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JDC-Miller MotorSports Finished the Grand Prix of Long Beach in the 6th Position

Katie Church on April 19, 2026

SAVAGE, Minn. (April 19, 2026). The JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 5 Porsche GTP team took the checkered flag in 6th place at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, culminating a very strong weekend. 

It was the first race with JDC-Miller MotorSports for Laurin Heinrich, who is on loan to the team from Porsche Motorsport. Heinrich is undefeated this year in IMSA, with victories in his two previous starts, including the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He will be with the team for all the sprint races on the schedule.

The team unloaded a very strong Porsche 963 and put the IMSA WeatherTech Championship paddock on notice that they would be contenders this weekend when Laurin Heinrich set the fastest time in Practice 1. They were also strong in Practice 2, however, Tijmen van der Helm experienced tire pressure issues in qualifying, which led to a 10th-place starting position. 

At the start of the race, an early caution prompted a quick strategy call, pitting the car on lap 5 to complete its mandatory driver change and get an energy fill. The team’s confidence in the car’s pace paid off as Heinrich quickly worked through traffic on the notoriously difficult-to-pass Long Beach circuit. By lap 13, he had worked his way through the field and was back in 10th. By lap 29, he moved into 6th and held it for the remainder of the race. In his charge forward, Heinrich set the fastest lap of the race on lap 7, a 1:12.918, the only driver with a lap in the 1:12s. 

The team leaves Long Beach full of confidence for the second stop on the West Coast swing, Laguna Seca, in two weeks. 

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“We had a really good weekend here in Long Beach. When you unload a really fast race car, everything builds on that. We were fastest in Practice 1, which gave the entire team confidence for the rest of the weekend. We missed the tire pressure in qualifying by a few tenths, and in the ultra-competitive IMSA GTP class, that put us back to 10th to start the race. A strategy call on lap 5 to get ahead of the driver change and fuel window set us up for a strong finish. Laurin ran many very fast laps, and we were in the hunt for a podium for the entire second half of the race. 

I really want to thank everyone at Porsche Motorsports for all their support. Lending us a driver like Laurin is very beneficial for our program. He is a great fit, and I think this will move us to another level.”

Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“Long Beach was a quick weekend for us, just two days. We were strong all weekend and finished P6, which we are quite happy with. We had a bit more pace, but we were a bit unlucky in qualifying and started P10, which is a disadvantage on a street circuit. We managed to gain four positions, so we are quite happy with the result.

Good start with Laurin in this first race with JDC-Miller MotorSports, and we are eager to build on these results at Laguna Seca.”

Laurin Heinrich, Driver, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

The Grand Prix of Long Beach is complete, and what a race it was. The team gave me a great car, and I set the fastest race lap, so I’m quite happy with how things went.

The JDC-Miller MotorSports team executed a great strategy, trying to make something work from the back after a disappointing qualifying. This worked quite well, and we crossed the line in a solid P6, which is a result we are quite happy with. 

I think it was a good first start to my new program with JDC-Miller MotorSports, so I am really looking forward to our next race at Laguna Seca.”

JDC-Miller MotorSports finishes in the 10th position at the 2025 Grand Prix of Long Beach

Katie Church on April 12, 2025

SAVAGE, Minn. (April 12, 2025) — JDC-Miller MotorSports brought their Porsche 963
home in a disappointing 10th position at the conclusion of the 2025 Grand Prix of Long
Beach. The 100-minute race around the 1.968 street circuit represented a sharp
contrast to the first two rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
IMSA competitors went from the two longest races on the schedule to one of the
shortest. This year’s race represented the 50th running of this popular and iconic race
around the Long Beach harbor.

Starting in the 9th position, the race started strong for the JDC-Miller MotorSports no. 85
Porsche 963 as Tijmen van der Helm picked up a spot on the start and had excellent
pace. His day was short, however, as a caution came out twenty minutes into the race.
The team pitted to take advantage of the yellow for the mandatory driver change to
Gianmaria Bruni. The JDC-Miller crew had an outstanding stop, and when the race
resumed, the 85 was running in a very strong 5th. Gimmi was running with the leaders
when on lap 40, a GTD car he was lapping, hit the left rear of the Porsche and spun him
into the tire wall. This forced a pit stop to repair a broken rear wing. The JDC-Miller
team made the repair in less than a minute, keeping the car on the lead lap, but the 85
dropped to 10th, where it would remain until the race’s conclusion 20 laps later.

