Porsche Looking to Leave Indy in “Controlling Position” in GTP

Photo: Jordan Lenssen/Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport is looking to leave this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a “controlling position” in the GTP championship title race according to its managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

While unable to mathematically clinch the drivers or manufacturers’ championships with a race to spare, both could be unofficially locked up this weekend.

Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron currently hold a 100-point lead over teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche, with the No. 7 crew 185 points ahead of their nearest direct competitor, the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais.

Should the No. 7 car finish ahead of the No. 01 Cadillac on Sunday, or the championship gap be more than 165 points, Nasr and Cameron, who will be re-joined by Matt Campbell at Motul Petit Le Mans, will need to only roll off the grid for next month’s season finale to officially clinch the title.

Similarly in the manufacturers’ title race, Porsche’s current 89-point advantage over second-placed Cadillac cannot be surpassed if the German brand wins at Indianapolis and has at least one of its four GTP cars start at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

“Our goal is to try and leave here with as many championships locked up or be in the best position we can going into Road Atlanta,” Diuguid told Sportscar365.

“Obviously we’re a manufacturer-supported program with Porsche so the manufacturer championship is [priority] one and then drivers and endurance is after.

“But I think we’re looking good in all those scenarios. If we have a good result on Sunday, we’ll be in a controlling position going into Atlanta.”

Diuguid said leaving as little uncertainty as possible heading into the ten-hour season finale is their first focus this weekend.

“Any time we can take away uncertainty before the last race, especially Road Atlanta, which is a high-traffic circuit and big opportunities,” he explained.

“Obviously last year the 6 car was in the championship fight and had an accident very early on in the race so you can’t take anything for granted.

“We’re going to try to maximize our points on Sunday here to put us in the best position.”

Nasr, who along with co-driver Cameron have two wins on the season, believes they need to continue with the ‘same approach’ they’ve taken all year in order to prevent any mistakes.

“Car 7 has had an incredible year so far, both in sprint races and long races,” Nasr told Sportscar365.

“We’re leading both championships, the regular and Endurance [Cup] and we plan to extend it if we can.

“Of course winning here would be amazing just because it’s Indianapolis. We call it a home race for the team. It’s such an iconic place.

“However, I feel the competition is a lot closer in every sense this year. You can see it in practice just how a lot tighter the field is and very close lap times.

“If we can win the race, great. Otherwise, we’ll think about the points and making sure we keep our lead and go to Petit in a healthy margin.”

Nasr: Porsche Penske Needs to Make “Good Decisions” in Lengthened Six-Hour Race

The Brazilian believes the extension of this year’s Indy race to to six hours, along with a larger field of cars, will add extra factors to play for.

“Whenever we have a longer race we see a more open window in terms of strategy and who’s taking tire on which pit stop or who is going longer on fuel,” said Nasr.

“Then you have all the yellows that could happen at the place.

“It’s pretty tight when it comes to the final sector, so you can see a lot of cars tangling already in practice, being in the run-offs or being stuck somewhere on track.

“We just have to be prepared for making good decisions, but for sure a six-hour race always adds to the challenge in every way for us drivers, the teams to look at what we do in terms of the strategy.

“That’s what we’ve been good at so that’s why I don’t see any reason to change that approach. Consistency has been key and we want to keep it that way.”

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