Campbell drives Porsche Penske to maiden IMSA win

Australia’s Matt Campbell has helped deliver a historic breakthrough IMSA win for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

Campbell and former Sauber Formula 1 driver Felipe Nasr teamed up to win at Road America which was the first IMSA success for Porsche and Penske since they joined forces at the start of this year.

The duo held off the Meyer Shank Racing Acura by just 4s after 80 laps and two hours and 40 minutes of intense racing around Road America.

With the pole-sitting Cadillac of Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims forced to start at the back due to a warm-up incident, the Australian and Brazilian put in a commanding drive in front of the biggest IMSA Road America crowd.

Campbell started in the #7 Porsche 963 and quickly established a 10s during a fine opening stint.

Nasr then took over for the run home and he managed to fend off a late challenge by Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist during his double stint to the chequered flag.

“Obviously, we got a little bit lucky with the No. 31 having an incident in the warm-up,” said Campbell, who claimed his third IMSA career victory at Road America and the first in a prototype. 

“I had such an incredible lack of traffic at the beginning and that’s why the gap got as big as it was at times.

“We’ve been fast on quite a few occasions, but luck has never been on our side. Today we just executed perfectly and it’s nice to get a win on the board after a tough year.”

“I’m just happy everything finally came together this weekend,” added Nasr. 

“We came close several times this year; the speed was always there, but we had a couple reliability issues, a couple mistakes, and some bad luck. 

“It’s a big relief for the whole team. I know how much work the No. 7 crew has put in, and it was about time, I would say.”

During a tense finale Blomqvist came within 1.7s of Nasr with eight minutes left, but his best was not enough to overhaul the Porsche.

“It was difficult to pass, but the car was working really well, and I was happy that the gap came down,” Blomqvist said. 

“I chipped away, but obviously they had that gap and were kind of controlling things. Traffic always ebbs and flows, and I guess he got through a little better at the end. 

“But it’s one thing getting close and passing is a completely different matter.”

IMSA returns to Virginia International Raceway on August 25-27, while the next Prototype race is not until September 15-17 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Photo by Jake Galstad / LAT Images

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