IMSA News: Heinrich’s Last-Lap Pass Gives JDC-Miller Porsche Dramatic Monterey Victory
MONTEREY, Calif. — In one of the biggest upsets of the current IMSA GTP era, Laurin Heinrich pulled off a thrilling last-lap pass to deliver JDC-Miller MotorSports its first victory since 2021 in Sunday’s StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
Driving the No. 5 Porsche 963, Heinrich dove inside Earl Bamber’s No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R into Turn 5 on the final lap of the 2-hour, 40-minute race. The move sealed the overall and GTP-class win by just 0.758 seconds in what became a classic fuel-and-strategy battle on IMSA’s “Throwback” weekend.
Heinrich shared the drive with Tijmen van der Helm. For JDC-Miller — the last true privateer squad still competing in prototypes — it marked the team’s first win since the 2021 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (with a Cadillac DPi-V.R.). The car ran in a Mustang Sampling livery, echoing that earlier triumph. It was also Heinrich’s third GTP victory of the season and his third straight win at Laguna Seca (the previous two coming in GTD PRO with AO Racing). Van der Helm scored his first career IMSA victory.
The No. 31 Cadillac Whelen entry of Bamber and Jack Aitken finished second after controlling much of the race. Aitken had taken the lead early, passing polesitter Louis Delétraz around the outside of the Andretti Hairpin. Bamber held the advantage through the final stops but came up just short on the last lap amid heavy GT traffic. Light contact between the two leaders earlier in the closing stages caused minor tire rub on the Cadillac.
Rounding out the GTP podium was the No. 25 BMW M Team WRT of Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann in third — their first podium of the season. Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun brought the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 home fourth after a late splash-and-go gamble dropped them back but still netted a solid result.
Strategy and fuel mileage dictated the race in all classes during the shortest IMSA event of the season. Multiple class leaders ran critically low on fuel and virtual energy in the closing stages, forcing late stops that reshuffled the order.
GTD PRO: Ford Racing Scores First Win of 2026
In GTD PRO, the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3 of Frédéric Vervisch and Christopher Mies took the victory — Ford Racing’s first of the year. The duo timed their final stop perfectly and held off a charging Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R by 1.2 seconds in a tense Ford-versus-Corvette duel to the checkered flag.
AO Racing’s Nick Tandy and Harry King finished third in the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R despite their own fuel-mileage gamble falling just short. They held off the No. 3 Corvette of Antonio García and Alexander Sims by four-tenths of a second.
GTD: Wayne Taylor Racing Salvages the Win
Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 45 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 of Trent Hindman and Danny Formal took the GTD class victory. Hindman executed a successful overcut on the final round of stops and stayed ahead of the field after the leaders ahead of him pitted late.
The No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin (Eduardo Barrichello/Tom Gamble) finished second, while the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari of Brendon Iribe and Frederik Schandorff took third after a late-race scrap with the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
Early GTD leader Lorenzo Patrese in the Conquest Racing Ferrari fell out with an engine failure, handing the class battle to the surviving contenders.
Heinrich now leads the GTP Drivers’ Championship thanks to his strong results across both JDC-Miller and Porsche Penske Motorsport entries.
IMSA returns to action in four weeks for the 100-minute Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix street race on Saturday, May 30.