Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet drove a faultless race at Virginia International Raceway to take Porsche Penske's second consecutive GTP win and the championship lead.
Virginia International Raceway is a natural terrain circuit where the GTP prototypes spend half the lap in committed high speed corners and the other half managing the rear tyres through the slow esses. The balance between outright pace and tyre preservation is the defining technical challenge, and the Porsche 963 was the car best suited to it across both stints.
Campbell and Jaminet converted pole into a controlled victory, leading the majority of the race and only surrendering the top spot through the pit cycle. The win was the team's second in succession after Road America, and it moved the pairing to third in the drivers standings while promoting the sister car of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani to the points lead.
Nasr and Derani finished second to complete a Porsche Penske one two, a result that hands the manufacturer a commanding position in the teams championship with only Petit Le Mans remaining. The Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque took the final podium place, keeping the title fight mathematically alive but now trailing by a meaningful margin.
The BMW M Team RLL entry of Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler finished fourth, hampered by a drive through for a pit lane infringement that erased a strong second stint. The Cadillac of Dane Cameron and Tristan Vautier rounded out the top five for Ganassi.
The 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship standings after VIR show Nasr and Derani leading the GTP drivers classification on 3138 points, 16 clear of Taylor and Albuquerque on 3122, with Campbell and Jaminet third on 3031. Porsche Penske leads the teams championship on 6169. One round remains at Road Atlanta, and the title will be decided across ten hours of Petit Le Mans.
The next round is Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, scheduled for 8, 11 Oct. It is the finale of the season and a ten hour endurance test that can swing the championship through reliability as much as pace. How the points leaders manage the longest race of the year will decide whether the margin holds or one final twist remains.