Porsche Penske Motorsport claimed its first overall victory of the season at Petit Le Mans on Saturday, as the #6 Porsche 963 driven by Laurens Vanthoor, Kévin Estre and Matt Campbell emerged from a turbulent 10-hour IMSA season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Vanthoor held off a late charge from the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns, crossing the line just 1.205 seconds ahead after a tense restart in the closing laps. The win marked Porsche's first overall Petit Le Mans victory with a prototype.

The race was marred by disruption throughout, with 16 full-course caution periods, a red-flag stoppage, and heavy early rain that kept reshuffling the GTP running order. The #6 Porsche surged into contention late, making its final pit stop with roughly 50 minutes left on the clock to take on energy and fresh left-side Michelin tires. Vanthoor briefly slid off track exiting the pits but recovered without losing the lead.

Porsche's sister entry, the #7 963, had also run near the front for much of the race but was eliminated with about 90 minutes remaining. Felipe Nasr made contact while trailing Vanthoor and the #77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, launching the #7 into an airborne crash along the front straight. Nasr was uninjured and exited the car unassisted.

The #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R also stayed in the overall fight deep into the event until Earl Bamber tangled with the #23 Aston Martin with 19 minutes to go, sending the Cadillac hard into the Turn 1 barriers and ending its night.

With Aitken already having wrapped up the GTP drivers' championship simply by starting the race, and Action Express and Cadillac already crowned teams' and manufacturers' champions, the on-track fight came down to Vanthoor against van der Linde, with Vanthoor managing fuel and traffic to seal it.

"I have no idea how we pulled this off... A difficult season is thus coming to an end with an absolute highlight," Vanthoor said afterward. The win was especially meaningful for Estre, earning his first IMSA victory, and for Campbell, who closed out his Porsche factory career with the result. "We've finally secured a big win," Estre said, praising Vanthoor as "the man of the race."

The result completed Porsche's sweep of Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta in 2026, alongside the manufacturer's IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup titles. The #24 BMW finished second, while the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac rounded out the GTP podium after the #60 Acura had to pit for energy on the final lap. Only six of the eleven GTP entries finished the race.

Source: Motorsport Week

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