Kuratle: Porsche Keeping “All the Championships” in Mind

Photo: Hoch Zwei/Porsche

Porsche is keeping “all the championships” in mind heading into Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title-deciding Motul Petit Le Mans according to the manufacturer’s factory LMDh director Urs Kuratle.

The German brand heads into the ten-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with a slim eight-point lead in the GTP manufacturers’ championship over Cadillac.

The gap in the drivers’ championship is even tighter, with Porsche Penske Motorsport pilots Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet just five points from the lead, in what’s likely to be a winner-take-all fight for the title.

Kuratle dismissed a specific focus or approach heading into the race, acknowledging that there are still multiple scenarios at play within the two-car Porsche Penske camp.

“There are a couple of championships, first of all, to win here,” he told Sportscar365. “The manufacturers’ [championship], the situation is that one of the Porsches has to be in front of the Cadillac. That’s one thing.

“The other championships, we really have to see how the situation is during the race.

“Obviously one car helps the other but we are nowhere now in a situation to say if we only focus on that car or on that driver crew.

“We try to keep all the championships in mind and try the best we can.

“During the race we obviously have to react to the situation. But now, as we are on Thursday night, we are not in a situation to say, ‘Yes, we concentrate on this or that or the other one.’ We really have to see how the race goes.

“It’s a ten-hour race. You have to be there in the famous last hour and still on track and that’s what we’re focused on.”

While carrying momentum with wins in the last two WeatherTech Championship races, with the Nos. 7 and 6 crews, respectively, Kuratle admitted their focus on reliability for the final round of the Michelin Endurance Cup.

“There’s a lot of momentum that we are bringing here,” he said. “Honestly, the races we’ve won were two-hour and 40-minute races; they were short races.

“We performed OK in the WEC in Fuji; that was a six-hour race. Here is a ten-hour race.

“The endurance races, we did not perform very well so far this season and this is something we’ve developed a lot in reliability as well with the car.

“We still know there are steps to do. For us it will not be an easy ten hours. It will be a nerve-wracking ten hours because we are not totally safe about the reliability on our car.

“It’s still an issue. We have to prove it in endurance races. We have the performance but reliability, we consider one of the weak points we have.

“It’s a long race. It’s not easy but let’s see.”

When asked if he’s ever personally been a part of a championship battle that’s been this close going into the final race, Kuratle admitted the experience is new to him.

“Most of the time in my career was Formula 1 and it was never as close as this,” he said. “We were all dreaming about this!

“Also in the LMP1 times, it was decided earlier, in most cases.

“That’s the beauty of the thing. Today, all four manufacturers are together. It’s really nice because everybody can win and it’s a tough battle and we bring it all to the last race.

“It’s a Hollywood scenario we have here on Saturday during the race.

“On top of it, during the complete year over the course of the season, I think it was a good show for the fans. With record crowds on many tracks, that was really nice to see.

“Now all four OEMs can win championships. There’s drivers’, team and manufacturer. It’s exciting.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John