IMSA: Winners and losers from Laguna Seca

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Porsche got the win again in the latest round of the IMSA Sportscar Championship, but they didn’t cruise to it. Not this time.

Dries Vanthoor and the No. 24 BMW turned up the heat and forced Porsche to dig deep, especially in those final laps. Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet held their ground and extended Porsche’s win streak, but make no mistake — BMW made them earn every inch of it.

Porsche Penske Motorsport still holds the championship lead, but BMW showed they’re not just knocking on the door — they’re ready to kick it down. If they keep executing like this, the championship battle could get very interesting.

There were plenty of storylines to chew on from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: some surprises, some disappointments, and a few teams making some serious noise.

Winner: BMW M Team RLL

This one’s obvious. Vanthoor and Eng were electric all weekend. The No. 24 BMW looked like it was on rails, pushing Porsche to the edge in the final stint. It’s kind of wild how different this car looked compared to its sister car, the No. 25 — like they were running two completely different programs. Vanthoor’s final stint was an all-out attack, and even when he went off at the last corner, the 25 was so far back it felt like a different race. BMW has found something here, and it’s working.

“I think P3 was almost the maximum we could have achieved today,' said Vanthoor after the race.

'The Porsches were again strong but we had a good race, the team did a great job. We did the best we could. That I was pushed off in the last corner was unfortunate. It was a racing incident, even though I think it was unnecessary.

'We still have work to do but having had two podiums in two races is a very nice achievement, but we just want more after the qualifying achievements and win a race.'

Vanthoor masterclass at Laguna Seca puts pressure on Porsche

It was another Porsche 1-2 at Laguna Seca, but Dries Vanthoor put huge pressure on Nick Tandy, with a final corner clash ending in Tandy’s favour.

Only EnduranceJames Jackson

Loser: Aston Martin THOR Team

We all want the Valkyrie to work. That V12 sound, the aggressive design — it has all the ingredients of a fan favourite. But right now, the performance just isn’t there.

Still very much in the growing pains stage, Aston Martin had another tough weekend. A blown tire derailed any chance of a comeback, but truthfully, the pace wasn’t where it needed to be even before that.

'In general, it was a progressing weekend at Laguna Seca,' said Aston's Ross Gunn. “We suffered a puncture when we were running within 20 seconds of the leaders after forty five minutes of the race. Then from there it was just about bringing it home to the finish and we did that.

'It’s been a positive weekend in terms of the steps that we’ve made and now how we managed to get closer to the midfield of the class. It’s very encouraging. We’ll take everything that we learned this weekend to Detroit in three weeks time.”

Encouraging? Sure. But they’ve still got a mountain to climb.

Winner: AO Racing

With “Rexy” parked for a break, “Roxy” picked up right where he left off. AO Racing’s momentum from Sebring and Long Beach carried straight into Laguna Seca, where Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler absolutely delivered. This wasn’t going to be a debate — Heinrich told me after Sebring how much he loved Laguna Seca, where he scored his first IMSA win. You could feel the confidence coming, and it showed.

'Fuel is always a concern in IMSA,” said Heinrich.

'I think the team do their math pretty well and they knew what they were doing when pitting that early. You know, we did a similar strategy last year, as it all works pretty well.

'So this year was not copy-paste, you know, also with the energy consumption; not only fuel but also the energy which came in this year, to exchange a bit.

'They did an amazing job. They just kept me updated, they told me what to do it and, yeah, I just had to follow the numbers in the dash and then and do it. So, you know, again, I have to say that the team is incredible how they keep us drivers posted, and they'll tell us what to do. They really do an amazing job to make us focus on the things which really matter.'

This team’s locked in right now, and with this win, they unofficially snatch the championship lead. AO Racing isn’t sneaking up on anyone anymore.

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Only EndurancePhil Oakley

Loser: Ford Multimatic Motorsports

This weekend was just rough. Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies couldn’t find the pace, and their sister car with Sebastian Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller fared even worse. Priaulx was honest going into the weekend — Laguna Seca isn’t his favourite — but no one expected both cars to be this far off the mark. For a team leading the championship, this was a major step backwards.

