Redemption at Road Atlanta: Kevin Estre breaks IMSA victory curse in thrilling Petit Le Mans finish

Kevin Estre had built a career of near-misses in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Going into the weekend, the Frenchman held 11 career podiums without a single victory – including five in GT competition alongside six podiums (three of which were runner-up finishes) in 12 top-class starts. On Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, that long-standing streak finally came to an end in his 32nd career series start, as Estre, alongside co-drivers Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell, steered the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 to a landmark overall victory in the Motul Petit Le Mans.

For Estre, the victory brought an overwhelming sense of relief after years of coming so close.

“It means a lot, definitely, I am starting to get old,” said Estre, who has three previous class runner-up results in Petit Le Mans, including overall in 2024. “Finally it is good to get this first victory.

“Yeah, I've come close many times actually in this race and never happened. But this one was a really hard one. We fought very hard with many, many competitors during the race. A lot of setbacks with some unfortunate penalties at the beginning. “Strategy didn't go the right way. The yellow came at the wrong spot, everything. It was really tough to get back up to the front when we were on the back of the field. It was tough for us to pass.

“We knew we had a good car in clean air, but (it was) difficult to pass. Yeah, finally we were in the mix towards the end with the car which was not really in one piece, but somewhere there (smiling). Laurens made an amazing, amazing double stint towards the end with some incredible passing, no mistakes.

“Yeah, it was really, really good, really nice to watch. So thank you, Laurens, man of the race.

“Again, Matt, always super precise, no mistakes. He's there. He saved fuel, saved tires. Yeah, tire whisperer as the engineers are saying.

“Really glad to clinch the victory with these two guys in our final race together probably. We are parting ways a bit next year. Yeah, very glad about that.”

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images

The victory marked Porsche’s second overall Petit Le Mans triumph – and its first with a prototype, following Richard Lietz, Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet’s famous victory in a GTLM class factory Porsche 911 RSR during the rain-shortened 2015 event. For Team Penske, it represented their first outright win in the ten-hour enduro after three previous LMP2 class wins with the Porsche RS Spyder from 2006-08. The win also completed a sweep for Porsche Penske Motorsport in North America’s triple crown of endurance racing – having captured overall wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and Petit Le Mans in the same season, split across its two factory GTP entries.

Estre’s long-awaited triumph comes at the end of a dramatic, high-tension season. The lowest point came at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, where Estre, Vanthoor, and Campbell dominated in the #6 Porsche 963 until the closing stages. In the run to the finish line, teammate Felipe Nasr in the sister #7 Porsche 963 appeared to disobey team orders, passing Estre to claim victory in a tense 1-2 finish for Penske. A visibly frustrated Estre made his displeasure clear by calling out his teammate during a tense post-race press conference.

Subsequent Balance of Performance (BoP) adjustments stalled Porsche’s early-season momentum. While Estre secured a podium in the next outing at Long Beach, his troubles deepened at Road America. A late-race restart collision with Whelen Cadillac’s Jack Aitken while trying to defend second place resulted in IMSA placing Estre on probation for the remainder of the season. Race Director Beaux Barfield placed the driver on a "short leash," expressing willingness to suspend or park Estre mid-race if further incidents occurred.

The pressure remained high heading into Petit Le Mans, underlined by a hold-your-breath moment during night practice when Estre made contact with an LMP2 entry. Race Control ultimately deemed the close call insufficient to sit him out, clearing the way for his race-day performance.

Saturday's 10-hour spectacle was a grueling affair marked by a record-breaking 16 full-course cautions and a 30-minute red flag caused by local lightning. Nearly half of the race was spent either behind the safety car or halted in the pit lane. Over 368 laps on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course, the No. 6 crew had to fight back from early adversity, strategy missteps, and penalties before emerging victorious.

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell, #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, Laurin Heinrich

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images

Reflecting back on the emotional arc from his heartbreak at Sebring through his period on probation, the 37-year-old Frenchman acknowledged the mental strain of driving under scrutiny while fighting for wins.

“Sebring was very tough, that's for sure," Estre said. "We wanted the victory there and we didn't get it. P2 was good for the team, but that's not what the #6 wanted. I think it's been enough written about it.

“But yeah, the year has been tough. Definitely after this probation on me for the last two races, it was difficult to handle, to be honest, in the car, especially this race, having so much traffic, so much risk to take. Sometimes you have to take risks. You cannot just sit and wait for the next corner.

“It was not easy as a mindset. I'm glad the team had my back there. I'm glad that I took the right decision at the right time.

“I'm definitely very happy that this probation is gone and that I start from scratch next year in Daytona, try to stay clean, of course.

“But we had to take a lot of risks to pass people the whole year, to be honest. At least since Sebring. It's a lot on us as drivers, which puts the race director in a weird or difficult position, which I understand. But it was definitely not easy from time to time on us, on drivers, because we have a fast car. To pass you need to be in that position. We were always a bit on the back foot there.”

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