At a glance
- Heinrich joins Estre with championship hopes still alive
- Nico Müller returns to JDC-Miller MotorSports for Indianapolis round
- Indianapolis is a sprint race for the first time in several years
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. The Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team returns to Indianapolis with fond memories. In the 2023 season – the first year of competition for the successful Porsche 963 – the team secured a one-two finish at the “Brickyard.” Following a string of lackluster results, the team is aiming to return to the podium with its two hybrid prototypes from Weissach.
Kévin Estre and Laurin Heinrich share the No. 6 Porsche 963 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Frenchman currently holds seventh place in the Driver Championship standings. Former Porsche Junior Heinrich, from Germany, is currently second in the standings. He returns to the factory program for the first time since Sebring to maximize his chances in the title bid.
Currently in fourth place, No. 7 teammates Felipe Nasr (Brazil) and Julien Andlauer (France) still have a theoretical chance of winning the title. The Daytona and Sebring winners have, along with the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963, helped Porsche to stand in second place in the Manufacturer Championship.
Porsche factory driver Nico Müller from Switzerland returns to IMSA competition for the event. The Formula E regular joins the No. 5 customer entry alongside Tijmen van der Helm.
In the GT classes, AO Racing and Wright Motorsports will represent Porsche in the GTD Pro and GTD classes, respectively. AO Racing drivers Harry King and Nick Tandy are fourth in the class standings, but just 67 points behind the championship leaders with two races remaining.
GT4 and Carrera Cup return to Indianapolis
In addition to the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, Porsche will be represented in both Michelin Pilot Challenge and Porsche Carrera Cup North America. Two customer racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports are on the grid – a full season entry from Unitronic JDC-Miller MotorSports and a return to the grid for Andretti Performance and drivers Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves.
Porsche Carrera Cup North America will run a pair of 40-minute races at Indianapolis. Tyler Maxson of TOPP Racing leads the championship standings over Aaron Jeansonne of Kellymoss with three rounds, six races, remaining.
More information and links
All sessions at Indianapolis: The schedule [PDF]
All results and overall standings: Alkamelsystems
75 Years of Porsche Motorsport: The history of #Raceborn
Indianapolis statistics: The race in numbers
All Porsche teams at Indianapolis
GTP (Porsche 963):
JDC-Miller MotorSports #5: Tijmen van der Helm (NDL) / Nico Müller (SUI)
Porsche Penske Motorsport #6: Kévin Estre (FRA) / Laurin Heinrich (GER)
Porsche Penske Motorsport #7: Julien Andlauer (FRA) / Felipe Nasr (BRA)
GTD Pro (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
AO Racing #77: Harry King (GBR) / Nick Tandy (GBR)
GTD (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
Wright Motorsports #120: Adam Adelson (USA) / Callum Ilott (GBR)
Driver quotes ahead of the race weekend
Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 963 #6): “I’m really looking forward to returning to the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team. Together, we won the two classic races at Daytona and Sebring earlier this year. We want to build on that success. This will be my first time racing with the No. 6 car. I’ve known Kévin Estre for a very long time, but we’ve never shared a car before. I’m really looking forward to working with him and hope that this will improve my chances of winning the IMSA driver’s championship.”
Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “It would be fantastic to bring Porsche Penske Motorsport a victory in Indianapolis. It’s such a unique track with so much history behind it. Being a sprint race, extracting the most out of the package in every session is very important. It’s a total team effort. Everyone back at the shop, the engineers, the whole crew, we’ll all push to get our No. 7 Porsche 963 back in victory lane."
Nico Müller (Porsche 963 #5): “I’m really excited to finally be back behind the wheel of the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963. I already worked with the crew last year at Sebring and Indianapolis. The customer team has made great strides and has recently been making waves. We want to keep this momentum going.”
