Felipe Nasr on chances of winning endurance triple crown

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Felipe Nasr is one of three Porsche drivers who's won the opening two races of the IMSA Sportscar Championship this year, alongside Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor.

He's an incredibly accomplished sportscar driver, with three wins apiece at Daytona and Sebring, including two this year. He's also won three IMSA championships, and won Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta too.

But the one race win he hasn't added to his CV so far is Le Mans, unarguably the biggest race on the endurance racing calendar. It's the quintessential 24 hour race, popularising the format after it debuted in 1923 and creating the base for endurance racing right up to the present day.

Endurance triple crown - in a single year?

Any racing driver wants to add Le Mans to their CV, and Nasr is no different. But this year is particularly different for the Brazilian, and his IMSA teammates Tandy and L. Vanthoor.

That's because they have the chance to do something no other driver has ever done: win Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans in a single year.

13 drivers have won the so-called 'Triple crown of endurance racing', that being Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans. To win the unofficial title, you can win the races in any year; Tandy became the latest driver to add his name to the list when he won Sebring last month.

But, no one has won all three in a single year. That means the three could add their names to the history books and become true legends. If they can do it, it's very unlikely to be repeated again any time soon, making them unique in the world of racing, at least for a while.

In addition, Nasr could become the first South American to win the triple crown, and additionally the first Brazilian to win Le Mans. So there's lots at stake, especially for the 32-year-old.

Finally, all three drivers can't achieve this momentous achievement this year. While Tandy and Nasr will be in the third Porsche at Le Mans, L. Vanthoor will be in the full-time #6 machine alongside Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet.

Tandy and Nasr will have Formula E world champion Pascal Wehrlein alongside them.

'Beating and learning from the best' says Nasr

In a recent IMSA media call, I asked Nasr about the chances of winning the triple crown, as well as his thoughts on Le Mans this year.

'Well, I told Laurens [Vanthoor] several times—if he's still thinking to drive against us... I think that made him think,' he began, as he answered the question from Only Endurance.

'But, I think that's the great part when you're with great drivers and against great drivers: you want to beat the best. You want to learn from the best, and you want to go fight against the best ones.'

Porsche's eight Hypercar/GTP drivers are, undoubtedly some of the best sportscar drivers in the world. Tandy is the only driver to have won the 'Big Six' endurance races: Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans, Petit Le Mans, Spa 24H, and Nurburgring 24H.

Then you have L. Vanthoor, who only needs to add Le Mans to his resumé to join Tandy as the second driver to accomplish that feat. Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet are also incredibly accomplished sportscar drivers, while Michael Christensen, Julien Andlauer, and Matt Campbell are on the same level as well.

Alongside his sportscar success, Nasr also has F1 experience to his name, with two years spent in F1 in the mid 2010s.. He then spent a year out of racing before making his debut in IMSA with Action Express Racing and Cadillac. He switched to Porsche for 2023, for the commencement of the 963 LMDh programme.

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Nasr's aim: win Le Mans (obviously)

'For sure, when we go to Le Mans, you have several top-level drivers and teams, but the aim remains: we want to go out there and win,' the sportscar star continued.

'We want to win the race. For sure, on a personal level, it's a race I haven't won yet. It's no different—I will do everything I can to be fighting for an overall victory there as well.'

That said, though, the Brazilian isn't really focusing on Le Mans just yet.

'Well, I like to think one race at a time,' he said to reporters on the call.

'That's how I've been approaching all my career. I try to dedicate the maximum I can at each event, and that's exactly what we're doing. We've got Long Beach, Laguna, a couple of tests in between, and then we'll start thinking about Le Mans.'

As a brand and a manufacturer, Porsche are obviously keen to win the race this year. The 963 has accomplished almost everything it set out to do when it made its debut in 2023, winning races in IMSA and WEC and the drivers' world championship for Estre, L. Vanthoor, and their former teammate, veteran Andre Lotterer.

But, it hasn't won Le Mans yet. Can a sportscar — and indeed, a sportscar driver — be considered truly great if they haven't won Le Mans? Maybe, maybe not. But as Nasr says, he is racing with, and beating, the best in the business at Porsche, and he has probably the best chance of his career to add the 24 hour classic to his list of wins.

Roll on June!

Feature image: Jacob Saddler