With two hours remaining in the race and the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 led the 27th annual Motul Petit Le Mans and had unofficially clinched the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) championship.
Matt Campbell was behind the wheel of the No. 7 after eight hours of nearly nonstop racing at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and held a 9.870-second lead over Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.
NBC Sports’ live coverage of the 10-hour endurance race continues through the dramatic finish shortly after 10 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock.
The No. 7 Porsche came into today’s race needing to finish ninth or better to wrap up the GTP season title. With two GTP cars retiring by the halfway mark, that finish was guaranteed to bring the No. 7 the team championship and full-season co-pilots Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr the drivers’ title.
Other class leaders at the eight-hour mark were the No. 74 Riley ORECA LMP2 07 in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD).
The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, along with drivers Russell Ward and Philip Ellis, earlier locked up the GTD team and driver championships, leaving the LMP2 and GTD PRO crowns to be decided as the race finishes.
In LMP2, three combatants – the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, No. 74 Riley ORECA and No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA – were all still in the running for the season championship and the race win.
The GTD PRO title tilt may come down to the final laps between the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. The No. 77 Porsche led in points heading into the race, but early gearbox issues dropped the car laps down in 11th place. If that holds, the No. 23 can overtake the No. 77 by finishing first or second in the race.
After seeing racing interrupted by three full-course cautions in the first 90 minutes, the race on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway circuit saw just one yellow period over the next six-plus hours. It allowed for a myriad of strategies that included seeing seven different GTP cars take the overall lead at one point or another.
In addition to being the final race of the season, the Motul Petit Le Mans is the last of five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events. With endurance points awarded after eight hours, the No. 7 Penske Porsche clinched the GTP endurance title to go along with its season championship. The No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA locked up the LMP2 endurance title, as did the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 in GTD PRO.
The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes held a one-point Michelin Endurance Cup lead over the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in GTD.
IMSA Wire Service PR