Laguna Seca Thursday Notebook

Photo: Tim Upietz/Porsche

***Thirty eight IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship cars unloaded on Thursday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca ahead of this weekend’s Motul Course de Monterey powered by Hyundai N, including the highly anticipated debut for JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Porsche 963 (pictured above).

***The Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm-driven entry boosts the GTP class entry to nine cars and marks the first customer LMDh car in the series. Fellow Porsche privateer Proton Competition is slated to debut its WeatherTech Championship-based car at Road America in August.

***While having initially scheduled to undergo a repave prior to this weekend, the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit has still seen changes from last year, including a new pedestrian bridge at the start/finish straight that is still under construction, the repainting of several curbs and new asphalt runoff in several corners. It’s understood the facility faced delays related to heavy rains over the winter, with repaving now scheduled for next week.

***Having originally been confirmed for only the Michelin Endurance Cup races, Ben Keating is making a one-off sprint start in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson this weekend, filling in for Patrick Kelly. Keating said it was an “unexpected surprise” to get the call.

***PR1/Mathiasen team principal Bobby Oergel added that Keating’s return for the team’s home race is an “unplanned delight” and indicated that Kelly will be in the car alongside full season driver Paul-Loup Chatin for the two other LMP2 sprint races at Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

***Rick Ware Racing has undergone a full crew change for its LMP2 entry following the first two races that were run by Eurasia Motorsport. Elton Julian has been appointed the team’s new IMSA competition director and has brought on roughly 70 percent of his DragonSpeed staff, as well as Juan Pablo Montoya, who will team up with full season driver Eric Lux for the three sprint races.

***Julian told Sportscar365 that Pietro Fittipaldi and Devlin DeFrancesco are still confirmed for the remaining Endurance Cup rounds.

***Antonio Garcia will become the first driver in the WeatherTech Championship to make 100 points-earning starts in the series. The Spaniard has achieved the feat exclusively with Corvette Racing, dating back to the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***Garcia said: “It doesn’t seem like it should be my 100th IMSA race! I have always said that racing in America is a lot of fun because of the tracks, the fans and the competition. It’s a lot of time away from home, but I feel like I have a second family with Corvette Racing, who I’ve been with since 2009. I am fortunate to have had a lot of great teammates and great races with many wins and championships in this series with I hope more to come.”

***This weekend marks the 25th consecutive year that Corvette Racing has visited Laguna Seca, which is one of two tracks where the program has raced in each of its 24 previous years, Sebring International Raceway being the other. Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will join the list at the end of the season.

***Ricky Taylor, who is seeking his fourth consecutive win at Laguna Seca, admitted that it’s a “bit of a miracle” that he and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport co-driver Filipe Albuquerque are only 20 points out of the GTP championship lead. “It’s been a really rough start to the year so far, only finishing one race,” he said.

***Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy enter the first two-hour and 40-minute race of the season leading the points, one marker ahead of the Action Express Racing Cadillac duo of Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims.

***While coming off victory at Long Beach, Porsche Penske managing director Jonathan Diuguid said that the team’s recent FIA World Endurance Championship outings have also come as a benefit to the program. “As a globally active team, we can use the insights that our FIA WEC colleagues gained recently,” he said. “The knowledge from Spa and Portimao is very helpful in developing a good baseline setup.”

***Jaminet, meanwhile, said that tire degradation, particularly in the rear, has been “one of the main things so far” that the team is working to improve on the Porsche 963.

***General admission ticket sales for this weekend are up 35 percent compared to 2022, marking the largest year-to-year sales gain since the inaugural year of the American Le Mans Series in 1999. It’s believed the uptick has been attributed to the momentum building around the GTP class.

***Additionally, VIP hospitality packages for the Champions Club, Legends Club and Pit Row Suites are sold out for the first time for an IMSA race at the circuit, with advance campground reservations up 11 percent over last year.

***WeatherTech Championship track action kicks off on Friday with a 90-minute practice session at 4:05 p.m. PT. Michelin Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires will also be on track as part of the busy weekend.

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