SALINAS — Nick Tandy completed a daring pass for the lead with 12 minutes remaining in last Sunday’s Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N and drove on to victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas.
Under picture-perfect conditions and sunny skies, thousands of guests, many of whom were families celebrating Mother’s Day, team members, sponsors, campers and journalists filled the surrounding Peninsula and Central Valley for the three-day event. The international race was broadcast live on the NBC Network, further casting a positive light on the popular tourist destination.
Tandy, in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, hounded leader Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R through the last half-hour of the two-hour, 40-minute race. When they came upon slower traffic through Turns 3 and 4 of the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course at the 12-minute mark, Aitken was balked behind the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, while Tandy slid inside and past for the decisive move of the race.
Tandy, who shared the No. 6 Porsche with Mathieu Jaminet, pulled away to win by 5.764 seconds over Aitken, whose No. 31 Cadillac co-driver was Pipo Derani. The No. 6 became the fourth different car to take an overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class win in as many races this season. It also marked the 100th sports car racing victory for cars fielded by Roger Penske, 37 of those coming under the IMSA banner.
The GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) victory went to the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and co-drivers Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich — the first for the team — by 9.074 seconds ahead of the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 EVO.
With wins in both GTP and GTD PRO, Porsche now has compiled 601 victories in IMSA competition.
Russell Ward and Philip Ellis won for the third time in four GT Daytona (GTD) races in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. They were running a close second to the No. 557 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 when Robby Foley was bumped off course with just five minutes left in the race. Foley recovered to finish second with co-driver Patrick Gallagher in the 557th race start with BMW for Turner Motorsport, the most worldwide for any team.
