Nick Tandy became the 10th driver to have won the ‘Triple Crown of Endurance’ at the 12 Hours of Sebring following his historic ‘Grand Slam’.

“It’s incredible because I never realised how big a thing it would be winning all the four 24 Hours,” he said in the post-race press conference.

“It went global. People talking about it globally. 

The Triple Crown is probably one of the more historic kind of – what do we call them – accomplishments, groups. 

“… You look at the names that you’re linked with. That is just an unbelievable thing.

“Again, on top of the unbelievable stuff that happens when you win a single race like Daytona, let alone the other bits and pieces. 

“I remember when I won Sebring in 2018 the first time, I said, ‘This completed my set.’

“I was racing Le Mans-spec cars. There were four major races.

“There were four that raced Le Mans spec cars, the three IMSA endurances and Le Mans. 

“I think somebody said it’s the sixth Tuplet, which is again something that nobody’s ever done.

“Hopefully it’s even harder for somebody to match that rather than just the four 24 Hours.”

The triple crown of endurance racing concerns three of the most prestigious races: The 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

At the IMSA season-opener on 25-26 January, Tandy became the first driver to win the world’s four major 24-hour races.

Tandy recently finalised the other two elements of the endurance triple crown, almost 10 years after winning Le Mans for Porsche.

He previously won Sebring thrice in the GTLM category until taking his overall win with #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP team-mates Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor.

READ MORE: Road America switches to Endurance Cup on 2026 IMSA calendar

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Felipe Nasr of the #7 Porsche Penske 963 narrowly led the 73rd running of the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring with six hours done and six remaining.

As the race entered the fifth racing hour, Brendon Hartley of the #40 Wayne Taylor Cadillac V-Series.R locked up and hit the wall at Sunset Bend, the final corner.

He soon got moving again as race control declared the fifth full-course-caution period and Hartley pitted for a front assembly change and new front tyres. The #40 Cadillac incurred a stop and 60-second penalty for the mechanics conducting more than an emergency pit stop service.

Green flag running resumed with seven-hours and 27-minutes remaining and race leader Colin Braun (#60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06) retained his lead.

Braun and #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP driver Nick Tandy, running just two places behind, have three class wins to their name yet none overall as of yet.

Earl Bamber of the #31 Whelen Cadillac wrestled his way into the lead past Braun, before Tandy and #6 Porsche Penske driver Kevin Estre followed suit.

Braun and Marco Wittmann (#25 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP) had a slight moment of door-to-door contact that was deemed a racing incident.

At the front, the fight for the lead continued as just five seconds covered the top-five: Nick Yelloly (#93 Meyer Shank Acura), Tandy, Braun and Estre.

Eventually, the top-three of Bamber, Yelloly and Tandy pulled away with GT traffic playing its part in bringing a 16-second gap to fourth-placed Estre.

Porsche Penske fight with Whelen Cadillac

At the halfway mark, Felipe Nasr – having taken over the #7 Porsche – earned his way past Bamber into the lead on the #31 Whelen Cadillac.

Mathieu Jaminet held third place in the #6 Porsche Penske as Kevin Magnussen sat in fourth behind the wheel of the #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 with Renger van der Zande rounding out the top-five for the #93 Meyer Shank Acura.

In LMP2, United Autosports kept their cars running clean without incurring penalties like some of their rivals during a messy opening two hours in the all-Oreca 07 category.

Toby Sowery ran at the front of the category for the #04 Crowdstrike Racing outfit, followed 40 seconds behind with Rasmus Lindh’s #22 United Autosports USA Oreca as Tom Dillmann was third for the #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca team.

Juan Manuel Correa was fourth in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca as Hunter McElrea rounded out the top-five in the #11 TDS Racing Oreca.

Paul Miller Racing lead on Corvette in GTD Pro

In the GTD Pro category, Connor de Philippi led the charge in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO two seconds ahead of the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg.

Reigning champions Laurin Heinrich and his #77 AO Racing’ Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R were third in front of the other BMW, the #48, of Max Hesse.

