Heinrich: Porsche Penske Return the “Best Chance” for GTP Title

Photo: Porsche

Laurin Heinrich believes his early switch back to Porsche Penske Motorsport will give him the “best chance” possible to take the fight to Jack Aitken for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title.

The Porsche factory driver was announced last week to be replacing Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Porsche 963 for the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, returning to the factory squad one race earlier than originally planned.

Heinrich, who was initially confirmed only for the three long-distance Michelin Endurance Cup rounds with the factory squad, ended up contesting the majority of the season with the customer JDC-Miller Motorsports squad, highlighted by three podium finishes, including a win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May.

The stint with the John Church-led team has enabled the German to be in the thick of the drivers’ championship, ahead of all full season Porsche Penske pilots, with two races to go.

Heinrich is second in the GTP standings, 118 points behind Action Express Racing’s Aitken ahead of Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute contest at The Brickyard.

“Personally I’m quite happy because Porsche and Team Penske are giving me the best chance possible to be in the fight for drivers’ title,” Heinrich told Sportscar365.

“I’m happy about that. But I also highly respect the decision from Laurens to step aside to give me that chance, to give me his seat.

“But I’m very motivated. I’m just coming off a test with Team Penske and I got reminded by how detailed and how well this team works.

“I’m very much very looking forward to being on more-or-less home ground for Team Penske at Indianapolis.

“To race for Roger Penske on this circuit is a lifetime goal. To win or score a great result for Roger and the team, it would be a dream.”

Indianapolis will mark the first time Heinrich will share a car with Porsche veteran Estre, the 2024 Hypercar world drivers’ champion.

“We’ve obviously been teammates at Team Penske but now we’re sharing the same car,” he said. “After our test at Petit, I went straight to Charlotte to make a seat insert that works into his seat.

“I’m looking forward to working with him, to hear his feedback, to hear his thoughts about the car and how it compares to my feedback.

“Obviously he’s been a drive that I’ve been looking up to for a long time, coming through the Porsche ladder. He’s been always up there fighting and winning the world championships and stuff for the factory team.

“Racing with him together, for the factory team, and fighting for also for the manufacturers’ title for Porsche and for my own drivers’ championship is a dream come true and I’m very hyped about that.”

Heinrich Feels “Very Lucky” to Have Been Given JDC-Miller Opportunity

The 24-year-old has paid tribute to the JDC-Miller squad to help put him in the position he’s in now in having a chance of the GTP title.

Porsche Formula E driver Nico Mueller will step in for Heinrich at Indianapolis and will also be in the Minnesota-based team’s privateer entry for the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans.

“We were scoring amazing results,” said Heinrich. “The opportunity they gave to me, despite lacking some experience when we came to Long Beach, my first ever race with JDC, is something I’ll always be thankful for.

“The team is also operating at an extremely high level, especially for a customer team. They provide a great car, great crew with great engineering and mechanics.

“I’ve been very lucky to have been given this chance by John Church and generally the whole JDC-Miller Motorsports team.

“I still wish them all the best. They have a great replacement in me with Nico Mueller, who also knows the team already. I’m confident they’ll be a strong competitor in the final two races.”

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