It is honestly difficult to wrap your head around: despite 21 wins at Daytona, 20 at Sebring, and 19 at Le Mans, Porsche had never taken a true overall top-class prototype victory at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. That historic drought ended in the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale as Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, and Matt Campbell guided the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 to glory in the 29th annual Motul Petit Le Mans.
That elusive crown jewel triumph did not come easy through a wild 10-hour endurance contest shaped by torrential weather, a record 16 full course cautions, and a 27-minute lightning stoppage. The factory Penske Porsches asserted control in the second half, though the sister No. 7 machine suffered a heavy crash with 90 minutes remaining while driven by Felipe Nasr, who shared the car with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich. Meanwhile, Nasr, Andlauer, and Heinrich still walked away with the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTP title.
The closing stages turned into an absolute thriller. Vanthoor wrestled the lead away from Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R with 49 minutes left on the clock, then had to fight off a ferocious charge from Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8. Vanthoor crossed the line just 1.205 seconds ahead of van der Linde, whose co-drivers were Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns. Right behind them, the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, and Colton Herta stole the final podium spot on the very last lap when Tom Blomqvist was forced to pit the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 for energy, dropping the entry shared with Colin Braun and Scott Dixon down to sixth.
While the No. 6 crew celebrated a stunning end to a tough year where results often masked their hard work, the championship battle had its own surreal moments. Jack Aitken secured the GTP driver's championship alongside co-drivers Bamber and Frederik Vesti simply by rolling off the grid in the No. 31 Cadillac. Aitken became the first solo champion in IMSA's top class since Jorg Bergmeister won the Daytona Prototype crown under GRAND-AM sanction. Cadillac also swept the team championship with the No. 31 outfit and claimed the manufacturer crown.
Over in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), CrowdStrike Racing by APR put on a masterclass in overcoming adversity. George Kurtz, Alex Quinn, and Toby Sowery piloted the No. 04 entry to a stunning class victory and the championship sweep despite an early drive-through penalty that put them a lap down, plus contact from their closest title rivals—Tom Dillmann in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 shared with Jeremy Clarke and Bijoy Garg—that forced a rear clip change. Sowery played the hero by gambling on slicks during a soaking wet track portion to recover the deficit, and Quinn fended off Dillmann at the finish by 0.666 seconds.
That gritty drive earned Kurtz his second IMSA Jim Trueman Award, granting him an automatic entry into the next 24 Hours of Le Mans as the top-ranked Bronze-rated LMP2 driver, alongside securing the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup LMP2 title over AO Racing. Out of 11 GTP starters, only six survived to the finish in a brutal war of attrition dictated by weather and championship stakes.