Albert Costa rounded the top-five for the #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari 296 GT3.

Kenton Koch was at the front of GTD in the #32 Korthoff Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward.

Third place went to Simon Mann in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari which suffered a brake failure, therefore necessitating a change for the left front brake unit.

Franke Montecalvo was fourth for Vasser Sullivan’s #14 Lexus RC F GT3 ahead of Tom Sargent’s #120 Wright Motorsports’ Porsche.

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Porsche Penske led the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 12 Hours of Sebring after one hour when Dries Vanthoor lost his lead to a penalty.

The second round of the 2025 IMSA schedule got underway at 09.10 local time at the Sebring International Raceway.

Dramatically, pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor incurred a drive-through penalty shortly after the start after moving lanes before the start-finish line for the 73rd edition of the historic race.

It was a less-than-ideal start for the #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP team as Porsche Penske inherited the lead after Vanthoor’s drive-through penalty was served, Felipe Nasr (#7 Porsche 963) ahead of Mathieu Jaminet (#6 Porsche).

Race control called a short yellow caution period after Era Motorsport’s Tobias Lutke and AF Corse’s Luis Perez Companc came together.

The #18 and #88 Oreca 07s both continued with the former requiring assistance in doing so. Both seemingly incurred only front-end bodywork damage during their incident.

As the race resumed with 11-hours and 46-minutes remaining, the Porsche Penskes began to establish their lead with Nasr setting strong lap times early on.

D. Vanthoor dropped behind the entire GTP field – and some LMP2 – after serving his drive-through after the green flag, thus under circumstances when the pit lane was open.

Behind the two Porsche Penskes were the two Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06s. Tom Blomqvist (#60 Acura) was ahead of the #93 Acura of Renger van der Zande.

Louis Deletraz of the #40 Cadillac V-Series.R completed the top-five in GTP although his #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac team-mate fell to the back of the field after suffering a brief throttle issue.

TDS leads LMP2, Triarsi Competizione fronts GT field

Meanwhile in LMP2, after the initial incident between Lutke and Perez Companc, Steven Thomas led in his #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 from United Autosports USA’s #22 of Daniel Goldburg.

Behind him was the AO Racing #99 Oreca of PJ Hyett followed by the other #2 United Oreca of Nick Boulle.

In the GTD Pro category, Albert Costa controlled the start in his #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari 296 GT3 ahead of reigning champions Laurin Heinrich and the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R.

Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 fell at the start from second down to P6, although his #48 BMW team-mate and reigning British GT champion Dan Harper kept the momentum going for the team.

After the opening hour, Costa led ahead of the #77 of Heinrich, followed by Tommy Milner’s #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R and Verhagen who climbed into P4 after his team-mate was the first car of the category to perform a scheduled pit stop.

In GTD, it was seemingly smooth for pole-sitter Alessandrio Pier Guidi in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 until he suffered a brake failure into one of the corners.

Contact between Ricky Taylor’s #10 Cadillac on Charles Scardina’s #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari triggered a second caution, as the Cadillac tapped the Ferrari off at Turn 13 and into the wall.

After suffering a throttle issue early on, the #10 Cadillac set in for a stop-and-60 second penalty for causing the incident.

Sheena Monk led the class in the #021 Ferrari, followed by Russell Ward’s #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Zacharie Robichon’s #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Misha Goikhberg held fourth for Forte Racing (#78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2) as Lorenzo Patrese rounded out the top-five in the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari.

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Nick Tandy was the quickest driver in a distrupted opening free practice session of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 12 Hours of Sebring.

The ‘Grand Slam’-achieving #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP driver set a lap time of 1:48.651 after which the session which hosted three red flags and four separate incidents.

Round two of the 2025 IMSA schedule begun its proceedings with the first of three 90-minute free practice sessions at the demanding Sebring International Raceway.

Only minutes into the session, the #6 Porsche GTP stopped at Turn 6 which prompted the first red flag – though the #6 Porsche would later return to the track with significantly lesser limited laps completed compared to their GTP class rivals.

