Porsche Motorsports Weekly Event Notes: Monday, November 27, 2017

Porsche Profile.

Event Story Lines.

Youth Movement. Porsche Motorsport Expands Youth Driver Development Program.

Porsche is expanding its successful and sustainable youth development program in international motorsport. In 2018, four Young Professionals will be sponsored on the international GT racing scene. Two Porsche Juniors will receive training to become a professional racing driver in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, which features on the same event weekends as Formula 1.

Norway’s Dennis Olsen and Australian Matt Campbell will be supported in the future as Porsche Young Professionals in international GT racing. The Porsche Young Professionals squad also includes Matteo Cairoli from Italy and Frenchman Mathieu Jaminet. Thomas Preining from Austria makes the step up from the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, where he will be supported as a Porsche Junior. Porsche Motorsport will also support Julien Andlauer as a new Porsche Junior. The Frenchman came through an international trial and will also race in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in 2018.

“Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice President Motorsport and GT Cars. “All our young racing drivers have developed superbly in 2017. The one-make cups, in particular, have proven to be an outstanding springboard for the Porsche Juniors.”

About the Drivers.

Dennis Olsen.

Olsen won the title in the 2017 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. The 21-year-old, racing with the Konrad Motorsport team, demonstrated a particularly impressive level of consistency. As well as six race wins, the young driver from Våler in Norway finished on the podium in 12 of the season’s 14 races. Olsen also demonstrated his talent in the international Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, in which he drove for the Walter Lechner Racing Team. He was victorious at the iconic British circuit in Silverstone, as well as the doubleheader at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium). He ended the season second in the championship and was crowned top rookie. Having been supported for two years as a Porsche Junior, Olsen can now look forward to outings on the international GT customer racing scene as a Porsche Young Professional in 2018.

Matt Campbell.

Campbell contested his debut season in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in 2017. This was the 22-year-old’s first year in European motorsport. Prior to that, the young man born in Warwick, Queensland, Australia had done his racing in single-seater Formula cars, as well as national Porsche one-make cups in Australia. Campbell lined up for the Fach Auto Tech team in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, and finished runner-up in the rookie competition. After eleven races, he ended the season in third-place in the overall standings. The Porsche Junior won four races, in Spielberg (Austria), Monza (Italy) and the doubleheader in Mexico City. Promotion to Porsche Young Professional means Campbell is now ready to take the next step in his motorsport career.

Matteo Cairoli.

Porsche Motorsport will also support Cairoli as a Porsche Young Professional in 2018. The Italian spent the 2017 season at the wheel of a 2015 Porsche 911 RSR run by Porsche customer team Dempsey Proton Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), in which he finished runner-up. The 21-year-old won the LMGTE-Am class at the Nürburgring and in Mexico City. He also finished sixth in this class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The driver from Como, Italy, also impressed at the 24 Hours of Dubai. Cairoli and Manthey Racing came home in second-place at the most prestigious sports car race in the United Arab Emirates.

Mathieu Jaminet.

Jaminet completes the Porsche Young Professionals squad. The 23-year-old raced in the ADAC GT Masters for KÜS Team75 Bernhard owned by Porsche factory driver Timo Bernhard. Driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R, Jaminet took the checkered flag in Oschersleben and was runner-up at the Nürburgring. The driver from Woippy, France, also started selected races in the Pirelli World Challenge here in North America for GMG Racing co-driving with GTA champion James Sofronas. Jaminet, at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 R, won the GT-X Pro-Am class in the races at the Utah Motorsports Campus (Utah) and the Circuit of The Americas (Texas). He also gained his first experience of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Alegra Motorsports.

Thomas Preining.

Thomas Preining is making a step up in the world of motorsport, and will drive in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in 2018. He receives 225,000 Euros (approximately $268,000 USD) in funding from Porsche Motorsport as reward for his promotion. Preining contested his first season in a GT Racing car in the 2017 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. The Porsche Junior won the final race, at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, and finished third at the Norisring. This was enough to earn the 19-year-old and the Konrad Motorsport team he raced for a second-place in the rookie competition. Preining also won the invitational race in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, which was held on the same bill as the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the Nürburgring. The young driver gained his first experience in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Budapest, Monza and Mexico in 2017. His best result came at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico, where he crossed the finish line in fifth-place.

