The works team of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG has successfully defended its lead in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In the 100-minute sprint race in Long Beach, Frenchman Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium achieved another podium finish in third place.

The two Daytona and Sebring winners Felipe Nasr from Brazil and Julien Andlauer from France finished fourth. On the street circuit south of Los Angeles, both factory Porsche 963s drove in the design of Apple Music.

Under the Californian sun, the 28 starters showed an exciting race over 100 minutes. The sprint on the streets of Long Beach was marked by yellow phases five times due to incidents. These brought the field close together again and again and enabled thrilling battles for position. In addition, the lapping traffic between GTP prototypes and the GTD-class vehicles required a lot of overview. In contrast to numerous opponents, the Porsche works drivers were able to avoid major damage to their cars. Only the number 6 car was repaired during the pit stop without losing any time. The small damage to the front end had occurred during a scuffle in the starting phase, but had no influence on the performance. Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor were rewarded with third place. Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr crossed the finish line directly behind them in fourth place in the No. 7 Porsche 963.

"That was a good day for our team. We are satisfied with the result," explains Urs Kuratle, Vice President Factory Motorsport LMDh. "Our drivers did a great job and stayed away from the walls on the street circuit. That was the key to success. We scored a lot of points and the interaction at Porsche Penske Motorsport worked smoothly. Congratulations to our customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports. Sixth place is a great result. Porsche works driver Laurin Heinrich made a great debut there."

In the overall standings, Porsche, the Porsche Penske Motorsport team and the works drivers Nasr and Andlauer defended their lead. The fourth race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season takes place on 3rd May at the Californian circuit of Laguna Seca near Monterey.

Customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports with a bold strategy

In the top GTP class, the customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports chose an alternative strategy: The No. 5 Porsche 963 came in for a pit stop after five minutes in the first yellow phase. Works driver Laurin Heinrich took over the wheel from Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm. The German drove the remaining 95 minutes, fought his way up to sixth position and completed the fastest lap of the race. At times, the black and gold hybrid prototype was even within reach of the podium places.

In the GTD class, the Porsche 911 GT3 R of AO Racing called "Roxy" worked its way up to seventh place in the race, but lost a few positions shortly before the end. Britain's Harry King and Denmark's Mikkel Pedersen finished the sprint on the outskirts of Los Angeles in 13th place. The identical car developed in Weissach by Wright Motorsports crossed the finish line in 15th place.

Drivers' comments on the race

Laurens Vanthoor (Porsche 963 #6): "If someone had offered me third place before the start of the weekend, I would have loved to accept it. I am very satisfied with this result. We scored a lot of points. The race was anything but easy – but that doesn't matter anymore as soon as the podium is celebrated. We have our sights firmly set on our long-term goal: winning the championship."

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): "Third and fourth places are a nice result for our team. We once again made the maximum of our opportunities today. The mechanics did a great job during the pit stop, the strategy was top. We are still at the front of the championship and are already looking forward to the next race at Laguna Seca."

Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 963 #5): "What a race! We started from the back and therefore dared to do something strategically in the first yellow phase. It was worth it: I think sixth place is a good result and a great start to my new adventure with the JDC-Miller MotorSports customer team."

Harry King (Porsche 911 GT3 R #177): "Our team was superb, the pit stop was flawless. Unfortunately, it was still not enough for a top 10 result. That's disappointing. But now we are only looking ahead. At the next race, we will be competing in the GTD-Pro class again. We're doing everything we can to do better at Laguna Seca."