Porsche works driver Laurin Heinrich will be able to run the full 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season after all.
Heinrich, who has split time this season in IMSA between Porsche Penske Motorsport for endurance races and JDC-Miller MotorSports for sprint rounds, looked set to miss the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on 28 June due to a prior engagement with Porsche customer team Schumacher CLRT at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
But yesterday, the CLRT team, managed by previous Le Mans class winner Côme Ledogar, announced a driver change for the upcoming Spa 24 Hours: Former Porsche factory driver Frédéric Makowiecki, now of the Alpine Endurance Team, will replace Heinrich in its #22 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
This will now make Heinrich available to drive for JDC-Miller MotorSports at Watkins Glen and compete in all nine rounds featuring the premier GTP class. The young German driver, who currently sits second in the GTP Drivers’ Championship with three victories, will partner Tijmen van der Helm and Kaylen Frederick in the Mustang Sampling-sponsored #5 Porsche 963.
On his Instagram story, Heinrich said in brief, “Wishing Schumacher CLRT all the best at this year’s Spa 24 Hours! Thanks for the support.”
In exchange, Makowiecki will join Matt Campbell and Ayhancan Güven at Spa on the same weekend.
Heinrich was originally slated to run just the three longest rounds of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup for Porsche Penske Motorsport. After winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring back-to-back, Heinrich added a partial campaign at Porsche GTP customer team JDC-Miller beginning at Long Beach.
Since leading JDC-Miller MotorSports to its fairy tale win at Laguna Seca, Heinrich has been confirmed as a new full-time driver for Porsche Penske Motorsport beginning in 2027.
Both drivers are in action this weekend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Makowiecki with Alpine, and Heinrich as one of many Porsche works drivers moonlighting in LMP2 – in his case, driving for CrowdStrike Racing by APR.
Images © Jack Webster / dailysportscar.com
