Porsche Penske’s Mathieu Jaminet Tops IMSA Sebring Test Day 2 as Valkyrie Struggles With Mechanical Issues

After 10 hours of relentless running at Sebring International Raceway, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Mathieu Jaminet stole the show by setting the quickest time during Day 2 of IMSA’s sanctioned test.

The Frenchman clocked a 1m48.465s in the No.6 Porsche 963, leading the first session of the day. Meanwhile, Daytona 24 Hours winner Nick Tandy placed third in the No.7 Penske Porsche, just behind Tom Blomqvist in the No.60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06, who slotted into second.

In the afternoon session, Scott Dixon took over the leaderboard, putting down a 1m49.057s lap in the No.60 Acura, edging out Matt Campbell’s No.6 Porsche by a razor-thin 0.003 seconds. Earl Bamber rounded out the top three in the No.31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R.

Jaminet later reasserted his dominance in the two-hour night session, leading Blomqvist and Jack Aitken’s No.31 Cadillac to close out the day.

Aston Martin’s THOR Valkyrie Faces Early Setbacks

All eyes were on the much-anticipated No.23 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie, especially after its updated exhaust system debut. But instead of wowing the paddock, the hypercar struggled with a mechanical issue, missing most of the morning session. Alex Riberas salvaged some data, completing 82 laps with a best time of 1m51.319s in the afternoon—far off the pace of the frontrunners.

The No.25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 had an impressive endurance test, logging a field-leading 231 laps over three sessions.

LMP2: Inter Europol & TDS Racing Trade Blows

In LMP2, Inter Europol Competition’s No.43 ORECA 07 was the fastest of the day, thanks to Bijoy Garg, who laid down a 1m50.065 in the afternoon session. His teammate, Tom Dillmann, led the morning session with a 1m50.293s, while the 69-year-old Jon Field proved age is just a number, finishing within one second of his younger teammates.

At night, Hunter McElrea took the spotlight in TDS Racing’s No.11 ORECA, pacing the session as teams dialed in setups for the upcoming season.

🚨 Crash Report:
🔴 The No.18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2, driven by David Heinemeier Hansson, suffered a crash in the morning session, bringing out a red flag. The damage kept the team sidelined for the remainder of the morning and most of the afternoon session.

GTD & GTD PRO: Ferrari, Mercedes, and BMW Shine

🔥 The GT categories saw a rotating cast of leaders, with three different cars topping sessions in GTD:

Morning: Jan Heylen (No.34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3) – 2m01.206s
Afternoon: Mike Skeen (No.021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari) – 2m01.011s
Night: Maximilian Götz (No.32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG GT3) – 2m00.867s

📈 GTD PRO was all about BMW:
The No.48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO dominated all three sessions, with Jesse Krohn putting down the best time (2m02.237s) in the afternoon. Seb Priaulx’s No.64 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 was just a tenth of a second behind.