After a short while to retrieve Mathieu Jaminet’s Porsche, the session continued until race control declared another red flag after Wayne Taylor Racing’s #45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 suffered an impact at Turn 2 with Danny Formal at the wheel.

Due to the fact the #45 Lamborghini team caused a red flag during free practice, they incurred a penalty to automatically lose their fastest lap during qualifying tomorrow.

Twelve minutes passed when the session resumed before the next drama involving Daytona 24 Hours LMP2 winners United Autosports USA and Daniel Goldburg whose #22 Oreca 07 LMP2 endured an impact at Turn 3 although he continued slowly before pitting for repairs.

Again, after some smooth green flag running, LMP2 driver Jeremy Clarke was the subject of a third red flag with 13 minutes remaining (and counting down) when he went off-course in his #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca. Green flag running resumed with under 10-minutes of FP1 remaining.

‘Mr. Grand-Slam’ tops timesheet for Porsche Penske

In the end, Tandy was quickest with his 1:48.651 lap time ahead of #93 Acura ARX-06 driver Nick Yelloly’s 1:48.796.

Meyer Shank Racing team-mate Colin Braun put the #60 Acura in third place after his fastest lap of 1:48.832, as Jaminet followed with a 1:48.832 set on his fourth lap out of 15 completed.

Philipp Eng rounded out the top-five in GTP for the #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 with a 1:49.040.

Reigning Le Mans winner Nicklas Nielsen topped the LMP2 category for the #88 AF Corse Oreca 07 team having set a 1:50.403 lap time.

Sebastien Bourdais followed closely behind in the #8 Tower Motorsports Oreca with his 1:50.508 ahead of a 1:55.401 set by Inter Europol Competition’s Tom Dillmann.

Riley’s #74 Oreca was fourth owing to Felipe Fraga’s 1:50.868 as United Autosports USA driver Paul di Resta put the #22 Oreca in fifth from a 1:50.886.

Reigning GTD class winners at Sebring, Winward Racing, were the fastest of the GT field after Indy Dontje’s 2:00.767 lap time.

Their #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was followed by the other Mercedes-AMG, Korthoff Competition’s #32 machine, as Kenton Koch set a 2:00.839.

Dragonspeed’s #81 Ferrari 296 GT3 was third in the combined GT order and fastest in the GTD Pro category.

Davide Rigon set a 2:00.866 to be narrowly behind the #32 Mercedes-AMG, as fellow GTD Pro competitor AO Racing and their #77 ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R was next.

Klaus Bachler drove a quickest time of 2:00.900 and Daniel Serra took third in GTD Pro for Conquest Racing’s #34 Ferrari after his 2:00.922.

See here for the full results of FP1. The second practice session commences at 3.05pm local time or 7.05pm UTC.

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Kevin Estre was quickest in the third FIA World Endurance Championship pre-season test ‘Prologue’ session, extended due a prolonged red flag.

After just 15 minutes, third session began in dramatic circumstances when Racing Spirit of LeMan’s Derek Deboer heavily crashed his #10 Aston Martin Vantage LMGT3 EVO between Turns 4 and 5.

After the incident, Deboer was confirmed well and a red flag allowed for guard rail barrier repairs over the next hour and a half.

The session restarted at 1.22pm local or 10.22am GMT with a 60-minute extension added to the initial three-hour session, thus 2-hours and 36-minutes remained.

Meanwhile Proton Competition confirmed their #77 Ford Mustang LMGT3 would not take part in the Prologue’s final two sessions since suffering a fire yesterday and will instead rejoin the action at the start of Free Practice 1, for the Qatar 1812 km season-opener, next Wednesday 26 February.

Track action resumed green flag running as teams were adamant to utilise the time remaining in the session, concentrating on gaining mileage and longer runs for the Hypercar and LMGT3 competitors.

Celia Martin‘s #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 LMGT3.R and the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Francois Heriau made contact, so a full-course-yellow period was called.

The Dame stopped just after Turn 2 then continued to the pits as a double yellow held at Turn 3, possibly due to clear debris from their clash. Race control summoned the two drivers for the end of the session.

