Mathieu Jaminet has opened up about his emotional determination to depart Porsche and transfer to rival Genesis for the 2026 World Endurance Championship.
Jaminet has been related to Porsche for his whole skilled racing profession, having first joined the German producer as a junior driver in 2016. He rose via the ranks to turn into a manufacturing unit driver, initially competing in GTs earlier than getting a prototype seat on the introduction of Porsche’s LMDh venture in 2023.
However on the finish of final month, it was revealed that the Bahrain WEC finale could be his final race with Porsche, as he embarks on a brand new chapter in 2026. It was subsequently confirmed that he’ll be a part of Genesis’ new LMDh programme in Hypercar subsequent 12 months.
The Frenchman even raced a particular helmet on the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit on 8 November to mark the tip of his decade-long stint with Porsche.
Talking in Sakhir, Jaminet defined the rationale behind his transfer and the way troublesome it was for him to half methods with Porsche.
“It feels heavy on my coronary heart, clearly,” Jaminet advised Motorsport.com. “It is onerous to assume and onerous to consider it is the final one with Porsche. It is an emotional weekend for positive.
“It was a heavy determination to take from my facet – to determine to do one thing else. However the determination in the long run got here from my coronary heart. It got here from me speaking to myself and discussing with myself on what I need to do subsequent and what have been my needs and the way do I get a greater driver, how do I would like life to be.
“I simply felt it was the precise time to maneuver on and that is the way it got here up.”
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Mathieu Jaminet
Photograph by: Alexander Trienitz
Jaminet has loved appreciable success with Porsche within the final decade. His first main milestone got here in 2018 when he received the GT Masters title for Precote Herberth Motorsport along with Robert Renauer.
One other landmark adopted in 2022 when he clinched the IMSA GTD Professional, teaming up with Matt Campbell at Pfaff Motorsport.
Jaminet and Campbell stepped as much as the rebranded GTP class collectively the next 12 months, scoring a maiden win for the Porsche 963 at Lengthy Seaside.
The duo additionally claimed this 12 months’s IMSA GTP title, simply weeks earlier than Jaminet introduced his determination to depart Porsche.
The 31-year-old’s different successes embrace outright victories within the Dubai 24 Hours and the Kyalami 9 Hour, in addition to a category win within the Daytona 24 Hours.
Reflecting on his time with Porsche, Jaminet emphasised the success they achieved collectively and the way their relationship endured for thus lengthy.
“It is nonetheless onerous to place issues in perspective, however I can undoubtedly be happy with the journey we have finished collectively,” he stated.
“Clearly, they gave me a whole lot of good alternatives. I delivered, in any other case they’d have stopped the alternatives in some unspecified time in the future. However to go from the French Carreras Cup to hypercar and win a championship this 12 months, and to win some cool races and drive some cool vehicles, it is the dream and the want of each driver.
“To be [with a team for] so lengthy, for 10 years, not many drivers do as of late. I believe we might be happy with the way it went.
“That is how I really feel and I believe that is additionally how they really feel. Now we have no friction or something. We’re nonetheless buddies. They understood my determination.
“You by no means know what the long run brings in motorsport. It goes shortly and it may well go a method. Perhaps in one other life, perhaps I will be again.
“Let’s have a look at how life goes. I simply felt now it was time for a brand new problem.”
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