuttgart could clinch its 600th victory in the North American IMSA, and for the Penske team, this would mark the 100th victory in sports car racing.

At the endurance classic in Florida, the two Porsche 963 fielded by the Porsche Penske Motorsport works team will be decked out in slightly different liveries. This weekend, the logos of long-standing partner Mobil 1 will shine in gold. This is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the renowned lubricant brand of the mineral oil company ExxonMobil.

✅ Source: Porsche