Laurens Vanthoor – Syndication Server

Bahrain’s WEC finale caps off a truly remarkable sports car season

It feels fitting that after the closest, most dramatic FIA WEC season to date, the major honors were split across the top three Hypercar manufacturers, with Toyota, Porsche and Ferrari all taking a slice of the pie. Porsche’s No. 6 crew held on to …

Porsche’s No. 6 crew held on to claim the Hypercar drivers’ world championship despite finishing down the order in the finale. Toyota snatched the manufacturers’ crown in the final hour of the season with a spirited drive from Sebastien Buemi. And Ferrari, despite missing out on a title, will look back on the 2024 season fondly after claiming its second Le Mans victory in a row back in June.

It really was a remarkable campaign, one which had a bit of everything. It produced its fair share of thrills and spills on track and off, regular doses of drama and controversy and a number of historic milestones.

With the dust settled during the off season, there will be so much to unpack and reflect on before the WEC paddock reconvenes next year in Qatar for next season. Right now, though, it’s time to celebrate the newly crowned champions after the wild end to the season in Sakhir.

For Porsche Penske Motorsport, it was a truly memorable day, even if it wasn’t quite the fairytale ending that everyone within the organization dreamed of.

Having claimed a sweep of IMSA GTP titles, a GTD PRO championship with AO Racing and the FIA WEC LMGT3 and Hypercar World Cup honors with Pure Rxcing and HERTZ Team JOTA prior to Bahrain, completing the set in the Middle East with both Hypercar titles felt almost inevitable.

WEC season finales never fail to produce drama, and on this occasion, the wily old fox that is Toyota pulled off the upset, coming in and stealing the manufacturers’ title after a late-race showdown between Buemi and Matt Campbell.

The safety car periods and a full course yellow which bunched up the field and set up a nail-biting final hour played a huge role. They allowed the pole-sitting No. 8 Toyota to recover from its dramas earlier in the race by the time it emerged from the pit lane for the final time. All of a sudden, having looked down and out with three hours to go, Toyota’s outlook changed. Buemi was strapped in, held a tire advantage over Campbell ahead in the No. 5, and had a chance to cap off an amazing performance with one final overtake for the win.

A dream come true for Buemi and company, with post-race emotions and sheer exhaustion overflowing. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

“When I jumped in towards the end I was like P10, and I knew how hard it was to make progress, so I didn’t think we could come back,” Buemi explained. “But what happened was, with my tire advantage I was able to make moves every lap or two and we managed to execute a shorter stop at the end, jumping the No. 6 Porsche, the Ferrari, and it meant all I had to do was to catch the No. 5.

“It was like a dream as suddenly I knew we could win. It felt like everything was going our way, unlike the rest of the whole season. It might be the best drive of my career.”

A truly special drive indeed, with so much at stake, to deliver Toyota a fourth consecutive Hypercar manufacturers’ title in a row and the only win from pole by a team in the class this season. It also helped take the sting out of the sister car’s torrid outing, as ultimately, with the No. 6 Porsche’s troubles, both sets of drivers’ title contenders from Toyota and Ferrari will rue the missed opportunity.

The No. 7 retired with a fuel pump issue, which according to TGR’s team principal-driver Kamui Kobayashi, damaged the engine and severely blunted the car’s performance. The decision to park the car was a painful one to make, but it allowed the entire engineering staff to shift focus to the No. 8’s charge.

Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Le Mans-winning No. 50 499P finished the race, but way down the order in 11th after struggling for outright pace throughout and losing valuable time to a puncture.

The season’s ups and downs gave us a split set of champions, much to the delight of Porsche’s leading crew of (from left to right) Andre Lotterer, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor. Jakob Ebrey/Motorsport Images

It all meant that the drivers’ honors went the way of Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer, despite their struggles and first non-points finish of the season.

All three drivers played their part this season, delivering a consistent run of results en route to being crowned Hypercar drivers’ world champions for the first time. In a field this deep, racking up two wins and two second-place finishes in eight races was no easy feat. It’s a title run that will be looked back on for a long time to come.

“When you see how competitive the field is, it’s special,” Lotterer, who departs Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Hypercar program with his head held high, said in the post-race conference.

“Before in LMP1, Le Mans was what everyone wanted, and if you won the championship it was just OK. Now with so much competition, the world championship has great value. Today wasn’t the best day, but we had the luxury to afford it. We will go home happy, target achieved.”

“This year has been amazing,” added Vanthoor. “I’ve never worked with a group like this, with my teammates, engineers and mechanics. It hasn’t sunk in, but today is one I will never forget.”

Jaminet and Vanthoor recall epic 2022 GT battle at Daytona

This weekend, Mathieu Jaminet and Laurens Vanthoor are racing together in an attempt to bring home a Rolex 24 At Daytona victory for Porsche in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963. Two years ago, however, they were locked in an intense battle for the inaugural IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO victory on two different teams, and it produced one of the most memorable fights in Daytona history.

Jaminet was driving the 911 GT3 R for Pfaff Motorsports along with Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr. Vanthoor was in the KCMG Porsche 911 GT3R with Patrick Pilet, Dennis Olsen and Alexandre Imperatori. For the final two hours, the battle between Jaminet and Vanthoor raged, with Jaminet ending up in front for the final stint and trying to hold off Vanthoor.

