Porsche “Ticked All the Boxes” With Nine IMSA Titles Secured

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Porsche “ticked all the boxes” in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this year according to Felipe Nasr, who along with fellow GTP champion Dane Cameron helped create a banner day for the German manufacturer.

Porsche took nine titles in Saturday’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, headlined by the GTP drivers’ championship for Nasr and Cameron, GTD Pro drivers’ title to Laurin Heinrich, along with teams’ championships for Porsche Penske Motorsport and AO Racing, respectively.

Additionally, Porsche took both the manufacturers’ titles in both GTP and GTD Pro, while further hardware was handed out in the Michelin Endurance Cup.

It marked the sixth IMSA championship for Team Penske and its fourth with Porsche following LMP2 titles in the American Le Mans Series from 2005-08, and was the 45th title across all forms of motorsports for the Roger Penske-owned organization.

“It means everything,” said Nasr about Porsche’s accomplishments this season. “It means all the effort. It means all the tireless moments we had and hard work.

“On a personal level to me when I joined this program it was, remember, they’re asking me, ‘So why you want to join the program?’

“I said, ‘Well, I want to create history with you guys. I mean, you guys, look at all the statements you made. I want to continue history.’

“Here we are.

“2022 was the development. 2023 was a difficult season. Come ’24, we completely changed the pace of the program and finally got everything done, winning all the championships possible.

“That’s exactly what I’m here for and representing such two big names in the sport like Porsche and Penske. For me as a driver and as a person, it’s a unique moment for sure to cherish.

“When I look back, we ticked all the boxes, and when it came to race day, we were there to deliver. We were there to fight for the win many weekends, and here we are.”

Cameron, who picked up his fourth WeatherTech Championship class title. said the year, which was highlighted by victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, along with podium finishes in all but two races, made for a “pretty close to perfect” season.

“I think that’s really what it takes to win these is you need to be top three, top five every single weekend, which we nearly accomplished,” he said.

“You need to win two to three races, which we also did. Winning Daytona was a bonus and is always a goal when you begin the year.

“Personally, for me, it was a really big goal, and I think for everybody it’s really the way you start the year is to try to win that race.
So I think the way you start a season in terms of what you want to accomplish, it is really exactly what we did from start to finish. I’m super proud of the effort.”

Laudenbach: “It Couldn’t Have Gone Much Better”

Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach hailed the season-ending results as a “very proud” moment for the manufacturer.

“It doesn’t get much better than this; we won all titles in the top GTP class,” said Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach.

“Nothing was left on the table.

“The impressive performance of the entire team and our crews in Weissach, Mannheim and Mooresville laid the foundation for this – these incredible accomplishments are no coincidence. I’m very proud.

“I’m also thrilled about AO Racing’s title wins in the GTD Pro class and Laurin Heinrich’s championship crown. I think it’ll only really dawn on us in the coming days what we have achieved today and throughout the entire season.”

Additionally, Porsche Penske finished first and second in the GTP drivers’ and teams’ championships, with the No. 6 entry of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy coming in runner-up.

“Our team is at the top of everything, it doesn’t get better than that,” said Porsche Penske managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

“Narrowly missing out on winning the final race is a little painful. We looked extremely strong for ten hours and it was super close at the end – but of course that’s complaining at the highest level, because we’ve scooped all the titles.

“Now it’s time to celebrate and then we’ll look ahead to the start of the next season.”

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