Winner: Vasser Sullivan Racing

Jack Hawksworth and Parker Thompson are quietly building a case as real contenders. They started P7 and clawed their way to second, beating faster cars and smarter strategies along the way. This Lexus team may not be flashy, but they’re tough, and that counts in IMSA.

“Mega race for us. We qualified further back than we would have liked, but Parker (Thompson) just ripped the start and took it from sixth to first, which really put us in a position to fight and run up front the whole race. We had to go slightly off strategy at the beginning, but in many ways it worked out for us because Parker was able to jump to the lead and put some good laps in. 

“The Mercedes were quicker than us and were able to catch up, but then the final 10 laps we did what we could to stay there in case anything happened. To get second, full credit to this Lexus Vasser Sullivan team. They gave us a great race car. It’s always a tricky track for us so to escape here with a second we are really happy with that. Hats off to the team, Parker - really everyone, just a mega day.”

They haven’t hit victory lane yet, but the signs are there. Winward Racing should be paying close attention.

Loser: Heart of Racing

Two cars, two disappointments. It’s rare to see both Heart of Racing entries on the loser list, but that’s how their Sunday went. A technical infringement saw them get shuffled to the back of the grid to start and a mid-race crash set the tone, and from there, they couldn’t recover the track position they lost. It’s been a promising season overall, but this was a weekend to forget.

'It was a bit of a challenging weekend,' said Casper Stevenson. “We had a great qualifying, but a very tiny thing and there we were put in the back of the field. It was always going to be hearts to come through the field but we had a great strategy.

'We had contact with the Porsche. It’s been great to share a car with Darren [Turner]. I’ve learned a lot, but it's still tough after such a good opening two rounds.'

Laguna Seca gave us a little bit of everything — drama, surprises, and a clearer picture of who’s really in the fight. Some teams walked away with momentum, others with more questions than answers. But one thing’s certain: if this weekend was any indication, the 2025 IMSA season is far from settled — and as we head toward Detroit, the intensity is only going to ramp up.

Winner: Porsche Penske Motorsport

In IMSA competition, Porsche are on a roll at the moment. Four races, four wins, and the championship lead. Okay, yes, they haven't taken any pole positions this year, but it's what happens in the race that counts.

That said, unlike at Long Beach where Porsche could, relatively, cruise to the finish with pace in hand, BMW pushed them hard at Laguna Seca.

'Our first win of the season at last!,' said Mathieu Jaminet, who won the race alongside Matt Campbell in the #6 Porsche 963.

'We were involved in an incident early on, so I didn’t expect such a fantastic result. But a perfect team strategy got us to the front. It was a close battle to the end, even with our sister car. We managed to bring it home. Now I’m really looking forward to the race in Detroit.'

Loser: Cadillac and Acura

While BMW and Porsche have been taking poles and wins this year, Cadillac and Acura seem to be struggling.

At least partially, this could be down to Balance of Performance currently not falling their way. Another part of it could be Wayne Taylor Racing adapting to the Cadillac, after two years with the Acura ARX-06. And Meyer Shank Racing spent a year away and have returned for 2025 to run a new-look Acura programme, but likely still have some catching up to do. As we know, things move fast in IMSA.

But that can't be all of it. Each of the five cars campaigned by the manufacturers, three Cadillacs and two Acuras, were at least a lap down at the finish, if not more. That simply can't all be Balance of Performance-related issues. Can it?

'I think with fifth place we maximized everything that we could,' said Nick Yelloly, who along with Renger van der Zande drove the #93 Meyer Shank Acura to a fifth place finish.

'It’s clear that we don’t have the pace that we need at the moment to fight with the other manufacturers, but as a team we can be super happy that we are performing and executing well.

'We always can improve from a car balance point of view – we have a test in a few weeks and hopefully we can get the Acura sorted even more and be a bit closer to them in the next event in Detroit. From memory Acura won it last year so I think we should have a good base to roll out fast and then try and get back on that podium.'