MOTUL-BACKED PFAFF IS 2022 IMSA GTD PRO CHAMPION

Pfaff Motorsports has been crowned the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship winners in the GTD Pro class after achieving third place at the season finale at Motul Petit Le Mans. The number nine Driveway Porsche 911 GT3 R secured five victories throughout the season, as well as three more podiums, for the clean sweep of drivers’, teams, and manufacturer championships.

Drivers Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet raced for the full season and were joined by Felipe Nasr for the Motul Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta last weekend. He previously competed with the Canadian team at the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. At Road Atlanta the team battled hard to secure a podium finish after overcoming contact with another car in the night, cementing its place in the standings by the end of the race.

The championship marks another feather in Pfaff’s motorsport cap. Since joining the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2019, the team has won the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as winning the 2021 WeatherTech Championship GTD champions. The team has also won the 2018 GT World Challenge America championship and is a three-time Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada champion.

Australian racing driver, Matt Campbell, said: “It was a short celebration on the pit stand with the team, thanking everyone for a couple minutes or so, and then it was back to business. We knew going into the race we weren’t changing our approach that we’ve had all year and that’s really proved to be our strength. It was really nice to get across the start line, take the green flag and the championship and then it was 10 hours to go, so it was a long way.”

French driver, Mathieu Jaminet, added: “The race was crazy from start to finish. I think we were missing a little bit of pace today. We made it happen, and it’s exciting for the win at the end, and it was great having this fuel-saving machine next to me (Campbell). It helped close the gap and put us in position to maybe come out in front and win the race. In the end, we had some crazy battles, and it could’ve been any of four cars, with many different contacts and cars pushing each other off. We gave it our all, but in the end for us and for the championship, it would have been nice with a win. We’ll still take the result and are happy to be here tonight.”

Brazilian driver, Felipe Nasr, added: “It feels amazing to be here once again. It was a big task for me this year to jump into the GTD Pro class after so many years of prototype racing, and not having the GT background. I had to learn a lot of new things again, but I just want to say a big thanks to these two guys for being great teammates, showing me the way, being patient at times. I don’t think I disappointed too much. It’s just great to see two guys of such a caliber having such a successful year and finishing the year on a high with another the podium. I can only say thanks to these guys, and it’s been great to be together this season.”

Motul and Pfaff have enjoyed a fruitful partnership that has seen the team enjoy considerable success. To find out why Motul lubricants make the difference, we spoke to Steve Bortolotti, general manager of Pfaff Motorsports.

This is everything in endurance racing. In order to finish first, first you must finish, and 300V ensures engine reliability is never something we have to be concerned about!

Motul 300V allows us to have increased performance in our engines, but also maintain reliability. Our engine performance is unchanged from the first start-up after a rebuild, to the final lap of its final race – always running to its best potential. 

Our partnership with Motul has been a game changer. We love working together on marketing efforts, and we love proving to our fans, customers and staff members that we believe in the product so much so that we use it in our Plaid Porsche. Motul 300V has truly allowed us to make more horsepower (dyno proven!), which helps us to win races. RBF700 gives our drivers the braking performance they need to ensure they can place the car exactly where they want it at corner entry, and the confidence to race hard at the end of a 24-hour race with the same fluid. All this to say, we couldn’t be happier with the partnership, but we also couldn’t be prouder to stand behind their products!