Porsche Motorsport Weekly Event Notes: Monday, February 15, 2021

by Thomas Moore

This Week.

• Head of the Class. Porsche Carrera Cup North America Sets Class Designations. • Champion Effort. Longtime Porsche Dealer Returns to Racing at Pikes Peak. • GT Family. Digital Premiere to Introduce New Model.

Head of the Class. Porsche Carrera Cup North America Sets Class Designations.

The details of Porsche Carrera Cup North America continue to come into focus as the premier Porsche one-make series prepares for its inaugural event weekend at Sebring International Raceway on March 18 – 19. As previously announced, the championship will be divided into three classes for its first season. The class designations have been formalized as: Pro, Pro-Am and the recently renamed Pro-Am 991 class.

Pro. The highest level of competition in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. All competitors must enter the type 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. The class will be recognized through its silver color scheme on the side mirrors and rear-wing endplates. The car entry number will be delineated in black on the doors, white on the windshield and rear glass. Headlight covers will be clear.

Pro-Am. Like its “Pro” counterpart, Pro-Am is only eligible to entries of the new generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, the type 992. While the remaining details of the class remain the same as Pro, Pro-Am is restricted to drivers who are 45-years or older on December 31, 2020. The class will be readily recognizable by its “Shark Blue” side-mirrors, rear-wing endplates and car numbers. Headlight covers will have a blue tint.

Pro-Am 991. Eligible for only 2021, the Pro-Am 991 class makes it possible for teams to “grandfather” in their previous generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car. This class is open to drivers of any age but race a 991.2 generation variant of the “Cup car”. Porsche 911 GT3 Cup type 991.1 cars are not eligible. Those cars remain eligible for the new Porsche Sprint Challenge North America series being sanctioned by USAC. Along with its unique, older generation styling, “Guards Red” will be the delineator between the Pro-Am 991 class from the Pro and Pro-Am categories. The side-mirrors, rear-wing endplates and car entry numbers will carry red. The headlight covers will also have a red tinting.

Teams and Drivers will have their first taste of the new Porsche Carrera Cup North America – and the newest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car – at the series’ open test, March 8 – 9 at Sebring. For more, please visit: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us .

Champion Effort. Longtime Porsche Dealer Returns to Racing at Pikes Peak.

2021 will see the return of the competition arm of Champion Porsche as the dealership and Champion Motorsport organizations will combine to compete at the 99th running of The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb scheduled for June 27. After winning both the American Le Mans Series Team and Drivers Championship for a third consecutive season, the Pompano Beach, Florida dealership ended its active role in motorsports in 2008. The revival of the motorsport program this summer will bring together veteran Porsche factory driver Romain Dumas (France) and the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport race car in the intensely competitive Time Attack 1 Division.

Dumas, who is no stranger to “America’s Mountain”, currently holds the record for the fastest time up the 12.42-mile, 14,115-foot elevated course in an electric powered Volkswagen prototype. Porsche is also a veteran in the “Race to the Clouds” having made its debut at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1958. Like in most things motorsport, the German sports car manufacturer has made its mark capturing 27 class victories and has twice turned the quickest time for the overall win. 2021 will also be the fourth year of the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama division. The one-make class pits drivers against the Mountain and one-another in the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport with full support of Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) and tire supplier Yokohama.

Champion has its own impressive history in racing, first entering Porsche GT race cars in the late 1990s and eventually conquering the North American and world prototype categories with Audi in the early 2000s. Multiple championship wins and podium finishes were achieved during their tenure in professional sports car racing. Victories at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as well as a class podium at the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona are recognition of the Florida dealership’s commitment to success. However, it was the program’s 2005 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that is the hallmark victory for Champion. The accomplishment remains the only overall win for a team based in the United States since.

GT Family. Digital Premiere to Introduce New Model.

A Livestream Digital World Premiere for the youngest member of the Porsche 911 GT family from Stuttgart, Germany will take place on Tuesday, February 16 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern U.S. time.

Host Sarah Elsser welcomes Frank Steffen Walliser, Vice President Model Lines 911 and 718, Andreas Preuninger, Vice President GT Cars and Porsche Brand Ambassador Jörg Bergmeister.

Media can follow the premiere at: https://newstv.porsche.com/en/

  • Image courtesy of Porsche.

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