BRASELTON, Ga. – A wild and eventful Motul Petit Le Mans saw a new overall winning car and champions crowned to cap off the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Ultimately, Laurens Vanthoor’s pass of former co-driver Earl Bamber – with whom he shared a GT Le Mans class title in 2019 – netted the Belgian an overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) win in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. Vanthoor darted to the inside while Bamber was balked by a slower car.
Vanthoor shared the car with Kevin Estre, who scored his first IMSA win, and Matt Campbell – the 2025 GTP champion. While Porsche and Penske have won at Motul Petit Le Mans before, it has largely been in class. The manufacturer’s most recent overall win at the race came with a GTLM specification Porsche 911 RSR in 2015.
Bamber’s co-driver Jack Aitken secured the WeatherTech Championship GTP title, although a late-race incident for the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R denied the team its eighth podium result of the season. Instead, the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 and No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R completed the GTP podium.
In a wild race, Alex Quinn, George Kurtz and Toby Sowery captured the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) win in their No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07. This also ensured Quinn and Kurtz won the LMP2 title.
Car Blanche scored its first win in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) with the trio of Mattia Drudi, Valentin Hasse Clot and Marco Sorensen in their No. 68 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. The win came in its first IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup start in the category.
Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi, meanwhile, finished third in the race which was enough to wrap the GTD PRO championship in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
The trio of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje secured a pole-to-win triumph in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), which ensured Ward and Ellis won their historic third straight GTD title in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
When Porsche claims its first top-class victory in one of sports car racing’s crown jewel events, it’s a historic day.
That’s what unfolded Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, and Matt Campbell guided the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 to the top spot in the 29th annual Motul Petit Le Mans. The victory represented overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class triumphs in the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale.
Porsche famously took the overall Motul Petit Le Mans win in 2015 with a GT Le Mans class Porsche 911 RSR entry on a day when torrential rain and bespoke tires were key determining factors in nullifying the speed advantage typically enjoyed by faster prototype classes.
Wet weather impacted the proceedings again this year, contributing to a record 16 full course cautions and a 27-minute stoppage due to nearby lightning. But there was no anomaly in terms of the result.
The Penske-prepared factory Porsches took control of the second half of the race, but Felipe Nasr suffered a heavy crash in the No. 7 car he shared with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich with 90 minutes remaining in the 10-hour endurance contest.
Vanthoor in the No. 6 passed Earl Bamber (No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R) for the lead with 49 minutes on the clock, then bested Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 in a tense duel over the final half hour.
Vanthoor crossed the line 1.205 seconds ahead of van der Linde, whose co-drivers were Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns. The No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, and Colton Herta moved up to the final podium position on the final lap. Tom Blomqvist had to pit the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 for energy replenishment at the white flag, dropping the entry that also featured Colin Braun and Scott Dixon to fourth.
Porsche owns 21 overall wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, 20 at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and 19 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the event that inspired the late Don Panoz to create the Motul Petit Le Mans. It’s unfathomable to think that one of sports car racing’s most successful manufacturers hadn’t cracked the overall code with a prototype at Michelin Raceway.
That all changed Saturday for the No. 6 car, though Heinrich’s bid in the No. 7 to steal the GTP driver’s championship fell short. Jack Aitken, supported by Bamber and Frederik Vesti, earned that title in the No. 31 Cadillac by simply rolling off the grid for the season finale. Additionally, the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen won the team championship, and Cadillac clinched the manufacturer championship.
Aitken is the first driver to be crowned solo champion in IMSA’s top class since Jorg Bergmeister won the Daytona Prototype crown under GRAND-AM sanction.
“It’s a bit of a weird feeling winning a championship rolling to the green, but obviously it’s been a fantastic year – the incredible consistency we’ve had as a brand and as a team,” Aitken said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates, and it does feel a little bit bittersweet that they all couldn’t be sharing it with me.”
Porsche scored its fourth GTP class victory of the season, and the first for Penske’s outfit since Nasr, Andlauer and Heinrich opened the season with wins at Daytona and Sebring. Of note, that trio did claim the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTP title with Porsche.
The win was the first in IMSA competition for Estre, while Campbell and Vanthoor both claim 14 victories. Campbell is a three-time winner at Motul Petit Le Mans, though this was his first overall.
“There are multiple reasons why we wanted to win this race,” reflected Vanthoor. “Our sights were set on that, and it was all or nothing. It was absolutely fun, and it feels good because we had a tough year in the No. 6 car, not what we hoped for. Results didn’t always reflect the good work we were doing behind the scenes, which nobody really saw besides the people in the team.
“This is a very nice way to end the season,” he smiled. “We ticked a lot of boxes for Porsche, for Penske, and for the three of us. For me, it was a dream to win in America. I dreamed of winning Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans, and that dream is achieved. It’s an incredible day.”
Van der Linde put heavy pressure on Vanthoor in the closing stages, and at one stage, Vanthoor struggled to maintain control of his sliding Porsche through the iconic Esses. But he held on and was able to eke out a small margin in the run to the flag.
“I came really close in Turn 1 once with about 20 minutes to go when (Vanthoor) got stuck in GT traffic,” van der Linde related. “I thought I got lucky there, but he saw me coming and closed the door at the very last minute. That was probably the best shot we had.
“Laurens made no mistakes, and took a lot of risk in traffic, which was needed for both of us to try and get this win today,” he added. “Hats off to him. It’s not every day that you see drivers taking so much risk while still keeping the cars on track, keeping it fair and safe.”
The variable conditions and end-of season championship pressure contributed to high attrition, with just six of 11 GTP competitors running at the finish.
