Team Penske Claims 100th Sports Car Win at Laguna Seca
Words by Matthew Boyce
Cover Image courtesy of Jake Galstad/Motorsports Images
Team Penske claimed its 100th sports car win Sunday with their victory in the Motul Course de Monterey presented by Hyundai N as Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet drove the No. 6 Porsche 963 to victory. The win comes at the perfect time for Penske Racing as a whole, as the organization recovers from penalties assessed in other racing series. Porsche also re-write their own motorsports history as the manufacturer claimed their 600th and 601st checkered flags in their long and winning racing history.
The win came at the expense of the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken who battled Nick Tandy in the closing stages of the race for the win. With ten minutes to go, Aitken made a move to lap slower GT traffic and was pushed wide and into the gravel. This eliminated the No. 31 from race winning contention and the team settled for second place on the podium.
With team owner Roger Penske in attendance, the No. 7 Penske Porsche secured a double podium for the team as Felipe Nasr passed the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac during the final run to the checkered. The No. 01 opted for a fuel-only strategy during the final pitstop which resulted in Renger van der Zande struggling for grip during the closing stages. van der Zande was able to manage his tires to checkered flag for a fifth place finish.
With car own Wayne Taylor off racing a vintage Formula 1 car around the streets of Monaco Sunday, the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor finished in fourth position. Their teammate, the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 of Filipe Albequerque and Ricky Taylor, finished in sixth position ahead of the highest place BMW M Hybrid V8 in seventh piloted by Nick Yelloly and Connor De Phillippi.
AO Racing, Winward Claim GT Class Victories
Galstad/Motorsport Images
Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx piloted "Rexy," their No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, to AO Racing's first class win in the WeatherTech Championship. Heinrich was able to not only pass, but hold off, the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 of Oliver Garvis and Marvin Kirchhofer to hold onto the lead for the final hour and thirteen minutes of the race. Their win gave Porsche their first win in the GTD Pro class since last season. Completing the GTD Pro class podium was the pole-sitting No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 GT3.R of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg.
Galstad/Motorsports Images
In a similar turn of fate for the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, the No. 557 BMW M4 GT3 driven by Robby Foley was on his way to victory in the GTD class when disaster struck. While holding onto the lead with less than five minutes to go, contact with the No. 40 WTR Andrett Acura of Jordan Taylor pushed the BMW wide and into the gravel, handing the win to two time 2024 race winner Winward Racing. The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis claimed their third win of the 2024 season Sunday finishing 3.458 seconds of Foley. Rounding out the podium in class was the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer.
Final Results: CLICK HERE
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