IMSA: No risk for Porsche customer teams in qualifying at Road Atlanta

Das Qualifying

The Porsche customer team Pfaff Motorsports avoided any risk in the last qualifying of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 2022. At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R in the popular Lumberjack livery, Brazilian works driver Felipe Nasr only completed seven careful laps on the 4.088-kilometre Road Atlanta. The reason: Pfaff Motorsports only has to cross the starting line at the race on Saturday to score enough points to win the driver, team and manufacturer titles in the GTD Pro class. At the so-called “Petit Le Mans” over ten hours, Nasr shares starting number 9 with his works driver colleagues and regular Pfaff drivers Matt Campbell (Australia) and Mathieu Jaminet (France).

In the GTD class, the Wright Motorsport team secured a solid grid position. In this category, amateurs and professionals share the racing car. Zacharie Robichon finished ninth in the number 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Together with his teammates Jan Heylen (Belgium) and Ryan Hardwick (USA), the Canadian still has a chance of winning the title. The identically constructed car of the Hardpoint team will start the last race of the 2022 season from 13th place. The two Americans Rob Ferriol and Nick Boulle share the starting number 99 with the British driver Katherine Legge.

“The qualifying result does not meet our expectations,” explains Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. “But we know that we will be strong in the late stages of the race, especially in the dark and when the temperatures are cool. So we are now looking ahead and concentrating on the race performance.” The “Petit Le Mans” starts on Saturday, October 1, at 10:40 a.m. local time (4:40 p.m. CEST). Outside the US and Canada, the entire race is on the website imsa.com/tv to see live.

Drivers’ opinions on qualifying

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 911 GT3 R #9): “The hunt for times was all about getting the tires to the optimum operating temperature. However, I have never managed to do this on the front and rear axles at the same time. Regardless, we have a long race ahead of us on Saturday and I have no concerns that our Porsche 911 GT3 R will be very competitive over the distance. I am firmly convinced that today’s qualifying result does not even remotely reflect what will be possible with our car in the race.”

Zacharie Robichon (Porsche 911 GT3 R #16): “I tried everything and maybe I was too aggressive at times. I made mistakes in a few laps. However, I don’t think that I suddenly could have gone a second faster. That was just not in the realm of possibility. We will be faster in the race – that was the same with Pfaff’s car last year. We certainly weren’t among the fastest back then, but we still finished second. That shows: With a car that is easy to drive, everything is still possible here.”

Nick Boulle (Porsche 911 GT3 R #99): “The entire weekend has been a learning process for me so far. Today we have rebuilt our car again. Now I feel really good at the wheel. In view of a ten-hour race, that’s much more important than the sheer pace in qualifying. Maybe a little rain will help us on race day. First of all, it is important to get through the first few hours unscathed.”

Qualifying results

GTD Pro class:
1. Hawksworth/Barnicoat/Kirkwood (UK/UK/USA), Lexus RC F GT3 #14, 1:18,835 Minuten
2. Gunn/Riberas/Gamble (UK/E/UK), Aston Martin Vantage GT3 #23, 1:19,043 Minuten
3. Serra/Rigon/Draw (BR/I/UK), Ferrari 488 GT3 #62, 1:19,266 Minuten
7. Campbell/Jaminet/Nasr (AUS/F/BR), Porsche 911 GT3 R #9, 1:19.942 minutes

GTD class:
1. Sellers/Snow/Johansson (USA/USA/S), BMW M4 GT3 #1, 1:19.118 Minuten
2. Megennis/Lewis/Westphal (USA/USA/USA), Lamborghini Huracan GT3 #39, 1:19.506 Minuten
3. Conwright/Holzer/Yount (USA/D/USA), Lamborghini Huracan GT3 #42, 1:19,522 Minuten
9. Hardwick/Heylen/Robichon (USA/B/CDN), Porsche 911 GT3 R #16, 1:20.025 Minutes
13. Ferriol/Legge/Boulle (USA/UK/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R #99, 1:21.470 minutes

The preview

Porsche’s customer teams have the best chances of winning the title at the season finale of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Canadian squad from Pfaff Motorsports, with the two Porsche works drivers Matt Campbell (Australia) and Mathieu Jaminet (France), is about to triumph in the new GTD Pro classification. In the GTD class, the Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by Wright Motorsports has good prospects of winning the championship at Road Atlanta.