The car will stay on the West Coast for the next race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna
Seca May 11th. It was just 2 years ago that JDC-Miller MotorSports debuted their new
Porsche 963 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“We were not happy with our qualifying set-up and the crew did a great job overnight to
give us a really good car for the race. Tijmen showed that right away with an over-take
on the first lap, and we were feeling confident of a good result. When the first caution
came out, everyone did an awesome job in the pits, and we vaulted up to 5th.
Unfortunately, as so often happens on a street course, Gimmi had an incident and we
had to pit to repair the rear wing. With only a little over a half hour left in the race, there
just isn’t much you can do.

A disappointing finish, but there were some real bright moments. We had a competitive
car and executed very well. If we keep doing that, we will be in a great position when
Lady Luck does smile on us.”

Gianmaria Bruni, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“A tough finish which doesn’t reflect how competitive the car was. The car was very
good, and we were running strong until, in turn 6, I got hit in the left rear corner by a
GTD car I had just lapped. It spun me around into the tire wall, damaging the wing and
diffuser. It’s a shame because we were doing very well. We’ll move forward.”

Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“This is a very short race for our series. We had to come from the back as we struggled
with the setup in qualifying. The car was much better in the race, and we picked up
some spots early in the race. Sadly, we got hit by a GTD car and had to make an extra
pit stop. Just not the luck on our side. We will keep improving and get some results at
Laguna Seca.”

JDC-Miller MotorSports finished in the 7th position at the Grand Prix of Long Beach

Katie Church on April 26, 2024

April 22, 2024

Savage, MN

JDC-Miller MotorSports returned to the streets of Long Beach, this time with their Porsche 963 GTP. The team’s last visit in 2022 resulted in a podium for driver Richard Westbrook.

The JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 GTP showed good pace all weekend. Tijmen
van der Helm was very strong in qualifying, only .6 off the pole, but 7th on the grid in the
very tight IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP field.

In the race, the car dropped two places at the start. Then van der Helm ran fast,
consistent laps as the team worked on a strategy to move the car up. At the first yellow,
Westbrook got in for the run to the finish. He worked his way up to 7th before getting
spun by another competitor. Later, he was involved in a typical Long Beach turn 11
traffic jam but fortunately didn’t lose position. Westbrook fought on to bring the car home
in 7th.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“We were very happy with our qualifying time, but it did put us back in the field due to
how incredibly tight the competition is in the GTP class. We got behind early in the
race, and with a short race like this, you just can’t make up the time. From a strategy
standpoint, there is only one pit stop and almost one-third of the race was run under
caution, so there just isn’t a lot to work with.

The team gave the drivers a very competitive car. The drivers drove a great race. The
pit crew did an incredibly fast pit stop. There was a stretch in the race where, for a
number of laps, Richard was the quickest car on the track. Some days things don’t work
the way you would like.”

Richard Westbrook, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“A little bit battered and bruised from a typical Long Beach Street fight. It’s very difficult
to plan for these races. They seem to just always turn into chaos. We worked really
hard on the weekend, and JDC gave us a really good car, very fast.

We didn’t quite get the run to the green flag at the start we would have liked. Then we
were a bit on the back foot, track position-wise, and it’s always challenging to make that
up in a hundred-minute race with several cautions. Another competitor tagged me from
behind, putting us back. Then we closed back up to the pack and showed that we had a
nice race car.

It’s just a shame that we couldn’t show it with the kind of result that we all deserved.
We worked really hard this weekend, and I have to thank the team for giving us another
great car to work with.

We need to turn that into results now, which will come. Hopefully, starting at Laguna
Seca.”

Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“Difficult race; we ended up in P7, where we also started. The good news is I think there
was more pace in the car. The way the race unfolded we didn’t get to use it.

There are some points to work on for the next race. I am looking forward to Laguna
Seca. We are getting all the pieces in place and should see results soon.”

In Preparation for Laguna Seca…

On Sunday after the race the team was invited to participate in the Porsche Experience
Center’s Morning Shift cars & coffee event displaying the 963. Following the Cars &
Coffee event, we were able to prep the car in the Porsche Motorsports shop for Laguna
Seca. Hundreds of Porsche fans got to see the JDC-Miller MotorSports team in action.