Nasr: “Everybody’s in the Mix” for GTP Championship

Photo: Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Felipe Nasr believes that “everybody’s in the mix” for the 2025 GTP title in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, amid a number of off-season changes in driver lineups and manufacturer affiliations.

Nasr, who won the 2024 championship with Dane Cameron, returns to the No. 7 Porsche 963 alongside new co-driver Nick Tandy, with Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell reuniting in the team’s No. 6 entry.

With BMW M Team RLL having nearly all-new driver lineup, along with the return of Meyer Shank Racing with a pair of Acura ARX-06s, Wayne Taylor Racing’s reunion with Cadillac, Earl Bamber replacing Pipo Derani at Action Express Racing and Gianmaria Bruni slotting in at JDC-Miller Motorsports, there has been at least one change at each full season GTP entrant.

When asked by Sportscar365 if he’s looking forward to the influx of changes and level of competition in the GTP ranks, Nasr said: “For sure. Absolutely.

“It’s getting stronger and stronger. I like the direction we’re going, within all the manufacturers and the series getting stronger.

“You hear every now and then that there’e still interest of other manufacturers to join.

“If you look back already to the end of last year, you could see all the manufacturers had their chances of winning races or getting pole positions.

“Everybody’s in the mix, really. We get to Daytona, as long as we prepare everything… We never know until it’s showtime and get to the race and then we’ll have all the dynamics of racing.

“That’s why I love this race so much. All we can do is prepare as much as we can. We’ve done most of our homework. We have another chance this weekend to get more running and more understanding on the car.

“I feel the competition for sure is going to be even higher this year across all manufacturers.”

One of the key changes for this year comes with Nasr’s new co-driver Tandy, who moves over from the No. 6 Porsche after two seasons together with Jaminet.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with pretty good drivers, especially the past few years since I joined Porsche Penske Motorsport,” said Nasr.

“It’s crazy to look back to think that three years has gone by since I joined the program.

“Nick, we had the experience to do Le Mans the previous years. You can tell Nick has a great experience across the board of different cars. He’s got a great feel behind the car.

“His race craft for sure is one of the things that really stands out.

“I think it’s great that we have, internally, a range of different skills and experience between all drivers and we can put them [in] anytime we need, really.

“There’s a trust that goes between all drivers and I’m excited about what we can do next.”

Nasr: Porsche 963 Updates Will Create Better Car Balance

With Porsche opting to use its second Evo joker on the 963 for the 2025 WeatherTech Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship seasons, Nasr believes the updates, primarily around the car’s front suspension, has helped create a better overall balance.

The updates, which were first trialled on the Multimatic-chassised LMDh car in a pre-Motul Petit Le Mans test last year, have since been validated in November’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway.

“It’s been a few changes and updates that we had,” said Nasr. “We had the chance to try them in the pre-season test we had in Daytona. There are benefits for sure, otherwise we wouldn’t have considered having them in the car.

“It’s more nursing the balance we have and trying to fit that better between aero and mechanical balance.

“Daytona was probably one of the strongest races we had last year, so we do have a good reference, a good baseline on that.

“If anything that will help across the other races as well, to have that small addition and small updates we’re getting for 2025.”

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