IMSA Laguna Seca: Porsche beats Cadillac after last-gasp Tandy pass

Tandy (Porsche Penske Motorsport 963) passed Cadillac’s Jack Aitken inside the final dozen minutes of the 2h40m event that was run for GTP and GTD machinery only.

The win was Roger Penske’s 100th victory in sportscar competition.

Sebastien Bourdais, having whirled the Chip Ganassi-run Cadillac V-Series.R to a new track record in qualifying, led the field to green from Pipo Derani’s Action Express-run variant, who challenged at the outside of the Andretti Hairpin but couldn’t fashion an opening.

Bourdais came close to going off at the Corkscrew on the opening lap but clung on to his lead. Derani then had a scare inside the first 15 minutes when he clipped Mike Skeen’s GTD Mercedes at Turn 3. Derani pitted inside the first half an hour for two tires only, reporting that he was not happy with his car’s balance.

Behind Derani, Philipp Eng’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-run BMW M Hybrid V8 held third, ahead of the factory 963s of Jaminet and Dane Cameron and the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06s of Ricky Taylor and Louis Deletraz. After 30 minutes, Cameron got jammed up in GTD traffic at the Corkscrew, which allowed both Acuras to jump ahead of him.

Both Acuras quickly came under IMSA’s scrutiny: Taylor was forced to pit early to ‘address tire operational requirements’ and got lapped, while Deletraz received a warning for failing to adhere to powertrain parameters.

The race’s only full-course caution flew after 50 minutes for debris from the rear corner of the #7 Porsche, which eradicated Bourdais’ big lead. All the leaders pitted but Derani, after his early stop, was able to hand the #31 Cadillac over to Jack Aitken in just 15s as the car didn’t need as much fuel as its rivals.

Nick Tandy took over the #6 Porsche from Jaminet and restarted the race briefly in the lead from Aitken, who didn’t follow IMSA’s instructions when the class split occurred, and Tandy passed him (legally) under the yellow.

But, just after the green flag flew, Tandy locked up and ran wide at the Andretti Hairpin, gifting P1 back to Aitken on the run through Turn 2. Bourdais handed off to Renger van der Zande, slumping from first to third as it took a full energy load, with Jordan Taylor in for Deletraz in fourth.

Van der Zande muscled past Tandy at the Corkscrew just before half distance to grab second. Felipe Nasr, in the repaired #7 Porsche, also made a forceful move past Jesse Krohn (in the #24 BMW for Eng) to snatch fifth and soon acquired fourth from Jordan Taylor.

Tandy lost a heap of time when he ran wide avoiding a GTD Lamborghini in the Corkscrew, while Krohn suffered an off on the exit of Turn 3 and picked up a sponsor banner on the front of his car, and he tumbled to the tail of the GTP pack.

Aitken pitted from the final time with just under an hour to go, again benefiting from a shorter fill due to its three-stop strategy. Although he pitted later, van der Zande needed a longer stop get to the end and rejoined 5s in arrears. CGR also opted for no fresh tires, compared to Aitken’s two-tire call.

Tandy ran long to lead for a few laps and pitted with 46 minutes to go, also staying on his old rubber, splitting the Cadillacs as he rejoined in second. Aitken’s lead was carved into by Tandy in traffic, the pair even touching as Tandy lunged him at Turn 3 inside the final 30 minutes.

Aitken was clearly faster in clear air, but Tandy’s doggedness in traffic always gave him a chance to pounce.

With 12 minutes to go, Aitken got boxed in at Turn 4 behind two GTD cars, as a Corvette tried to pass a Porsche, and ran wide onto the dirt. Tandy lunged to the inside to grab the victory by almost 6s.

Nasr passed van der Zande, who struggled to repeat the car’s earlier pace, for third in the closing stages. Taylor also bullied his way past on the run to Turn 1 after they earlier clashed at the Corkscrew.

The BMW challenge flopped, as Connor De Phillippi #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 slumped to eighth from fifth on the opening lap and suffered an issue with its left-rear corner in the first pitstop. Team-mate Nick Yelloly then suffered a spin, but he battled back to seventh.

AO Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), GTD PRO: Laurin Heinrich, Seb Priaulx

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Porsche beats McLaren and Corvette in GTD
In GTD Pro, Chevrolet led after sweeping to a front row lock out in qualifying, with Nicky Catsburg in the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R leading team-mate Antonio Garcia (#3).

