Last-lap heroics from Heinrich bring JDC-Miller Laguna Seca victory

In the biggest upset of the current IMSA GTP era, Porsche privateer JDC-Miller MotorSports scored a dramatic, last-lap victory in the Monterey SportsCar Championship as Porsche factory ace Laurin Heinrich and co-driver Tijmen van der Helm scored the team’s first win since 2021.

Heinrich heaped pressure on Cadillac Whelen’s Earl Bamber in the last five minutes of the race, as the two leaders weaved through dense GT traffic, and even made light contact which caused a tire rub on the red No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R.

On the last lap, Heinrich drew alongside Bamber at Turn 3, completing the pass out of Turn 4 to take the win for top-level prototype racing’s sole surviving true privateer, running a year-old Porsche 963. It’s Heinrich’s third Laguna Seca win in three attempts, and gives him the GTP drivers’ championship lead on the strength of his results for both JDC-Miller and Porsche Penske Motorsport.

The No. 31 Cadillac of Bamber and Jack Aitken came home second by 0.758s. Aitken took the lead 25 minutes into the race after stalking polesitter Louis Delètraz in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac for the opening laps, then swooping around the outside of the Andretti Hairpin to take the lead.

The No. 31 crew called a winning strategy and controlled most of the race, but Bamber fell just a lap short of clinching Cadillac Whelen’s first win of the season.

Rounding out the GTP podium was the No. 25 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng and Marco Wittman with its first podium of the year in third, just ahead of the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 (Tom Blomqvist/Colin Braun), who netted fourth after a late-race strategy gamble and a splash-and-go to the finish.

Ford Racing played fuel tactics perfectly to propel the Mustang GT3 Evo of Frédéric Vervisch and Christopher Mies to victory. Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

GTD Pro was a race of fuel mileage at the very end, but by back timing its final stop perfectly, the No. 65 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 Evo of Frédéric Vervisch and Christopher Mies took the win, the first of the year for the factory Ford squad.

They won a classic Ford-vs-Corvette duel as the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg finished second, 1.2 seconds adrift of the winning Ford.

AO Racing’s winning streak at Laguna Seca ended, but Nick Tandy and Harry King still managed to hang onto third in the No. 77 "Sketchy" Porsche 911 GT3 R, after their fuel mileage gamble late in the race fell a few laps short of paying off.

Tandy held off the No. 3 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R (Antonio García/Alexander Sims) by 0.4s at the finish.

A final overcut brought the WTR Lamborghini the GTD win. Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Wayne Taylor Racing’s poor fortune in GTP may continue for another round, but the No. 45 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 of Danny Formal and Trent Hindman salvaged a great win in GTD.

The Lambo was the only car that could keep up with early leader Lorenzo Patrese in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, but Conquest’s challenge for the win fell to the wayside due to an engine failure.

Overcutting on the final round of pit stops worked for Hindman, who remained ahead of the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 as he exited the pits, holding onto the class win.

The Aston Martin of Eduardo Barrichello and Tom Gamble finished second, followed by the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari (Brendon Iribe/Frederik Schandorff) in third, narrowly fighting off the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche (Adam Adelson/Callum Ilott) for the last podium position.

IMSA returns in four weeks for the 100-minute street race at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on Saturday, May 30.

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