Vanthoor: “Pretty Sweet” to Win Petit in Last Race as Co-Drivers

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/Porsche

Laurens Vanthoor said it was “pretty sweet” to claim victory in what was “probably” his, Kevin Estre and Matt Campbell’s final race together as co-drivers.

The Porsche Penske Motorsport trio delivered the first overall Motul Petit Le Mans win for the team and maiden outright prototype triumph in the ten-hour enduro for the German manufacturer following an incident-filled race.

It came after a challenging IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign for the No. 6 crew, which arguably lost out on victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring due to a botched team orders call and were unable to contend for wins with the 2026-spec Porsche 963 after taking a performance hit.

“It feels very good because we had a tough year on car No. 6, [which was] not what we hoped for,” said Vanthoor.

“What we’ve seen from the outside in terms of results didn’t always reflect the good work we were doing behind the scenes which nobody really saw besides people in the team.

“I think this is a very nice way to end the season. We ticked off a lot of boxes for Porsche, for Penske, the three of us.

“For myself, it was a dream of me in America to win. It’s absolutely an incredible day.

“I think with Kevin and Matt, we’ve had our success together, won more world championship races, finished second in Le Mans. This is for now probably our last race together. To end it in style is pretty sweet.”

The Belgian said the closing stint proved to be more challenging than expected.

“It was a bit interesting because we had to save fuel, and it was also close, to go one lap further,” said Vanthoor. “At one point they were asking me to save fuel, try and reduce the pace, keep the BMW behind. That was a bit much.

“But the car was good. We were very strong in Sector 2. Our weakness was a bit on the straights. That’s why we always had to make our strategy work and be aggressive on the restarts because that was our only chance we had to overtake.”

Estre, who scored his first career IMSA victory, added: “We fought very hard with many, many competitors during the race. [There were] a lot of setbacks with some unfortunate penalties at the beginning [and the] strategy didn’t go the right way.

“It was really tough to get back up to the front when we were on the back of the field. It was tough for us to pass.

“We knew we had a good car in clean air, but [it was] difficult to pass. We were finally in the mix towards the end with the car which was not really in one piece, but somewhere there.

“Laurens made an amazing, amazing double stint towards the end with some incredible passing [and] no mistakes. It was really, really good and nice to watch.”

While Vanthoor will move into an endurance-only role with Porsche Penske next year amid his full season McLaren Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Saturday’s race marked Campbell’s final outing as a Porsche factory driver altogether, with the 2025 GTP champion off to Ford Racing’s Hypercar effort.

“Obviously [it’s an] awesome parting gift as well, my last race for Porsche, too,” said Campbell. “To get a last overall victory with Porsche at a race where they haven’t achieved one for a long time [is special].

“Larry did a fantastic job at the end of the race, some of the best driving I’ve ever seen from him, and really brought it home.”

Estre Glad Porsche Penske “Had My Back” Amid Probational Period

Reflecting on the season, Estre described the challenges he faced, particularly while being on probation for the last two races of the season.

“Sebring was very tough, that’s for sure,” he said. “We wanted the victory there and we didn’t get it. P2 was good for the team, but that’s not what [the 6 car] wanted. I think it’s been enough written about it.

“The year has been tough. Definitely after this probation on me for the last two races, it was difficult to handle in the car, especially this race, having so much traffic, so much risk to take. Sometimes you have to take risks. You cannot just sit and wait for the next corner.

“It was not easy as a mindset. I’m glad the team had my back there. I’m glad that I took the right decision at the right time.

“I’m definitely very happy that this probation is gone and that I start from scratch next year in Daytona and try to stay clean, of course.”

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