As Motorsport.com reports, Laurens Vanthoor fended off fierce rivals on a late restart to deliver a landmark triumph for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The Belgian driver, sharing the #6 Porsche 963 with Kevin Estre and Matt Campbell, had to master a frantic 10-minute sprint to the finish against BMW M Team WRT's Sheldon van der Linde. Vanthoor crossed the line 1.205s ahead to clinch the victory on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile natural terrain road course. It was a massive breakthrough, marking the very first time Porsche has claimed a top-class overall win at the Braselton, Georgia-based circuit, following a previous GT class victory back in 2015.
Behind the thrilling battle for the win, the podium order was decided in dramatic fashion. Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing's Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor and Colton Herta inherited the final spot on the podium after Acura Meyer Shank Racing's Tom Blomqvist was forced into the pits just as the white flag waved.
Meanwhile, the LMP2 class saw an incredible recovery drive. Alex Quinn, driving for Crowdstrike Racing by APR alongside George Kurtz and Toby Sowery, bounced back from an earlier clash that required a rear clip replacement to take the class win. Quinn finished directly ahead of Tom Dillmann from Inter Europol Competition, the very driver he had tangled with earlier in the race.
Further down the field, the supporting classes delivered intense battles of their own. Car Blanche secured the win in GTD Pro, while Winward Racing clinched their third consecutive GTD title in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a victory in the GTD category.
The race itself was an absolute war of attrition, matching a record 16 cautions as incidents unfolded across all classes. Through chaotic restarts, pit stop cycles, and multiple penalties handed out by Race Control, the race boiled down to that final 10-minute dash. Vanthoor kept his head when it mattered most, denying van der Linde and etching Porsche's name into the record books at Road Atlanta.
