Porsche Penske Motorsport’s best Porsche 963 starts from fifth grid spot

In bright sunshine and air temperatures of almost 30 degrees Celsius, the eleven-strong field contesting the top GTP class went out on the racetrack as soon as the session was given the green light. The aim was to carefully warm up the Michelin tyres for maximum grip to clock the fastest lap time from the third lap onwards. However, this strategy came to an abrupt end: At around the five-minute mark, works driver Mathieu Jaminet crashed into the track barrier at the exit of the first corner at the wheel of the No. 6 car. “I’m okay,” was the Frenchman’s immediate response on the radio. However, this put an early end to the session for Porsche Penske Motorsport’s 963.

After the debris was cleared, the stewards reopened the Sebring International Raceway for another 3:30 minutes. A gripping battle for the best grid positions unfolded, which saw Felipe Nasr claim P5 at the wheel of the Daytona-winning car. The identical hybrid cars from JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition followed in sixth and seventh place.

“This result is nowhere near what we expected,” says Urs Kuratle. The Director Factory Motorsport LMDh adds: “Mathieu Jaminet had an accident. We’ll take a close look at the data to figure out what happened there. The most important thing is that he’s okay. Our starting positions could be better, but there are twelve hours of racing ahead of us. We’ll get our chances. I remain confident.”

“Qualifying at Sebring is held at the hottest time of the day, which always makes it difficult. We lacked a bit of pace,” explains Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. “Unfortunately, the session was interrupted due to Mathieu Jaminet’s accident. Now, we have to repair the number 6 car and analyse what exactly happened. Felipe Nasr only had two fast laps left at the end. Let’s see what we can make happen in the race.”

In the top GTP class, the two customer-run Porsche 963 entries of JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition qualified in sixth and seventh place. At one point, the UK race driver Phil Hanson topped the GTP-class timesheet before Jaminet’s accident halted the session but was unable to make any decisive progress at the wheel of the American team’s No. 85 car. Former Porsche Junior Julien Andlauer from France planted Proton Competition’s Porsche 963 on a strong seventh place in his first GTP qualifying session.

GT classes: Another strong qualifying for AO Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R

The Porsche customer teams tackling the two GT categories only managed to partially meet expectations. The 911 GT3 R fielded by AO Racing achieved another strong result in the GTD Pro class: Daytona polesitter Sebastian Priaulx put the “Rexy” 911 on P3. The Englishman shares the cockpit with works driver Michael Christensen from Denmark and former Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich from Germany. In the GTD category, the three ca. 415 kW (565 PS) 911 cars from Wright Motorsports, Andretti Motorsports and MDK Motorsports will start from positions 15, 18 and 19.

Round two of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, at 9:40 am local time (2:40 pm CET). The 72nd running of the 12-hour race in Sebring may turn into a milestone for Porsche and its partner team Penske: The car manufacturer from Stuttgart could clinch its 600th victory in the North American IMSA, and for the Penske team, this would mark the 100th victory in sports car racing.

At the endurance classic in Florida, the two Porsche 963 fielded by the Porsche Penske Motorsport works team will be decked out in slightly different liveries. This weekend, the logos of long-standing partner Mobil 1 will shine in gold. This is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the renowned lubricant brand of the mineral oil company ExxonMobil.

Drivers’ comments after the qualifying

Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “We’d hoped for a better result for our number 6 Porsche 963. I’m fine so far, but I’m very sorry about the accident and for the Porsche Penske Motorsport team and all my colleagues at Porsche in Weissach. Unfortunately, the guys now have a bit of work to do on our car. It’s a shame because the Porsche was running brilliantly on my first lap. A grid position in the top three would have been within reach. Now, we can only look ahead to the race. If our car is competitive again there, we have twelve hours to make up ground.”

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “The result is okay. On Thursday, we initially had to overcome a few obstacles in setting up the car during the free practice sessions. It took us a very long time to find a decent car balance in these hot conditions. In the end, it went quite well. A lot can still happen in the race. I’m confident that we can continue to fight our way up the order.”

Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #5): “It was an unusual qualifying session for all the teams and drivers. I only had time for a single flying lap at the end. We also learned a lot about our car in the qualifying, which was the main thing. Our Porsche 963 is in one piece – that’s the most important thing coming into such a long and strenuous race.”

Phil Hanson (Porsche 963 #85): “My first fast lap went well, but then the red flags came out. When the track was reopened, my tyres had already gone through a heat cycle and simply didn’t provide enough grip – a real shame, because more would certainly have been possible. The interruption robbed us of the well-deserved reward for our good work in practice.”

Sebastian Priaulx (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): “Of course, I would’ve liked to be a little further up the field, but we can live with third place – it’s a good starting position for a long race. My lap was clean and fast. I really got everything out of it, I did everything possible! I wasn’t able to match the lap times of the two cars in front of me. Hopefully, we can advance a bit further tomorrow from third on the grid.”