Two more temporary FCYs deployed with the latter pertaining to to debris on-track at T2.

Harry Tincknell of the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar found himself stuck in the gravel trap between T15-16 with 20-minutes remaining, triggering a fourth FCY to the end.

Porsche Penske fronts Hypercar field, TF Sport heads LMGT3s

By the end of the third WEC Prologue test, the reigning WEC Hypercar champion set a quickest lap time of 1:40.428 in the #6 Porsche 963 Hypercar.

Robert Kubica took second place with his 1:40.777 in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P as last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours winning-Hypercar finished third.

Nicklas Nielsen set a lap time of 1:40.942 in the #50 Ferrari 499P.

JOTA Cadillac claimed fourth place with their #38 V-Series.R Hypercar and a 1:41.064 set by Sebastien Bourdais.

The other factory Ferrari Hypercar, the #51 499P, rounded out the top-five finishers in the hands of James Calado and his 1:41.070 lap time.

TF Sport headed the LMGT3 category as Daniel Juncadella set a 1:55.241 in the #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R.

AF Corse’s #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 claimed second owing to Davide Rigon’s 1:55.382.

Finn Gehrsitz’s #78 Lexus RC F LMGT3 (P3) drove a fastest time of 1:55.414 in front of the other TF Sport Corvette, the #81.

Charlie Eastwood set a 1:55.458 in the #81 Corvette as Kelvin van der Linde concluded the top-five in his #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO (1:55.527).

Session 4 (four-hours) will conclude the 2025 WEC Prologue from 5-9pm local time in Qatar or 2-6pm UTC.

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Laurens Vanthoor led the IMSA SportsCar Championship‘s 63rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona for the Porsche Penske team in 1-2 formation.

After a controlled and calm race start in cooler yet sunny track conditions, the first full course caution period was declared when Hunter McElrea of the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 overran the Western Horseshoe (turn five).

He put his LMP2 car into the barrier but was pulled out and continued on his way.

When the track returned to green flag conditions, David Heinemeier Hansson (#18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07) unintentionally spun James Roe’s Pratt Miller #73 Oreca at the exit of Turn 1, earning the #18 reigning LMP2 winners a drive-through for incident responsibility.

The #6 Porsche Penske 963 GTP driver Nick Tandy wrestled his way into second position on IMSA debutant Frederik Vesti.

Vesti, piloting the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R, was under pressure during his first ever stint and was unable to keep Tandy on hold – the British driver took second place.

BMW duo Rene Rast (#25 BMW RLL M Hybrid V8 GTP) and Philipp Eng (#25 BMW) also passed Vesti.

They put the BMWs in second and third position and ran under two seconds behind Tandy. Julien Andlauer of the #5 Proton Competition Porsche subsequently overtook Vesti whilst Tandy extended his lead to a gap of three seconds.

This was before Rast returned the pace and cut down into Tandy’s lead by Lap 99 and challenged each other at T1.

Amidst the GT traffic, the pair settled apart as the other #6 Porsche Penske made it a 1-2 formation for the team.

Third place was Robin Frijns in the #25 BMW and his sibling teammate #24 BMW of Kevin Magnussen was fourth ahead of the #31 Whelen Cadillac’s Felipe Drugovich.

Spike leads LMP2 confidently in LMP2

LMP2 was led by Dane Cameron’s #99 AO Racing ‘Spike’ Oreca at 46 seconds ahead of Nick Boulle’s #2 United Autosports and Luis Perez’s #88 AF Corse LMP2 machines.

GTD Pro emerged towards a leading battle between two iconic manufacturers, Ford vs Corvette.

By the end of four hours, Ford led the race 1-2 with the #64 pole-sitting Ford Mustang GT3 having earned their way back, thanks to Sebastien Priaulx, on Dennis Olsen’s #65 Ford.

Paul Miller Racing’s #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO started third and held the position owing to a long-timer for the Munich manufacturer, Augusto Farfus.

