Porsche Penske eyes up IMSA title-clinching scenarios

Heading into this weekend's Motul SportsCar Grand Prix at Road America, Porsche Penske Motorsport is almost a lock to win back-to-back sets of IMSA GTP championships.

After four wins in a row to start the season, the two factory Porsche 963s are separated from each other by only 12 points – but then, it's another 250 points to the next car in the drivers' and teams' championships.

Not unlike the dominance that McLaren has displayed this Formula 1 season, any tension in this championship will have to come from intra-team battling, but Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr are looking forward to it over the final three races of their season.

"I think that it'll definitely be coming down to the wire at Petit (Le Mans)," said Campbell, who leads the GTP standings alongside co-driver Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Porsche 963. "Hopefully we can go into Petit, maybe with a little points gap over third, and we can just fight between the two cars, and try and bring it home.

"The main thing is to try and bring the championship for the team and the manufacturer as well. That's on our mind. Obviously, it's still a couple of races away, but for sure, it's always starting to edge on your mind now."

Campbell and Jaminet have the experience of winning a championship in IMSA: Three years ago, they won the first GTD PRO class titles for Pfaff Motorsports.

"I'm always up for a good clean battle," said defending GTP champion Nasr, who's in the No. 7 Porsche alongside Nick Tandy. "It's good that the team is in the position right now, that both cars are one and two in the championship.

"Most important, of course, is the team and manufacturer championships. We want to keep stretching the gap to the other competitors, that's priority number one for us."

"We had our bad break there in Watkins (Glen), unfortunately. But car No. 7 has been strong all year long. We had three wins in a row in the beginning of the year, have been consistent ever since. Looking at the bright side, we know we had a bit of a gap to play with. That gap is gone, but there's still all to play for."

"Three good races to the end, great race tracks, there's still some endurance races to go as well, which is always fun in this championship. I'm looking forward to it!"

Acura's recent roll threatens Porsche's hopes of a clean championship sweep. Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Only the manufacturers' championship is at risk – Acura is only 90 points behind Porsche, following back-to-back wins at Detroit and Watkins Glen. But it would take a catastrophic turn of events for Porsche Penske's two crews to not finish 1-2 in the drivers' and teams' standings.

Porsche's LMDh factory director, Urs Kuratle, has no intention of implementing team orders to determine which of the two cars would win the championship as long as the points battle is as close as it is now, and trusts his drivers to fight cleanly. "We all love racing. We love to have good, close races," he said. "And the teams are close. Hopefully the two Porsche 963s in Petit Le Mans get all the championships.

"It should be close, and it has to be close also, for the fans and for the sport. Is it a challenge? No. I mean, that's the famous speech before the race to all the drivers – every team is doing the same thing, I believe. We don't want to see any contact in between two Porsches, etc.

"But we have very professional drivers and pit crews as well, and that will be handled in the correct way, as it has been last year and this year on many occasions as well. I don't see an extra challenge in this one. To be fair, as long as a Porsche wins, we are happy."

"Team orders are always an ugly thing. Sometimes it makes sense to tell the drivers that the team colleague at the back is faster and for the time being, he should let them overtake. Most of the teams find themselves in that situation. But there's no need yet. I mean, if it's deciding the championship between the No. 6 and No. 7 in the last lap in Road Atlanta, as long as there is no contact in between the cars, we don't have a problem with it."