Heinrich: “Not too Late” to Turn GTD Pro Championship Around

Photo: Porsche

Laurin Heinrich believes it’s “not too late” to turn the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro title race around heading into the final two races of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Heinrich and AO Racing co-driver Klaus Bachler currently sit third in the championship, 191 points behind Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims, with DragonSpeed’s Albert Costa second, trailing the Corvette factory drivers by just 53 points.

The two Porsche-contracted drivers were the early points leaders of GTD Pro, courtesy of class wins in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca but has only visited the podium one time since then, with a third-place class finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July.

Heinrich and the Gunnar Jeannette-led team return to the site of a pivotal win in last year’s six-hour enduro that helped propel the team to the championship in its maiden season in the top production-based ranks.

Additionally, the 23-year-old German finished second overall and claimed class honors in last year’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS Intercontinental GT Challenge/GT World Challenge America powered by AWS enduro in a Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

“Indy has been great last year to us with our third win of the season,” said Heinrich.

“Personally, I have only great memories in Indy, also from other race series, and I think it’s a track which really suits me, but also our car, the Porsche 911 GT3 R goes generally, we’re quite strong in braking and the low-speed corners.

“I think that plays into it. And last year, I think we had one of our best weekends.

“First of all, what was meant to be my first IMSA pole position happened, then unfortunately got disqualified from qualifying, but we didn’t give up and went from last to first, actually, so that was that was quite a ride with my co-driver Michael Christensen.

“I have great memories of that. I think that was one of the key weekends to the purge the championship last year. And hopefully it will be the same this year.

“One-hundred and [91] points behind the leaders is a bit more than we would have liked. But let’s see how things go.

“I think it’s not too late to turn the championship around. But certainly, it will be a very important championship round for me and for AO Racing.”

When asked by Sportscar365 if he’s taken a ‘win or bust’ approach to the title race, Heinrich said: “We don’t give up until it’s over, for sure.”

He added: “We’ll try. We are aware of the point situation, that it’s become difficult through the middle part of the season.

“‘Win or bust’ sounds quite aggressive, but we think back, honestly, the last few races, we sort of had to have this approach because we were unable to do anything on pure pace.

“The ones who followed us in the last few races, saw that we always tried to make something work in pit lane on strategy, take a few gambles, which ultimately didn’t really pay off except in Mosport really, where we finished third.

“So I think our approach won’t change much. I’m really proud of the team.

“They’re operating on the highest level for me, they’re one of the top Porsche GT customer teams, and it’s a huge honor to be part of them, especially since day one in GTD Pro.

“If I want to be in a team in this situation, to try and claw back some points for the championship, it’s going to be AO Racing. So, yeah, ‘win or bust’ sounds extreme, but for sure we have to try to make some wonders work.”

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