Driver loan sets up Porsche 963 rivalry in Long Beach

Julien Andlauer will go from sharing a race seat to potentially trading paint with Laurin Heinrich at this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The two drivers, along with Felipe Nasr, shared driving duties in Porsche Penske Motorsport’s (PPM) #7 Porsche 963 that was victorious in the opening two rounds – Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – to start the 2026 campaign in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. With the schedule shifting from the endurance rounds to the first sprint race of year that limits two drivers per car, Heinrich was, more or less, loaned out to privateer JDC-Miller MotorSports and will co-drive the #5 Porsche 963 alongside Tijmen van der Heim.

Race winners Felipe Nasr, Laurin Heinrich and Julien Andlauer, Porsche Penske Motorsport

Photo by: Getty Images

Although the situation could deliver some complexities related to the overall championship standings, Andlauer is looking at the positives.

“It’s going to be more of a fun scenario,” said Andlauer, 26. “We talked about it recently and it’s great for him to get more track time in the car, even though he doesn’t need it because he’s already flying.

“I think it is going to be cool to have another Porsche fighting maybe a bit more up front. Yeah, I don’t know what to think on the other hand; hopefully it’s not going to be too quick on the other car! And don’t take our points. But no, I have to say it’s cool for it. It’s gonna be great for him just to be even better for the end of the season together with us for the last round.”

Not only will it be interesting to see how Heinrich gets on as he navigates the historic 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit for the first time in his career, but doing so with a Porsche 963 without this year’s Evo updates.

As a factory outfit, PPM moved forward with the latest aero updates, while JDC-Miller Motorsports opted to stick with the 2025 specifications due to cost. In some ways that could become favorable for him as the latest Balance of Performance (BoP) hit PPM harder than JDC-Miller MotorSports.

#5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963: Tijmen van der Helm, Nico Pino, Kaylen Frederick

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images

Following a dominant victory at Sebring where PPM led all but 60 of 343 laps, IMSA handed the factory squad a weight increase of 45 kg for an unprecedented total of 1,100 kg, along with a 5.4 percent reduction in first stage power and 2.9 percent for the second stage. Meanwhile, JDC-Miller MotorSports was given a different BoP, adding just an additional 5 kg to total 1,060 kg; and were hit with a 1.7 percent first stage reduction and 1.1 percent for the second stage.

Team Penske President Jonathan Diuguid, who also calls strategy on PPM’s #6 entry, believes JDC-Miller MotorSports could be a threat.

“JDC has been very competitive at racetracks over the years with the 963,” Diuguid said. “I don’t count them out at all. Laurin is a strong talent.

“I’ll give that group a very good benchmark to set up their car around and he comes with experience from working with our team for three races now between Bahrain at the end of last year (in the FIA World Endurance Championship) and then Daytona and Sebring and he knows how the car should feel. He tested the previous spec bodywork a couple times towards the end of last year so he understands the differences there also.

“I only view it as for the Porsche group as a whole to have somebody like Laurin in the car giving feedback to the group.”

Photos from Long Beach – Friday