SALINAS, Calif., (May 13, 2024) – Saturday afternoon at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, AO Racing earned a monumental achievement: their first win in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Rexy, the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 Rawr, driven by Sebastian Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich drove to victory in the GTD PRO class, unofficially becoming the championship points leaders.
“I’m thrilled for AO Racing and Rexy’s first win today at WeatherTech Raceway,” said Motorsports Director Gunnar Jeannette. “Both Laurin and Seb did a fantastic job and our Porsche GT3R ran flawlessly. All our team has been working so hard and it’s great to see the effort paying off.”
The fan-favorite T-Rex Porsche showed strong speeds all weekend, topping the charts in the opening practice session. Priaulx started the MOTUL Course De Monterey from fifth place, taking care of the tires and keeping the Porsche in the position to stay out of trouble and be in contention in the end. Once he completed his drive time, he pitted, passing the driving duties over to Heinrich. The race played into the team’s hands when a full course caution came out shortly after the pit stop. When the majority of the field pitted under caution, Rexy moved up to third place, behind the McLaren of Oliver Jarvis and Corvette of Tommy Milner.
With less than 90 minutes remaining, the AO Racing Porsche swept past the Corvette, and then the McLaren to take the lead. Heinrich stayed in the lead for the remainder of the race and built up a nine-second gap by the time Rexy stomped across the finish line. The big race win not only was the team’s first professional victory, but also the first IMSA WeatherTech victory for drivers Priaulx and Heinrich.
The team will ride their GTD PRO points lead into the Detroit Grand Prix, May 30 to June 1st, the fourth of ten rounds in the 2024 championship.
DRIVER QUOTES
Sebastian Priaulx
What a race. I thought we had a great car. Laurin made sure we finished off nice. I kept the car clean for him to do the job and he did really well. I can’t thank AO Racing enough and Porsche Motorsport as well. It was a great day today.
Laurin Heinrich
It was great to not only get my first win in IMSA, but Rexy and AO’s first win. The GTD PRO class has such hot competition with many factory-supported teams. To get a win at Laguna Seca in just our third race is a great start to the season. We’re just getting started. It’s an amazing feeling and I’m grateful for all the work the team put in.
