The Porsche 963 fielded by the customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports will tackle the 6-hour race at Watkins Glen from the fourth grid spot. In the hunt for top times on Saturday (22 June), Phil Hanson from the UK narrowly outpaced Porsche Penske Motorsport’s two works cars. Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet and Felipe Nasr from Brazil qualified in positions five and six. Proton Competition’s identical 512 kW (696 PS) hybrid prototype will line up on the grid for round six of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in tenth place.

The works team opted for different strategies for its two Porsche 963 racing cars during the qualifying. As soon as the session got the green light, Felipe Nasr went straight out onto the track in his No. 7 car, while Mathieu Jaminet in the sister car initially waited in the pit lane. The Frenchman only joined the session in the No. 6 car after the first third of the 15-minute session. Nasr improved during his first four laps but was unable to advance further up the timesheets. Jaminet set his best time shortly before the end of the session and pushed past his teammate. Both works drivers, however, were slightly behind Phil Hanson, who put in an inspired drive at the wheel of the yellow No. 85 customer 963.

“Congratulations to our JDC-Miller MotorSports customer squad. What a brilliant performance,” concludes Urs Kuratle. The Director of Factory Motorsport LMDh adds: “We’d have preferred to have finished further up the timesheets with our two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963. Our drivers were quite satisfied with the handling of their cars, however, there are a few things we need to take a good look at before the race begins. A lot can happen in the six-hour race on Sunday.”

“That was a fiercely contested qualifying session on the spectacular Watkins Glen course,” states Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. “Mathieu and Felipe did a good job. Positions five and six are okay. We’ll be right in the middle of it and have six hours on race day to work our way up the order as far as possible.”

GT classes: Porsche 911 GT3 R off the pace in qualifying
AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R experienced difficulties in the GTD Pro class during qualifying. UK driver Sebastian Priaulx turned the eighth quickest time at the wheel of the “Rexy” 911. The American Porsche customer team had won its class at the previous races in Laguna Seca and Detroit and is currently leading the rankings. In the GTD category, the three ca. 415 kW (565 PS) cars fielded by Wright Motorsports, Andretti Motorsports and MDK Motorsports qualified in 13th, 20th and 21st respectively.

Round six on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar at the Watkins Glen International racetrack is contested over six hours. The long-distance event is part of the Michelin Endurance Cup – a special classification that includes the five longest races of the year. The race gets underway on Sunday, 23 June at 11:10 hrs local time (17:10 hrs CEST). Outside of North America, the race can be watched over the entire distance in a free live stream on IMSA.tv.

Drivers’ comments post-qualifying
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “Fifth is not what I’d hoped for. I’m sure we could’ve done better. I made a minor error on my flying lap. An unnecessary gear change in the last corner hampered me from advancing to third place. Still, your grid position isn’t so important. Our car will be stronger in the race than it was on a single flying qualifying lap. I’m curious to see how the weather develops. We might be in for a wet race day.”

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “I tried everything. I reckon our car still understeers a little too much. That doesn’t feel great when you’re attempting your flying lap. On the other hand, such vehicle handling is good for Sunday’s long race. I’m confident that we can pull something out of the hat. Weather, strategy, tyre durability – many factors will play a very important role in the fight for victory.”

Gianmaria Bruni (Porsche 963 #5): “We’ve made noticeable improvements to our car compared to the first free practice session. The grip during qualifying was pretty good and my hot lap was clean. We’re still experiencing issues with the rear axle – we’re sliding around too much. Now we’ll take a close look at the data and hope to make some improvements for race day.”

Phil Hanson (Porsche 963 #85): “My goal wasn’t about qualifying ahead of the works cars – it’s always about going for pole position. I wasn’t that far off. The car felt great. I got a clean qualifying lap – and a spot on the second grid row is our reward. In my last IMSA race at the Sebring 12 Hours, we didn’t tap our full potential. We want to do things differently in the race tomorrow.”

Sebastian Priaulx (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): “I expected to do a bit better. It seems that we’re a little behind when temperatures exceed 30 degrees Celsius. Other cars are obviously less sensitive to the high temperatures. We now just have to deal with it. I’m confident that we’ll be extremely fast and consistent in the six-hour race. I don’t doubt that we’ll advance up the field. We’re determined to defend our top ranking in the championship.”

Qualifying result:
GTP class:
1. Deletraz/Taylor (CH/USA), Acura #40, 1:32,209 minutes
2. Bourdais/van der Zande (F/NL), Cadillac #01, + 0.038 seconds
3. Aitken/Blomqvist/Derani (UK/UK/BR), Cadillac #31, + 0.310 seconds
4. Hanson/Van der Helm/Westbrook (UK/NL/UK), Porsche 963 #85, + 0.316 seconds
5. Tandy/Jaminet (UK/F), Porsche 963 #6, + 0.370 seconds
6. Cameron/Nasr (USA/BR), Porsche 963 #7, + 0.439 seconds
10. Bruni/Viscaal (I/NL), Porsche 963 #5, + 0.714 seconds

GTD-Pro class:
1. Serra/Rigon (BR/I), Ferrari #62, 1:44.203 minutes
2. Garcia/Sims (E/UK), Corvette #3, + 0.114 seconds
3. Gunn/Riberas (UK/E), Aston Martin #23, + 0.184 seconds
8. Heinrich/Priaulx (D/UK), Porsche 911 GT3 R #77, + 0.826 seconds

GTD class:
1. Montecalvo/Thompson/Telitz (USA/CDN/USA), Lexus #12, 1:44.642 minutes
2. Triarsi/Scardina/Rovera (USA/USA/I), Ferrari #023, + 0.600 seconds
3. Skeen/Grenier/Koch (USA/CDN/USA), Mercedes-AMG #32, + 0.790 seconds
13. Adelson/Skeer/Heylen (USA/USA/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, + 2.477 seconds
20. Andretti/Chaves/Hargrove (USA/COL/CDN), Porsche 911 GT3 R #43, + 4.475 seconds
21. Bachler/Fjordbach/Li (A/DK/CHN), Porsche 911 GT3 R #86, + 5.522 seconds

Full results and championship standings https://imsa.alkamelsystems.com.