Laurin Heinrich gives JDC-Miller the victory on the final lap at Laguna Seca!

It's a scenario like only theIMSA is capable of delivering just that. At the end of this 2-hour and 40-minute race on the demanding Laguna Seca track in California, the victory came down to a blistering final act, the outcome of which was decided on the last lap. Leading the race in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, which he shares with Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber seemed destined for victory. But then came a crazy final fifteen minutes from Laurin Heinrich.

The 24-year-old German, winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year in a factory 963 alongside Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr, has been transferred to the customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports to contest the remainder of the American season, with the exception of Watkins Glen (where he will be absent due to other commitments) and the Petit Le MansWhile waiting to return to the factory prototype seat for the final race at Road Atlanta, the Kürnach (Germany) native once again proved his mettle by first overtaking his compatriot Marco Wittmann (BMW) for second place and then, more importantly, Earl Bamber (Cadillac) for the win. Each time, he achieved a magnificent door-to-door maneuver.

Having rejoined the New Zealander's slipstream with five minutes remaining, Heinrich initially struggled to find an opening. The two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2015 and 2017 with PorscheHeinrich even seemed to have made a decisive difference on the penultimate lap by using his experience amidst heavy traffic, but the No. 5 Mustang Sampling-sponsored Porsche 963 closed the gap again. Much faster than his rival, Heinrich finally found an opening to exploit, securing a surprise victory for JDC-Miller MotorSports and his teammate Tijmen van der Helm.

The American team hadn't won in IMSA for five years! Their last victory was indeed at the 2021 12 Hours of Sebring with the French driver Sébastien Bourdais, Loïc duval and Tristan Vautier, in a Cadillac DPi. A different era.

In Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), Ford Racing secured its first victory of the year thanks to Frédéric Vervisch and Christopher Mies, who won the race driving the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3. In Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, driven by Trent Hindman and Danny Formal, took the win.

The next IMSA event is on May 30th in Detroit, Michigan.

IMSA – Laguna Seca
The classification of the race