Major Wins for Porsche at Laguna Seca
Penske Racing has dominated the IMSA GTP class, winning every race so far this season. AO Racing’s 911 GT3 R has similar success in the GTD class.
It’s rare in the IMSA series for a single team to rack up four consecutive wins, but the Porsche Penske 963 prototype racers have won all four races so far this season. Not only that, but the two-car team has dominated the podium so far this season, coming in first and third at the 24 Hours at Daytona and finishing first and second at Sebring and Long Beach.
AI Quick Summary
Porsche Penske Racing's 963 prototypes won all four IMSA GTP races this season, with the No. 6 car claiming its first victory. AO Racing's 911 GT3 R also triumphed in the GTD class at Laguna Seca. The race featured intense competition and was run entirely under green-flag conditions.
This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article
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The No. 6 Porsche, driven by Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet, successfully threaded through traffic on the last lap of the race and passed their teammate Nick Tandy in the No. 7 Porsche, taking the race win by 1.6 seconds. This was the first trip to the top of the podium for the No. 6 car, which has until now been the second- or third-place finisher.
In a statement to the media following the race, Jaminet said, “I was stuck behind the lapped cars for a while, and that brought the pack together. I didn’t want to take too much of a risk, but at some point, I had to. It was exciting for the fans but also in the car. I ran the last laps like running for pole position.”
Team Porsche Penske Racing hasn’t been the only car wearing the Porsche crest. In the GTD Pro class, AO Racing’s No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R took the top spot at Laguna Seca, its third victory in a row.
The Tyrannosaurus-wrapped 911 qualified in fourth position but quickly moved to the top spot in class, finishing ahead of the second-place No. 81 Dragonspeed Ferrari. Third place in GTD Pro went to the No. 3 Corvette driven by Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia.
When it wears the pink Tyrannosaurus livery, the car is referred to as Roxy, but while wearing the green dinosaur wrap, they call the car Rexy. In doing so, the AO Racing team has created a fan favorite with their prehistoric Porsche. For Sunday’s autograph sessions, the party to be at was in the AO Racing pit, which was complete with music, a bubble gun, and one of the team members dancing in an inflatable Tyrannosaurus suit. The line for autographs was out the door.
As always, racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was intense and exciting, but this year was especially noteworthy as the 2-hour, 40-minute race was run entirely under green-flag conditions. The last time an IMSA race was run without any yellow-flag conditions was 2022 in Belle Island.
Scroll through our gallery for some exciting wheel-to-wheel racing from the Monterey Peninsula and check out IMSA.com for full race results and info on upcoming events this year. Will Porsche continue to dominate, or will Team Cadillac or the Pratt & Miller Corvettes claw their way back to the podium? Only time will tell.
A subscription to Car and Driver at age 10 set the stage for what would be John's career path. A voracious reader of car magazines and lover of all things automotive, he set out to learn as much as he could about cars. An automotive technology program provided the foundation, while fumbling around with large American sedans provided real world experience. Finally, a Bachelor of Science degree in photojournalism provided the focus. John accepted a five-month photography internship at Motor Trend magazine in 2003. Upon completion, he remained with the publishing company, managing a photo studio for 18 months before becoming photo editor for HOT ROD and Car Craft magazine. After three years on the production side, John accepted an editorial position at Car Craft in December 2006 and eventually became editor of Car Craft in 2014 and retained that position until March 2018 when he moved to HOT ROD as Executive Editor. He was promoted to Editor-in-Chief of HOT ROD in April 2019.
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