Thanks to the strong performances of Pfaff Motorsports in the current 2022 season, Porsche is about to win the manufacturers’ championship in the GTD Pro class. The Canadian team has achieved such a good starting position with five victories this season, among other things, that the Porsche 911 GT3 R with starting number 9 only has to start the race on Road Atlanta to earn enough points to win the titles in the manufacturers’, drivers’ and teams’ championships to reach. In the GTD class, in which amateurs and professionals share a car, Wright Motorsports, currently third-placed, has good prospects for the season finale called “Petit Le Mans” in the US state of Georgia.

911 GT3 R, IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championchip, 2022, Porsche AG

“The expectations are enormous: Pfaff Motorsports travels to Petit Le Mans as the leader of the GTD-Pro class drivers and teams, while Porsche is ahead in the manufacturers’ championship,” explains Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. ” However, that is no reason to sit back and relax. On the contrary: the team and the drivers are working towards the classic with great concentration. For us, the race at Road Atlanta is not only the IMSA season finale but also the unique opportunity to retire the current Porsche 911 GT3 R with a top result. From 2023, the teams will then use the 992 generation.”

The “Petit Le Mans” lasts ten hours and has been an integral part of the North American sports car scene since 1988. The event, which is extremely popular with spectators, is taking place for the 25th time on the 4.088-kilometer Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The natural track around 80 kilometers north-east of the metropolis of Atlanta in the US state of Georgia comprises twelve corners – including the famous “Esses”, an extremely fast section with numerous changes of direction. The weather often plays a decisive role on the traditional circuit near the town of Braselton: heat and sunshine can alternate with torrential rain in autumn.

Such unpredictable weather brought Porsche its greatest success to date on Road Atlanta. In 2015, Nick Tandy (Great Britain), Patrick Pilet (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) even left the fast prototypes behind in heavy rain and sensationally drove the Porsche 911 RSR to overall success. The sports car manufacturer from Stuttgart has so far achieved 24 class victories at “Petit Le Mans”. The race is also of great importance to Porsche: Atlanta is the headquarters of Porsche Cars North America.

The customer teams and drivers

In the GTD Pro category, which replaced the previous GTLM class at the start of the season, Pfaff Motorsports competes with the Porsche 911 GT3 R. The two regular drivers Matt Campbell from Australia and Mathieu Jaminet from France will share the wheel with their Brazilian works driver colleague Felipe Nasr. The trio was able to win a class win at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January. Pfaff Motorsports had won the championship in the GTD category in the 2021 season and is now facing their second consecutive triumph.

In the GTD class, American businessman Ryan Hardwick starts together with Belgian Jan Heylen in the Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. The number 16 duo won the 2022 Daytona 24 Hours and the Laguna Seca race. At the ten-hour long-distance classic on Road Atlanta, the two regular drivers will be supported by Canadian Zacharie Robichon. In the championship, the team is separated from the top of the table by only 57 points. At Petit Le Mans, a maximum of 385 points are awarded in qualifying and in the race. Hardpoint’s customer team competes in the GTD class with the two Americans Rob Ferriol and Nick Boulle and the British driver Katherine Legge.

Driver testimonials before the race

Matt Campbell (Porsche 911 GT3 R #9): “As soon as we start the race we are entitled to points – and then we have the championship in our pockets. Of course, these are perfect conditions for the finale at Road Atlanta. We’re under no pressure and just want to enjoy the race. I really like Road Atlanta and have clinched a class win there in the past two years. I would now like to continue and crown our current Porsche 911 GT3 R with another success. After a two-day test on the track, in which Felipe also took part, we are in high spirits.”

Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 911 GT3 R #9): “Our good starting position makes it possible for us to just have fun together with the team. As soon as we get off to a good start and we’ve got the title in our pockets, we’ll give it our all. We want to be at the top of the podium again. If we can do that, then we’ll go down in the history books of the IMSA series: no one has ever managed six class wins in one season. Matt and I will switch to the new Porsche 963 from Porsche Penske Motorsport in 2023, but for now we would like to say goodbye to the great 911 GT3 R.”

Jan Heylen (Porsche 911 GT3 R #16): “Every year we start the season with the wish to still be able to fight for the title in the final race. That is the case for me and my colleagues at Wright Motorsports 2022. The existing championship chances give us maximum motivation for the race at Road Atlanta. It won’t be easy, but our hopes are by no means absurd. We will give everything to win the title in the GTD class at the end of this season.”