In the GTD category, misfortune hit for the reigning class champions and Daytona 24 Hours winner Winward Racing as Russell Ward complained of a sticky throttle pedal.

He pitted and went behind the wall as the team replaced the spring behind the throttle pedal itself and returned to the track with 21-hours and 12-minutes remaining.

These circumstances enabled Misha Goikhberg’s #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 to not only gain the lead but with a strong 25-second gap.

He ran ahead of two GTD Pro cars – the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus and the #91 Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Their mechanics performed a door change with the strong margin although Heart of Racing’s #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 later took the lead on #78 driver Parker Kligerman.

In third was the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3.R which started on pole position.

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Porsche Penske’s Nick Tandy was fastest in the night free practice session as part of the IMSA SportsCar Championship‘s 24 Hours of Daytona.

Slightly damp and greasy track surface conditions started a relatively calm 90-minute second free practice session in the night-time.

The session served as a crucial opportunity for the FIA Bronze-graded LMP2 and GTD drivers to gain experience after dark so that they can participate in the race.

GTP teams refraining from venturing on-track as a result of the seven degree-Celsius ambient and 10-degree Celsius track temperature.

Bryce Aron, the 21-year-old American, drove out in the #85 JDC Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 as the Oreca 07 LMP2 package better suited the conditions.

Conrad Laursen of the #59 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 suffered a reliability issue during the early phase of the session, having slowed down and stopped behind the wall at Turn 3. It did later return to the circuit but went slowly again.

The #25 RLL BMW V8 Hybrid V8 stopped during qualifying earlier and had its motor generator unit and battery changed, continuing to manage their ongoing technical issue.

Track evolution meant that lap times slowly but surely became quicker throughout the course of FP2.

Tandy quickest for Porsche Penske in GTP category

Nick Tandy set the fastest lap time in the #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP with a 1:36.921.

Toyota GAZOO Racing’s FIA World Endurance Championship team principal Kamui Kobayashi and 2020 Daytona 24H winner set a late lap for second place with an identical lap time to Tandy, albeit set it after Tandy.

On his final lap, fellow Toyota teammate Brendon Hartley in the team-mate #10 WTR Cadillac V-Series.R machine took third with a 1:36.935.

Mathieu Jaminet finished in fourth place in the #7 Porsche Penske after he set a 1:37.162 as reigning FIA Formula E World Champion Pascal Wehrlein put the #85 JDC Miller MotorSports’ Porsche in fifth (1:37.392).

Peugeot Hypercar driver Malthe Jakobsen topped the LMP2 class for the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 with his 1:38.525 lap time.

Matthieu Vaxiviere took second place for the #88 AF Corse Oreca (1:39.080) followed by Tom Dillmann’s #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca (1:39.163).

Jules Gounon (1:47.809) was quickest over the GT field in the 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO as Jesse Krohn claimed second in the #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO (1:48.045).

The other Paul Miller Racing BMW followed as Kelvin van der Linde drove a 1:48.067 lap time.

Marvin Kirchhofer was next in the combined GT classification and at the top of the GTD class for AWA and their #13 Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Second in GTD was reigning Le Mans 24 Hours winner Antonio Fuoco in the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari as David Fumanelli rounded the top-three in the class for the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari.

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Reigning FIA World Endurance Hypercar champion Laurens Vanthoor topped the fifth Roar Before the 24 testing session in the #7 Porsche Penske.

The #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP finished at the top of the fifth Roar Before the 24 (Hours of Daytona) testing session in the evening.

Vanthoor set a fastest lap time of 1:36.271 in the #7 Porsche Penske 963. The GTP entrant is not only the title-winning car from last year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship campaign, but more importantly from the 2024 season-opener.

To clarify, the two-hour session ran from 6.30pm to 8.30pm local time at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on dry conditions once again.

Track action showcased the usual mixture of drivers from all four categories exploring and exceeding track limits, which included between the #25 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP and the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 LMP2.

A notable incident involved Shopify CEO and IMSA rookie Tobias Lutke in the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07, the winning LMP2 car from last year.

