IMSA - Porsche sweeps IMSA finale with twin title wins!

Porsche Penske Motorsport take their first top flight IMSA SportsCar Championship as the AO Racing 'Rexy' Porsche 992 defies the odds to win in GTD Pro.

Contributions by Olly Shakesby and Charlie Thornton

Photo: Richard Dole

QUALIFYING

The final round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship kicks off with a combined qualifying session for the GTD Pro and GTD cars, which are GT3 spec machines. While there are two separate championships between the classes, they are all the same performance levels, with the only difference being the categorisation of the drivers selected in the lineups.

Contact into turn ten at the infamous Road Atlanta circuit between Daniel Serra and Parker Thompson in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 and #12 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3 respectively left some bodywork debris on the track, which resulted in the short fifteen minute qualifying session to be halted with a red flag. The session was resumed just a few minutes later, and saw the lap times of the #12 and #62 cars deleted after causing the red flag. 

Laurin Heinrich in the championship leading #77 AO Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R, aka ‘Rexy’ was at the top of the timing screens, followed by Daniel Serra, Tommy Milner, Harry Tincknell, Ross Gunn, Antonio García and Jack Hawksworth in the GTD Pro category. Eventually, Ross Gunn in the championship contending #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo popped in a time good enough for third, while the Pratt Miller Motorsport Corvette’s sat nicely in second and fourth. Laurin Heinrich managed to claim pole position for the Petit Le Mans, whilst also setting the qualifying lap record of a 1:17.881, which gave the championship advantage to the Porsche squad heading into the ten hour race on Saturday.

GTD class pole went to Scott Andrews in the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which was entered into the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds only in 2024, in an impressive sixth position overall. First and second in the GTD championship qualified second and third in class, with the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 beating the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes.

Photo: Richard Dole

Off the bat, Ben Keating in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca 07 managed to deliver some incredible pace , with a 1:12.994, which was uncontested for the majority of the session. Battling for second and third ensued between Steven Thomas and PJ Hyett in the #11 TDS Racing and #99 AO Racing machines, with both gentleman drivers separated by just thousandths of a second in the 1:13.1’s, struggling to get below the one-minute-thirteen mark. Keating was able to go quicker again with a 1:12.739, with some more pace coming from Nick Boulle in the championship hopeful #52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca, as well as Thomas and Hyett both getting under the thirteens. At the end of the session, six LMP2’s were within a second of Ben Keating’s qualifying time, while the battle for P2 to P4 was within a tenth and a half.

Many of the GTP contenders completed one lap of the Road Atlanta circuit before heading back into the pits for a quick tyre change, including both of the Acura’s and Cadillac’s, the Proton Competition Porsche, as well as the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8. Other teams followed suit one lap later with the two Porsche’s from Penske, as well as the remaining BMW. The first few laps put in the books were pretty slow, and the competitive pace was kicked off by Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Cadillac Racing entry, setting a 1:09.964, which was quickly overturned by Jack Aitken in the #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing entry who went just three tenths faster. No other drivers were able to beat Aitken’s time before the chequered flag, but Matt Campbell in the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 claimed second, with Connor De Phillippi in third with a 1:09.924. The sister Porsche 963 from Penske was unable to find much pace, qualifying in eighth position, behind both the Acura’s and the customer JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche of Phil Hanson.​

Photo: Jake Galstad

RACE

As the final first lap of the season got underway it was Jack Aitken in the #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R who led the field and made full advantage off the start, catching the rest of the GTP field sleeping and giving himself almost a second gap before the end of the first lap. The first lap was remarkably and unusually clean with very little contact and no crashes, however it did not take long for the drama to begin as with less than ten minutes raced, the #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R was given a warning and a subsequent mechanical black flag for exceeding the power output parameters, this would drop them to the back of the GTP field and put them a lap down.

With only twenty minutes elapsed, the first caution period began as the GTD class leading #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was beached in the gravel at turn five. The pit cycle began with almost everyone pitting for a fuel top up. The only notable car that didn’t take to the pitlane was the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 as staying out meant that the #01 Cadillac Racing entry would not get their lap back behind the safety car. The racing restarted with nine hours and twenty-six minutes on the clock with the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing, #2 United Autosports, #65 Multimatic Motorsports Mustang and #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari teams leading their respective classes.

