Jaminet: Repeat 24H Wins Would Be “Nice Success Story”

Mathieu Jaminet says a potential second consecutive 24-hour race win at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa for himself, Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr would be a “nice success story” after the trio won the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the start of the year.

Jaminet, Campbell and Nasr are lining up for only their third race as an endurance pairing, driving the No. 74 EMA Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Previously, the three drivers competed together at Daytona and Sebring and notably took a class win at the former.

Now at Spa, Jaminet told Sportscar365 that he is happy to contest another major enduro with Campbell and Nasr.

While the Frenchman has regularly teamed with Campbell as part of his full-season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Pfaff Motorsports and previous GTWC Europe Endurance campaigns, Nasr rejoins the duo for the first time since March.

“Obviously we have had good success together in Daytona, all three of us,” Jaminet said.  “It would be a nice success story to repeat the win.

“I think this is also one of the reasons why Porsche chose to put us together again and do this race this weekend.

“But it is a completely different environment, different team as well. We’ll see, but for sure it is cool that we are reunited.

“It makes sense to also drive with Matt as we have the same combination in the U.S. and Felipe only drove GT3 with us.

“So it doesn’t really make sense for him to go somewhere else. We take the rookie with us.”

Despite the one-off nature of the Australian EMA team’s Manthey-assisted entry, Jaminet says the objective is to try and pursue back-to-back 24-hour victories.

“I think in the end, the approach for us is pretty easy,” he said. “We are not taking part in the championship, it’s a one-shot for the team so obviously we are going and looking for a top result.

“That is clear. If we are not in the top five, on the podium or winning, for sure it would be disappointing for all of us.

“But Spa is tough and you see every year that it is not always the quickest car that wins.

“Anything can happen, you don’t always have your future in your hands in this race but sometimes you need a lot of luck.

“The approach is full push and we see where we are at the end.”

EMA starts the race from 22nd position. It missed out on Super Pole after Nasr had his fastest lap deleted for track limits.

“It does not change our approach,” Nasr said. “The aim here is to move forward and to fight for the win.

“I know Jaminet and Campbell, those guys are ace and they are capable as well.

“I have been learning a lot from them, especially when it comes to the GT3 R driving style and how to look after what you need on the car, how to maximize driving it.”

Nasr is contesting only his third GT3 race, but he believes that his willingness to learn from Jaminet and Campbell at Daytona was a key factor in their success there, and noted that he is aiming to repeat that at Spa.

“For me, the main ingredient was that I was open to listening,” he explained.

“It’s funny because when they said ‘Felipe is coming’, they were wondering how I was going to be.

“I come from a different kind of racing and they thought I was going to struggle to be open to the learning phase and be myself to the things I know from the prototype days.

“In fact, I was super open. I said ‘guys, I’m here to learn and the more you guys can be critical and tell me what I need to do, how I need to do drive on those tires, what the driving style is, what it needs, [the better].’

“That is pretty much what I did and I am here again with the same mindset and that is the only way I see it moving forward.

“I leave my ego at the door and I come here to give the best for the team and for Porsche.”