Everything went wrong before the race, but in the end Porsche was celebrating: Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet celebrate their second joint IMSA title
“Very proud” and relieved:
That was the mood among Porsche drivers Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet after Petit Le Mans, where they secured the drivers’ title in the IMSA SportsCar Championship on Saturday (local time). While the race itself at Road Atlanta went largely smoothly for the Porsche duo, there was plenty of excitement before the start.
“The day didn’t start ideally,” said Jaminet. “It took us an hour and 40 minutes to get to the track. There were lots of fans on the way, which was great, of course, but we almost missed the formation laps. Matt even had to walk three kilometers along the side of the road to make it in time.”
Once they arrived at the track, they received some bad news: “Then we found out that we didn’t have a third driver,” said Jaminet. Julien Andlauer was originally supposed to take the third driver’s seat in the car, but the Frenchman had to pull out at short notice due to a medical issue. Laurens Vanthoor from the sister car with start number 7 stepped in and completed a double stint. “Thanks to Larry for stepping in, he saved us,” said Jaminet.
Smooth race, perfect result
Things went much better in the race itself. “The car was very well prepared,” Jaminet continued. “There were still a few question marks after qualifying, but we made the right decisions. We had a strong package during the day and also at night. In the end, we’re on the podium and we have the title – you can’t complain about that.”
Jaminet led the race at one point, but later fell back to second place behind the 31 Cadillac from Action Express with Earl Bamber at the wheel. Both teams saved fuel and speculated on a late yellow phase. However, there was none in the last three hours and 51 minutes of the race.
“We wanted to try to make it to the finish, but without a safety car, that wasn’t realistic,” explained Jaminet. “At some point, we decided to stay behind the 31 and not take any more unnecessary risks.”
After a late pit stop, Jaminet briefly fell back to third place behind the Heart of Racing team’s Aston Martin Valkyrie. However, as he was already on course for the title at that point, he took the result in his stride.
“We knew we could seal the deal,” he said. “It was important not to make any mistakes that would have been costly. So there was no point in pushing too hard.”
Second consecutive title for Porsche-Penske
For Porsche-Penske, the success meant a second consecutive title in the drivers’, teams’ and manufacturers’ championships. While Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron won the championship last year, Jaminet and Campbell can now celebrate overall victory.
This was the duo’s second IMSA title together, three years after their triumph in the GTD Pro class with the then Porsche customer team Pfaff Motorsports. Winning a prototype title in IMSA after a GT title had previously only been achieved by Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr in 2002 and 2003 – also with a Porsche fielded by Penske.
“Two years together in IMSA and two championships – I’m very proud of that,” said Campbell. “It’s something special to achieve this together with a good friend like Mathieu. We have built a strong partnership over the last few years, and the comeback as a duo this season has worked out perfectly.”
Campbell also thanked the team and Vanthoor, who stepped in at short notice: “Unfortunately, Julien had a problem, but Larry did a great job. It’s a very special day for us and for the whole team.“
When asked if this might have been his last race with Jaminet, given that Porsche is withdrawing from the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and may therefore make changes to its driver lineup, Campbell said: ”Yes, that could be the case. Of course, you think about it, but we focused on the task at hand. What happens next is out of our hands. We’re just enjoying the moment—it’s a great feeling to celebrate this title together.”