A red flag allowed a seven-minute incident clear-up at Turn 3 where Lutke had gone off-course though the #18 returned to the circuit with no presumed critical damage caused.

Vanthoor fastest, Porsche 1-2-3-4 in GT field

By the end, Vanthoor topped the time sheets ahead of Phillip Eng’s #24 RLL BMW which set a 1:36.498 lap time.

Third place was taken by the other BMW, the #25, which accomplished a fastest time of 1:36.912 with credit to Sheldon van der Linde.

In the LMP2 class, Antonio Felix da Costa topped the all-Oreca 07 field for the #43 Inter Europol Competition team.

His 1:39.618 lap time set him ahead of the #11 TDS Racing team, whose Mikkel Jensen drove a 1:39.962.

Callum Ilott of the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports team rounded out the top-three with his quickest time of 1:39.981.

The 2023 DTM champion Thomas Preining was the quickest driver in the #20 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3.R in the GTD Pro class.

His lap time of 1:48.034 put him ahead of the fastest GTD Porsche, the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Elliott Skeer (1:48.140).

Below him in the combined GT classification were the reigning GTD Pro champions, AO Racing with their #77 ‘Rexy’ Porsche.

Alessio Picariello completed a fastest time of 1:48.166 ahead of the #83 Iron Dames Porsche of Michelle Gatting (1:48.216).

Marvin Kirchhofer followed in the #13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R (GTD) with a 1:48.237, followed by the #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa (1:48.286).

See here for the full classification of results from Session 5. Action continues on Sunday 19 January with the penultimate session at 9.45am local / 2.45pm UK.

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Motorsport Week reviewed the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship season where Porsche machinery reigned high in the GTP and GTD Pro categories.

IMSA produced a season of action and drama throughout 72 hours of racing.

11 rounds encompassed a mixture of highs and lows throughout IMSA competition.

GTP, LMP2, and GTD Pro cars fought closely during their respective championship fights whilst Winward Racing dominated the GTD class.

Ultimately, Porsche Penske reigned high with its 963 LMDh as AO Racing’s #77 911 GT3.R came out on top in the GTD Pro competition.

Porsche machinery took the Drivers’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ glory in both categories, plus the Endurance Cup GTP Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles thus amounting to eight championships from IMSA alone.

Let’s look back at the pivotal races of this season which proved noteworthy for action and the different championship fight narratives.

Porsche wins at Daytona but not at Sebring

IMSA opens the season with its two longest races, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Porsche Penske’s #7 963 earned its way to victory at the first hurdle, Daytona, but not quite so at an even more intense 72nd running of the Sebring event.

On the former, Porsche was adamant about reaping success with its LMDh car in the second year of the GTP era.

Pipo Derani claimed the first of two consecutive pole positions for the race and maintained his lead ahead of #7 driver Felipe Nasr.

Derani was designated to fourth after Sebastien Bourdais got the better of him on a post-caution restart before Nasr made his move on the red Cadillac.

The humidity proved challenging for drivers up and down the grid as some made costly mistakes, which triggered caution periods.

Both Cadillacs controlled the race at the front before the sun went down and lap times got quicker in cooler conditions.

Towards the final, most crucial hours of any endurance race, the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R found itself at the front favouring the returning warmer track temperatures.

In the final pit stop, it came down to the #7 needing less fuel than the #31 – which put it in the race lead – although both took on fresh tyres. Nasr controlled the pressure from Tom Blomqvist’s #31.

Porsche Penske took its first 24 Hours of Daytona victory in the GTP era, and Porsche’s 19th as a manufacturer.

On the other hand, Sebring was a different, more intense story where Porsche was not as capable in comparison to the Acuras and Cadillacs.

It came down to a fantastic late move by Louis Deletraz on Bourdais to win.

Bumper cars and a blockage in Detroit

Round five of the schedule brought IMSA back to the streets of Detroit in a double-event with IndyCar.

As much as the season produced thrilling spectacles, this was one event which was arguably the low point due to the circuit’s tight 90-degree corners, little room for wheel-to-wheel racing and regular contact during the 100-minute sprint with GTP and GTD Pro cars.

