Jack Aitken expressed a mixture of relief and amusement after officially securing his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP driver’s title the moment his Action Express Racing Cadillac took the green flag at Petit Le Mans.
Having extended his lead to 151 points after qualifying, simply crossing the starting line at the season-ending Petit Le Mans guaranteed the points for 11th-place in GTP for the Briton and his teammates Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti.
That made it mathematically impossible for Porsche’s Laurin Heinrich to close the gap, clinching the title before the competitive action even unfolded.
"Yeah, a bit of a relief, it's been a long time coming. We've had a fantastic year. And to do it before the race got underway, it's a bit of a strange feeling," Aitken said.
"You've definitely got one eye on the race start, and the other was just hoping that the car started and got out of pit lane, which of course it did."
The title marks a major career milestone for Aitken, breaking a decade-long championship drought since winning two Formula Renault 2.0 titles and the Pro Mazda single-seater championships back in 2015, and capping off a stellar rise since transitioning to American sports car racing.
