Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet’s #6 Porsche Penske made a late race overtake on Jack Aitken’s #31 Cadillac, who went off the circuit trying to avoid traffic.
The margins were incredibly tight during qualifying, the circuit evolving as lap times got quicker with no room for error. With dust and dirt either side of the white lines, the Laguna Seca circuit proves difficult to negotiate with, and certainly difficult to overtake at.
Sebastien Bourdais was able to maintain his lead after qualifying in pole position, extending the lead to over 20 seconds just under an hour into the race. The #01 Cadillac was looking to be on course for a dominant victory early on. However, after a Safety Car bunched the field together and closed the pit lane due to debris, Bourdais’ lead of the race would be relinquished to the #31 Whelen Cadillac driven by Jack Aitken who had already made a pit stop.
The #7 Porsche of Felipe Nasr would be the cause of this Safety Car after being hit by the Lexus #12 GTD driven by Frankie Montecalvo. The Porsche needed to make an extra pit stop after debris spilled from the rear of the car.
The Acuras would begin the race with some difficulty, the #10 Acura would be shown the black flag for incorrect tyre pressures and would be forced to make a pit stop. Moments later, the #40 Acura team would be given an official warning for power related issues.
Confusion between the #31 Whelen Cadillac and #6 Porsche would occur, as the pair swapped places under the Safety Car. The #6 Porsche would restart the race, but immediately ran wide at Turn 2, ceasing the lead back to the Cadillac of Jack Aitken. Soon after, the #01 Cadillac of Renger Van Der Zande would pass the #6 Porsche of Nick Tandy at the corkscrew and began chasing after the leading Cadillac.
The BMW’s endured a tough first half of the race, the #24 of Philipp Eng had managed to remain inside the podium places, but after the Safety Car period lost some ground to the Acura #40 and Porsche #6 who would battle for fourth and fifth at the halfway stage of the race. The sister BMW #25 driven by Nick Yelloly would not fare much better, being caught in a spin at the halfway mark and running off into the gravel to lose even more time after a slow pit stop.
Eventually, the BMW #24 would lose a chunk of the rear wing, running off the circuit in the same place as the #25 earlier on in the race and continuing a difficult race for BMW after such promising qualifying pace.
In the GTD Pro class, both Cadillac’s #3 and #4 would dominate the race in the early stages, the pair separated by just a couple of seconds before the Safety Car. However, after the Safety Car period reshuffled the order, strategies would be split amongst the field with fuel and tyres. The #4 Corvette’s final planned stop would release them into third place, as the #3 driven by Alexander Sims had lost around ten seconds of race time.
The lead of the GTD Pro class would be inherited by Laurin Heinrich aboard the #77 Porsche, the Porsche led the race in the final hour, as the McLaren #9 managed to take second place from the #4 Corvette in the pit stops.
Nick Tandy would stay out longer before making his final pit stop, extending the lead for the #6 Porsche team, who managed to jump ahead of the #01 Cadillac. Eventually, with the leading #31 Cadillac hitting heavy traffic, the gap between the pair would come down to just half a second with 30 minutes remaining.
The #27 Aston Martin GTD would be spun around and put into the gravel on the exit of Turn 2, a hit from Gianmaria Bruni’s #5 Porsche who was attempting to put the #85 Porsche of Richard Westbrook under pressure.
GTD Traffic would eventually punish the leading #31 Cadillac of Jack Aitken, as the brit attempted to get around a small gaggle of cars on the exit of Turn 6 and being forced to run off and into the gravel, giving the lead to the #6 Porsche of Nick Tandy. Moments later, the battle between the #01 Cadillac of Van Der Zande and the #40 Acura of Jordan Taylor would rear its’ head, the pair rubbing down the front straight, with Taylor coming out on top, managing to get around the outside of the Cadillac, which was struggling for grip
The battle between those cars would eventually lead to the #25 BMW of Nick Yelloly and #10 Acura of Filipe Albuquerque catching the pair of them with just five minutes remaining. Both the BMW and Acura facing strife earlier in the race, with both cars managing to recover before the end of the race.
There would be late race drama for the #557 BMW of Robby Foley, who was sent wide at Turn 4 by Jordan Taylor’s #40 Acura. Foley off the circuit, the #57 Mercedes driven by Philip Ellis managed to take the lead of GTD with just a few minutes remaining in the race.
Nick Tandy would drive the Porsche Penske #6 across the line to take a dramatic victory in the Course de Monterey at Laguna Seca, around ten seconds in front of Jack Aitken’s #31 Whelen Cadillac, who lost the lead of the race during the closing stages of the race. Felipe Nasr’s #7 Porsche Penske 963 would make it a double Porsche podium for third.
Jordan Taylor’s #40 Acura would recover from an early setback to fourth, making an overtake late in the race on the #01 Cadillac who finished fifth after dominating the race early on. Filipe Albuquerque #10 Acura would overtake the #25 BMW of Nick Yelloly in the closing stages as well to take sixth and seventh respectively.
Richard Westbrook would finish in a lonely eighth for the #85 Porsche team, as the #24 BMW of Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn ended a disappointing day of racing, after leading practice earlier this weekend. Gianmaria Bruni’s #5 Porsche would round out the GTP field.
GTD Pro would be won by Laurin Heinrich’s #77 Porsche after overtaking both the #3 and #4 Corvette’s during the safety car period. The #9 McLaren of Marvin Kirchh Fer would finish second, as the polesitting #4 Corvette would finish in the final podium spot.
Ben Barnicoat’s #14 Lexus would finish fourth in GTD Pro, with Alexander Sims coming home for fifth in the #3 Corvette. GTD would be won by the #57 Mercedes of Philip Ellis, a late overtake on the BMW #557 of Robby Foley would secure the victory for Ellis. Elliott Skeer’s #120 Porsche would round out the podium positions for GTD.
