The two Porsche 963s fielded by Porsche Penske Motorsport have clinched another one-two victory at the Laguna Seca Raceway. In round four of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, works drivers Matt Campbell from Australia and Mathieu Jaminet celebrated their first win of the season.

Less than two seconds behind, championship leaders Felipe Nasr from Brazil and Nick Tandy from Great Britain finished second. The duo had previously won the first three races at Daytona, Sebring and Long Beach. In the GTD-Pro class, former Porsche Juniors Klaus Bachler and Laurin Heinrich drove the 911 GT3 R to their second success of the season.

The race

After a highly exciting qualifying session on Saturday, another thriller followed on Sunday in bright sunshine in California. It was not until the very last lap of the race over 2:40 hours that the two Porsche 963s won a three-way battle for victory. Curiosity in Laguna Seca: During the entire competition, there was not a single yellow phase. This had not happened in the IMSA series for about three years.

After the start on the storied Californian circuit, the two Porsche 963s initially defended positions two and three – but in reverse order compared to qualifying. Reigning champion Felipe Nasr overtook teammate Matt Campbell on lap one and opened the hunt for the leading BMW. Behind them, the number 6 car collided with a GT car and had to head for the pits for an early service. Meanwhile, Nasr took the lead with an overtaking manoeuvre worth seeing.

After around 45 minutes, the Brazilian steered his number 7 car to the first pit stop while in the lead. He handed over the car to Nick Tandy, who from then on had to line up behind the sister car, which Mathieu Jaminet had taken over from Campbell. In positions one and two, the two Porsche 963s reeled off their laps confidently until shortly before the end – but then the number 24 BMW increased the pressure once again. Only a few meters apart, the three leading cars opened the last lap and once again offered all fans a rousing show. There were numerous overtaking attempts, slight contact and shortly before the last corner a ride into the gravel trap of the third-placed BMW, also triggered by a GT race car involved.

"It was a hard piece of work," says Jonathan Diuguid, Executive Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. Based on the result, it was a perfect day. However, things didn't go quite as smoothly as a look at the result would suggest: there were tricky situations, both Porsche 963s had contact with other cars. Our team and the drivers did a great job again. It was our third one-two in a row. We lead all championship standings. We couldn't ask for more."

In the overall standings, Porsche has further pulled away from its competitors in the manufacturers' championship. Porsche Penske Motorsport leads the team standings in commanding style. In the drivers' championship, Campbell/Jaminet have reduced their gap to their teammates Nasr/Tandy somewhat. The driver crews continue to occupy first and second place.

The Porsche 963 fielded by the JDC-Miller MotorSports customer team finished the race on the Pacific coast in ninth place. The Italian Gianmaria Bruni and Tijmen van der Helm from the Netherlands took turns at the wheel of the No. 85 car.

"Roxy" like "Rexy" last year: class victory for the Porsche 911 GT3 R

In the GTD-Pro class, former Porsche Juniors Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler celebrated their second win of the season. The duo at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R showed just as flawless a performance as the AO Racing team. The pink nine-eleven in dinosaur design called "Roxy" crossed the finish line at Laguna Seca with a lead of 8.660 seconds. At the same venue, the team had achieved its first victory last year with the crowd favourite "Rexy". The Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by Wright Motorsports finished sixth in the GTD class.

After two races in Florida and two subsequent events in California, the IMSA teams are now heading inland. On May 31, the fifth round of the season will take place in the streets of Detroit. The race, called the "Detroit Grand Prix", in the US state of Michigan covers a distance of only 100 minutes.

Drivers' comments after the race

Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): "Finally we have our first win of the season! We had an incident in the early stages. I didn't expect such a fantastic result. A perfect strategy from the team has brought us to the top. It was a close battle until the end, including with our sister car. We brought it to the finish. Now I'm really looking forward to the race in Detroit."

Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #7): "It was another fantastic race day for our team. For us in the number 7 car, it was the fourth podium in a row, and we've been at least second in all races so far this year. That's an incredibly good start to the season. We want to maintain this momentum. We've only completed four of nine races. Next on the agenda is the city race in Detroit. There are again many points to be won. From now on, our full focus will be on that."

Tijmen van der Helm (Porsche 963 #85): "Because we hadn't tested before, we were never quite at the level of the competition throughout the weekend. So we had to come up with something and therefore opted for a bold pit stop strategy. That didn't pay off in the end. We would have needed a safety car phase. Normally, there are always at Laguna Seca – but not this year. Now we have to see how we can pick up the pace for the next race."

Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): "Last year the first victory with 'Rexy' in Laguna Seca, now the same success with 'Roxy'. It's just incredibly beautiful. Our Porsche 911 GT3 R was first-class in the race. After a good start, we decided to pit early so as not to lose too much time behind some of our rivals. That was a perfect decision. With today's success, we have taken the lead in the championship. It's great, but there are still seven more races to go."

Elliott Skeer (Porsche 911 GT3 R #120): "Sixth place was about what we had expected at the beginning of the race weekend. However, the race initially went much better than expected – so our expectations also rose. The podium was certainly within reach. The Porsche 911 GT3 R ran fantastically. Unfortunately, a drive-through penalty threw us back a long way. That's a shame."

Results race

GTP class:
1st Campbell/Jaminet (AUS/FRA), Porsche 963 #6, 124 laps
2nd Nasr/Tandy (BRA/GBR), Porsche 963 #7, + 1.692 seconds
3rd Eng/D. Vanthoor (AUT/BEL), BMW #24, + 33.408 seconds
9th Bruni/Van der Helm (ITA/NLD), Porsche 963 #85, - 2 laps

GTD-Pro class:
1st Bachler/Heinrich (AUT/DEU), Porsche 911 GT3 R #77, 115 laps
2nd Costa/Altoe (ESP/ITA), Ferrari #81, + 8.660 seconds
3rd Garcia/Sims (ESP/GBR), Corvette #3, - 1 lap

GTD class:
1. Ward/Ellis (USA/GBR), Mercedes-AMG #57, 114 laps
2. Hawksworth/Thompson (GBR/CDN), Lexus #12, + 5.459 seconds
3. Franco/Serra (USA/BRA), Ferrari #34, + 36.516 seconds
6. Adelson/Skeer (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, + 53.307 seconds