The long-distance trip was worth it for Roger Penske, who flew overnight from Belgium to Monterey, California, to witness the 100th sports car victory of his illustrious career
Nick Tandy made an aggressive move to seize the lead in the No. 6 963 of Porsche Penske Motorsport, leading the final 10 laps of the IMSA Motul Course de Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
“For Team Penske, obviously, we’ve had a tough couple of weeks,” Penske told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “But you know we’re a strong team. We’ve got great people, and I’m behind all of them. But to see that Porsche win today at Laguna Seca, one of my favorite tracks, is amazing.
“And the team effort today, I was in Belgium yesterday to see team effort there and certainly Will (Power finishing second) in Indy. We’re back on track here, and I’m thinking about going forward.”
Penske, 87, has been on a whirlwind worldwide tour to support his racing empire. After spending Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he was at the Spa racetrack Saturday to watch his World Endurance Championship entry finish second. Then he jetted more than 5,000 miles overnight to witness his second WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory of the season.
It was an upbeat ending to a mostly down week for Penske, who suspended four team members from Indianapolis Motor Speedway for May after completing an internal investigation of the push-to-pass scandal in the IndyCar season opener.
To backfill some openings on the IndyCar side, Penske shifted an engineer from his sports car team to Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, but his IMSA organization didn’t miss a beat. As Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet took the victory, No. 7 teammates Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron finished third to put both Penske 963 entries on the podium.
Nasr and Cameron also remained first in the points standings through four races.
“It’s a wonderful day for us,” Jonathan Diuguid, the managing director for Porsche Penske Motorsport, said in a release. “Nick and Mathieu delivered a formidable and flawless performance. It was an unforgettable weekend for our global team with a win and podium finish in Laguna Seca and second place in Spa-Francorchamps. I’m very proud to notch up the 100th victory for the Penske organization in sports car racing. We’re now very much looking forward to the next IMSA race in Detroit and the FIA WEC season highlight in Le Mans.”
It’s the fifth Grand Touring Prototype victory for Porsche Penske Motorsport since the team entered IMSA’s premier hybrid prototype category. That includes opening the season by winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the first victory in the crown jewel for Roger Penske in 55 years.
“It’s a deep bench,” Penske told Welch. “We’ve got a deep bench. People that care. People that know we can be winners, and we’ve showed it with this Porsche program over the last couple of years. And we’re focusing on (the 24 Hours of) Le Mans now.
The GT winners were the No. 77 Porche 911 GT3 R of AO Racing with Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich in the GT Pro and the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Winward Racing with Philip Ellis and Russell Ward in GTD.
IMSA LAGUNA SECA GP RESULTS
Race results
Results by class
Fastest laps by driver
Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend)
Fastest laps by driver and class after race
Fastest lap sequence
Leader sequence
Lap chart
Race analysis by lap
Stint analysis
Best sector times
Race distance and average speed
Flag analysis
Time cards
Pit stop time cards
NEXT RACE
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will race June 1 at the Detroit Grand Prix street circuit (3 p.m. ET, USA and Peacock).
Click here for the 2024 IMSA on NBC Sports broadcast schedule.
