No. 7 Porsche Has Enjoyed “Unparalleled Consistency”

Photo: Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport has enjoyed “unparalleled consistency” with its No. 7 Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron, which has put the duo on the cusp of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title according to the team’s managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

With a 124-point lead over the sister Porsche Penske pairing of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy, the No. 7 crew, which is rejoined by Matt Campbell for this weekend’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, Nasr and Cameron sit in prime position to take the team and manufacturer’s first GTP crown.

It comes in a season that has seen the duo only finish off the podium twice in eight races, highlighted by victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

“Dane and Felipe have had an amazing run this year, starting off the year with winning the Daytona 24 Hours, which was a huge triumph for PPM and for Porsche, and added to the storied history for both of those programs,” said Diuguid.

“After that, it’s been unparalleled consistency with a string of podium finishes and everything like that.

“Unfortunately we had a technical issue in Indianapolis, which really let those guys down because they hadn’t put a foot wrong.

“Limping that car home was critical to where we finished, which is going into Atlanta with a very strong, insurmountable position in the manufacturer’s championship and the teams’ championship.

“As long as we have an average qualifying, we’ll go into the race with just the PPM cars fighting each other for the ultimate driver crown and team’s championship, which is where we want to be.”

Depending on qualifying points, Nasr and Cameron will likely only need to finish eighth or higher in the GTP class in order to be crowned champions on Saturday.

The Brazilian, who already has two previous top-class WeatherTech Championship titles to his credit, believes the best approach is to take the race like any other event.

“The best position when you are racing is to be up front because, in that position, you can dictate the pace, you can look after your tires and fuel and so-on,” said Nasr.

“I think it’s a pretty common thing we’ve seen across all cars in GTP, this aero wash we feel when we’re behind traffic, even from the other classes.

“It makes it super difficult just to follow through and be close to the car ahead.

“Any time we can shuffle forward or do anything different on strategy to put the car closer to the top positions is always a priority because all of those aspects becomes much easier to manage.

“At the end of the day, we’re not changing the approach how we race Road Atlanta. I guess the margin on points gives us a bit more freedom on how to manage the race itself and being cautious on overtaking and not taking risks that are necessary.

“But for me personally, we’re there to win for the team and we’ll do the best we can to bring all of the championships home.”

Diuguid: Porsche Penske to “Take Some Strategies” to “Capture” Endurance Cup Points

Nasr and Cameron also currently enjoy a four-point lead in the Michelin Endurance Cup standings, a championship-within-a-championship that Diuguid said they’ll be plotting strategically around the points-paying segments.

Endurance Cup points are awarded at Petit Le Mans at the four and eight-hour marks, as well as the finish.

“Especially in the case of the points gap that we have now, we’ll utilize our two-car team to take some strategies that would put ourselves in the position at the hour intervals when the Endurance Cup points are scored, even if it’s to the overall negative finishing position of that car,” said Diuguid.

“The 6 car we’ll use as an opportunity to capture some of those intervals, even if it means staying out to get those endurance points and having to pit three or four laps later.

“We’ll definitely try to capture every single championship that’s possible. That’s our goal.”

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