Heinrich “Won’t Give Up” Until GTP Title is Decided

Photo: Jordan Lenssen/Porsche

Laurin Heinrich said he “won’t give up until the checkered flag falls” despite his slim chances of pulling off the GTP drivers’ title in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The 24-year-old German enters this weekend’s ten-hour Motul Petit Le Mans season finale trailing Action Express Racing Cadillac driver Jack Aitken by 147 points.

While Aitken could lock up the championship by finishing ninth or higher in the ten-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, or even potentially in qualifying if the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R is placed significantly higher than No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 on the grid and the Cadillac rolls off the grid, Heinrich said he’s not backing down.

“There is a chance, and this race can be so chaotic, so you never know,” he said. ”

“For me, the goal is pretty clear. I need to win the race. I want to win Petit Le Mans overall. It’s one of my career goals.

“And it’s pretty straightforward in terms of the things that I can influence, which is just to try to win the race.

“But obviously, then to win the championship, there needs to be other factors at play, which are not in my control. Which means 31 has to finish 10th or lower.

“So even if we win the race, we’re still depending on outside factors, which we cannot influence.

“It’s a fact which is there, but it’s not something which I will think too much about it, because for me, I better spend my resources up here thinking about what I can influence.”

This weekend, Heinrich is reunited with the No. 7 Penske crew Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer, whom he teamed up for victories in the two season-opening races at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway.

It marks his third different Porsche 963 entry that he’ll race in as many WeatherTech Championship races, after scoring podiums with the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports entry at Road America and then getting drafted into the No. 6 Penske entry at Indianapolis.

Heinrich credits his extensive schedule as a factory driver, jumping between multiple GT3 customer teams around the globe, for being able to quickly adapt in new or changing environments.

“I was often in a situation jumping into new teams, not having much time to adapt to all the people which make up that team, which is especially in GTP, a very big group of people, not only mechanics, but also the engineering side and on the management side,” he said.

“I think I could really make use of that experience that I had in GT, but obviously, as I said, prototypes are much more complex. There are many more things you need to cover with different personalities.

“It’s not easy, but I think this is also one of the things which made me grow and make me become a more complete driver, to be just able to work with different teams, different teammates and be successful with all of them.”

Heinrich Recalls Eye-Opening First Porsche 963 Test

The German returns to Road Atlanta, the site of his first-ever Porsche 963 test just 12 months ago, when Porsche Penske was preparing for last year’s Petit Le Mans, as well as developing its 2026 Evo joker updates to the car.

“That was very exciting at times,” Heinrich recalled. “It just came off from the (IMSA) GT race at VIR, and then took my car, drove to Atlanta, and that was my very first experience racing or testing in a factory team.

“As a young driver coming through the Porsche ladder, you’re always looking up to this chance and then you get it for the first time.

“Other drivers would know this situation; you’re coming sort of as the new guy into the team. I remember it was a development test for the 2026 evo kit. Obviously, they had their primary goals of evaluating the kit and the changes and all the parts.

“And you come in as a new driver, basically, like a greenhorn and just want to turn some laps, you have no reference. You cannot tell anyone, because you never drove the old car.

“You’re waiting the whole day and maybe at the end of the day you’ll get some laps, which I did, which I was really thankful about. And before the engineers say, ‘Yeah, but be careful, don’t go off because some parts are still not manufactured as the final part will be, so they are more or less like 3D printed, so, if you go off, the new development paths will be destroyed!’

“So, a new young driver, you get so scared and you just want to go out and drive. But in the end, it was a great experience, something I will never forget.

“To come back to this place. I’ve also done my very first laps and my very first car race in the U.S. on this track. So, there’s a lot of memories, great memories around that place.”

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