Laguna Seca – Porsche steals the victory from Cadillac in the last minutes!

It was 12 minutes from the finish that Nick Tandy managed to find the opening on the No. 31 Cadillac of Jack Aitken, who ran wide at turn 4. The two Britons were engaged in a battle for almost the entire last relay of the event. Porsche Penske played the perfect strategy by leaving the No. 6 on the track almost a quarter of an hour longer than the No. 31 Cadillac, in order to make a shorter stop for the end of the event. Despite two new tires on the right side, the Cadillac could not resist Tandy's return.

While the American cars had dominated the start of the race, the only neutralization of the event, after 50 minutes of racing, redistributed the cards. The No. 01, at the wheel of which Sébastien Bourdais flew over the first relay, found herself trapped by the timing of the yellow flag. Indeed, the yellow Cadillac started back in third position, following a shorter stop for the No. 31 and the No. 6, which had already pitted earlier in the event, precisely in order to protect themselves from neutralization.

The Penske Porsche led at the restart but it was only short-lived, as Pipo Derani quickly took control of the event in the No. 31 Action Express Racing car. The No. 01 Cadillac moved into second place, but once the final pit stops were made, the end of the race looked like a crossroads for Renger van der Zande. The car that started from pole position finally finished 5th, behind the two leading cars of course, but also the #7 Porsche and the #40 Acura.

However, these two prototypes did not have a smooth race, the No. 7 of Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron having been the cause of the neutralization. It was indeed a piece of debris coming from the right rear of the 963 which forced the race management to neutralize the event. The No. 40 was concerned by the stewards due to tire pressures being too low, but this did not go beyond the warning stage. Quite the opposite of the other Acura from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, the No. 10, which was penalized with a pit stop to resolve the pressure problem.

“We came close last year and it almost happened again this year! It felt good until the restart, where we were overtaken, but then Nick woke up and came back well. No. 31 made a mistake and we took advantage. Great day for the team, with the podium for the No. 7, it’s nice to really kick off the season”, explained Mathieu Jaminet at the end of the event.

In GT too, victory was decided in the final moments

In GTD Pro also, victory went to Porsche, thanks to the No. 77. “Rexy” won after a disjointed race in the category, the strategies having been shaken up by the neutralization. There McLaren #9 finished in second position ahead of the first Corvette, the #4. The Americans dominated the start of the event, before falling back in the standings following the neutralization.

The race came down to the final moments in GTD, with the #557 Turner BMW leaving the track five minutes from time, following contact with the #10 Acura of Jordan Taylor. Victory went to the Mercedes-AMG n°57. BMW #557 managed to cross the line in second position. Its special issue celebrated Turner Motorsport's 557th start with BMW, making it the team to have taken part in the most races with the Bavarian manufacturer.

Laguna Seca – Ranking

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