Porsche Penske Motorsport at Watkins Glen

The No. 6 Porsche 963 wrapped up round six of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in fourth place. Despite a difficult six-hour race at Watkins Glen, this result propelled Matt Campbell of Australia and Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet to the top of the drivers’ championship leaderboard, overtaking their fellow Porsche Penske Motorsport teammates. Brazilian Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy of Great Britain retired early after an accident in their Porsche Penske Motorsport 963. In the GTD Pro class, customer team AO Racing faced a chaotic race filled with incidents and focused on damage control with their Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Race result

GTP class:

P1: Blomqvist/Braun (GBR/USA), Acura #60, 169 laps
P2: J. Taylor/Deletraz (USA/SUI), Cadillac #40, + 1.880 seconds behind
P3: R. Taylor/Albuquerque (USA/POR), Cadillac #10, + 5.265 seconds
P4: Campbell/Jaminet (AUS/FRA), Porsche 963 #6, + 6.981 seconds
P10: Bruni/Van der Helm (ITA/NLD), Porsche 963 #85, – 1 lap
P11: Nasr/Tandy (BRA/GBR), Porsche 963 #7, – 43 laps
P13: Jani/Pino/Varrone (SUI/CHL/ARG), Porsche 963 #5, – 102 laps

GTD-Pro class:

P1: Hesse/Harper (DEU/GBR), BMW #48, 160 laps
P2: Garcia/Sims (ESP/GBR), Corvette #3, + 1.199 seconds behind
P3: Mies/Vervisch (DEU/BEL), Ford #65, + 2.035 seconds
P6: Bachler/Heinrich (AUT/DEU), Porsche 911 GT3 R #77, + 4.555 seconds

GTD class:

P1: Gamble/Stevenson/Robichon (GBR/GBR/CDN), Aston Martin #27, 160 laps
P2: Iribe/Schandorff/Millroy (USA/DNK/GBR), Ferrari #70, + 2.541 seconds behind
P3: Lucas/Koch/Morad (USA/USA/CDN), Mercedes-AMG #32, + 2.858 seconds
P13: Adelson/Skeer/Sargent (USA/USA/AUS), Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, – 1 lap

Watkins Glen once again stayed true to its reputation for unpredictable weather: Light rain began to fall as the six-hour race got underway, escalating into a downpour around 30 minutes into the race. The tricky conditions early on led to multiple incidents and a series of safety car periods – conditions that played perfectly into the hands of reigning IMSA champion Felipe Nasr. Starting from tenth on the grid, the Brazilian made swift progress at the wheel of his No. 7 Porsche 963. Within four laps, he had navigated the hybrid prototype from Weissach into third place, and one lap later, Nasr snatched the lead. However, the 32-year-old couldn’t hold that position for long.

Felipe Nasr (BRA), Nick Tandy (GBR), Porsche Penske Motorsport (#7), Porsche 963, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Race, Round 6, Watkins Glen, USA, 2025, Porsche AG

About 90 minutes in, the skies cleared over New York State. The air temperature quickly soared to 32 degrees Celsius, and the track dried within minutes. From that point on, the race took on a familiar picture from Saturday’s qualifying: all Porsche 963 cars could no longer keep up with the frontrunners. Despite ten caution periods that repeatedly closed the field, Porsche Penske Motorsport could no longer rejoin the battle for victory.

While Campbell/Jaminet finished fourth thanks to impeccable driving and a strong strategy, Nasr/Tandy, who had previously led the championship, suffered a severe setback: With 80 minutes to go, Nick Tandy in the No. 7 car, crashed heavily into the barriers in the first corner. The Englishman was able to leave the Porsche 963 unharmed. However, the race ended prematurely for the winners of the first three races of the season in Daytona, Sebring, and Long Beach.

‟That was a tough race,” summarised Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. ‟We were strong in the early stages when conditions were tricky and even managed to take the lead. But once the weather became more like summer, our chances diminished, as we’d already anticipated from the performance data. The drivers were pushing the limits all day. Nick’s crash was the result of that intensity. That’s what happens at the limit. The sister car ran cleanly and delivered a pretty good result. Hopefully, we’ll bounce back stronger soon.”

‟Our top priority today is that Nick is okay,” said Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. ‟The crash registered 25 g, which is a significant impact. But thanks to advances in race car safety, he came out of it unharmed. While he’ll likely feel the effects for a few days, he’s doing well. This underscores how much progress has been made in modern race car safety, an achievement that’s vital for the sport.”

Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport

Despite the mediocre result at Watkins Glen, both factory driver pairings are leading the driver’s championship – albeit in reverse order: Campbell/Jaminet have moved up to first place, with Nasr/Tandy in second. Porsche Penske Motorsport continues to lead the team standings, while Porsche also retains first place in the manufacturers’ championship.

Among customer teams, JDC-Miller MotorSports delivered a clean performance until late in the race. The No. 85 Porsche 963 was running a solid eighth when a pit stop violation led to a penalty, dropping the car to tenth. Meanwhile, Proton Competition’s identical car retired just before the halfway point after being entangled in an unavoidable accident.

GT classes: ‟Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R finishes sixth

In the GTD Pro class, the customer team AO Racing fought for victory until the final half hour. However, contact in a tight three-way battle resulted in some damage to the rear of the 911, affectionately nicknamed ‟Rexy.” The two former Porsche Juniors, Laurin Heinrich from Germany and Klaus Bachler from Austria, finished round six of the season in sixth place, surrendering the championship lead in the process. In the GTD category, Wright Motorsports’ 911 GT3 R took the flag in P13.

The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be contested on 13 July in Mosport, Canada. However, only the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD classes will compete at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The top GTP category, which includes the Porsche 963, will return to action on 3 August at Road America in the US state of Wisconsin.