After just three races behind the wheel of a Porsche 963, Laurin Heinrich has racked up consecutive ‘Triple Crown’ victories at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring for the Porsche Penske Motorsport factory team.
Riding that wave of momentum, it seemed unfair that he’d potentially have to wait until Motul Petit Le Mans in October to be back behind the wheel of a factory 963. But thanks to a mid-season agreement with Porsche customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports, Heinrich’s first full season of prototype racing has been fortified into something much more substantial.
“I was planning to be just the endurance driver for three races in the 963, which obviously leaves me with very little track time in a prototype,” Heinrich said to DSC. “But then the JDC thing came up, which is, for me, a great opportunity to gain more track time, work with a new team, and also drive the 963 on the IMSA circuit. And also, experience Long Beach for the first time, which I’ve never driven before.
“At the same time, I also truly believe the team can profit from me being there; obviously, I have some experience racing for the factory team. Hopefully I can bring some interesting insights.
“I think it’s a very mutual share of benefits, I would call it, and I’m really thankful for JDC and Porsche to give me this chance.”
The first race for Heinrich at JDC-Miller MotorSports is the compressed two-day weekend at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, where he’ll work with Managing Partner John Church, co-driver Tijmen van der Helm, and the rest of the Minnesota-based organisation for the first time.
“It’s very different, to come from a factory programme into a customer team. Obviously there’s less people that you are working with, which can also make things easier: You can address things maybe a bit more direct. At the same time, maybe there’s a little less capacity if time is short.
“But I’ve enjoyed meeting the team for the first time. A lot of new names, new faces… but it’s great to get to work now. I think it’s one of the hardest tests, to join a new team for this weekend, because it’s such a compact weekend,” he admitted.
Heinrich’s addition paid immediate dividends for Porsche’s sole remaining customer prototype squad. To kick off the Long Beach meeting, Heinrich posted the fastest time in the first practice session, and followed it up with another strong outing in the second practice session as he unlocked more of the car’s performance potential.
It’s his first time racing at Long Beach, though Heinrich is no street racing newcomer. In his GTD Pro title-winning 2024 campaign for AO Racing, he won on his IMSA street race debut at Detroit. Last November, he was third in the FIA GT World Cup at Macau. He prepared for this weekend’s race primarily in a simulator, and enjoys the unique challenges that Long Beach brings.
“I would say Long Beach is more of a race track than Detroit; there’s more grip, the track is generally wider, you also have some herbs also on the apexes, which makes it a little bit easier for new drivers to get up to speed. You’re not constantly millimeters away from the wall, like you are at Detroit. So it’s something that I really enjoyed.”
Some circumstances will work against JDC-Miller in today’s race. Van der Helm qualified tenth out of 11 GTP cars, leaving him and Heinrich with a tough fight to climb their way up the running order at a course where overtaking comes at a premium.
And yet, this could be the best chance that JDC-Miller MotorSports has had to win an IMSA race since it won the 2021 Twelve Hours of Sebring, back in the DPi era with Cadillac. The Mustang Sampling 963, running in 2025-spec homologation, isn’t subject to the same Balance of Performance parameters as the factory cars from Porsche Penske. On paper, that should be a benefit.
But more importantly, adding a driver of Heinrich’s calibre should drive JDC-Miller MotorSports forward, and ensure that any big result at Long Beach can be turned into more sustainable results throughout the rest of the season.
“Obviously, we are competing to win – anything other than that would be wrong. But we have to be realistic,” Heinrich says. “The field is extremely tight, especially on a short circuit like here, so in the end, execution matters. We only have a single pit stop here, and it all comes down to that. Because passing, especially in prototypes in a street circuit, is pretty difficult.
“But I’m confident in the team, I’m confident we will do a good job. And in the end, we will also try to build a strong basis for the upcoming races.”
Now with appearances at Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Detroit, and Indianapolis added, Heinrich has seven IMSA races on his slate for 2026 – plus his European Le Mans Series campaign with High Class Racing, select GT World Challenge Asia events for Origine Motorsport, and a confirmed Nürburgring 24 Hour drive for Lionspeed GP.
In addition, plans are being put together for Heinrich to drive a Porsche 963 at Road America during the six-hour Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix. He’d then only miss Watkins Glen, owing to outstanding commitments to Porsche in the form of a likely run at the 24 Hours of Spa.
“I know that people have said a lot of different things, but let’s see,” Heinrich said of a potential run at Road America. “I’m looking forward to keeping myself busy – that’s always my goal.
“I love to race, doesn’t matter if it’s a 963 or GT3 R, as long as it has a Porsche badge on it, I’m up for it. And the more experience that I can make, the better of a racing driver I will become.”
Images © Porsche, IMSA
