Porsche Penske drivers check off key milestones with Petit Le Mans win

The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport crew's Petit Le Mans win was deeply emotional for everyone involved.

From a team perspective, it was Penske's maiden win at the event and brought the PPM team back to victory lane for the first time since Sebring. But it also marked several important personal milestones for the three victorious drivers: Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell, and Laurens Vanthoor.

Off the bat, it was a first win at Petit for all three of them, but the stats run deeper. Estre had never won an IMSA race before, Ford Racing-bound Campbell enjoyed a fairy-tale end to his Porsche story, and Vanthoor, who will split Porsche duties with a new role in the McLaren Hypercar program next year, ticked off another key endurance win off his bucket list.

"It means a lot, definitely. I'm starting to get old. Finally, it's good to get this first victory!" Estre said post-race.

"I've come close many times, actually, in this race, and it never happened. But this one was a really hard one. We fought very hard with many, many competitors during the race. We had a lot of setbacks, including some unfortunate penalties at the beginning.

"Strategy didn't go the right way. The yellows came at the wrong spot, everything. It was really tough to get back up to the front when we were at the back of the field. It was tough for us to pass.

"We knew we had a good car in clean air, but it was difficult to pass. Finally, we were in the mix toward the end, but the car wasn't really in one piece. Laurens had an amazing stint at the end though; he was the man of the race.

"I'm really glad to clinch the victory with these two guys in our final race together, probably."

Campbell described his time behind the wheel as "the awkward middle part of the race", saving fuel and tires and navigating the red flag for lightning close to the circuit.

But it ultimately set up Vanthoor for a strong finish amid a chaotic race for the GTP class. Only six cars finished, and Penske's sister No. 7 car, which was gunning for a 'Triple Crown' of Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans victories in a single season, crashed out.

Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

"I think this is a very nice way to end the season," Vanthoor commented. "We ticked off a lot of boxes for Porsche, for Penske, the three of us. For me, it was a dream of mine to win in America.

"With Kevin and Matt, we've had our success together, won more championship races, finished second in Le Mans. As Kevin said, this is probably our last race together for now. To end it in style is pretty sweet."

Vanthoor was under immense pressure in the closing stages, finishing just 1.2 seconds ahead of the No. 24 WRT BMW of Sheldon van der Linde, which, through traffic, ran nose-to-tail with him in the final hour but couldn't quite sneak by.

"The car felt all right. Obviously it had a bit of a beating," he admitted. "At the end of the race it was a bit interesting because we had to save fuel, and it was also tight to go one lap further. At one point they were asking me to save fuel, try to reduce the pace, and keep the BMW behind. That was a bit much.

"But the car was good. We were very strong in sector two. Our weakness was a bit on the straights. That's why we always had to make our strategy work and be aggressive on the restarts because that was our only chance we had to overtake."

On the other side of the coin, BMW Team WRT's No. 24 trio leave Georgia wondering what could have been. Dries Vanthoor, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde settled for second, and came achingly close to claiming two race wins in a row to finish off WRT's first season as BMW's GTP service provider.

Van der Linde appeared most frustrated, explaining in the post-race conference that he felt his M Hybrid V8 didn't quite have the pace at the end to make a race-winning pass.

Still, the BMW GTP operation heads into the offseason with plenty of positives to focus on. The program ran on an upward trajectory throughout the campaign and looks ready to challenge for a title in its sophomore season.

"I came really close into Turn 1 once with about 20 minutes to go," the South African explained. "I was very far back. Obviously, Laurens didn't see me coming because I was two seconds behind. He got stuck in GT traffic in the last corner. I thought I got lucky there. He saw me coming at the very last minute and closed the door. That's probably the best shot we had in the last half an hour.

"It's bittersweet, to be honest. I feel like we've come really close to some really good highlights this year and dreams of mine that I've had since I was a kid. If we look at the trend from last year, how much we've improved, that's something to take with us. We can be disappointed with second today. Coming that close is never a great feeling.

"I'm just proud of the team. We finished second in Le Mans this year by 10 seconds, now second in Petit Le Mans (by 1.2 seconds). I'm hoping we can carry this momentum into Daytona next year and fight for the championship. That's clearly our goal. It was our goal this year, as well. But it was a learning year for us. Next year I'm pretty sure we'll be fighting for something very, very good."