BRASELTON, Ga. — Laurin Heinrich knows his chances of winning the driver championship in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are slim – after all, he faces a 147-point deficit to Jack Aitken.
But Heinrich vowed to fight to the end, and to that effect, his weekend at the season-closing Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta couldn’t have gotten off to a better start as he rejoins the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 crew with Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr this race.
Andlauer flew to the fastest time in the first two of three 90-minute practice sessions Thursday at the traditional venue for the IMSA season finale.
Saturday’s 10-hour season closer will crown champions in all four of the WeatherTech Championship classes – GTP, Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD).
Andlauer moved to the top of the timing screens in the closing stages in the Thursday afternoon session, which was staged in sunny and humid conditions. His 1 minute, 10.639-second (129.446 miles per hour) tour of the 2.54-mile road course narrowly beat Laurens Vanthoor, who clocked 1:10.683 (129.366 mph) in PPM’s No. 6 Porsche 963 he shares with Kevin Estre and Matt Campbell.
BMW M Team WRT’s pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s were third and fourth fastest in Practice 2, with Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 24 coming within 0.088 seconds of Andlauer’s benchmark time.
Van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns are in the No. 24 BMW this race, with the first two coming into Michelin Raceway on a high note after a win at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
To aid Heinrich’s championship bid, Vanthoor sat out the Brickyard round but returns fully poised in his desire to add a Motul Petit Le Mans win to his résumé. Heinrich, who it’s fair to call international sports car racing’s breakout star of 2026, has mounted his unlikely championship campaign in three different Porsches – the No. 6 and 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport factory cars, and the privately-run No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports entry.
Defending Motul Petit Le Mans winner Aitken again shares the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R fielded by Cadillac Whelen with Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti. Aitken was fourth fastest in the morning session, while Vesti guided the car to ninth in the afternoon, 0.956 seconds off the leading Porsche’s pace.
“Even if we win the race, we are still depending on outside factors which are not in my control, which means the No. 31 has to finish ninth or lower,” said Heinrich, who was the youngest driver in IMSA history to win a pro class championship when he claimed the GTD PRO crown with AO Racing in 2024.
“Winning Petit Le Mans overall is one of my career goals, and this race can be so chaotic. So, you never know. The championship would be a tremendous result, especially considering it’s my first year in GTP.”
Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian’s entries paced the field in the opening 90-minute session, with Nick Yelloly clocking 1:11.506 (127.877 mph) in the No. 93 ahead of Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 by just 0.003 of a second.
The team focused on reacclimating IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup drivers Alex Palou (who joins Yelloly and Renger van der Zande in the No. 93) and Scott Dixon (with Blomqvist and Colin Braun in the No. 60) who have not competed in an IMSA race since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
Dixon and Palou own a collective 11 IndyCar Series championships, with Palou clinching his fourth straight last month.
“Obviously, someone at Scott’s level doesn’t need a lot of time in the car,” said Braun. “But these cars are so complicated, with all the systems and switches, and any time behind the wheel is helpful.”
“I’m still looking for my first win with Acura,” added Palou during media interviews between Practices 1 and 2. “I’m excited to go back out this afternoon when the track is warmer and more realistic to me, because it is more similar to when I will be driving on Saturday.”
The No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 led both sessions in LMP2. Bronze-rated Jeremy Clarke was listed as fastest in the first session with teammate Tom Dillmann fastest in the second, with a 1:12.628 lap (125.901 mph) best of the day. Bijoy Garg, a past Motul Petit Le Mans class winner, is that car’s third driver.
Although Bronze-rated drivers opened the second full-field session with an extra 15 minutes reserved exclusively for them, it resulted in disappointment for the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA as it nosed into the Turn 5 tires. That cost that car its fastest qualifying lap for causing a red flag.
Thomas Preining, who could wrap up his second consecutive Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) championship next weekend at Hockenheim, also caused a red flag during the Friday afternoon practice when the No. 911 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) stopped on course. Preining is sharing the GTD PRO class car with Klaus Bachler and Mathieu Jaminet, who is back at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on the anniversary of winning the 2025 GTP championship for Porsche Penske Motorsport with Campbell.
Daniel Serra led all GTD PRO competitors in No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, which like the Manthey Porsche, runs exclusively in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Serra’s best effort in the car he shares with Ferrari factory drivers Davide Rigon and Alessandro Pier Guidi was 1:19.271 (115.530 mph).
A pair of GTD class entries were slightly quicker by the end of the Thursday afternoon session. Aaron Telitz (No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing) was the only driver to break 1:19, stopping the clocks in 1:18.930 (115.849 mph) in the last outing for the Lexus RC F GT3; he shares this car with Benjamin Pedersen and Frankie Montecalvo. Next up was Lorenzo Patrese (co-drivers Albert Costa and Alec Udell) in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO at 1:19.122 (115.568 mph).
