Jaminet: ‘Future in Our Hands’ in GTP Title Battle

Mathieu Jaminet says the future of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP drivers’ title is “in our hands now” after he and Porsche Penske Motorsport co-driver Matt Campbell extended their points lead following a fifth place finish in Sunday’s Motul SportsCar Grand Prix at Road America.

Jaminet and Campbell head into the final two GTP rounds of the season with a 75-point advantage over the sister No. 7 Porsche 963 of Nick Tandy and reigning GTP champion Felipe Nasr.

While an up-and-down race saw Jaminet and Campbell finish in the top-five, a late drive-through penalty for contact with the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R relegated Nasr and Tandy to last in class and 22nd overall.

A win for the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL crew of Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor, meanwhile, saw the pair close within 181 points of the Porsche duo.

“The clear positive is extending the lead in the championship with two [races] to go,” Jaminet told Sportscar365. “I think we have the future in our hands now, so that’s positive.

“If we have two good races, we should have our future in our hands even without winning.

“We also need to look at the manufacturer championship. That is super important for the PPM group because that’s also the hard work of Germany and the WEC team and everyone here, so we need to make sure we also maximize the points in the manufacturer’s. That’s also a big target for us.”

Despite leading 19 total laps in the middle of Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute contest, Jaminet felt that a slow final pit stop and a strategy call to take two left-side Michelin tires lost the No. 6 car track position and potentially the win at Road America.

Jaminet came down pit lane under caution at the head of the GTP field, but shuffled back to fourth behind Tandy and the eventual race-winning pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s, which jumped the field after pitting prior to the yellow.

Despite Jamniet passing Tandy on the final restart, the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Renger van der Zande quickly dispatched both Porsche Penske machines to take third before Turn 1.

“Looking at the race, [there are] mixed emotions,” said Jaminet. “[We] went from fifth to eighth, then to pretty much last. From last to first and everything under control, and then this yellow came out that played out in favor of the BMWs.

“We had a little bit of a slow stop and not the best call on tires. Only two tires when some got all four. So we lost track position there.

“We had a good restart, but I was a sitting duck on the straight to the Acura that passed the two of us on one straight and damaged our car on the front left. The steering was bent. It was a tough finish to the end.

“On that stop where we came from the lead, if we had stayed in front of the 7 [car], if we didn’t have this little bit of a slow stop, and I had a good restart and if I had four tires I guess we [could have] finished further on the BMWs in the race, so [we] took a big hit there.

“I tried to survive, did our best, but with no straight line speed, life is hard in traffic and having battles. That’s how it is.”

Jaminet felt the team’s efforts were further compromised by GT traffic, which dropped the Frenchman into a battle with Earl Bamber’s No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac.

He felt he was held up behind a slow-moving Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg late in the race, allowing for Bamber to close the gap behind and eventually pass him for fourth.

“There was this slow Corvette,” said Jaminet. “I don’t know what he was doing. It’s a Pro car. For me, that’s not acceptable because he’s experienced enough.

“I don’t know who was in the car, but [it’s] GTD Pro and you are broken, and you drive on the racing line in the middle of The Carousel, which then caught me in traffic and gave a run to the 31 [car] that sent me off and damaged his car.

“It was still a fun battle to the end with Earl, a good old friend, so no problem there.

“P5 at the end, so a lot of things happened, quite a bit of damage on the car, but in the end still a good day and extending the lead, so that’s the most important so now a full push for Indy.”