Porsche has a history of winning at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course but the German sports car manufacturer represented by three privateer entries for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship failed to land a podium finish for the first time in history. Since 2000, the German marque has earned 24 IMSA class wins on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course and has captured 18 overall wins since the track’s first race in 1972.

The precedence for the race was set during Fridays qualifying season when all three-team struggled to keep pace with their contenders despite Patrick Long showing strong speeds in each session, taking the “points pole” by qualifying first in a pre-race session that gifted 35 points to the 1st Phorm Wright Motorsports car.

Pfaff Motorsports topped the table for the Porsche teams at the chequered flag crossing the line in sixth place, the Canadian team with Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor and 2019 Sprint Championship winner Zacharie Robichon at the wheel had strong race and lead the race for a brief time during the pit stop cycles.

Vanthoor remained in the hunt for a podium finish staying close to leaders throughout the first half of the race and their pit stop strategy was going to plan right up until an untimely yellow after contact between themselves and the Wright Motorsport number 16 Porsche dropped the team back down the order late on leaving no time for the drivers to claw back any advantage earned throughout the race. The team who scored its first major endurance victory in March at Sebring remained in high sprits and will regroup ready for the next round.

The Wright Motorsport team showed a strong pace while pushing for a podium finish but contact from another car dashed those hopes in the final hour. Ryan Hardwick started the race in tenth and enjoyed a relatively drama-free stint, settling into position and saving tires and fuel to play into the team’s race strategy. With no issues, he completed his stint in 11th and pitted after completing the minimum drive time. The number 16 Porsche received a fresh set of tires and a tank of fuel as Patrick Long took over the driving duties.

As the rest of the field began to circulate through their stops and varying strategy calls, the race played into Wright’s hands and their consistency paid off. Long moved up to sixth position in a matter of laps, catching Michael de Quesada in the number 28 Mercedes and Mario Farnbacher in the number 76 Acura, in a heated battle for fifth place. The number 76 went temporarily off course and Long assumed the position, closing in on de Quesada to fight for fourth. Lap after lap, the duo raced nose-to-tail, and then as the pair ran side by side into the carousel, the number 9 Pfaff Porsche came alongside, running three wide into the turn. The three had contact, sending the Wright Motorsports spinning into the gravel. Long saved the car from further damage but needed a tow back to pit lane to replace a flat right rear tire. The delay set the team back three laps, resulting in a 12th place finish.

After entering two cars at Sebring, Team Hardpoint EBM returned to a single entry for Mid-Ohio with Katherine Legge and team principal Rob Ferriol sharing the cockpit. Throughout the race with both putting in good times. Despite keeping out of trouble for the entire race the duo struggled on pace and both were unable to close the gap on the leading pack eventually crossing the finish line in eleventh place and one lap down.

Laurens Vanthoor: Sixth was all we had today. A yellow ruined our strategy. We tried to fight back but we only managed to get up to sixth spot. Wasn’t an easy weekend ! Next up : Watkins Glen.

Ryan Hardwick : What a shame. After not the best qualifying effort, starting towards the back of the field, we worked our way up to the top five, with Pat doing most of the hard work. It’s disappointing for our race to end like that. We’ll take this one on the chin. It’s still a long season. I look forward to bouncing back at Detroit and get on with our winning ways.

Patrick Long: We were biding our time with a car in front of us that seemed to be out of tires and unable to continue at pace. A chain reaction effect of some errors by the leading car meant that we had to check up, and we got hit from behind and broke our right rear wheel. At that point, the race was over for us. We soldiered on and got some points, not giving up. It was not our prettiest race, but it’s eyes up onto our test at Watkins Glen.