Premier Racing Faces Tough Challenge in Top Porsche One-Make Series Debut
Las Vegas, Nevada | March 15, 2022 | Premier Racing will make its competition debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Presented by the Cayman Islands this week at Sebring International Raceway. The task ahead will not be an easy one but facing down a hard challenge is second nature to the Las Vegas-based program. The Porsche Carrera Cup is the top one-make series in the country, and driver Adam Adelson (Las Vegas, Nevada) is part of the largest entry list, 43 cars, ever assembled for a Porsche one-make series. When coupled with the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car and a track so bumpy it has the hashtag “#RespectTheBumps”, you know it will be a head-down, full-focus weekend for the No. 24 Premier Racing Porsche at the track in Sebring, Florida, March 16 – 17.
Adelson has previous one-make racing experience in lower categories on the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid, but never at this level. 17 of the rear-engined Porsche racers entered will be in the PRO class with Adelson. Many of the top runners in the Pro-Am class are also capable of overall race wins making the twin, 40-minute races among the most hard-fought of the “Super Sebring” weekend.
Carrera Cup is the final steppingstone to open competition racing in such series as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge and the SRO GT4 categories. Adelson and Premier Racing are currently racing a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in the SRO GT4 America and SRO GT America championships.
The single-car team had limited testing of its new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car, type 992, at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in February. It followed last week with an official Porsche test at the 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit laid out on what was a bomber training base during World War II. Kent Moore planned a conservative approach for the team to build-up confidence and speed. The strategy was rewarded as Adelson quickened to contender pace by the end of the two-day, March 7 – 8, test against 40 other Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.
The opening weekend of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America is part of the larger “Super Sebring” weekend which includes the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) among other top race series. The full schedule will compress the time at the track for the Carrera Cup into two days. Two practice sessions and qualifying will take place on Wednesday, March 15. The first 40-minute session will get underway at 8:55 a.m. ET/5:55 a.m. PT, the second at 12:20 p.m. ET/9:20 a.m. PT. 30-minutes of qualifying for all classes will get underway at 3:05 p.m. ET/12:05 p.m. PT. Thursday is a race day with Round 1 set to take the green flag at 9:15 a.m. ET/6:15 a.m. PT for 40-minutes of racing. Round 2 will close the weekend for the one-make series a short four-hours later at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT.
Live timing and scoring of all sessions as well as streaming of both races can be found at www.PorscheCarreraCup.us . The races also air live on the Peacock Streaming App.
Adam Adelson, No. 24 Premier Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
“The 992 generation of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is by far significantly faster than any race car I've driven up to this point, and the mix between mechanical and downforce-based grip requires a driving style that I'm still getting to grips with. With that being said, Premier have done an amazing job helping me get acclimated to the car, which isn't easy considering the majority of my time in it was at Sebring, one of the most technical and difficult race tracks in the world. I'm incredibly excited to participate in my first race in a professional class, and I'm confident that Premier will give me the best opportunity to bring home a good result. We have been working tirelessly in the offseason to prepare for this, and I think that's going to show."
Kent Moore, No. 24 Premier Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |
“They call this a development series, but these are some of the best Porsche racers in the world. The Pro class is loaded with talent and the Pro-Am class has names that can push you from behind. We really used the test last week to give Adam a chance to learn the track and the car. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car is a serious machine. It is closer to GT3-spec than a one-make car, a lot of aero and a lot of power. No matter where you have been before doesn’t really matter. This is Sebring, and Sebring is its own beast. We took a very methodical approach to the test, and we have all been working hard this week to take what we learned to be fast this week when it matters.”
|03-15-2022|
*Image courtesy of Bob Chapman