Two laps from the end, Vanthoor attacked Jaminet on the outside in Turn 1, cut back inside at Turn 2, got alongside in Turn 3 and finally, after several incidents of contact as the two Porsches went side-by-side in the Kink, took the lead. Jaminet wasn’t done, however, as he attacked in Turn 3 to take the lead back on the final lap.

As they headed into the Le Mans chicane, Vanthoor pulled alongside again and the two had side-to-side contact with Vanthoor getting the worst of it and going into a half-spin. Jaminet continued to take the victory for Pfaff. Had they tangled more intensely, though, victory would have been handed to the Risi Competizione Ferrari.

“Those last two hours have been maybe the most stressful of my life,” Jaminet said at the time. “I mean, what a crazy fight with Laurens. We all know how good he is — one of the best GT drivers out there in the world. We had a great fight. It was sometimes on the limit, maybe even over.”

What Jaminet remembers now, though, is the moments after the checker.

“[I remember] the celebration afterwards coming into the into the pits, because, honestly, crossing the line, I didn’t know I won,” he recalls. “I was exhausted from the battle. I wasn’t sure if I had a penalty — I didn’t even know it was the last lap at the time, I had no radio. [Then] I realized we won, but I wasn’t sure it was really happening. So all the emotions and tension really came out, when I came into victory lane and I parked the car and then I saw all my teammates shouting.”

Teammates Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr hoist a still disbelieving Mathieu Jaminet in victory lane at Daytona in 2022. Motorsport Images

Vanthoor jokes that he remembers “crying like a baby on the in-lap,” but going on, he says he recalls everything in detail.

“It’s probably one of the most intense hours I’ve done in the race car, which in the end was not how I would have dreamed of it, but which I — and I think many other people — remember,” he says. “On one hand, it still kind of hurts. But on the other hand, what we’re doing here is putting on a show. I think we did quite well.”

In Porsche’s operation room at the track, Porsche engineers and management were about to have a heart attack as they saw the possibility of two of their drivers taking each other out and throwing away a victory.

“If Porsches are fighting, we don’t need any touches or risking cars, and especially if our drivers are racing for customers,” remembers Sebastian Golz, project manager for Porsche 911 GT3 R. “We already feared that there was a little bit of heat in between the two because both had the possibility to win. They were fighting for the victory and both driver wants to have the best for them for the team. And also it was showing, ‘I am the better one.’ They were pushing hard and everybody in the room was shouting, the heart attack was coming, and we were reaching the engineers to calm the drivers down.

“We want to have the victory, there was no question, but we need to have it in in a way that we do not risk a car. They were in the heat, they were full of fire and we have to say we are happy that we reached the result, but it could have been a different situation. But it was, I think, one of the most important fights I’ve ever seen. It was incredible.”

After the race, Vanthoor was one of the first to congratulate Jaminet. A year later, Vanthoor was in the No. 9 for Daytona with Pilet and Klaus Bachler. Today the two Porsche factory drivers today will seek victory together, along with Kevin Estre and Nick Tandy. Should they win, any lingering bitterness from that battle of two years ago will be well and truly forgotten.

Newgarden, Vanthoor join expanded Porsche lineup for Petit Le Mans

Two-time IndyCar champion and 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will make his GTP debut at Petit Le Mans on October 11-14 driving for Porsche Penske Motorsport. Newgarden, who raced in the LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this year, …

Two-time IndyCar champion and 2023 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will make his GTP debut at Petit Le Mans on October 11-14 driving for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Newgarden, who raced in the LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona earlier this year, will race alongside Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche 963 at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, a month after the conclusion of this year’s IndyCar campaign.

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“I have a lot of respect and admiration for both the Penske and Porsche brands, and the combination between the two through Porsche Penske Motorsport is a dream scenario for any racing car driver and is an absolute honor to be a part of,” Newgarden said.

“Watching the dedicated teams build this program from the ground up over the last couple of years has been exciting to watch, and seeing both Porsche 963s get wins this year and compete for championships shows that all the hard work has paid off.

“My goal is to add to the program and help support the tremendous efforts that Porsche Penske Motorsport has put in place. With some good fortune, I’m sure we can turn effort into results together.”

Newgarden won’t be the only driver joining the Porsche Penske fold at Road Atlanta, with two-time IMSA GT champion and long-time Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor joining Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche 963. Unlike Newgarden, he’s no stranger to the 963, having raced it the FIA World Endurance Championship this season alongside Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer.

Vanthoor, along with Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer took third in the 6 Hours of Portimao in April. Motorsport Images

“I’m really excited to compete with the team’s IMSA program and help them wrap up their season, as they try and attain both the team and manufacturer championships,” said Vanthoor. “I feel like my experience at the track will help, and working closely with Nick, Mathieu and the entire team will help myself gain even more perspective of the overall organization as we wrap up the WEC season in Bahrain at the beginning of October.”

Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid is confident that both drivers will be valuable additions to the team as it looks to end its first season with the Porsche 963 on a high.

“Laurens has raced at Road Atlanta in the Porsche 911 RSR and he will be able to add his experience from racing in the WEC for PPM,” he said. “Josef brings a different dynamic as this year’s Indianapolis 500 winner; it will be something very exciting for the team as well as himself.

“Josef has increased his exposure to sports car racing already in 2023 with a test in the Team Penske LMP2, as well as raced in Daytona in 2023. In addition, he got his first exposure to the 963 in early June at Road America.

“With several testing days for the team at Road Atlanta, we are confident that both Laurens and Josef will be fully prepared to deliver for the team and have a positive result in the final race of the season.”