Porsche Penske Motorsport achieves positions five and six in Mosport
July 9, 2023
- Porsche Penske Motorsport's Porsche 963 finish in the midfield in Canada
- Round six of the season in Mosport ends behind the safety car
Porsche Penske Motorsport finished round six of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in positions five and six. In the 2:40-hour race at Mosport, Canada, Englishman Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet from France crossed the finish line in the No. 6 Porsche 963 just ahead of the sister car. Their works driver colleagues Felipe Nasr from Brazil and Matt Campbell from Australia were at times on course for a podium result but ultimately had to settle for sixth place.
Stuttgart. In cloudy conditions and air temperatures of around 24 degrees Celsius, Felipe Nasr and Mathieu Jaminet launched a major pursuit in the initial phase, with the Frenchman attempting some particularly impressive overtaking moves. Within just 30 minutes, the No. 6 Porsche 963 had worked its way up the order from ninth to fifth position and loomed large in the rear-view mirror of the sister car. A clever strategy during several caution periods subsequently saw the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport car advance to second place. The final pit stop during the third of the four full course yellow phases resulted in three rival cars overtaking. Afterwards, no further progress was possible in the final 30-minute dash – especially as the last four laps were again spent behind the safety car following an incident.
"Our cars are in one piece and the performance was there today," sums up Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. "The caution periods didn't help, because they put other cars in front of us. That translated into a mediocre result. However, everything has become closer in the championship. The top four crews are within 60 points of one another. I'm sure the title fight will come to a head between now and the season finale at Road Atlanta. If we do everything right from now on and score decent points, we can finish the year on a high note."
In the overall standings, Tandy and Jaminet rank fourth place after round six of the season, with the driver duo Nasr and Campbell in sixth position. Porsche currently lies fourth in the manufacturers' championship.
Round seven of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be contested on 22 July at Lime Rock Park. Only the two GT classes contest the so-called Northeast Grand Prix. The next outing for the Porsche 963 in North America is on the first weekend in August at Road America.
Drivers' comments on the race
Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #6): "It definitely wasn't our best race ever, but at least we're in the top six with both cars. Our Porsche 963 racers went the distance without any technical problems. With a little more luck on our side, we could've been on the podium. Unfortunately, that didn't work out. That's a pity because we were doing well in terms of performance. We dropped one position in the championship standings, but the gaps are small. Now, the show goes on at Road America."
Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #7): "I'm a bit frustrated. Our car was fast over the whole distance. I was fighting at the front for quite a while. Some other teams took a risk during the penultimate caution phase which ultimately turned out to be the better strategy. That's why we only finished sixth behind the sister car. We'll be back in full force for the next race."