With eight hours and fifty-two minutes left to race the #2 United Autosports in the hands of the well-loved Ben Keating came together with the #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3 R. The incident saw the rear bodywork of the #2 United Autosports car being completely removed and what would thankfully not turn out to be race-ending damage to the rear left suspension and bodywork components. The #4 spent a significant portion of the race in the pitlane and would eventually finish forty-sixth overall and fifty-six laps behind the leading GTD Pro car. After a twenty-five minute safety car period the racing began again, but was soon back under FCY again as the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX Ev22o spun through the esses and caused another caution period. Thankfully this was a short yellow as the #66 got moving again very shortly after the spin.

In the second of many major championship implications for the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 992 GT3 R, the car appeared to be suffering from an electronics connection issue, as with seven and a half hours to go the car was crawling in first gear as Laurin Heinrich desperately moved the cable connecting the wheel to the cars control electronics to try and bring his hand controls back to life. The car would crawl around to the pitlane and spend a few minutes with mechanics making a patch fix to the electronic connection.

The next FCY period came with just less than six hours left to run as the #2 United Autosports Oreca 07 LMP2 was yet again in the barriers coming to turn five and this time was out of the race after coming back from the earlier contact with the #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller. Under this FCY the sister United Autosports #22 Oreca 07 came too fast into pitlane entry and buried itself in the tire barrier at the start of the pit wall. This would also spell the end of the race for the #22, as United Autosports lost both of their LMP2 entries in just ten minutes.

Photo: Michael L. Levitt

Drama was just around the corner for the race-leading #6 Porsche Penske Porsche 963 GTP as they were involved in a collision with the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. The Porsche team were given a drive through penalty for incident responsibility which dropped them down the order in GTP.

The race ran wholly without issue for almost the next five hours with the only notable incidents during this period being a drive through for the #5 Porsche Penske Porsche 963 GTP for tire operational requirements along with the #65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 and the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Coming into the final hour and the FCY made its final return as the #55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 was involved in a collision with the #120 Wright Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 R and the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 coming out of the esses in the dark. The stationary Mustang was collected by both the #120 and the #10 as the blind crest with little yellow flag warning caused cars at full race speed approaching the stranded Mustang. With just thirty-five minutes left on the clock the race went green for the final time and battles ensued in every class as the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 overtook the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for the lead in the GTD class.​

Photo: Richard Dole

As the race entered the final fifteen minutes the overall pole position #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series R GTP made an incredible move into turn one in the hands of Renger van der Zande in his last race for the Cadillac factory team before his debut with Acura at the Rolex Daytona 24 hours in 2025.

As the chequered flag flew for the final time in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, it was the #01 Cadillac Racing team who took the win after having started on pole and faced various trials and tribulations throughout the length of the race. In the GTP class it would be the #7 Porsche Penske team who took the overall championship ahead of the sister #6 Porsche 963. In LMP2 it was the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 team who won the final race of the season as the #52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team who took the LMP2 championship ahead of the #74 Riley team. In GTD Pro the win went to the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 as the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 992 GT3 R managed to overcome a race of mistakes and freak failures to win the GTD Pro championship ahead of the #23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo. Finally in the GTD class it was the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 who took the final win of the season, but it was the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo who took the championship ahead of the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

LOOKING TO 2025

With an exceptional 2024 season for the IMSA SportsCar Championship under our belt, we look to the 2025 season, with the increased number of manufacturers in the GTP class, including the V12 Aston Martin Valkyrie making its debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. 

The schedule for 2025 is unchanged, but with many switches of manufacturers in GTP and GTD, we are set for a record breaking season once again.

Round 1: Rolex 24 at Daytona - Florida, 25th - 26th January 2025

Round 2: Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring - Florida, 14th - 15th March 2025

Round 3: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach - California, 11th - 12th April 2025

Round 4: Motul Course de Monterey - California, 10th - 11th May 2025

Round 5: Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic - Michigan, 30th - 31st May 2025

Round 6: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen - New York, 21st - 22nd June 2025

Round 7: Chevrolet Grand Prix - Ontario, Canada, 12th - 13th July 2025

Round 8: IMSA Sportscar Weekend - Wisconsin, 2nd - 3rd August 2025

Round 9: Michelin GT Challenge at VIR - Virginia, 23rd - 24th August 2025

Round 10: Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks - Indiana, 20th - 21st September 2025

Round 11: Motul Petit Le Mans - Georgia, 10th - 11th October 2025