There were five caution periods, equating to the same as the 10-hour season finale over five months later.

The race start was untidy in GTD Pro with drivers changing lanes before the start line, and pole-sitter Antonio Garcia (#3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R) suffered an alternator failure at the end of the opening lap.

Nick Tandy (#6 Porsche Penske 963) established an early lead whilst teammate Dane Cameron (#7 Porsche) fell back.

The #6 driver was the first point of contact, literally, as he served a drive-through penalty after rear-ending Daniel Serra’s #35 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

WTRAndretti Acura, Chip Ganassi Cadillac, and Porsche Penske occupied the top-three positions.

Connor De Philippi (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8) put his RLL-run GTP car towards the sharp end of action before hitting the wall twice, after attempting to fend off Nasr.

Detroit’s narrow circuit tested drivers’ skills to race within the limits but the GTPs were clearly too large to race on such a tight configuration with GT traffic.

Richard Westbrook was pipped into a spin by Jack Aitken (#31) which caused his #85 JDC Miller MotorSports Porsche to block the circuit and the entire GTD Pro field.

On the upside, WTRAndretti’s #10 Acura ARX-06 duo of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor ended their 668-day winless streak as AO Racing took their second win.

When LMP2 regained the spotlight at CTMP

GTP being removed from the bill for IMSA’s sole trip to Canada – specifically the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – was understandably met with criticism.

The LMP2 class regained the spotlight as the top class in the seventh round and was under great pressure to deliver brilliant racing action as the sole prototype class.

What resulted was the third-closest gap between the top-two placed finishers and undoubtedly the best LMP2 race of the year.

CTMP is a fast circuit with sweeping bends therefore perfect for LMP2 machines with GTD Pro competitors.

Both LMP2 championship protagonists were at the heart of the story, the #74 Riley Oreca 07 and the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07.

At first, pole-sitter PJ Hyett (#99 AO Racing Oreca) expanded his lead with confidence but was hampered by changing lanes at the start before the (start) line.

Nick Boulle (#52) kept his defence ahead of Gar Robinson (#74 Riley) and Steven Thomas’s #11 TDS Racing Orecas, before his co-driver Tom Dillmann took over the wheel.

Dillmann established a commanding lead up to six seconds, though Scott Huffaker (#11) closed the gap down to one second amidst GT traffic.

Felipe Fraga gained P2 after Huffaker had a brief off-track excursion. In the final eight-and-a-half-minute sprint to the end, Dillmann withstood tremendous pressure by Fraga, who was 0.658 away from the win at the checkered flag, to earn the team’s first victory in a thrilling show.

Despite the #74 Riley’s efforts, the #52 PR1 Mathiasen by Inter Europol entrant led the standings by a narrow 12 points and would go on to win the title.

Unforeseen victors deliver at the Brickyard

The return of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course to IMSA was met last year with a maladroit mixture of LMP2, LMP3 and GTDs making occasional contact owing to sub-par driving standards, whilst Porsche Penske nonetheless surged to glory in GTP – after the Turn 1 spin-around of Bourdais by Blomqvist.

So for the six-hour running this year, one was quite apprehensive for reckless carnage. Fortunately, the Battle on the Bricks delivered the contrary: A ton of rain and fantastic racing throughout.

Immediate heavy rain caused a hectic sequence where most of the field spun at least once due to the standing water, as the GT classes nursed their slick tyres as far as possible before switching to grooved wet tyres.

Once again, Nasr was at the front battling intensely with Bourdais after the rain had eased off, losing the lead to the Frenchman due to out-braking himself.

During the second hour, however, the quickest GTP car was Romain Grosjean in the #63 Lamborghini SC63 who fought against De Philippi’s #25 BMW.

The French-Swiss driver charged from fourth towards the lead in a poised yet steady manner, marking Lamborghini Iron Lynx’s first genuine showing of front-running GTP pace.

Unfortunately, it was not to be for the #63 Lamborghini after serving a drive-through from too many mechanics working on the car during the pit stop as Matteo Cairoli took over the wheel.

