The Porsche 963 earned its first win of the new GTP era. (Photo: Maddie Skidan | The Podium Finish)
LONG BEACH, Calif. — In the closing laps of the 100-minute sprint race in southern California, Mathieu Jaminet outlasted an aggressive Ricky Taylor to give Porsche Penske Motorsport its first overall victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class by winning the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Jaminet’s No. 6 Porsche 963 struggled on worn-out Michelin tires as Taylor’s No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 closed the gap. With two laps remaining, Taylor made his move down Shoreline Drive going all out for the win in a game of “checkers or wreckers.”
Taylor got unlucky by landing on the side of the coin with “wreckers” on it after getting alongside Jaminet and sailing it down into Turn 1. Taylor completely missed the corner and crashed into the tire barriers, dashing all hopes for himself and co-driver Filipe Albuquerque of standing on the top step of the podium and putting the disappointment at Sebring behind them.
“I’m very sorry for Acura, HPD and the WTR Andretti team,” Taylor said. “We had a lot to learn from the past five years with the Acura ARX-05. This was always our track where we had the most performance deficit to the field and it just says so much about Acura, HPD, Oreca and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport to turn our weakest track into our strongest track. At the end of the day when you have the strongest car, you want to repay those people and win the race.
“Unfortunately, we got behind with a little issue mid-race and we had such a strong car while fighting back. It came down so close in the end if we had more time maybe I would have been more patient, but we just wanted to win this for Acura. Everyone at Acura, HPD and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport deserved to win this today and it’s just disappointing, but I’m just so proud to drive an Acura and be part of this team.”
The misfortune suffered by the No. 10 Acura opened the door for the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly to finish second overall behind the No. 6 Porsche.
Ricky Taylor CRASHES going for the pass!
Mathieu Jaminet WINS the @GPLongBeach! #IMSA pic.twitter.com/hCitC2nT7J
— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) April 15, 2023
The race ended under full-course caution with Jaminet and Nick Tandy taking the checkered flag in Long Beach, after completing all 100 minutes on a single set of Michelins while the other GTP competitors changed tires.
This strategy play allowed both Porsche 963s to gain crucial track position over the other GTPs, putting them ahead in the running order, with the main focus on navigating GT traffic and tire management.
“When the Acura appeared in my rear-view mirror towards the end, I knew he was going to attack – after all, I was on the back foot with significantly older tires,” Jaminet said. “He tried to outbrake me in the first corner. I immediately realized he wasn’t going to make the corner and took evasive action while he landed in the tire barriers. That was some real nail-biting stuff at the end of the race.”
With the No. 6 Porsche winning the race, Porsche Penske Motorsport left Long Beach with two prototypes on the podium. Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr took third overall in the No. 7 Porsche.
According to Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director of Porsche Penske Motorsport, this was a risky strategy but it paid off in the end with the team choosing to trust the durability of the Michelins to last from beginning to end.
“This day will go down in the history of our team,” Diuguid said. “The first victory with the Porsche 963 is incredibly important to us.”
In GTD Pro, the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat took class honors. Meanwhile, Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 claimed GTD, thanks to a solid all-around team effort that propelled co-drivers Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers to victory in Long Beach.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns to action on Sunday, May 14 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for a 2-hour and 40-minute event with GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes showing up to compete in Motul Course de Monterey.