The first caution fell very kindly for the Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S, as Marvin Kirchhofer handed over the McLaren MP4/4 tribute-liveried car to Oliver Jarvis just at the right time to lead the #4 ’Vette, in which Tommy Milner took over from Catsburg.

Laurin Heinrich, in the AO Racing Porsche 911 he shares with Seb Priaulx, pushed Milner back to third after the restart. Heinrich then passed the McLaren for the win with a bold move at Turn 6 just after half distance.

Danny Formal led the opening GTD pro-am class exchanges in pole-winning Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti’s Lamborghini Huracan from Patrick Gallagher’s Turner Motorsport BMW M4.

But the Turner BMW hit the front after the full-course yellow, and Robby Foley (in for Gallagher) looked set for the category win until he turned in on Jordan Taylor’s Acura inside the final five minutes at Turn 4.

The off-track moment that ensued was enough for the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis to jump ahead, with the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer finishing third, the latter getting away with a wild slide at Turn 6 late on.

Cla 
 Nº 
 Driver 
 Car 
 Laps 
 Time 
 Delay 

1 
6
Nick Tandy
Mathieu Jaminet
Porsche
119
2:40’09.438
 

2 
31
Pipo Derani
Jack Aitken
Cadillac
119
2:40’15.202
5.764

3 
7
Dane Cameron
Felipe Nasr
Porsche
119
2:40’44.111
34.673

4 
40
Jordan Taylor
Louis Delétraz
Acura
119
2:40’52.883
43.445

5 
01
R.van der Zande
S.Bourdais
Cadillac
119
2:40’55.046
45.608

6 
10
Ricky Taylor
F.Albuquerque
Acura
119
2:40’55.588
46.150

7 
25
C.De Phillippi
Nick Yelloly
BMW
119
2:40’57.053
47.615

8 
85
T.van der Helm
R.Westbrook
Porsche
119
2:41’26.781
1’17.343

9 
24
Jesse Krohn
Philipp Eng
BMW
118
2:40’21.145
 

10 
5
Gianmaria Bruni
Bent Viscaal
Porsche
118
2:40’21.764
 

11 
77
Laurin Heinrich
Seb Priaulx
Porsche
111
2:40’41.313
 

12 
9
M.Kirchhöfer
Oliver Jarvis
McLaren
111
2:40’50.387
 

13 
4
Tommy Milner
Nicky Catsburg
Chevrolet
111
2:40’51.637
 

14 
14
Jack Hawksworth
Ben Barnicoat
Lexus
111
2:41’16.565
 

15 
57
Russell Ward
Philip Ellis
Mercedes
111
2:41’25.441
 

16 
3
Antonio García
Alexander Sims
Chevrolet
111
2:41’26.565
 

17 
23
Ross Gunn
Mario Farnbacher
Aston Martin
111
2:41’27.259
 

18 
557
Robby Foley
P.Gallagher
BMW
111
2:41’28.899
 

19 
120
Adam Adelson
Elliott Skeer
Porsche
111
2:41’34.812
 

20 
32
Mike Skeen
Mikaël Grenier
Mercedes
110
2:40’15.389
 

21 
45
Kyle Marcelli
Danny Formal
Lamborghini
110
2:40’16.252
 

22 
1
Bryan Sellers
Madison Snow
BMW
110
2:40’29.288
 

23 
65
Joey Hand
Dirk Müller
Ford
110
2:40’40.292
 

24 
64
Harry Tincknell
M.Rockenfeller
Ford
110
2:40’46.447
 

25 
27
Roman De Angelis
Spencer Pumpelly
Aston Martin
110
2:40’58.312
 

26 
55
G.Levorato
Corey Lewis
Ford
110
2:41’04.161
 

27 
78
Misha Goikhberg
Loris Spinelli
Lamborghini
110
2:41’09.571
 

28 
12
F.Montecalvo
Parker Thompson
Lexus
109
2:40’14.199
 

29 
43
Jarett Andretti
Gabby Chaves
Porsche
109
2:40’34.259
 

30 
13
Orey Fidani
Matthew Bell
Chevrolet
109
2:40’34.862
 

31 
66
Sheena Monk
Stevan McAleer
Acura
109
2:40’49.563
 

32 
86
Kerong Li
Anders Fjordbach
Porsche
109
2:41’14.931
 

33 
70
Brendan Iribe
F.Schandorff
McLaren
109
2:41’34.746
 

34 
34
Manny Franco
Albert Costa
Ferrari
79
1:58’39.164