Porsche Penske Motorsport finished round six of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in positions five and six. In the 2:40-hour race at Mosport, Canada, Englishman Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet from France crossed the finish line in the No. 6 Porsche 963 just ahead of the sister car. Their works driver colleagues Felipe Nasr from Brazil and Matt Campbell from Australia were at times on course for a podium result but ultimately had to settle for sixth place. The customer car fielded by JDC-Miller MotorSports was the best-placed Porsche 963 in fourth place. In the GTD-Pro class, Pfaff Motorsports’ Porsche 911 GT3 R finished on the podium.

In cloudy conditions and air temperatures of around 24 degrees Celsius, Felipe Nasr and Mathieu Jaminet launched a major pursuit in the initial phase, with the Frenchman attempting some particularly impressive overtaking moves. Within just 30 minutes, the No. 6 Porsche 963 had worked its way up the order from ninth to fifth position and loomed large in the rear-view mirror of the sister car. A clever strategy during several caution periods subsequently saw the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport car advance to second place. The final pit stop during the third of the four full course yellow phases resulted in three rival cars overtaking. Afterwards, no further progress was possible in the final 30-minute dash – especially as the last four laps were again spent behind the safety car following an incident.

“Our cars are in one piece and the performance was there today,” sums up Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. “The caution periods didn’t help, because they put other cars in front of us. That translated into a mediocre result. However, everything has become closer in the championship. The top four crews are within 60 points of one another. I’m sure the title fight will come to a head between now and the season finale at Road Atlanta. If we do everything right from now on and score decent points, we can finish the year on a high note.”

In the overall standings, Tandy and Jaminet rank fourth place after round six of the season, with the driver duo Nasr and Campbell in sixth position. Porsche currently lies fourth in the manufacturers’ championship.

The customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports delivered an impeccable performance on race day in Mosport. The season specialist from Germany Mike Rockenfeller drove a strong first stint at the wheel of the No. 5 Porsche 963 and handed the bright yellow prototype off to his teammate Tijmen van der Helm in eighth place. Implementing a strategic gamble in the penultimate safety car phase, the Dutchman advanced to fourth and successfully fended off all attacks from the Porsche Penske Motorsport cars.

GTD classes: Perfect strategy puts Pfaff Motorsports on the podium
In the GTD-Pro class, the Pfaff Motorsports customer squad gave an impressive performance at its home race thanks to an optimal strategy and strong drives by drivers Klaus Bachler and Patrick Pilet. The Austrian’s first stint at the wheel of the No. 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R was considerably longer than the rest of the field, which laid the foundation for success. His French teammate, famed for his incomparable fuel-efficient driving style, then brought second place safely home for the team.

The three customer teams in the GTD class were less lucky. After mediocre qualifying performances on Saturday, things barely improved on race day. The four Porsche 911 GT3 R cars fielded by Wright Motorsports, AO Racing and Kellymoss with Riley finished the race in positions seven, eight, nine and twelve respectively.

Round seven of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be contested on 22 July at Lime Rock Park. Only the two GT classes contest the so-called Northeast Grand Prix. The next outing for the Porsche 963 in North America is on the first weekend in August at Road America.

Drivers’ comments on the race
Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #6): “It definitely wasn’t our best race ever, but at least we’re in the top six with both cars. Our Porsche 963 racers went the distance without any technical problems. With a little more luck on our side, we could’ve been on the podium. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. That’s a pity because we were doing well in terms of performance. We dropped one position in the championship standings, but the gaps are small. Now, the show goes on at Road America.”

Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #7): “I’m a bit frustrated. Our car was fast over the whole distance. I was fighting at the front for quite a while. Some other teams took a risk during the penultimate caution phase which ultimately turned out to be the better strategy. That’s why we only finished sixth behind the sister car. We’ll be back in full force for the next race.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Porsche 963 #5): “At our third outing, we finished fourth for the second time in a row – we can live with that. We took small steps again and were in the midfield with our performance. Of course, we were also a bit lucky. We have to be satisfied with that. The team did a great job and Tijmen put up a strong defence at the end. We were the best Porsche. Not bad!”

Patrick Pilet (Porsche 911 GT3 R #9): “First and foremost, a massive thanks to the team. The fact that we were even in contention for the class win here all boils down to the great strategy. It was very difficult for me at the final restart. I was in front but unfortunately lost the lead. The competition was simply faster. They would have overtaken me anyway. As a team, we squeezed the absolute maximum out of it. We want to get back on top of the podium as soon as possible.”

Race results
GTP class:
1. Blomqvist/Braun (UK/USA), Acura #60, 120 laps
2. Taylor/Albuquerque (USA/P), Acura #10, 120 laps
3. De Phillippi/Yelloly (USA/UK), BMW #25, 120 laps
4. Rockenfeller/van der Helm (D/NL), Porsche 963 #5, 120 laps
5. Tandy/Jaminet (UK/F), Porsche 963 #6, 120 laps
6. Campbell/Nasr (AUS/BR), Porsche 963 #7, 120 laps

GTD-Pro class:
1. Garcia/Taylor (E/USA), Corvette #3, 111 laps
2. Bachler/Pilet (A/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, 111 laps
3. Juncadella/Gounon (E/F), Mercedes-AMG #79, 111 laps

GTD class:
1. Sellers/Snow (USA/USA), BMW #1, 111 laps
2. Schandorff/Iribe (DK/USA), McLaren #70, 111 laps
3. Skeen/Grenier (USA/CDN), Mercedes-AMG #32, 111 laps
7. Brynjolfsson/Hindman (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #77, 110 laps
8. Hyett/Priaulx (USA/UK), Porsche 911 GT3 R #80, 110 laps
9. Metni/van Berlo (USA/NL), Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, 110 laps
12. Brule/Udell (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 103 laps

Full results: imsa.alkamelsystems.com.