Porsche Penske’s Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr brought home the team’s first win of the season. (Photo: Logan Skidan | The Podium Finish)
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Matt Campbell, in the No. 7 Porsche 963 fielded by Team Penske, led the field to green at Road America last Sunday after the pole-winning No. 31 Cadillac of Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims crashed in the morning warmup. Starting position turned out to be a big role in the No. 7’s success at Road America.
“For us, it was of course a big advantage that we were allowed to start from pole position after the Cadillac had an accident in the warm-up,” Campbell said in a Porsche Newsroom press release. “On this track, it makes a huge difference which side of the grid you start on. There’s a lot of dirt off the racing line. Fortunately, we managed to avoid this and turned considerably faster opening laps than our pursuers.
“Our Porsche 963 was really great to drive in the race. That was somewhat of a surprise after our difficulties on Friday, which makes our performance all the better. I’m thrilled about our first victory with the number 7 car in the IMSA series.”
Matt Campbell leads the GTP field to green at Road America. (Photo: Mike Moore | The Podium Finish)
Campbell stretched his lead to over 10 seconds at the start of the race, turning in considerably faster opening laps compared to the rest of the GTP field. Eventually, Campbell handed over the No. 7 Porsche 963 to Nasr, his co-driver, for the second half of the race.
The first pit cycle was the only time in the entire race that the No. 7 Porsche surrendered the lead.
The No.7 Porsche hauling through turn 6 at Road America. (Photo: Mike Moore | The Podium Finish)
Despite a late charge from the No. 60 Acura fielded by Meyer Shank Racing, Nasr held onto the lead to secure the victory by just 4.6 seconds. After coming up short in a couple races this year, Nasr was excited to score the team’s first win of the season.
“It was an outstanding effort from everyone,” Nasr said. “Matt put in a strong first stint and positioned our car solidly at the front of the field. I gave everything at the end to defend that position.
“It was anything but easy because the Acura in second place had fresher tires. On top of that, the situations with passing slower cars were often extremely tricky. But it all worked out. Finally!”
With the victory, Porsche advances to third place in the manufacturers’ standings. Now only 12 points behind Acura in second place. The main GTP field enjoys a respite until September when IMSA returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