Julien Andlauer.

Andlauer will also receive comprehensive support from Porsche Motorsport in 2018. The new Porsche Junior will benefit from 225,000 Euros (approximately $268,000 USD) of funding in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Andlauer won seven races en route to the title in the 2017 Porsche Carrera Cup France. On the back of this success, the 18-year-old was nominated by the national one-make cup to take part in a two-day trial at the Lausitzring, at which high school graduate came through against eight international candidates to earn a grand for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Andlauer made his debut in the international one-make cup at the season finale in Mexico City. After qualifying sixth, the driver from Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon crossed the finish line in fifth-place.

Teacher Terry. Veteran Driver Adds to Flying Lizard Arsenal.

In the past 13 years, a long list of legendary racecar drivers have come through the doors at Flying Lizard Motorsports. This season, Terry Borcheller (Vero Beach, Florida), a sports car racing champion several times over, became the latest to join the team, providing coaching services to drivers Rodrigo Batista (Brazil) and Nate Stacy (Tulsa, Oklahoma).

From a privateer effort to a factory supported team to their current customer racing program, Flying Lizard Motorsports has the unique opportunity to work closely with Porsche to cultivate young talent in the ranks of sports car racing. In 2017, Flying Lizard Motorsports took delivery of its pair of Porsche Cayman Clubsport MRs and went into the Pirelli World Challenge GTS class with Baptista and Stacy. Baptista went on to attend the Porsche Young Driver Academy this past October. Borcheller joined the team in May, and has since aided in the four wins and six additional podiums netted over the remainder of the season.

The Florida-born driver began his racing career in go-karts as most drivers do. At the age of 17, Borcheller was crowned the World Karting Association National Champion, and eight years later stepped into the Barber Saab Pro Series. Borcheller earned his next title the 1998 IMSA Speedvision Cup and the SPEED World Challenge in 1988. With each year, a new championship title was won, and in 2004, Borchellor, with Christian Fittipaldi, Forest Barber and Andy Pilgrim won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona overall. Borcheller has also competed in Le Mans five times, earning an impressive third-place finish in 2001.

Borcheller’s vast knowledge of cars, tracks and race craft showed immediate benefit to Baptista and Stacy, as each driver faced his own unique set of challenges in this year’s championship. For Brazilian Rodrigo Baptista, 2017 marked his first time at each track of the Pirelli World Challenge calendar.

Young American Nate Stacy is no stranger to the tracks or the Pirelli World Challenge, finishing second in the GTS driver point standings in 2016. The switch from his Ford Mustang of several years to the Porsche Cayman Clubsport MR required a mental reset on driving style and knowledge of car handling.

Borcheller joined the team for the Lime Rock Park race weekend, where Baptista swept both wins, and Stacy earned two podium finishes, the team’s best weekend at that point in the championship.

Terry Borcheller, Driver Coach, Flying Lizard Motorsports.

“I have always respected Flying Lizard and the people within the team. It has been an easy transition for me getting involved with their young driver development program. I enjoy coaching, and all the different responsibilities that go with it. The younger guys in particular need much more than data analysis; they need a mentor that can help shape what they will become in the future, on every level. There’s a lot of personal satisfaction that comes from that. I’m happy to have the opportunity.”

Darren Law, Program Manager, Flying Lizard Motorsports.

“Terry has been a great addition to our program this year. I have known him for 20 years now, and he brings a lot of experience to our development program. He is not only a winning driver but he has also been working as a professional coach for a long time as well. He has the right temperament. He understands what it takes to get the most out of the drivers, from both their lap times as well as their race craft. We have a lot of experienced people within our organization that have been doing this for a long time, and he is just one more person that helps make our program the best it can be.”

Rodrigo Baptista, Driver, No. 3 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.

“Terry is a great asset to the team. With all his knowledge and experience with sports cars, we have continued to improve, on and off the track.”

Nate Stacy, Driver, No. 14 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.

“Terry has been an amazing help to me this season and has really helped me get a lot faster. With his help, the learning curve of this car was not as steep as it would have been otherwise. He has given both me a Rodrigo nothing but good advice and I look forward to continue working with him.”