Their day went south during the fifth hour after contact with Ben Barker’s #55 Proton Ford Mustang GT3, inflicting suspension damage which put it behind the wall to retirement.

Amidst the fighting, BMW RLL ran mistake-free and claimed an unexpected, marvellous 1-2 finish as GTD Pro championship protagonists AO Racing carried out a breathtaking last-to-first charge.

More action, less caution at Petit Le Mans

The 2023 race hosted more cautions (12) than there were hours of racing at Road Atlanta (10). Fortunately, the 27th running of Petit Le Mans gave way for more racing and longer green flag running.

Apart from the Winward Racing team in GTD, other class championship titles were up for the taking at the season finale.

AO Racing began on pole and retained form throughout the start, closely ahead of the #23 Heart of Racing (HOR) Aston Martin Vantage GT3 EVO.

In dramatic circumstances, #77 Porsche driver Julien Andlauer found himself suffering recurring gear selection issues. It hampered the team’s form and enabled HOR to hold the upper hand.

‘Rexy’ fell back still on the lead lap and crucially in the virtual championship lead. Agonisingly for HOR, they were just one position away from taking the title. HOR consistently stayed out of trouble whilst AO Racing’s mechanics acted accordingly to solve their unprecedented woes.

GTP was a different story, as both Porsche Penskes and the #10 WTRAndretti Acura were key winning contenders.

The #7 Porsche was on course to secure the championship title, but a coveted win was at stake.

The fifth and final caution into the final hour saw a multi-car collision end the #10’s winning hopes. Though they ran in P2, they were keen to win until Ricky Taylor incurred unavoidable major left side-pod damage.

It was a tearful end for the #10 as Renger van der Zande took home Chip Ganassi’s hard-earned victory of the 2024 season ahead of their IMSA departure.

Nevertheless, Porsche ended the season with four GTP wins and two in GTD Pro.

READ MORE: Examining the 63rd 24 Hours of Daytona entry list

The post IMSA 2024 Season Review: A strong year for Porsche machinery appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Andre Lotterer described the elation of winning his second World Endurance Championship title with Porsche Penske at the 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The German is currently the only driver to have won the first and latest WEC titles.

Lotterer claimed championship glory during inaugural WEC season in 2012 with Audi Team Sport Joest.

He then claimed glory for the second time with Porsche Penske’s LMDh programme in the recent Bahrain finale.

Lotterer and his co-drivers Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor secured the 2024 Hypercar Drivers’ title after a thrilling end to the 2024 campaign.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be a world champion with Porsche,” said Lotterer.

“However, race day was really tough for us.

“But that doesn’t matter now – we’ve clinched the world title.

“Joining forces with Kevin and Laurens was fantastic.

“Our engineers also did an incredible job throughout the year.

“This strong collaboration earned us those successes.

“That was my last race with the Porsche Penske Motorsport team.

“We had a mega time; it was a lot of fun.”

Lotterer and his lengthy top-level WEC career

He drove for the Audi outfit from 2010 until the Audi LMP1 programme ended in 2016, having claimed Le Mans 24 Hours victory thrice.

In the following year, he competed in the Porsche LMP1 project in their final season.

His efforts continued in the Rebellion Racing LMP1 project before his absence from 2019 to 2023, during which he drove for Porsche in Formula E (until 2022).

Lotterer concluded his respectable chapter in top-level endurance racing with Porsche Penske as one of the WEC’s most committed drivers.

The #6 Porsche Penske 963 which he co-driven finished in 11th place after a challenging race start, having then been bumped to P10 after the #51’s penalty.

Nevertheless, that was enough for them to command the standings with 152 points between the trio.

The next Hypercar drivers in the Le Mans-winning #50 Ferrari 499P finished behind the #6 drivers on a distant 115 points.

READ MORE: Andre Lotterer: ‘Many options’ for next year for Porsche driver

The post Andre Lotterer describes ‘amazing feeling’ on second WEC title appeared first on Motorsport Week.