From Detroit to Spa to Le Mans, Heinrich is keen to keep the good times rolling

After winning at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, a few things have changed for Laurin Heinrich.

Next year, the fastest-rising Porsche factory driver will be racing full-time for Porsche Penske Motorsport. This weekend in Detroit, he’s the points leader in the IMSA GTP drivers’ championship, after winning three races for two different teams.

Weeks later, Heinrich is looking forward to his future with Porsche Penske, for whom he’s already won the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Twelve Hours of Sebring to open the 2026.

“Obviously, that was great news,” Heinrich tells RACER. “It was a great couple of results in that time of the year, already quite early. So that also gives me confidence, and a clear trajectory and pathway for what to focus on for next year. It’s always good when you know early what the future holds for you, so you can lay the bricks in your way.

“That was my ultimate goal, to be a (Porsche) factory driver, which I achieved this year. But then also to race full-season in the factory team, within the Porsche pyramid. I always try to achieve the highest position, the best program there is, and fight for the most important victories for the brand.”

Saturday’s race in Detroit will be Heinrich’s third start in the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 (pictured above) alongside Tijmen van der Helm. It’s been a few weeks since that famous, dramatic, last-lap victory at Laguna Seca which gave JDC-Miller its first win in the GTP era, and also gave Heinrich a 21-point lead over Cadillac Whelen’s Jack Aitken after four races.

But Heinrich is set to run this year’s 24 Hours of Spa instead of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on the weekend of June 28. Heinrich has unfinished business at Spa-Francorchamps, after being involved in a frightening accident during last year’s race. Still, it means that even if he retains the points lead after Detroit, he’ll have to hand it over after Watkins Glen.

“Everyone who knows the IMSA point system is aware that you cannot miss a race and win the championship,” concedes Heinrich. “That’s just mathematically not possible.”

It’s disappointing from the IMSA perspective, yet it’s also relieved a lot of pressure from the young German’s shoulders for the remaining three GTP races at Road America, Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. “It also relaxes me, because I can just take every race as it comes, start back from zero, and I think this is also the right approach,” he says.

Heinrich will also be making his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut next month, driving for CrowdStrike Racing by APR with Rolex 24 class winners George Kurtz and Alex Quinn in the LMP2 Pro/Am category.

“It’s not only going to be my first Le Mans, but also my first LMP2 race,” he notes. “In recent times, I’ve often been in this situation where I was in races or times in the car when I didn’t feel as prepared as I would have wished to be.

“Obviously, I’ve always coped quite well with this situation, and I feel like experiences like this, they’ve made me grow much more as a driver. I think Le Mans is going to be another experience like this, and I think, we have a great team around us, which is helping me a lot to catch up on the experience that I’m maybe missing in LMP2 and Le Mans.

“And I also have two great teammates, who have been successful in this race already. So I’m confident that we can score well.”