IMSA is just trying to make an example

Team Penske President Jonathan Diuguid acknowledged that IMSA officials handed down a „harsh” penalty to Kevin Estre, but insists Porsche Penske Motorsport (PPM) understands expectations heading into this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Estre received a two-race probation following a late-race restart collision with Whelen Cadillac’s Jack Aitken while battling for second at Road America. Ahead of the previous GTD-only round at Virginia International Raceway, IMSA Race Director Beaux Barfield issued a stern warning, cautioning that officials would not hesitate to park the Porsche factory driver mid-race if he is involved in another on-track incident.

Speaking during a recent media roundtable ahead of the penultimate round – and final sprint race – of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, Diuguid addressed whether the sanction felt overly severe given Estre’s clean record leading up to the incident.

“We’ve been involved in the active discussions with IMSA throughout the entire process,” Diuguid said. “I think the one thing is, speaking with Kevin, Kevin’s a Porsche factory driver and a PPM driver and is extremely experienced. but he’s also a fierce competitor. And I think in all these cases, the one thing we all have to remember is, through the course of the entire season, Kevin hasn’t been involved in any incident responsibilities, or any other penalty, for that matter, until the incident we had at the end of Road America. So it’s not like it’s a track record of issues and things like that.

“Is the penalty harsh? Yes, it’s harsh. I think, to a certain degree, IMSA is just trying to make an example, which is their right to do. But again, we’re in the racing business, and our focus is to control what we can control and it’s IMSA’s responsibility to manage the championship, and they have some goals there too as well. The facts are that the PPM cars have raced extremely clean throughout the season. And an incident was made that was a significant one that none of us wanted to happen, and it obviously impacted Kevin and his driving crew in the #6 car, too, as well, and we made some decisions on the back of it.

“I don’t think it was targeted at Porsche, targeted at Kevin, or targeted at anybody specifically. I think it’s a prerogative that IMSA has, and they want to deliver a message. We’ve been in open communication with them, and that communication’s gonna continue on site with IMSA in Indy and with Beaux and others. We understand the expectation, we understand how to move forward, and that’s what our focus is gonna be.”

The squad has restructured its driver lineup for this weekend’s event on the IMSA road course, drafting Laurin Heinrich into the factory squad to replace Laurens Vanthoor alongside Estre in the #6 Porsche 963. Heinrich currently stands as the highest-ranked Porsche driver in the standings, trailing title leader Aitken by 118 points.

With Barfield previously emphasizing that Estre is on an “extremely short leash” that includes a mid-race suspension firmly on the table for future infractions, placing Porsche’s top title contender in the same car presents a calculated variable.

Diuguid, however, dismissed concerns that pairing Heinrich with a probation-bound driver jeopardizes the team’s championship pursuit.

“No, I don’t think so,” Diuguid said. “I think, like we mentioned before, Kevin’s extremely professional, and understands and evaluates every situation he’s in. It’s something that we considered, but I don’t think it’s, I don’t think it’s negative in any scenario.”