Braselton, GA. October 13, 2024. - Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports has claimed the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a hard-fought race to fourth position at Motul Petit Le Mans. It capped off a fantastic stateside campaign, which brought the team its first podium, pole position and race victory en route to the LMP2 title with Nick Boulle, Jakub ‘Kuba’ Smiechowski and Tom Dillmann.
It was far from easy. Road Atlanta is a tight circuit, and with over 50 cars all racing hard, there was no respite from lengthy and somewhat unusually long green flag periods, which mitigated strategy and piled on the pressure to all three drivers.
However, a late race caution period did close up the field again, and a frantic run to the end saw Tom make gains to fourth, more than enough to claim the championship success in the #52 Oreca.
Key to the team’s success this year was both consistency and reliability. With an average race position of 3.8, Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports duly finished 61 points ahead of its nearest rival.
The start saw Nick—who clinched the Jim Trueman award and, with it, an entry into the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans—make his now-customary quick getaway from fourth position in the grid. He worked his way up to second place, and as the stops unfolded, he and Tom ran consistently in the top four.
There was a scare for Kuba at the start of his stint, as he was tapped from behind and subsequently spun during a restart. A stop later for a replacement rear wing cost further ground, but there were no mistakes, and both he and Nick concluded their respective races without further drama.
The final two hours were handed over to Tom, who ran in sixth just ahead of the final full course yellow. There was a tight and successful battle with the #8 and then the #88 peeled off into pit lane for service, yielding the fourth-place finish.
Sascha Fassbender, Inter Europol Team Manager
“We’re all so happy to have won this championship in our first year with our cooperation with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. It was an excellent job from the team, and we learned a great deal from PR1, and I think we also gave a lot to them to win this title.”
“It’s great that Nick also won the Jim Trueman award, and with that, our goal is to have two cars at Le Mans next year! We’re all very happy, and I am already looking forward to the Rolex 24, where we run as Inter Europol Competition.”
Bobby Oergel, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Team Owner and Team Manager
“I just couldn’t be prouder of the whole team. They have all been amazing and have battled through this ten-hour race with everything on the line. For me, it is awesome, five in a row!”
Nick Boulle
“Truthfully, I cannot believe it. I’m so excited and proud of the hard work that everyone put in. Tom drove an excellent race at the end, and Kuba smashed it. We stayed clean and moved up to fourth right at the end.”
”Bobby, Sascha, Kuba – the whole Inter Europol team – PR1 Motorsports - have all worked so hard to make this happen and hopefully, there will be more exciting things to come!”
Kuba Smiechowski
“It was a difficult race for me because, in my first stint, I got clipped from behind at the restart, which damaged the whole rear end. For the second run, I had new tyres, and a new rear wing and the car felt more normal again and we had a fast car today.”
“We were all nervous at the end, both Nick and Tom did a fantastic job. The pressure at the end must have been enormous for Tom; I know it was for us in the pits! Congratulations to the both of them. The team did a great job all year, and without them, it would not have been possible.”
Tom Dillmann
“So, we did it, what a relief! It was a tough race, as expected, and we did what we had to do to win the championship! We were quick in the race and had a few setbacks, which put us a lap down, but we fought through it to ensure we had the position we needed at the end to take the championship without risk.”
“It’s just fantastic; thank you to the whole team. Now we celebrate, and then we have another championship to win next week.”
