A dramatic late-restart collision between GTP contenders Kevin Estre and Jack Aitken in the closing minutes was the peak of Sunday’s chaotic Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix.
With just over 10 minutes remaining in the six-hour IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course, Estre, in the # 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, and Aitken, in the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, were locked in a fierce duel for second place. As the field charged into Turn 1 on the race’s final restart, the two continued to lean into each other to gain the upperhand, but heavy contact followed and sent both frontrunners sliding into the outer barriers, ending their days prematurely and freezing the order under a race-ending full-course caution.
The late-race melee cleared the path for Filipe Albuquerque to cruise to victory in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. Estre and Aitken were classified in eighth and ninth place in the GTP class, respectively.
However, the final race results remain unofficial. IMSA issued a statement confirming that officials are conducting a “comprehensive review” of the Turn 1 incident before finalizing the classification.
The crash also significantly reshuffled the podium behind Albuquerque. Laurin Heinrich, Aitken’s primary title rival, was promoted to second place in the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche. This promotion came after the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie received a post-race time penalty, equivalent to a drive-through, for incident responsibility with the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06. The resulting DNF provisionally slashes Aitken’s championship lead to 108 points with only two races remaining in the season.
Drivers sound off
Both drivers offered differing perspectives on the contact that derailed their strong runs.
Estre viewed the crash as a byproduct of intense, hard-nosed racing, refusing to place total blame on either side.
“A DNF for us in the last ten minutes of the race,” Estre shared via social media. “We were fighting for a podium. But on the restart, the 31 tried to do a move on the left side on the outside in Turn 1. He just had his nose here. I could have left a little more room. He could have backed off as well. I don’t think there’s 100 percent fault to give to anyone.
“But for sure there’s should-have, could-have, give a little room to the left. We had contact as soon as we hit the brakes and then we were both passengers and ended up in the barriers and that’s it.
“It’s sad because we did a great race until there. One thing is for sure is that we have to drive like maniacs to be in that position at the moment. That’s the way it is.”
Aitken was far more critical of the aggression levels on track, lamenting a missed opportunity to strengthen his championship standing.
“I think it’s a real shame because despite maybe not being quite where we wanted to be in terms of pace, the guys ran a really fantastic race and we managed to put ourselves in the fight for a win and a podium,” Aitken said.
“And I just think that the driving by some of the others around us was over the line. Like I said, it’s a shame because a lot of effort goes into these days and we could have had another good result to go on the back of a really strong year, but we’ll pick up the pieces, move on and crack on with the last two races.
“Obviously, fantastic that the 10 got the win and closed that out. Really happy for them. And we’ll come back stronger in Indianapolis.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
