Nasr, Estre Highlight Porsche Penske Historic Liveries; Vesti Enjoying Road America Debut
By HOLLY CAIN
IMSA Wire Service
ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. – Count Porsche Penske Motorsport driver Felipe Nasr as a strong “yes” when it came to making the annual IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event at historic Road America an IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup race format rather than the two-hour, 40-minute sprint that it has been for more than a decade.
Sunday’s six-hour Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix (11:40 a.m. ET, Peacock and IMSA Official YouTube channel) marks IMSA’s return to endurance racing at the track (Road America’s sports car endurance history video is below via the IMSA Official YouTube channel) and will feature a robust 54-car field.
The change from the traditional sprint length to a longer test for the field has been met with positive reaction from the pit lane to the grandstands dotted around the 4.048-mile road course.
Nasr is particularly fond of the adjustment considering his successful track record at Road America in recent years. He won overall in 2021 driving a Cadillac DPi-V.R, won again in the first revived Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) race with Porsche Penske in 2023 and finished runner-up to his Penske teammates in in 2024. He’ll share the No. 7 Porsche 963 this weekend with Julien Andlauer, one of two Porsche Penskes adorned in historic liveries. More on that in a moment.
Why is the 33-year-old Brazilian so good here?
“Because I love this track, honestly, since the very first time I came here in 2018, I said, ‘this is it,’ this is one of my favorite tracks,” Nasr said smiling. “Because it has a little bit of everything. High speed, medium speed, elevation changes, corners that challenge you and now you add a six-hour race on top of all this. This will be a first for all of us.
“I really like the swap they did,” Nasr added, noting the shift from Indianapolis to Elkhart Lake for this endurance event. “I think this place, racing-wise, always brings great action because it has the right amount of degradation. To run in traffic here is probably one of the hardest when it comes to sector two of the lap – you have the Carousel and The Kink but also the difference in speeds in that section is high. You can either gain a lot or lose a lot.
“I love the combination of this track and a six-hour race.”
Estre Driving for Win as Porsche Runs Tribute Liveries
As accomplished as Kevin Estre’s career has been, it’s almost amazing to realize he’s still contending for his first overall WeatherTech Championship victory. But the 37-year-old French driver likes his chances this weekend at Road America.
Estre and his Porsche Penske Motorsport teammate Laurens Vanthoor are steering the No. 6 Porsche that won here with different drivers in 2024 (Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy) and this week will feature a special livery that pays tribute to the 1973 Can-Am car that the late sports car legend Mark Donohue drove to a dominant win in the 200-mile race here. Estre has also created a special helmet for the weekend.
“Really happy to have this livery, especially for me, it’s been a long time with Porsche and the Sunoco car has been on my mind since I started watching endurance racing a long time ago and it’s been a lot of history books,” Estre said. “I’ve seen it in the museum. Almost drove it at Goodwood. It has a lot of history with Penske and a great story. I hope we can do well.
“For sure, for us on car-six, it’s been a while since we won a race although we’ve been close on some occasions earlier in the year (best result of second in Sebring),” he added. “But we have not had the performance or luck on our side. This would be a great time to come back with a victory Sunday night, especially with the special livery we have for the weekend.
“We are really ready to score some big points on the weekend and to do it at this iconic track at one of the long races would be great.”
The Penske team’s sister No. 7 car will carry a yellow livery reminiscent of the Porsche RS Spyder that claimed overall victory here in 2007.
Nasr added of his livery, “I love the colors. It fits so well with Porsche, Penske and its history. They studied it. The fans love it. The drivers love it. Everyone within IMSA can come and see the car closely.”
From F1 to IMSA: Vesti Makes Road America Debut
Only a week ago in Budapest, Danish driver Frederik Vesti ran first practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix in his key role as reserve driver with the FIA Formula 1 World Championship-leading Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team. This week Vesti again returns to the WeatherTech Championship where he will drive for a trophy, sharing the championship-leading No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R here in Elkhart Lake.
The 24-year-old Vesti first turned wheels at the iconic 4.048-mile Wisconsin circuit in a test a few weeks ago, and he noted returning to this region of the United States has been special. He’s one of more than 40 drivers making his first Road America IMSA start this week.
“I’ve heard lots of good things about Road America speaking with my team and was quite looking forward to coming here,” said Vesti, who shares the cockpit with championship leader Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber in IMSA endurance races.
“It reminds me why I love racing in America because it’s on par with [Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta] Atlanta, Watkins Glen [N.Y.]; these old-school tracks that really make you feel alive. You have to take a lot of commitment around the track; lots of risk to be fast but that’s what we love as race car drivers. There is a very small margin for mistakes and it’s something I enjoy.”
With a high volume of laps turned both in testing for and then at IMSA’s five longest races, in some respects, Vesti has been more fully integrated to the team in his second year as the team’s third driver.
The team has finished on podium in all three Michelin Endurance Cup races to date. The No. 31 car finished runner-up in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, then third at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring before capturing the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen last month.
“It’s great to be back with the No. 31, every race is a privilege.”
BMW M Motorsport, Pfaff Motorsports also Run Special Liveries
Two other cars have special one-off liveries for this weekend which made their on-track debuts on Friday.
BMW M Motorsport has unveiled a special Spider-Man: Brand New Day livery for Road America. Additionally, BMW M Motorsport created Spider-Man: Brand New Day inspired racing suits for a full 360 integration.
Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor share the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8. Vanthoor, then co-driving with Philipp Eng, won here last year with BMW as the manufacturer ran with another team.
Pfaff Motorsports’ No. 9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 also takes on another new livery for the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix. Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell share the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class entry.
There’s a number of returning and/or new drivers too added to the official entry list. Robert Wickens, notably, is set for his first Michelin Endurance Cup start since the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona as a late fill-in for Salih Yoluc in DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Joey Hand is back in action in the No. 66 Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3 after an injury kept him out of Watkins Glen. RS1 brings in Devlin DeFrancesco and Ryan Yardley alongside Jan Heylen to its No. 28 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). And Intersport Racing adds Dutch debutant Max van der Snel to its No. 37 ORECA LMP2 07 for that team’s return after missing the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The second practice is slated for Saturday morning for 9:50 a.m. CT and local time (10:50 a.m. ET) followed by WeatherTech Championship qualifying at 3:25 p.m. CT. Qualifying coverage streams on Peacock and IMSA’s Official YouTube channel.