Jaminet: Porsche Penske’s Victory Was a “Long Shot”

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy admitted that victory in Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Road America was a “long shot” with one less lap under full-course caution likely resulting in neither of their Porsche 963s making it to the finish.

Jaminet and Tandy led a surprise 1-2 finish for Porsche Penske Motorsport at the four-mile circuit in a race that turned into an energy contest in the GTP class following a series of lengthy yellows.

The Frenchman emerged in the lead after the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Ricky Taylor pitted for energy on the final yellow with 28 minutes to go, handing the race to the No. 6 Porsche, which along with the sister No. 7 entry of Felipe Nasr, saved energy throughout the two-hour and 40-minute race.

“It was definitely intense,” said Jaminet.

“It was a pretty long shot and from the moment I got in the car, I always had in my mind that we could be good, depending on the yellows, make it to the end.

“This was something I was already discussing before. I was always saving like hell.

“In the end, we were a bit lucky with an extra lap of yellow but then on the other hand I wasn’t sure to keep the lead for the last few laps because tires, brakes, everything was stone cold.

“It was just [about] surviving for the last couple of laps. Then we caught traffic and we had a couple of contacts on the last lap. We touched quite a few cars.

“It was pure IMSA-style racing. This is why we love it and why we want to come back every time.

“You can be nowhere the day before and nowhere at the start of the race and two hours later you come back with a big trophy.”

The result came after the pair of factory Porsches qualified seventh and ninth on Saturday.

“Yesterday, it was clear we were the slowest of the four manufacturers and we were starting from the back of the grid,” said Tandy.

“Now we sit here, first and second.

“It’s just a massive testament to not giving up. It’s a massive testament to everything that Porsche Penske has put in from the car development side and also especially though trackside on the team aspects.

“The way that we managed the race with both cars. We were even towards the back early on.

“I obviously had the penalty. I committed to a move and the 31 moved under braking and I was already committed, so I don’t know what else I could have done.

“Unfortunately they went around and we took a drive-through but in the end it didn’t really seem to… we still ended up behind the Acuras and the 5 Porsche, which was really fast this weekend.

“From then on it was a strategy and a fuel race.

“Honestly, one less lap of yellow, we probably wouldn’t have been able to make it.

“The reason we could, Mathieu did an awesome job fuel saving under yellow. He did an awesome job fuel saving before the last yellow.

“Then to restart with not so much energy in the tires and brakes, it was just an incredible job and incredible drive by him.

“It’s just another awesome team effort.”

Jaminet said he wasn’t surprised to see the No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura dash into the pits under that final yellow, despite having previously pitted on the same lap prior.

“I think they pitted the same lap as we did but for sure I knew he had less energy,” he said.

“This was clear because he wasn’t saving anything under the yellows or any of the green laps before when he took off.

“I already knew under the other yellow that for sure I was tight, most likely I wasn’t going to make it, but I also knew there was no chance he was going to make it because what he did wasn’t very efficient.

“They took the aggressive way of doing it and I think we were more on the cautious way and today it paid off.”

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