Porsche has finally added an overall Petit Le Mans victory to its already enormous endurance racing CV, with the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 taking the honours at Road Atlanta. Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Australian Matt Campbell survived a chaotic 10 hour race to take the chequered flag just 1.205 seconds (!) ahead of the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns.
It was Porsche’s first overall victory at Petit Le Mans with a prototype, despite the manufacturer having already amassed an extraordinary record at the world’s major endurance races. Porsche has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona 21 times, the 12 Hours of Sebring 20 times and the 24 Hours of Le Mans 19 times. The company had previously won Petit Le Mans overall in 2015, but that came with a Porsche 911 RSR competing in the GT Le Mans class. This time there was no weather related technicality or class advantage involved – the Porsche 963 simply won the race outright from the top prototype category. And it had to work for it.
The 2026 edition was heavily disrupted by changing weather, with rain arriving at various stages of the race and a total of 16 full-course cautions, and a 27 minute stoppage for lightning that added another layer of uncertainty to an already difficult endurance race. Porsche’s No. 6 entry gradually moved into contention during the second half of the race, while its sister No. 7 car was also running strongly. That second car’s challenge ended with around 90 minutes remaining, however, when Felipe Nasr crashed heavily while sharing the Porsche with Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich.
For Kevin Estre, the victory was particularly significant. The Petit Le Mans result was his first win in IMSA competition. As for Campbell, it was his third Petit Le Mans class victory, but his first overall win at the event. It also provided a particularly fitting ending to his time with the Porsche Penske Motorsport driving crew, with the Australian having shared the No. 6 with Vanthoor and Estre.
“I dreamed of winning Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans, and that dream is achieved,” Vanthoor said after the race. This Petit Le Mans win therefore arrived at exactly the right time, giving Porsche and Penske a major result at the final race of the season. After years of success across Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans, the manufacturer can finally add an overall Petit Le Mans victory with a prototype to the list.
