Porsche Penske Motorsport overcame a difficult qualifying session to mount an impressive recovery drive in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on the streets of Detroit, but the factory team’s efforts ultimately yielded only fifth- and eighth-place finishes.
Highlights
- Factory-run 963 finishes the race in Detroit in the midfield despite a solid strategy
- Porsche ranks second in the championship after the fifth race of the season
- Customer teams JDC-Miller MotorSports and AO Racing suffer of bad luck
Starting seventh and 10th on the tight Detroit street circuit, the pair of Porsche 963 prototypes showed strong race pace throughout the 100-minute sprint event. However, incidents, penalties, and race-day adversity prevented the German manufacturer from converting its comeback performance into a podium result.
The No. 6 Porsche 963, driven by Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor, delivered one of the standout drives of the race. Estre carved his way through the field during the opening stint with a series of decisive overtakes, putting the car in contention for a podium finish. A well-executed pit strategy helped move Vanthoor into the top three during the second half of the race, at one point closing to within a second of the second-place BMW.
The charge unraveled late in the race when the No. 6 entry was caught up in a collision through no fault of its own. Damage to the rear of the Porsche 963 forced an unscheduled pit stop for repairs, dropping the car to an eventual eighth-place finish. The sister No. 7 Porsche 963 experienced a quieter afternoon. Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer ran consistently in the midfield of the GTP category and brought the car home fifth at the checkered flag.
“It was certainly not our best day,” said Urs Kuratle, Director of Factory Motorsport LMDh. “We knew before the start of the sprint race that Detroit would be a difficult challenge, and that proved to be the case. All of our Porsche race cars were affected by incidents and penalties. Now our focus shifts to Watkins Glen, where we’ll be back on the attack.”
Despite the challenging weekend, Porsche remains second in the IMSA manufacturers’ championship standings. JDC-Miller MotorSports driver Laurin Heinrich also sits second in the drivers’ championship, while the factory pairings of Nasr/Andlauer and Estre/Vanthoor occupy third and fifth, respectively.
Customer Teams Endure Difficult Detroit Weekend
Porsche’s customer entries fared no better on the demanding street circuit. The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 fell behind the GTP field during Tijmen van der Helm’s opening stint. Any hopes of recovery were dashed by a pair of penalties and additional contact after Heinrich took over. The team ultimately finished 11th, two laps behind the leaders.
In the GTD Pro category, AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R, affectionately known as “Rexy,” also struggled to make an impact. Drivers Nick Tandy and Harry King crossed the finish line in 10th place after a challenging race.
The returns June 28 with the Six Hours of Watkins Glen. The New York endurance classic serves as the third round of the Michelin Endurance Cup, joining Daytona, Sebring, Road America, and the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Above contents © 2026 Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee , @rexmcafee
#Porsche #IMSA #Porsche963 #DetroitGP #SportsCarRacing #Motorsports #WatkinsGlen #GTP #EnduranceRacing #PorschePenskeMotorsport
